# What woodcock mount



## ezcaller

Every fall I say this is the year that I will get a woodcock mounted and I continually put it off. This is officially the earliest I have made my declaration and would like to see any woodcock mounts- so that I will know what I am looking for come fall. Thanks.


----------



## Mitchell Ulrich

That is one exceptionally difficult bird to do!
Don't be surprised if you have some trouble finding a Taxidermist willing (AND ABLE) to take on the job.

There are only a few things that I WON"T do...

1) Skunks (self explanatory)
2) Woodcock (to delicate, I'd have better luck splitting wet toilet paper in two with a scalpel!)
3) Porcupine (yeah I know they look really cool but I'm done getting impaled with quills.) 
4) Domestic pets. It just got to heart wrenching dealing with the owners. That and it happens to be my personal belief that "Puff" and "Mr. Whiskers" will make better under ware than they would a mount. 

But that's just me.


----------



## waterfowl-artist

Heres a few pictures of a Michigan Woodcock I mounted about a year and half ago (conventionally mounted I might add). I also put pictures of this bird on this forum last year, hope you dont mind a repeat ! I do love mounting those Gamebirds, and I do mount alot of them ! Thanks for looking


----------



## ToppDogg

That is a SWEET mount !!!!! Love that you got the morel on there !!!!


----------



## Mushroom Jack

waterfowl-artist said:


> Heres a few pictures of a Michigan Woodcock I mounted about a year and half ago (conventionally mounted I might add). I also put pictures of this bird on this forum last year, hope you dont mind a repeat ! I do love mounting those Game Birds, and I do mount alot of them ! Thanks for looking


 
That is a beautiful mount. Hopefully this fall I want to have a Ruffed Grouse mounted, drumming. I have a paraffin embedding process that I do to Morels and other mushrooms. My intent is to have a lighted, log coffee table to display the Grouse and morels in. Could you give me an estimate of what the Grouse would cost? Here's a picture of the morels in a terrarium. By the way, remember the old 2 liter bottles that had the bottom on them ? Wish they were still around.


----------



## Mitchell Ulrich

M'Room Jack..He'd love to give you a price...but he can't...or he'll be permanently banned from the site.

Glad you like woodcock 'cause I still don't want anything to do with them.

Both look great!


(...I can see wires...you know that's a no-no!)


----------



## waterfowl-artist

Yeah Michael
I dont know where you see wires, but you must have better eyes than I do (at 53 , I dont see as good as I used to). At any rate, Woodcocks are a bitch no matter what ( I have learned a few tricks over the years with Woodcocks that help me keep my sanity, super glue and tape are a must when skinning). He will be entered in the Pa taxidermy state show in March ( He still needs eyeroigs and some grooming and a black wash on the feet ).


----------



## outdoor junkie

How do you guys go about preserving them mushrooms like that to display. Never thought of it, but I love the idea, and would like to make a little piece to add to my trophy room. Thanks. I think the woodcock looks great, and i can't seem to see any wires either.
And Jack if you want a price from him, shoot him a pm.


----------



## ezcaller

Thanks for the replys. I like the looks of your mount some guys have got a knack for catching certain creatures. Nice to hear you like the game birds too. PM sent.


----------



## Mushroom Jack

outdoor junkie said:


> How do you guys go about preserving them mushrooms like that to display. Never thought of it, but I love the idea, and would like to make a little piece to add to my trophy room. Thanks. I think the woodcock looks great, and i can't seem to see any wires either.
> And Jack if you want a price from him, shoot him a pm.


 
Preserving Mushrooms ( to LOOK AT, not EAT )

I used wide mouth quart jars
You will need Ethyl alcohol, T-butyl alcohol, Water and Paraffin wax
Parafin wax must only be heated enough to melt it ( around 126 deg. F. )
REMEMBER : Do this only in a well ventilated area AWAY from any OPEN FLAME

Soak mushrooms in :

1. 50% ethyl alcohol / 50% water..........10 to 14 hours
2. 70% ethyl alcohol / 30% water..........10 to 14 hours
3. 95% ethyl alcohol / 5% water............10 to 14 hours
4. 100% ethyl alcohol..........................12 to 14 hours
5. 25% t-butyl alcohol / 75% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
6. 50% t-butyl alcohol / 50% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
7. 75% t-butyl alcohol / 25% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
8. 100% t-butyl alcohol..................................12 to 14 hours
9. 100% t-butyl alcohol saturated with paraffin wax.....24 hours
10. 100% paraffin wax....................................24 to 48 hours
11. Remove mushrooms from paraffin and allow external paraffin to drain off

I used little wire stands up thru the hollow stem to allow paraffin to drain off
I also used my Excalibur Dehydrator for this process because it would melt the T-butyl and paraffin safely


----------



## Doug Bridges

Nice bird.

Wouldn't it be easier an safer to just cast the Morel? 

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


----------



## outdoor junkie

Mushroom Jack said:


> Preserving Mushrooms ( to LOOK AT, not EAT )
> 
> I used wide mouth quart jars
> You will need Ethyl alcohol, T-butyl alcohol, Water and Paraffin wax
> Parafin wax must only be heated enough to melt it ( around 126 deg. F. )
> REMEMBER : Do this only in a well ventilated area AWAY from any OPEN FLAME
> 
> Soak mushrooms in :
> 
> 1. 50% ethyl alcohol / 50% water..........10 to 14 hours
> 2. 70% ethyl alcohol / 30% water..........10 to 14 hours
> 3. 95% ethyl alcohol / 5% water............10 to 14 hours
> 4. 100% ethyl alcohol..........................12 to 14 hours
> 5. 25% t-butyl alcohol / 75% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
> 6. 50% t-butyl alcohol / 50% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
> 7. 75% t-butyl alcohol / 25% ethyl alcohol.........12 to 14 hours
> 8. 100% t-butyl alcohol..................................12 to 14 hours
> 9. 100% t-butyl alcohol saturated with paraffin wax.....24 hours
> 10. 100% paraffin wax....................................24 to 48 hours
> 11. Remove mushrooms from paraffin and allow external paraffin to drain off
> 
> I used little wire stands up thru the hollow stem to allow paraffin to drain off
> I also used my Excalibur Dehydrator for this process because it would melt the T-butyl and paraffin safely


Thanks Jack, I did see your recipe on another forum as well. Where do you go about getting these chemicals? Sure seems complicated, but maybe something I may like to try, as much time as I spend hunting them sure would like to show a few off. Good luck this season bud.


----------



## Mushroom Jack

You're right, the chemicals are sort of hard to come by. I had a friend in Ann Arbor , at the school, that furnished me with a gal. of each. ( T Butyl & Ethyl alcohol ) That's enough to do a lot of mushrooms with. There are some stores on line that you can order them from. Don't know the price though. One of these days I'm going to try and reconstitute some dried morels in Paraffin wax, heated just to the melting point. I'm thinking that might work too. Probably will have to keep the wax at just the melting point to not cook the morels. If someone beats me to trying this, please let me know how it worked out. Oh, and thanks O.J. and good luck to you too !


----------

