Wood duck plumage

[HONKSRWORKN]

Unfortunately, with global warming cus it is real , we just can’t do anything about it … I’ve been seeing many birds that normally don’t have pins loaded up with pins .. I used to shoot tons of woodies from the opening months and can’t remember pin feathers .. one thing good about a dead mount as long as the client wants a true dead mount ( birds not groomed to perfection) still groomed but not perfect … I use pinfeathers birds when I have no choice because you can hide flaws easier IMO .. I do a lot of dead mounts and I recommend it when the birds in bad shape .. pins include in that …
I’ll admit , when I skin birds I get a sinking feeling when I see pinfeathers cus it’s always more difficult to make them look good .. what I like to say is if you start with a turd .. you’ll end with a turd ..

 

[Fowl Intent]

Unfortunately, with global warming cus it is real , we just can’t do anything about it … I’ve been seeing many birds that normally don’t have pins loaded up with pins .. I used to shoot tons of woodies from the opening months and can’t remember pin feathers .. one thing good about a dead mount as long as the client wants a true dead mount ( birds not groomed to perfection) still groomed but not perfect … I use pinfeathers birds when I have no choice because you can hide flaws easier IMO .. I do a lot of dead mounts and I recommend it when the birds in bad shape .. pins include in that …
I’ll admit , when I skin birds I get a sinking feeling when I see pinfeathers cus it’s always more difficult to make them look good .. what I like to say is if you start with a turd .. you’ll end with a turd ..

My building trades teacher once told me "strive for perfection and settle for mediocrity. Dont set out to do a 'good enough' job."
Thanks for the insight. It makes me feel a little better about my odds.

 

[HONKSRWORKN]

Best thing to do is shoot a couple more than you need if your not sure of pins .. as far as my experience goes with first part of the season birds and pins Canvas backs , damn near every one I’ve ever mounted was pinned up and they’re killed throughout the season .. I hear end of Jan for them … Geese pretty much all Canada's , Cacklers , and Specks are loaded .. and especially early season Honkers every single one I’ve ever mounted was loaded so forget those unless it’s your kids first cus I won’t mount them except for buddies .. pins aren’t always easy to find unless they’re obvious and you can see them , head and neck being really hard to find and definitely fall out when you wire wheel the fat off then wash . Really for myself I hate pin feather birds not so much for the feathers falling out because most times there so many it won’t show when you miss a few .. I hate the pin feathers because they hold grease , that is nearly impossible to get out so they stay greasy , just enough to cause feather tracking issues and sometimes you get lucky and they track most times they make the area where there’s a few look bad won’t lay down .. It’s why I only mount badly pinned birds for buddies .. they’re a crap shoot .. hope you get a few as for woodies my bet is that first month or two and maybe end of Jan ..