Where to get Turkey Feathers - A How To

[Onestringer]

From time to time I see threads from people who want to know where to get turkey feathers for fletching.  I want to share my secret on obtaining turkey feathers.  Its real simple and most of all cheap.  

I can tell you how to get enough good turkey feathers to last you a life time for just a couple of bucks.

Step 1 Call your local DNR and make sure its legal to collect wings from legally killed turkeys

Step 2  Have some business cards printed up with your telephone number.

Step 3 Give these cards to everyone you know that turkey hunts

Step 4 Go to a couple of Archery shoots in early spring.  Pass out some cards

Step 5 Keep some cards with you at all times.  If you are in Walmart and the person behind you in line mentions turkey hunting give them a card.

Tell everyone that you give a card to you would like their turkey wings if they are just throwing them away.  99% of turkey wings wind up in the trash.  Most folks will keep the beard.  If the spurs are good they might keep those, and about half keep the fan.  

Tell the people to just cut the wings off at the first joint, call you and you can pick them up.  If they are nice they just might drop them off at your house.

The last three springs and falls my Dad and I have applied this process.  Dad kept a bin on his front porch for people to drop wings in.

Each turkey has I think 9 primary flight feathers and really only 5 or 6 of these make # 1 feathers, so you really need alot of wings to make up a bunch of arrows.

The first Spring we did this we received 26 sets of wings.  Spring two we received 65 sets of wings.  Spring three we received 132 sets of wings (thats 264 wings).  If we would have really tried we could have hit 200.  We received wings from AR, MO, KS, NE, SD, and OK.  Thats just from local people who went out of state hunting.

If someone calls you and says they have wings, you had better get them.  People tend to leave them out and they go bad pretty quick.  

Now if you followed steps 1-5 you are ready for Step 6

Step 6 Once you have wings from several birds you have some choices.  The easiest thing to do is call Dave Mitchell at Custom Feathers (TG Sponsor) and trade him for the ground feathers of your choice.  All this costs you is shipping.  

If you follow these steps you can wind up with something like this.

[Shawn Rackley]

wow. great idea.  never thought of that.

[Cromm]

WoW.

[JEJ]

Wow Scott! The last person to see that many turkey feathers all at the same time was George Armstrong Custer!