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Doing some stuffers

974 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  duckhunter052002 
#1 ·
To those of you that have either mounted "stuffer decoys" for yourself or others, I have a question. I have agreed to do three stuffers for a guy at work. I'm going to use some dense foam pieces to make the bodies, but what do you suggest for heads? I'm going to use original heads, but can I cut them out as if I were going to use a artifical head and boil them to get them clean or will the skull and joints come apart?

He understands these birds will be done nice, but not to the degree of a full fledged mount. So any suggestions to make an inexpensive head or save some time in cleaning original heads would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!
 
#2 ·
Yes, you can do the incision around the bill, remove the skull, but then I'd just cut half the skull away, pull out the brains and flesh. I do this on some birds, and will actuall flesh away the meat, but I leave the tendon that holds the lower bill to the jaw muscle. I then take the bill and head, and dust it completely in Borax. Let it dry for a few days, and re-build the muscle structure with apoxie sculpt. I know it sounds like a pain in the butt, but they are guaranteed to fit. The alternative (artificial head) is definately going to save you some time though. It all depends on what you're charging for the stuffers. I don't have any experience on stuffers personally, but for the most part, I think most times, the heads are just left in the bird. I know they don't even flesh the birds, but salt them heavily. I believe they use them for a season, and they may be considered trash after the season's end.

-Pete
 
#3 ·
i have made several mounted decoys for my self and for some of the guys around here. i carve the body out of foam and carve an artificial skull out of foam. i have had some of these abut 5 yrs now. i spay them with scotchgard be fore i put them out and the have done pretty well.

lee

idenify before you shoot(keeps ya legal) :thumbsup:
 
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