Game Birds

One of Mrs. T.’s uncles hunts. On Thanksgiving, he gifted me with some birds that he had shot. He knows I’m a fly angler and fly tier.

I never skinned a bird until today. But, it is amazing what you can find on the Internet. So, after storing the birds for a few weeks in the freezer as a precaution again mites, I set up shop in the garage today and proceeded to get to work.

Once I got over the willies by pretending I was handling chickens, skinning the birds was pretty easy with the benefit of good lighting, nitrile gloves, and sharp blades.

Once the skins are off, you scrape away any residual fat and, then, stretch and pin down the skins. You then dump a bunch of Borax on them and put down weights to flatten everything.

The skins should cure in a few weeks, at which time I will hand wash them and dry them. Then, I will be ready to make some flies on cold Saturdays when I cannot fish.

There is always something new to learn.

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