this morning I shot a hooded merganser drake. it would be my first one and find it to be a great looking bird. my question is how much repair can a taxi do on a bird. it was a perfect head/neck shot. nothing blown apart just messed up feathers and I'm guessing a little brain or tissue coming out

You should be good to go.Taxi can fix that pretty easy.

I would go for in unless the beak has holes in it. Looks like a great bird.

-Matt

I would put it in the freezer and see if you get anything better looking before the season ends

Wash the blood out of the feathers and freeze it in a freezer bag and let your taxi decide!

Most things a good bird taxi can fix but it's hard to tell by your pic if the head feathers are all still there. Whatever you decide take a note from two past posts about hoodie mounts and DO NOT ruin such a pretty bird by trying to save a few bucks and having a non bird taxi screw it up. Mine had some damage and I was told repairs where made but the job was so good a normal person wouldnt notice.

Should be OK, I have a hoodie pair from last week in my freezer as well

If it ain't missin feathers on its head I'd say put him on the wall. Taxi can fix anything except missing feathers. Most taxis use fake beaks..

That's not a problem.

that's kinda what I was thinking. thanks y'all. he didn't look to bad after I cleaned it up. the feathers on the head seem to be all there but just clumped together. I will take yalls advice and when I take it to taxi I decide on. get his personal opinion as well and go from there.

yes the picture doesn't do much justice, I thought about getting a fine brush and straighting out his hood but didn't want to risk pulling it out.

It's very likely the hood is clumped together if it landed in water. Don't stress. Tuck head under wing. Wrap it in a DAMP towel, put in gallon baggie get all air out n freeze!

I shot a buffel head 4 times before it died. Blood everywhere with ruffled feathers. You can not tell it was shoot to heck now. Good taxi. guy can fix almost anything.

put the damn thing in the trash, , JK

Broken wings are more trouble than that pellet in the head. 2 shot or smaller and 1 stitch will hide it. Use a good taxi that knows how to get blood stains outta white feathers. No problems. As for holes in beaks, most guys are using fake heads so doesn't matter.

Hell no

Only problem a taxi guy will have is miss/damaged feathers. They can’t replace feathers. But bloody feathers no big deal. Just seal real good in air tight freezer bag and let your taxi guy make the call if it will be a good mount or not, based on plumage and condition of bird. They make great mounts, I shot one and mounted it.

I don't think most good taxi's will recommend wrapping in a damp towel. I was told to triple bag it. And you don't need to rinse the blood. Check Birdmanstudios.com, Birdworks or Avian Arts. Here is mine from Birdman studios.

That's real nice mount Roc.

roc and guy, those are both grey looking mounts. that's generally what I'm gonna go for. I think the standing pose brings more of there color out

I dont want to sound like an a-hole but do you mean species wise or because the bird is bloody? A good taxidermist can make that hoody look great. As far as it being a hoody, I have just about every bird that I want on my wall except that one so I say mount it.

That depends.

I set all mine in damp towels. Then bag them. Works great. Takes moisture outta towel before takes moisture outta the bird. But thanks Roc....

Might as well mount it they ain't good for eatin!