After enjoying the myriad of live reference pictures in Breakthrough’s recent photographic reference articles on the grouse of North America, created and written by publisher Larry Blomquist, this issue seemed to be the perfect venue to create a grouse mount using these marvelous upland game bird reference studies! Using the reference and mounting an actual prairie grouse, good friend and great bird taxidermist Eugene Streekstra took control and parlayed these useful pictures into a beautiful, hand-created greater prairie chicken piece. Eugene had recently traveled to South Dakota and was able to collect several of these magnificent prairie grouse. With his many years of hands-on bird work, he proved to be the perfect candidate to put together Breakthrough’s great reference pictures, with his years of experience and knowledge, to create a fantastic booming and strutting greater prairie chicken mount.
For the purpose of saving space within this article, the complete skinning, fleshing, and washing process will not be detailed, however, I will begin with how the specimen is treated as the entire assembly process begins.
To read the rest of this valuable procedure article on mounting a prairie chickens, subscribe to Breakthrough, or order Issue 124. Call 800-783-7266 or subscribe online.