Tail feather: how long

[BrdHntr]

Here's a few pics of the feathers we have - we have given quite a few away over the years, lost some to our dogs - and some simply didn't survive our moves; Did start culling the longer ones from our trips over the past 4-5 years - the longest in the pic is 25 3/8"; Rarified air to me is +24" - we did bag one 24 1/4" on our first trip to SD this year. Both feathers still had fluid in them - which I've always thought means the feathers are/were still growing.................

 

[BrdHntr]

Good to know. I killed a pheasant this year that I am going to have added to the mount that I attached below. The pheasant has a pretty good tail feather length (24") but I thought it would be great to replace them with the 28.5" feathers. Just a thought but it doesn't sound like it would turn out well.

Here's the Cabela's bird I mentioned - which I also posted here on a similar thread last year - very pleased with the result...............17 years ago now-Yikes!

 

[remy3424]

Still looks good!

 

[Golden Hour]

Good to know. I killed a pheasant this year that I am going to have added to the mount that I attached below. The pheasant has a pretty good tail feather length (24") but I thought it would be great to replace them with the 28.5" feathers. Just a thought but it doesn't sound like it would turn out well.

It couldn't hurt to reach out to a taxidermist in your area and talk it over. It could be that they might know more about it than the individual I spoke with.

 

[remy3424]

Good to know. I killed a pheasant this year that I am going to have added to the mount that I attached below. The pheasant has a pretty good tail feather length (24") but I thought it would be great to replace them with the 28.5" feathers. Just a thought but it doesn't sound like it would turn out well.

The bars (markings) on the those feathers you have from the other bird might not have a similar pattern to the bird you want them to go into. Once you start looking at them they vary a lot. But if you are changing out the tail feathers from another bird, I am guessing you really wouldn't care about that. Put little horns on it while you are at it...a good taxidermist can do that. That last remark tells you what I think of doing that, it then represents nothing that ever was. But hey, it is your money, memory and story to make-up about it.

 

[BrdHntr]

Still looks good!

Thanks Remy - I can remember that hunt so vividly; with Laura on our annual trip that always (and still does) coincides with the Huron Pheasant festival. Back then I believe the season closed Dec 21...............the first SDFG season extension was to Dec 31 to allow the college students to return home during break and go phez hunting. Remember the specific WPA and location that bird was shot. Was the fall on 2004; very excited - 1st place that year was a ATV...............I knew the bird was a dandy but you could not pull the feathers / a Cabelas employee had to/ if you did pull them you could not register the bird; anyway, I didn't know until I received the attached letter from Cabelas..................yes ...................those buzzards made me wait until March 15 2005 - 4 months later - to find out I came in second As they said on ABC Wide World of Sports "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat". Still the longest feathers we've harvested & cherish it. (along with each and every bird).

 

[Goosemaster]

The bars (markings) on the those feathers you have from the other bird might not have a similar pattern to the bird you want them to go into. Once you start looking at them they vary a lot. But if you are changing out the tail feathers from another bird, I am guessing you really wouldn't care about that. Put little horns on it while you are at it...a good taxidermist can do that. That last remark tells you what I think of doing that, it then represents nothing that ever was. But hey, it is your money, memory and story to make-up about it.

Don't modify a classic car.

 

[Goosemaster]

In the last two years of hard hunting, I have several 24" feathers. Dad killed one last season that broke 25".

There was a local Country Store in N.E. NE that used to run a weekly tail feather contest in the late 80's-early 90's. I'm certain I won once with a 28" feather. I do remember the weekly prize was a box of Activ shells. Weekly winners went into a season end drawing for a shotgun. If I remember right, it usually took at least a 26" feather to win.

The last contest I saw, the winner was 27.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

I've kept the two primary/long feathers from each rooster I've shot in the past 21 years (started when I got my 1st springer), assuming a bird makes it back to me with tail feathers attached. It's quite a few feathers. In that time (5 seasons in central IA & 16 in eastern/southeastern SD; almost solely public land each place), I've maybe shot 10 roosters that went over 23" & 3 or 4 that went over 24". I've never broken the 25" mark.

