Just wondering how everyone goes about using the birds they take besides eating them. I have started drying wings for use in the field. I always save the beards and spurs. Out of habit I save and dry each tail fan. I keep telling myself that I will get my trophy room organized but that has not happened so they are still in a neat pile in my basement... Haven't tried using the wingbones yet. What else do you do with them?

I MAKE WING BONE CALLS FOR SOME V.I.P. I KNOW.

It's a secret... but I'll let everyone in on it soon!

I started making wingbone calls. i also save every feather i get my hand on. A guy i work with is Cherokee and he and his family use them in alot of the crafts and things they make.

I provide feathers to my fly tying friends and I also donate feathers to my local pre-school; they use them at Thanksgiving to make holiday related art...the kids love it!

-Eric

I cape a few birds every now and then. I keep the wings to use in the woods (for flydowns, fights, etc)... and I'll keep some for myself and others to use for calls. I usually always keep feathers for my fly-tying buddies and those that like to use them for fletching their arrows... and I always keep the beards and spurs.

I made a pretty cool looking spur necklace that I have hanging on my rearview mirror inside my truck.

I save wingbones, tailfans, of course Spurs and beard. Sometimes I gove feathers to folks that ask for them for various reasons.

I glue the breast feathers to the sound board under some of my glass & crystal calls. They make a very pretty call.
Keep em Gobblin!
Struttinbird

Sent the feathers off a couple of birds last spring to a fly fishin bud of mine in Montana..he now has enough to last a life time..so he says...

all of the above and have had wing feathers cut and shaved to make arrow fletchings

I've been saving the wings for drying to use for flydown. Last year I made a few wingbone calls and I've got plenty to learn still. I usually save the tail fan and dry it to put on the wall. Beard and spurs go on the string for every bird. I may try to cape one this year.

The tail feathers make one of the prettiest Holiday wreaths I've seen.
The feathers are placed at an angle into a circle of styrofoam or straw.
Add a red bow to the middle and there you go.

We did one several years ago and put it on the silent auction at our NWTF banquet. Brought $75, all the money went to our JAKES youth program.

Takes the tail feathers from several birds to make a wreath.

barry

Got any pictures of this wreath? My wife's crafters eyes lit up with the idea. Now it's all on me and the boys.

i like that. got any pics of how you did it?

I don't have any pics of "how" I did it... but how I did it was simple. I took a hacksaw and sawed above and below the spur going all the way through the leg. Once you have it off the leg, clean all the bone marrow off the leg bone and sand it down smooth. Then just add some polyurethane or whatever you choose to give it a nice gloss. As time goes by and you get more spurs just keep adding them to a piece of rawhide string until it suits you.

Finally, go kill a bunch of limbhanger's 'cause it takes a good amount of spurs to make a decent necklace.

I will post a pic of the one I have soon.