This is my bird from this spring. I prepped the parts and did the mount myself.

The head needed some repainting (wasn't too hard). Other than that I think this is a great kit that turned out pretty good. You can see how the center of his beard was shot out earlier in the season. (by another hunter) It made seeing that 9.5" beard tough! Anyhow he's got great hooks (1 3/8")

VanDykes makes a good kit.

I don't know anything about turkey mounts. I am just curious why you included the feet? Is the head from your turkey or is it a replica? The only mounts I have seen before have been just the tail feathers fanned out which looked fine to me. As I understand it the beard is sort of like antlers in that it indicates the age of the turkey????? I think a cross knife and fork would also be appropriate since they are so good to eat.

The head is a replica I had to do a little painting on. Freeze dried heads can be hit or miss, although I hear some places are quite good at it now.

The tail is significant because the absence of a "hump" in the middle means it is a mature bird. Plus the fans tend to be larger on older birds.

Beards are only a rough estimation of age and in this case someone had shot the center out the beard missing it earlier in the season (not me). The bird obviously was no worse for wear until he met up with me.

The most telling evidence of a birds age is the spurs on it's legs. Hence the reasoning for including the legs. A two yr old bird typically has 1 inch spurs. Afterwards they only grow between 1/8" and 1/16" per year. This birds spurs were 1 3/8" meaning the bird was a minimum of 5yrs old. That is darn old for a wild turkey.

Thanks for the info. I may go on my first turkey hunt this year. Hell of a lot easier to pack out than an elk and won't need to rent a locker just to store it. I've been watching some turkey hunts on TV and didn't at first realize that you wait until it moves it head away from its body and then aim for just the head. Makes sense.