For the last few seasons, I’ve been keeping an eye out for a special bird. It could be a wild long-tailed rooster, or a big greenhead, or maybe a nice drake wood duck. Mostly, I just wanted to mount a cool bird that I shot and my dog retrieved.
So when I knocked a blue goose into the decoys this month, and my Lab fetched it up (it also happened to be his first retrieve on a snow), it seemed like a good candidate. The only trouble? I wasn’t sure if this eaglehead was in nice enough shape for mounting, or how I should store and transport it.
So I called up Dale Manning, an award-winning master taxidermist based in Missoula. Manning has been practicing bird taxidermy since he was a high-schooler in the mid-1970s. After college, he opened Custom Bird Works and Big Game Connection and has since won a pile of awards for his upland and waterfowl mounts. (In 2007, he won the Carl Akeley Award for a long-tailed duck, the Best in World Waterfowl award for a snow goose in 2013, and, in 2019, Best in World Bird with — of all things — an American coot.) Although the 63-year-old closed shop last year, he’s only semi-retired and has plenty of advice for fellow hunters.
The good news, Manning says, is that caring for a bird you want to take to your taxidermist is pretty straightforward. I also spoke to diehard duck hunter and wildlife photographer Lee Kjos, who takes meticulous care of his ducks for both photography and taxidermy. Here’s what to consider before, during, and after your hunt to make your taxidermist happy and ensure you end up with the best taxidermy possible.
Shoot a Smaller Shot Size
If you have an idea that you’d like to get a bird mounted, commit to hunting with a smaller pellet size. Make sure to select suitable loads for the species you’re targeting, of course, but avoid shooting No. 3 shot or bigger whenever possible.
“No. 4s and smaller don’t tear the birds up as bad as the larger shot sizes,” Manning says. “When I’m trophy-hunting birds, I use a 20-gauge with TSS No. 9s.”
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Select the Best Birds for Mounting
As you hunt, be on the lookout for the best specimen possible. Some of Manning’s best customers, for instance, used to bring in three or four birds throughout the fall — all greenheads, say. At the end of the year, Manning would choose the duck he thought would make the best mount — particularly for the pose a hunter had in mind.
“If you’ve got a bird that’s got a broken wing, it’s like, ‘Eh, this would make a better standing mount than a flying mount,’” Manning says of advice he might give a flexible customer. “And if you’re sold on a flying mount, you know what, you shoot 40 mallards a year, go shoot a nice one.”
…But Don’t Give Up If the Bird’s Not Perfect
Of course, sometimes the bird you want to mount is less than pristine, and that’s okay.
“You can’t really choose what bird is going to be your dog’s last retrieve,” says Manning, who is used to sewing pellet holes and even repairing broken bones. “Or if you’re like, ‘Man, this is an awesome pintail,’ it’s your first and only one, and you’re 65 years old, and you want to do something with it? I can recommend what to do with it.”
Still, the less reconstruction your taxidermist has to do, the better.
“It depends on the break,” Manning says of a broken wing. “A break in the humerus is not too big a deal, even in the radius or ulna if it’s a clean, easy break — that’s not too bad. Once they get broken out toward the ends, like out at the wrist, that gets kind of hard to deal with … once it gets out to the fine stuff, it gets really hard.”
Opt for Late-Season Birds
On the whole, Manning advises waiting as late in the season as you can stand it to select a bird for mounting. This applies to both upland and waterfowl for two related reasons: Late-season plumage just looks better — it’s colorful and thicker — but the structure of those feathers is actually important for the taxidermy process.
“I won’t even look at a bird until November 1,” says Manning. “A lot of people don’t understand this because they look at it like, ‘This is a really nice pheasant.’ But I pull feathers back on the neck, and it’s full of pin feathers. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, but that’s all underneath.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, but that’s what gives everything else the loft.’ And [those pin feathers] all fall out in the mounting process. A pin feather is a blood feather, and there’s blood circulating in that feather shaft as that feather is growing. If there’s no blood circulating in that shaft and it’s not mature [when the bird dies], it doesn’t hold in the skin.”
The exception to this Nov. 1 guideline is if you shoot an older bird, Manning says. A 3- or 4-year-old mallard shot in mid-October, for instance, can sometimes have the right plumage for mounting.
Try to Pick Up Your Own Birds
Gun dogs are great and can play a big role in a hunter’s decision to mount a specific bird. But the enthusiasm of a head-shaking, hard-mouthed bird dog isn’t always compatible with pristine taxidermy. This is particularly true of the delicate feathers on most upland birds.
“There’s a difference between upland and waterfowl,” says Manning. “A lot of times, a dog gets to an upland bird before you do, and upland birds just aren’t as durable. If your dog’s really soft-mouthed, great. But if you want to get, say, a pheasant or grouse mounted, I would try to get to it before the dog does.”
Dispatch Birds Carefully and Humanely
If you need to finish a wounded bird, definitely do not wring its neck. Instead, Manning recommends using a Finisher (a curved, metal tool inserted into the back of a bird’s skull).
“It just sucks in our world that it’s a necessary evil. But the best way for birds, I believe, is to cover their head and put them on the ground and just kneel on them to suffocate them. If you get them tucked tight, you’re not going to lose a bunch of feathers.”
Lee Kjos, the photographer and lifelong duck hunter, takes it a step further.
“Let’s say you shoot a really, really nice bird, and he’s still alive. For me, that’s a major problem because I won’t wring their neck and I won’t use those Finishers because it’s like sticking a pig. They can bleed, and you make an awful mess. So the thing to do is to have a syringe with isopropyl [alcohol] and right behind their skull plate — on the top of their head in back — just put the needle in there and give them a shot. They immediately die. It kills them instantly and is way humane.”
