ALL WATERFOWL MUST BE TAGGED BY LAW! CLICK ON THE FILE BELOW AND PRINT OUT YOUR TAGS BEFORE DELIVERING YOUR BIRDS TO FCF.
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​Congratulations! Nice Mottled Drake, Will!!
You finally got that trophy bird you've been hoping for, and you're ready to send it to Full Choke Fowl to preserve that memory of a lifetime! ​What do you do next??
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Well, saving the bird is an important part of the taxidermy process, and it's all up to the hunter to do this step right. This step is almost as important as the steps to follow.
  • First, you need to understand something that plagues taxidermists in the warmer climates.. That plague is called Bacterial Feather Loss! 
​Sometimes, hunters in the warmer climates harvest a bird early in the morning, and they end up hunting the better part of the day to finish that limit, or possibly scratch another trophy off that bucket list. When the trophy they harvested early in the morning sits in temps above 50 degrees, the bacteria seems to kick in. I always cringe when I see social media pictures of wet birds on a lanyard (or laid across the duck boat), with the expressed intent to have the bird mounted. I cringe, because I know bacterial feather loss could already be setting in. (see image of feather loss below or on the right)​
  • The best advice I can give a warm climate waterfowler who is considering bagging a trophy on every hunt, is to be prepared. Have a cooler with ice, and 2 gallon zip-lock freezer bags in the boat. That way, when you get that trophy bird, place it in a freezer bag and get it on ice ASAP! This smart preventative maintenance move will hinder the growth of bacterial feather loss, and help preserve your trophy until you get it home. By all means, take it out and take pictures...lots of pictures, and show it off on social media! Full Choke Fowl can even incorporate a picture of you, into the finished mount for the office or man cave if you like. 
Now that you have your trophy bird at home and you want to get it in the freezer, hold on a second.. There's another step I recommend and prefer.
  • Take the bird out of the freezer bag and wrap it with wax paper before you freeze it. Tuck the head/bill over the back so that the duck is nice and compact and then wrap it up tight in the wax paper. Don't tuck the head under the wing. When you place it in the bag, make sure you have a Migratory Bird Tag with it. (see image of the Bufflehead ready to freeze and the proper tag on the right or down below)
The contact info card needs to have your name, address, phone number, date, email address, hunting license number of the state where the bird was harvested, date harvested, species and sex, pose desired, and signature. ***Do your best to remove all of the air from the freezer bag before sealing it up.***
  • NOTE: Do not put the bird in a sock or pantyhose! In my opinion and experience with birds packed this way, there is a tendency to damage the feathers when placing the bird into the hose or sock, and most times that damage is detrimental to what could be the show/display side of the bird. (see image of the Redhead damaged from the sock on the right or below.)
Now you're ready to ship your trophy to Full Choke Fowl Taxidermy!..​ 
  • After you have your signed proposal returned to me with your deposit, I will mail you a box with either a cooler or storage bin, and insulation inside. I will also have detailed instructions on how to pack your frozen bird for travel to FCF.
NOTE: ***Styrofoam coolers get damaged in shipping, and then you risk the ice melting and the total loss of your trophy.*** I've had this happen to a client!!
Buy a plastic cooler at Wal-Mart, and save the receipt. I can give it back to you when you pick up your bird and you can either keep or return the cooler.
  • UPS allows 5lbs of dry ice per package. (This should be plenty for you to preserve a couple birds in a cooler for travel to FCF)
  • Any UPS store will know the best place where you can buy dry ice, locally. You have to use dry ice, because as it melts, it doesn't condensate. It melts off as a gas rather than a liquid. If UPS sees a wet damaged package, they will trash it. 
There you have it!.. It's that simple! Double check to make sure you have wrapped the bird, placed it in a quality freezer bag with the info on the Tag card, and let us know you've sent it! ***You have to tag EACH bird separately!! Otherwise you are committing a Federal offense. It's against the law to ship any migratory bird without tagging it. Even the birds you "gift" me, if we have so made an arrangement prior to you sending your bird, must be tagged. 
I offer local pick-up and delivery to some of the southeast, so call me to discuss the pick-up of your trophy today.

With all that being said, I look forward to recreating your trophy of a lifetime!
Bacterial Feather Loss
Wax Paper before bagging/freezing your bird.
​Note proper placement of head.
Properly Tagged bird.
Redhead Drake mangled from pantyhose.
Located in SW GA.
​By appointment ONLY please.
All images and content are property of
Full Choke Fowl Taxidermy 
​Copyright 2021
New for 2021-22 season:
​ If y'all are near Cordele GA. and have birds for me to mount between September and January, we now have a convenient drop off location with our friends at Mike's Deer Processing. Be sure to fill out the Migratory Bird Card! Then call and let me know you dropped it off with Mike. 
....And if y'all have a deer to process, Take it to Mike! I wouldn't let anyone BUT Mike process my deer, guaranteed!