Feathers Only Taxidermy

01/10/2025

Got another shipment of hats in with the addition of my newest design for my duck hunters. Also have a few beanies and a good amount of stickers! I appreciate anyone that might want to wear one or even display a sticker. I have a few shirts left with my original logo and hope to get some more hats of that design soon. If you would be happy to show your Feathers Only pride by wearing one, I would be even happier to know how much you appreciate what I do. Getting the word out of my business is tough. So many hunters in the area still don’t know I’m doing ducks now. This definitely helps spread the word. Here’s a few colors for now. If I figure out what’s more popular, I’ll order more of that particular color.
Hats, beanies and shirts $20 each.

12/31/2024

12/26/2024

Merry Christmas to all from Feathers Only Taxidermy. Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful day

11/30/2024

Tail, wings and back feathers on a barnwood door. (Really needed a couple more rusty hinges)
LED lights hidden on the back for a nice nightlight.

10/20/2024

Super cool display I got finished up the other day. This awesome mix of Easterns, Osceolas, Merriams and Rios are from 7 different states. I’m sure there are lots of great memories here along with the accomplishment of a completed slam.
Too cool of a display not to share!!

09/14/2024

This was an idea I had about 13 years ago. It sat in my garage only partially built for a good two years until I finally got around to finishing it. Planned to make two and keep one but after completing this one, I wanted no part of building another lol. The amount of barn wood it took was far more than I expected. That and I bet it weighed 300 pounds when finished. Installed showcase lights in the pheasant case with a drawer at the bottom. Came apart into two sections. It just barely fit under my 8’ ceilings at the time and made such a cool nightlight. I ended up selling it ☹️ wish I still had it.

08/18/2024

Needing some advice from my waterfowl guys! Playing with a pencil and pen again this Sunday morning. Thinking of having a second business logo (maybe even a third 🤔) since my other one is turkey focused. Would any of you wear one of these on a shirt or hat? Possibly display one as a sticker on your back window? Curious what you all think and which is most liked. I seriously appreciate your feedback

08/12/2024

My apologies if you all are tired of turkey posts this weekend. As for me, I’m addicted to turkeys!!! Sharing one more and I’m done till I crank out a few more. Check out this beautiful double beard eastern on a cool rustic whiskey barrel table!

08/11/2024

This folks, is without a doubt, the largest turkey I have ever had the privilege to mount. When Seth Petersen called me inquiring about a lifesize turkey mount, he told me he had a dandy, and believed it to weigh 30 pounds and have nearly 2” spurs. I all but told him there’s no way lol. Later that morning, he brought the bird by, and he wasn’t exaggerating! I’ve seen a lot of turkeys in the past 25 years, but I’ve seriously never seen one with a body this big. And the spurs..? they were incredible!

We talked and decided this had to be officially recorded and entered into the NWTF wild turkey records for the state of Missouri. I took the turkey myself, and weighed it at UPS on certified scales. This heavyweight weighed in at an unbelievable 30.0 pounds on the dot! Later, two NWTF officials measured the spurs and beard length. The spurs measured an insane 1-12/16” and 1-13/16” and the beard measured in at 10-1/16”!

Seth decided he wanted something special to show off the spurs and massive body the best way possible. I told him a strut would, but wings down will hide those spurs so we need to keep the wings up, if he was good with that. He fully agreed, and wanted to go with the wings half up on a unique alert strut pose, instead of the standard full strut. Putting him on a rustic barnwood octagon floor base, up on a perch at eye level, really made it easy to admire and allows the viewer to see this trophy at all angles.
Just like he wanted.

I want to thank you Seth, for putting your trust in me with your trophy, and giving me the opportunity to mount such an incredible bird of a lifetime! Coming from a taxidermist, thank you for taking care of your trophy in the field to ensure I had a good specimen to work with. It was a fun project and an honor to do.

08/10/2024

Mr. Black wings here was hard to photograph for me. These Osceola’s sure are pretty though! Man I love mounting these creatures.

07/03/2024

This super cool, Kansas corn fed Rio was one of the many birds I shared the other day. I couldn’t help but get some solo shots of him although the wind was playing tricks with his back feathers in these photos. Tail cupped, tilted and with a twist, along with a turned head and fully spread primary wing feathers, makes this big boy appear to be spitting and drumming.

07/02/2024

Good friend and client of mine, Brian White, has likely the nicest at home turkey display I’ve ever seen. He has taken turkeys from all over the country and I was fortunate enough to mount all of them. The lighting and picture angle definitely does not do it justice. I still have 4 more to mount up for him to add to this incredible collection.

06/29/2024

I’ve been asked several times over the last couple years about doing one of these and I just never took it on. Well, I finally decided to do one. There’s very little info online to learn this, so I basically just gave it my best shot. I would estimate right around 500 feathers are on this piece. All from the same turkey.
Each were plucked, trimmed, glued and hand laid. In addition, most of these you may have seen pictures of were not washed beforehand. Customers spend their hard earned money with me and I couldn’t bring myself to do it without washing and drying the turkey to begin with just like I would if I mounted it. Of course it had to be fleshed, (wire wheel meat and tissue inside) before washing, otherwise the washing baths would never get clean. This puts more hours into the piece but it makes for a beautiful display that will last a lifetime. I built and stained the frame myself and it measures just a bit over 4 feet corner to corner. This was a very dark turkey and was extremely difficult to photograph to show its true beauty. I hope to do a real colorful one sometime for display at the shop or for my own home.
Hope you all like it.