How to Prevent Freezer Burn on a Bird for Taxidermy

You shot the bird you've been waiting on all season. It's going on the wall. But the taxidermist has a line, life gets busy, and that bird is going to sit in your freezer for a while first. That's normal. What shouldn't be normal is pulling it out months later and finding the feet shriveled and the bill dried out. That's freezer burn, and it's one of the easiest ways to make a great bird a hard mount.

Here's how to prevent freezer burn on a bird for taxidermy, what to avoid, and what to do if it already happened.

What freezer burn actually does to a bird

Freezer burn isn't the cold doing damage. It's air. When air can reach the skin inside the freezer, moisture slowly pulls out of the skin and the skin dries out and oxidizes. On a steak that means a gray, leathery patch. On a bird headed for a mount, it means skin that's lost the moisture and shape your taxidermist needs to work with.

Taxidermist Leonard Qualls put it plainly in our post From the wild, to the wall!

"Freezer burn is one of the main reasons I recommend all my clients use the Tagged and Bagged system because it's detrimental to the bird's feet and bill."

And on the feet specifically:

"As for the feet, when they get freezer burned, they lose their shape and the skin is completely dried out, making it very difficult to inject the feet with preservative resins and recreating a lifelike look and blood pressure that I desire, and so should you."

That's the real cost. A freezer burned duck mount can still happen sometimes, but your taxidermist is working against dried out skin instead of with a fresh bird.

Why the head, bill and feet go first

Feathers do a decent job protecting the body. The head, bill and feet don't have that. The skin there is the thinnest and the most exposed on the whole bird, so it's the first place air gets to and the first place to dry out.

That's exactly why our kits come with towelettes for those spots. Wet towelettes wrapped around the head, bill and feet keep them from drying out and getting freezer burned while the bird waits its turn.

How to keep a bird from getting freezer burned

If you're wondering about the best way to store a bird for taxidermy, it comes down to a few simple things.

• Get a plastic barrier around it and squeeze the air out. Air is the problem, so the less of it touching the bird, the better.
• Protect the head, bill and feet. Those are the spots that burn first, so give them extra cover.
• Store it where it won't get crushed. Don't bury it under a pile of food. Bent feathers are one thing, but a torn bag lets air right back in.
• Freeze it promptly. Once you're home, get the bird prepped and in the freezer as soon as you reasonably can.

How to store a duck for taxidermy with our kit

Our Duck Kit and Large Bird Kit share the same directions. The two steps that do the heavy lifting against freezer burn are these, straight from the directions.

• Step 3: "Wet the towelettes, wrap the head and bill along with both feet. Use the straps to hold towelettes in place."
• Step 6: "Gently place bird inside the preservation bag and squeeze out any air. Place in freezer."

The bag matters here too. Leonard again: "The zipper enclosure on the bags is extremely tight and will not allow air in, which is one of the main ingredients for freezer burn."

Every kit has the full directions in the kit, and we've walked through each species step by step.

• How to preserve a duck for mounting
• How to preserve a goose for mounting
• How to preserve a sandhill crane for mounting
• How to preserve a turkey for mounting
• How to preserve a pheasant for mounting

Common mistakes that cause freezer burn

Wrapping the bird in newspaper or paper towels

This one gets passed down a lot, and it does more harm than good. Paper wicks moisture. Wrap a bird in newspaper and the paper pulls moisture right out of the skin, which is the exact thing you're trying to prevent. Keep paper off the bird.

Tossing it in a plain bag full of air

A bag is better than nothing, but a bag with a bunch of air trapped inside is still letting air sit right against the head, bill and feet the whole time. If you use a bag, squeeze the air out. And a bag on its own still leaves those thin spots unprotected.

How long can a bird stay frozen?

Prepped right, a bird can hold 3+ years when consistently kept at 0°F (-18°C) or below. More on that in our duck preservation guide and our post on how long it takes to get a duck or goose mounted.

My bird already has freezer burn. Now what?

First, don't throw it out. Call your taxidermist and let them look at it. They've seen every kind of bird come through the door, and they're the only one who can tell you whether yours can still make a good mount.

Be honest with them about how it was stored and how long it's been in there. Some birds can be worked with, some can't, and it depends on how bad it is and where. We're not going to tell you it can be saved, because that's their call to make, not ours. Whatever they decide, prep the next one right so you're not in the same spot again.

Freezer burn FAQ

Can a freezer burned bird be mounted?

Sometimes. It depends on how bad the burn is and where it is. Light damage might be workable, but the feet and bill are the toughest to bring back. Your taxidermist is the one to make that call.

What's the best way to store a bird for taxidermy?

Protect the head, bill and feet, get it into a tight plastic barrier with the air squeezed out, keep it where it won't get crushed, and freeze it promptly. That's exactly what our kits are built to do.

How do I store a duck for taxidermy?

Follow the directions in our Duck Kit. Our duck how-to walks through every step.

Is newspaper okay to wrap a bird in?

No. Paper pulls moisture out of the skin, which is what causes the damage in the first place.

Do your kits replace my taxidermist?

No. Our kits keep your bird fresh for your taxidermist. The mount is still their work.

Keep your bird mount-ready

We started Tagged and Bagged because we had birds sitting in the freezer and no simple, reliable way to protect them. Freezer burn was a big part of that. Our kits don't replace your taxidermist. They keep your bird mount-ready until you get there.

Grab a kit before your next hunt so it's in the truck when the bird hits the ground. Shop our preservation kits.