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Ive got 5 different ducks coming in to me from a friends hunt this morning. I am really excited about the drake wood duck most of all.
This is to find out how to skin it and keep all the feathers without plucking the birds in their entirtety. Any comments and know hows would be greatly appreciated.
Seege
Hi Seege , I've skinned a few , including 2 wood ducks . Rule #1 : take your time ! Before you start your cut , separate the feathers down the center of the breast . If you are going to save the meat , have some corn meal ready to soak up any blood , otherwise just use borax ( which you will need to preserve the skin ). Cut from the top of the breast down to the anis and just start peeling the skin from the meat . You will need a pruner ( or clipper used to cut small branches ) to cut bones . Peel the skin as far down as you can , then use the pruner to cut the tailbone . Now skin the back and cut the wingbones .The lower portion is now done . Now extend your cut all the way up to the base of the bill and peel the rest of the skin off . Use plenty of borax on the skin . After a day or two , any stubborn fat that wouldn't come off can be more readily removed by rubbing and scraping . If you puncture the skin it makes it more difficult , so remember rule #1 . Good - luck , Russ
One other thing I forgot to mention is it's the same procedure as is done in preparing to taxedermy the piece . You can perhaps ( undoubtably ) get a better description by going to your library .
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Life is like a fly swap...You never know what your going to get.
There is complete info on skinning birds here in the Atlantic Salmon tying section.
Those birds will be loaded with fat especially at this time of year. For that reason, I pluck waterfowl and put similar feathers in ziplocs.
Happy Trails!
Ronn
If you have access to Eric Leiser's book, Fly-Tying Materials, there is an excellent section on skinning a duck on pages 70-72.