The Wild Turkey Zone: Turkey Fan Mount How-to

How
to Make a Turkey Fan Mount
— by Rob Ramsdale —

Fan Mount of a Rio/Eastern Hybrid Turkey

If you want to save a
fan mount like the one shown, here are the basic steps
to follow. As with any taxidermy mount, the quality
you end up with depends on how well you take care
of the fan feathers. Take extra care in the field
and transporting the fan and your finished mount will
be that much better.

1. Lay the turkey down on a bench
   or table and starting about 6″ or more from the
   base of the tail, make a cut through the skin on
   the back and begin skinning down to the base of
   the tail. The reason I start about midway up the
   back is you never know how many feathers you’re
   going to want for your eventual mount of the tail.
   It is much better to start off with too much back
   skin and remove them later than to find out you wish you
   had more of the back feathers. Error on the safe
   side and take a lot of back feathers to start.
2. Carefully skin the bird’s back
   all of the way down to the tail and then cut down
   through the base of the tail to remove the tail
   with some of the back skin still attached.
3. Lay the tail fan off to the side
   and finish dressing the bird.
4. Once you have the bird cleaned,
   go back to the fan and start by scraping all of
   the flesh off the skin and then proceed to the tail.
5. The tail fan takes some time to
   get clean. You want to remove all of the flesh and
   fat possible by cutting or scraping with a knife
   and even using a wire brush to get down between
   the feather quills. You also need to remove the
   piece of the backbone that is still attached to
   the tail. A pair of pliers will help you twist the
   tailbone out which will allow the tail fan to lie
   flat when you mount it.
6. After the cleaning is complete,
   you have the option of washing the fan if the feathers
   got dirty or were messed up on the tips. If you’ve
   ever shot a bird that rolled down a mountain or
   shot one in the rain you know that often the tail
   feathers are a ragged mess when you get to the bird.
   They can be fixed, as long as they aren’t broken,
   by simply washing them. Start by dunking the cape,
   tail feathers and all, into a tub or sink of warm
   water that has Dawn or some other mild grease-cutter/cleanser
   mixed in with it. Swish the feathers around really
   well and work any noticeable dirty or greasy spots
   on the feathers between your fingers. It’s amazing
   how much dirt the turkey feathers can be carrying
   and a good wash and clean water rinse will really
   make your feathers shine. After the fan is rinsed,
   you can use a hair dryer set on low to gradually
   dry and fluff the feathers. I don’t own a hair dryer
   so I generally pin the tail up in front of a fan
   and just let it dry that way. It doesn’t take long
   and I check it once in awhile and help get the feathers
   “combed” back neatly by running the feathers through
   my finger tips. If you kept really good care of
   the feathers on your way in from the field, you
   can often skip this step.

   Another Fan Mount of a Rio/Eastern Hybrid Turkey

7. After the feathers are dry, rub
   the bare skin and tail section with borax (You can
   use 20 Mule Team Borax which is a laundry additive
   you can find at WalMart.) Don’t skimp on the borax
   since it will help dry the skin and preserve it
   so the bugs won’t attack it.
8. Take the treated skin and lay it
   skin-side down on a board or stiff piece of corrugated
   cardboard. Work your way around the fan pinning
   the feathers into the position you want them to
   dry in. This is one place you can actually cover
   up a broken or missing tail feather by spacing the
   rest of the feathers out enough to cover the extra
   space.
9. The fan should be check periodically
   during its drying period of around 3 – 5 weeks.
   You may need to add more borax during this time.
10. Once it’s dry, remove the pins
    and shake off any excess borax. There are many commercial
    kits out there with nice wood panels to mount your
    turkey fan on. I prefer to mount my own using a
    simple wood stand which I then cover in leather.

Good luck with this project.
I hope this will help you create a lasting memory
of your favorite turkey hunting adventure.