(Although this method is not addressed in the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals, it’s not an uncommon practice among bird-dog trainers, field trialers, and some taxidermists who work with birds.)
Treat It Well in the Field
Kjos is particularly careful about where and how he sets trophy birds while he’s hunting.
“If they’re wet, the first thing I do is hold them upside down by their feet and shake all the water out. Then I lay them on their belly, and I let them cool just like that,” says Kjos. “I don’t put them in anything, I don’t let anybody touch them, I don’t let dogs touch them — nothing.”
Once he’s done hunting, Kjos carefully stores the bird in plastic for transport. He carries 2-gallon Ziploc bags in the field, along with thin trash bags for larger birds like geese.
“What I don’t want to do is to put the head in a really bad spot where it’s always wanting to shift and move because that screws feathers up. If they would die with their head on their back, I’d just let them sit like that. I do the least amount of stuff. There were guys who used to say, ‘Take a nylon stocking and push them in a nylon.’ That’s insanity; it can screw up the feathers.”
For Manning, the “jury is out” on whether the old nylon trick hurts or helps, although it’s worth noting that he doesn’t do this himself. (Women’s pantyhose were a more common household item a few decades ago, and it’s possible the tip originated from a bunch of ruined stockings lying around. Manning’s wife, who overheard our phone call, shouted, “Who wears nylons anymore!”)
“If you shoot something you want to get mounted, just treat it like you want to get it mounted,” says Manning, particularly of roosters and other upland birds. “Don’t stuff it in your bird vest with all the other birds and get the tail feathers all ruffled up.”
Manning recommends carrying a cotton ball in your pocket that you can place in the bird’s throat or use to plug pellet holes to prevent extra blood from seeping into the feathers. When you get back to your truck, tuck the bird in a spot that’s clean, dry, and out of your dog’s reach.
“Blood is not [necessarily] an issue for the taxidermist as far as getting you back a nice, clean specimen,” says Manning. “But if you bring it to me all blood-soaked and wet, I can’t tell what I’m working with.”
Blow Dry It (or Not)
Kjos is particular about drying his birds for photography and taxidermy. He travels with a hair dryer in his truck, and I once watched him meticulously dry sea ducks and ptarmigan with the care of a professional stylist (see video). If you want to get that serious, Kjos recommends hanging birds by their feet (use paracord or a loop-style duck strap) and gently running the blow dryer back and forth on the low or cool air setting.
“When you get them dry,” Kjos says, “their feathers lay out perfectly.”
Wrap Your Bird in Plastic for Transport and Freezing
Do not store your bird in a brown paper bag or newspaper, as hunters used to do. In addition to sucking the moisture out of your bird, some of the ink on newspaper can actually transfer to the bird’s feathers. That said, Kjos wraps the beak and feet in damp paper towels to prevent them from drying out before storage.
Both Manning and Kjos advise tucking the bird’s head gently beneath a wing, then pushing all the extra air out of the plastic bag. Zip, knot, or tape the bag, label it so you don’t forget what’s in it, and put it in your freezer where it won’t get smashed.
“You don’t want to freeze something with the head sticking straight out,” says Manning. “Just picture a mallard. You just lay it in there with its head sticking out. Then you come home and throw a 20-pound turkey on top of it because you didn’t know it was sitting there. You’re going to snap the neck off. Tucking the head under the wing just keeps them compact and in good shape.”
Use a Chest Freezer If You Can
If you plan to hold onto your bird for a while, store it in the deep chest or standing freezer where you stash game meat. Don’t put it in your fridge freezer, particularly if it has an ice maker. The temperature fluctuates too often, a problem that’s compounded by constant access.
“The frost-free freezers suck the life out of them,” says Manning. “The good old-fashioned freezer that was Grandma’s that’s been in the garage for 60 years and is still working — that’s the best.”
FAQs
“Really look at the taxidermist and the work they do before you leave something with them,” says Manning. “Because if you’re looking at their work and you’re like, ‘Hm it’s okay, and the price is right, I think I’ll just leave it,’ well, when you get it back you’re going to be like, ‘Hm I guess it’s okay and the price was right.’ If you’re happy with that kind of work and you don’t know the difference, that’s okay. You don’t have to go to a top-notch taxidermist all the time, although I would.”
Prices vary depending on the quality and experience of the taxidermist you choose, but on average, a good taxidermist can charge about $400 and up for ducks and upland birds, while geese can cost as much as $500 to $1,000.
Final Thoughts
If you have the luxury of being choosy with which birds to mount, hold out for a late-season bird with beautiful plumage, few pin feathers, and no serious damage to repair. Dispatch birds quickly and humanely (without wringing their neck), put them somewhere safe, clean, and dry in the field, and store them in an airtight plastic bag in the freezer.
If you shot a special bird you’re set on getting mounted, don’t fret if it’s got a broken wing or blood spots. You don’t have to have a perfectly clean and un-marred bird to take it to your taxidermist, although you’ll appreciate the results if you manage your expectations a little bit better.
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“Sometimes a customer will shoot a pheasant on Oct. 20, it’s a pretty nice rooster, and their dog will get it, and most of the feathers will end up in the dog’s mouth,” says Manning. “And they’ll bring it into me, it looks like a plucked rubber chicken, and they’ll say, ‘I’d really like to get this mounted.’ It just isn’t in that great of shape. I want to produce something that you’re going to enjoy the rest of your life, and that I’m going to be proud to give you back, and this is just not the one.”
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