If you’re going to mount turkeys as a taxidermist, then you better get yourself some good turkey reference pictures. Turkey taxidermy can be intimidating for most upcoming and aspiring taxidermists. This does not have to be the case at all, as good reference pictures will guide you the way. If you have any concept of bird anatomy and have mounted other upland game birds you’ll have no problem when it comes to mounting turkey as long as you study turkey reference pictures. Always have turkey reference pictures on hand ready to go when mounting turkeys, no matter how many turkeys you may under your belt.
While viewing and studying reference pictures you should make notes on the tail fan, breast feathers, the head position and color of the head, the pan feathers which are located directly behind the head, the rear hackles and most importantly the scaulps which fill in the space between the wing and back hackle feathers.
Take notice on the angle and tilt of the tail fan when observing turkey reference pictures. Notice in most strutting birds the tail fan is not straight up and flat as you will see in most turkey mounts being produced by amateur taxidermists. Study the wings and the wing tips and the position of the secondary feathers on the wings. Take notice on the legs. Do any of the drumsticks show on a strutting turkey? When a turkey walks how far apart is the left leg to the right leg? When turkey gobbles, is the head up or down or at what angle? All of these questions can and will be answered by studying turkey reference pictures.
A great source for live turkey reference pictures would be Google Image Search.
