by Marc Fryt
As bird hunters, we spend a great deal of time scouting, finding ideal habitat and prepping for the hunt. With so much commitment to pursuing grouse and other birds, why not get the most out of your hard-earned efforts? Preserving bird skins can become a cherished look back at those days afield, or they can be born again into fly patterns to use on your next fishing adventure.
Learning to clean bird skins is a process that you shouldn’t rush and will involve trial and error. However, while there’ll be mistakes along the way, it’s easier than you think, and the results are something to be proud of.
Before starting, the first consideration is selecting the right bird. Any game bird can be skinned, but choose a bird that isn’t too shot up since it’ll be easier to remove the skin in one whole piece. Some birds are simpler to start with, such as ruffed grouse, whereas woodcock are very delicate and require more skill and patience. You can also preserve duck skins, but it’s a more time-intensive process to remove their high amounts of fat.
While out in the field, if you have a bird that you think would make a good wall mount, don’t store the bird in your hunting vest. Storing the bird in a vest can cause some feathers to fall off. Instead, carry the bird back to the car and lay it out in a cooler so the feathers aren’t scrunched up (especially the tail feathers). Taking these steps will help to produce better results.
There are a few tools and materials required, and you may already have most of what’s needed: a sharp knife, scissors (or game shears,) scalpel or hobby knife, toothpicks, coarse salt, a bucket, liquid dish soap, a hairdryer and Borax (which can be found at most grocery stores) and latex gloves.
With our bird selected and tools ready, let’s dive into our project.
The bird should be dry. If the feathers are wet, they’ll frustratingly stick to everything while you’re skinning. If your bird has wet feathers, you can either blow dry it (with your blow dryer set to cool) or lay it out in a cool area to air dry.
Lay the bird on its back and brush the breast feathers aside, exposing the breastbone (figure 1). Make an incision just under the skin and take the cut up to the head and then down to the vent (figure 2).
Working slowly, peel the skin away from both sides of the breast by holding down the breast meat with one hand, while lifting the skin with the other hand. Massage coarse salt between the skin and meat for any areas that are tough to release. If you encounter a hole or rip the skin, gently peel around the hole to free the surrounding skin. This is where a toothpick can be helpful to delicately release the skin around the hole without tearing it further. Small holes don’t make much of an impact, and you can sew up larger holes after drying the feathers.
Keep pulling off the skin down to the first leg and work it off the thigh. To help release the skin from the leg, grab the foot in one hand and push it up towards the body while your other fingers push the skin down until the thigh and leg are free (figure 3). Next, push the skin down and over the ankle joint (figure 4), then snip the joint ligaments to remove the thigh and leg (figure 5). At this point, you can either cut the feet off the skin or keep them attached. Repeat this process with the other leg.
Now, peel the skin off the lower back and down to the tail feathers. Work as far down to the tail feathers until you meet more resistance. You can’t pull off the tail feathers with the skin, so they need to be cut free. Take your scissors and cut the tail muscle from the body keeping the tail feathers intact with the meat (figure 6). You only want to keep the minimum amount of meat necessary to support the tail feathers, making it easier to thoroughly dry and preserve the area.
Next are the wings. Remove the skin from around the shoulder and down the humerus. Salt is key around the wings to work the skin free; at times, I’ll even use a toothpick to help release the skin in difficult spots.
After you push the skin over the elbow joint (figure 7) is where it gets tricky. The secondary wing feathers are anchored against the ulna bone, making it difficult to peel the skin away without tearing it. The best trick is to take a sharp knife and, at a shallow angle pointed in towards the ulna bone, delicately “shave” down the ulna releasing the skin with the secondary feathers (figure 8). Next, peel the skin until it’s over the wrist joint (figure 9,) then cut the ligaments, freeing the rest of the wing and primary feathers. Repeat this process with the other wing.
Remove the skin from the rest of the upper back and peel it up and off the neck, working towards the head (figure 10). You can snip or cut the skin free at any point here to release it from the body.
Next, the skin needs to be fleshed out and de-greased in order to remove any fat or meat (figure 11). Don’t rush this step because this is where bacteria can take hold of any fat or muscle left on the skin. You’ll need to keep some meat attached around the tail feathers to help prevent them from falling out and assist in the final positioning of the tail feathers during the drying process.
You can use a combination of tools to scrape away the fat and meat: butterknife, spoon, brush with stiff bristles, brass wire brush, etc. Also, you can make crosscuts and massage in Borax to abrasively remove the fat. Small tears may happen at this stage, so, again, take your time. You may also want to wear latex gloves while de-greasing the skin.
To help with fleshing the skin, fill a bucket with lukewarm water and some drops of liquid dish soap. Soak the skin for 15 minutes, then lay it back out and continue removing the fat. Several iterations of baths and fleshing may be necessary to clean the skin entirely. You may also notice that some fat will float to the surface while the bird’s skin is submerged. After a bath or two, you may need to refill the bucket with fresh soapy water.
Once you’re finished fleshing, submerge the skin in clean lukewarm water, then lay it out feather side up. The feathers and skin will be a drippy wet mess (figure 12,) but don’t worry. Use a blow dryer on low or no heat and blow-dry the feathers in the direction they’re laying (i.e., with the grain). The drying process will take time, but it’s rewarding to watch the feathers slowly fluff back to life (figure 13).
After drying, lay the skin feather-side down into a container such as a cardboard box. If you have any holes you’d like to sew up, before applying any Borax is the time to do it. You can use thread that matches the color of the feathers or use thin monofilament fishing line such as tippet for fly fishing. For small holes, about the size of a couple pieces of shot, I tend to leave them as is, since they’ll be hard to see once the skin is finished drying. Position the wings and tail feathers into the position you want and pin them in place using thumbtacks, weights and/or tape. Next, cover the exposed fleshy side with a liberal amount of Borax, working it into any nooks and crannies (especially around the tail feathers where there’s still meat).
Let it sit for about five days, and then check on the skin. Brush off the old Borax and inspect the skin to ensure the Borax is drying everything sufficiently. Re-apply fresh Borax by rubbing it in and then let it sit again for a few more days. After three to four more days, brush the Borax off and use a blow dryer to help clear the feathers of any Borax. Now you’re ready to fix the skin to the mount of your choosing (figure 14) or place it in a plastic food storage bag for future fly-tying use. When it comes to tying fly patterns, taking the time to preserve an entire bird skin will pay dividends at the fly-tying table. Rather than having a bag full of jumbled feathers, you can easily look over the bird skin and select the feather type, size and color best suited for the fly pattern you are tying.
