I asked for some turkey feathers....

All about flies Fly Tying
1

A coworker went turkey hunting this weekend. I had asked him to get me a couple quills and some wing feathers for me if he shot one. Well, he did and instead of a few feathers, he brought me the whole dang bird! (Well, minus the meat/head/guts, etc.) Now I’ve got a trash bag containing a frozen turkey carcass sitting on my office floor.

I haven’t looked at the bird yet, but what other feathers can I use? I’m fine with just plucking a few of the feathers mentioned earlier, but if there are others that I could make use of I’d like to do that.

Suggestions?

2

I’d save the tail coverts (great for muddlers), marabou and a flats. Save all 18 tail feathers and every wing secondary–and a few primaries for biots.

3

Keep the marabou. It’s the only thing that you will need to tie one of my favorites. The Whiskey Fly (nothing but wild turkey marabou)

Kevin

4

We did an entire turkey swap earlier this winter, and there were some very interesting flies. Personally I like those mid-chest feathers with all the florescents in them. Cool things. JGW

5

I received a Ring-necked Pheasant from a fellow and I still regret not plucking the entire bird.

My 2 cents… Pluck the bird, the whole bird!!

There’s almost nothin’ wrong with the first lie, it’s the weight of all the others holdin’ it up that gets ya’! - Tim

6

Hi A-D,
Many parts of the turkey are very useable and I often substitute the tail feathers for pheasant when tying nymphs with wing cases. I have used the metailc copper looking feathers in addition to rams wool for wool head sculpins and as previously mentioned, have also used the marabou portions for buggers etc. I would assess your tying needs before you dispose of the feathers and I would also be VERY careful about isolating the feathers from your other tying supplies.
Be sure to clean them thoroughly with a dawn dishsoap solution, dry them and then put them into a ziplock bag with mothballs and the whole bag inside a rubbermaid sealed container for awhile.