Wild turkey feathers??

[DBenner]

A friend is going on a guided wild turkey trip and has asked if I am interested in any feathers for my fly tying. I have only used some of the Mottled turkey feathers for muddlers and some Atlantic Salmon patterns at $6-8 bucks a matched pair, I use them sparingly

Other than the tail feathers, what else should I ask for? The guys that go on the trip every year just toss them and keep only the meat......

When I get them, is there anything special I should do to them? wash, freeze, etc. I don't want to comtamintate my current fly tying supplies with bugs.

Thanks,

Dwight

[quivira kid]

The feathers right in front of their fan along their back that have the mottling like the tail feathers make some nice wing cases and Pheasant Tail nymph variants.
Also, the secondary wing feathers (not the barred brown and white ones, but the ones closer in to the body) are nice.
Around the legs is some nice deep brown marabou.

[NJTroutbum]

The tail feathers obviously. Like QK said, the mottled feathers in front of the fan are excellent as well. 1st and foremost, the mottled secondary wing feathers Also you will usually find flats, in colors ranging from Bronze to emerald green throughout the body....some of all shades make great wing cases for smaller nymphs. And wing feathers....though not as useful, have very tough fibers. They make excellent shellbacks and wingcases, and take to a permanant marker very well also.

[Tig]

Turkeys have very large aftershaft feathers all through the back area. They are great for sparrow nymphs. You would have to get these off of the bird while it is still intact, unless your friend is going to skin the bird. As NJTroutbum points out the primary wing feathers are useful. The biots are strong and large and can be coloured. The fibres from turkey tail feathers can be used in place of pheasant for PTN's.

[billknepp]

whole skin is ideal... But all the flight feathers clipped and matched are very useful a lot of good biots can be had from a single pair of wings... also body feathers from varying spots on the body can also be very useful.. as is the maraboo feathers even makes nice dubbing...

[millerwb]

My full turkey skin came from a taxidermist. Someone dropped it off to do something with and later changed their mind. I get some great and unusual things at times. Does anyone know what to do with buffalo hair???

[DBenner]

Wow, and all this time, I have been relegated to a couple matched tails feathers......... take as much as they can bring back...........gotcha, hopefully the whole skin apparently......

Ok, so what do i do with the feathers once I get them.....wash in something, freeze, boil, steam, microwave? In my 30+ years of tying I have always used processed feathers, nothing from hunting friends.

Dwight

[Uncle Jesse]

Ok, so what do i do with the feathers once I get them.....wash in something, freeze, boil, steam, microwave? In my 30+ years of tying I have always used processed feathers, nothing from hunting friends. Dwight

I am no expert but I would put them in ziplock bags and store them in the freezer for at least a month and then feel pretty good about all bugs being dead on them. Unless you have some kind of snow flea that doesn't mind zero temps.

[hap]

Turkey flats are the original parachute post material and still an outstanding choice. They can also be "burned" for use as spey hackle.

Turkey is also the source of marabou. Wild turkeys have just dark gray, but a little bleaching and dying could produce lots of dark colors.

Everybody always says freeze them... Tok, Alaska, last winter set the record for cold recorded in AK... It was something like -84F and for a couple weeks it stayed very close to that... Yet you can find ALL of the bad bugs around Tok anytime you look in the summer... If the freezer did anything to eggs it would surely have wiped them out in Tok.

Wash in warm soapy water with a capful of Clorox... Nothing will survive that. Then rinse and dry. It is easiest if they are still on the skin.
art

[Uncle Jesse]

Hap,
Please excuse my lack of knowledge about weather below about -15F degrees, I am simply unwilling to do onsite research on the matter. I have only lived as far north as Memphis. I do seek enlightment on the topic. I know the mosquito eggs are in water that becomes ice, even at -84F does ice get any colder than 32F?