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February 6, 2018
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Hello all,
First time poster so I hope I’m not asking an answered question, although I did my best to search beforehand. I have a pair of wood ducks that I’m learning to mount on and they are both super fatty. While I’ve taken most of the fat off there is still about a 1/32″ film of fat. I can’t seem to get it all off. Is there an additive that I can put on after washing other than Borax to keep it from smelling bad?
April 7, 2013
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I don’t do ducks, however, I do work on upland birds that can be real fatty like pen raised pheasants and some turkeys. I get rid of it all.
In my opinion, 1/32 film is too much if the film is fat. No film is what I’d go for.
So, some questions for you.
1) What have you used to flesh it with? Do you have a wire wheel bird flesher?
2) Did you use something on the skin as you fleshed like borax, corn cob grit, or saw dust?
3) Did you keep skin moist with water as you fleshed?
February 6, 2018
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Sorry for the late reply, as school is taking up most of my time. I have been fleshing by hand with a pair of scissors and a small steel and brass wire brush. I used borax throughout the fleshing process but did not add water as I thought the goal was to rid the hide of moisture (moisture causes putrid smell?)
April 7, 2013
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If you are doing it by hand, would strongly suggest you go to Research Mannikins and by a bird defatting tool. It costs about $7 and is a little brass handle with little pointed wires sticking out like a little rake. It will work just as well as a wire wheel (only slower) and I used mine on everything from quail to turkeys until I bought a wire wheel. I still use it on hard to get places and when I find a spot I missed while I’m washing.
I don’t do ducks, so, my experience is with upland game birds. Some of the turkeys and pheasants I have done are super fatty. I keep the skin moist while fleshing and defatting and use borax to soak up and “solidify” the fat as I remove it. The skin is going to be washed afterwords, so, letting the skin dry out can cause problems. You want the moisture to be out of the skin for the most part after washing and just prior to mounting.
April 7, 2013
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Also, If the fat and meat and membrane are removed, there will be no smell, even if you don’t put anything on it when you mount it, therefore, borax is a sufficient treatment for the skin prior to mounting.
Do you have any DVDs on this subject?
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