2 weeks ago, I shot my first turkey, it was a jake. Just finished mounting the beard and fan myself. Not a very pretty fan, but I like the way it turned out! Any hints, tricks, or suggestions for my next one?
Looks good! How long is the beard? I have a jake fan and beard coming too. I'm not sure how to display it yet.
The beard was just shy of 5". I just went to Fleetfarm, and bought the plaque. They had a few different ones to pick from.
I tried, but when I did, there were spaces between the tail feathers. I figured that was because it was a Jake. Maybe I was doing it wrong???
I think it would be cool to put a pic of you and the bird where the tom pic is. Maybe like sticker printer paper and cut to fit. Congrats on first turkey!
So what you are saying, no matter what size the bird, or how old he is, you should be able to spread the fan out 180 degrees??
I like it... Might use your pics as a model for mine... Heading out tomorrow, season opens Friday here
Awesome! And congrats. I think it looks good. I like to put a pic of the area I hunted on my plaques. I think that gives it a nice touch.
I wouldn't agree with that. I've killed a few Jake's before and their fans didn't stretch out very well either. I think the mount looks good the way you did it. Nice for your first bird.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you did. Just depends on how you want it to look on the wall. It definately looks better on the wall rather than on the bird.
I keep all of mine, and any other's I can get my hands on, for decoy fans. I have a jake fan drying now that a friend gave me. it is stretched a full 180, and is full. Here's a jake fan I've been using for a few years. It's pretty worn, and has drawn up a tad, but it was a full 180 degrees. A jake will spread fully just like a mature bird.
Thanks everyone! No offense taken from any posts here!! I asked for for any tips to do a better job on my best one, so I will take any advice I can get.. I would have rather been able to spread it out 180, but this one just wouldn't do it.