 

[Bob Peters]

I just looked at a few feathers in a jar. If you measure a plucked feather it looks like you're adding up to 3 inches on some feathers and most around 2 inches. So it's a big difference if the feather is still in the bird(mounted) or plucked and sitting in a jar.

 

[remy3424]

You are just guessing at the length when the feathers are in the birds. I am not sure how to measure tail feathers if you don't measure from stem to stern.

So, I wonder if pen raised birds have been from stock with unusually long tail feathers, if so those birds might sell better or for a bit more! Not sure why they wouldn't select the long tails for breeding stock. Any pheasant farmers here to chime in to see if this is a thing?

 

[Golden Hour]

You are just guessing at the length when the feathers are in the birds. I am not sure how to measure tail feathers if you don't measure from stem to stern.

So, I wonder if pen raised birds have been from stock with unusually long tail feathers, if so those birds might sell better or for a bit more! Not sure why they wouldn't select the long tails for breeding stock. Any pheasant farmers here to chime in to see if this is a thing?

I saw a guy with a really long one on Facebook (30+) a month or so back. He shot it at a preserve. I think the biggest prohibiting factor is that when you pile that many roosters into a pen, their tails are getting stepped on and pecked at throughout most of their time in captivity. Which is also why you see the weird colored pheasants being produced and sold, as it is a way to market unique "pheasants". It's tragic, I tell ya.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

My wife is a florist and has to buy some feathers. I think they’re usually packaged like16”-20” and 20-22” Looking on line I don’t see anything broken down into larger sizes other than some that are like 20-24, 20-25. Must not be that common even in pen raised. I’ll pull 4 or 5 a bird for he and she also buys from a floral wholesaler and I think she pays about 60 cents a feather. I wonder if she can write off my shells.

 

[remy3424]

My wife is a florist and has to buy some feathers. I think they’re usually packaged like16”-20” and 20-22” Looking on line I don’t see anything broken down into larger sizes other than some that are like 20-24, 20-25. Must not be that common even in pen raised. I’ll pull 4 or 5 a bird for he and she also buys from a floral wholesaler and I think she pays about 60 cents a feather. I wonder if she can write off my shells.

For 60 cents each, I know a guy that could (would) sell a hundred or 2! I would round it down to 50 cents plus the ride. My neighbor gal might have to count on her hubby for her feathers then!

 

[Citori16]

Here in NESD a 24" is pretty rare, 23" is a very nice tail feather. 20-22" is solid. My boss has a bird in his office that has a tail feather over 29" that Sage retrieved from the air many years ago. That was incredibly rare and I've not seen anything close to that before or after.

Over in UT/ID, some of their wild pheasants have crazy long tails, into the 30"+ range.

Never seen tails that long in Idaho although I have heard some “tales”….. I have 100’s from over 50 years of hunting in Idaho and my longest is 24 1/2. Most are in the 22-23 inch range

 

[Goosemaster]

I saw a guy with a really long one on Facebook (30+) a month or so back. He shot it at a preserve. I think the biggest prohibiting factor is that when you pile that many roosters into a pen, their tails are getting stepped on and pecked at throughout most of their time in captivity. Which is also why you see the weird colored pheasants being produced and sold, as it is a way to market unique "pheasants". It's tragic, I tell ya.

Thumbs down!!

 

[Goosemaster]

How long do tail feathers on wild pheasants get? Whats consider long?

Over 26 inches is long.

 

[Goosemaster]

Well I went through about 200 or so feathers I have collected for years, and I thought I would have an advantage over you guy's because of how many I have and how long I have been saving them, HAA, WRONG. The longest one is 23 3/4" . But if you measured all of them and did the adverage it would be a good idea of a common length. They were taken in IA, SD, ND, and MN. But sounds like a time drain, my guess is who ever said 18-20" is about right. I have heard an old timer brag about a 36 incher before but that sounds like a pile a you know what. Now You guy's got me thinking "Spot and stalk hunting on long tails" for that trophy chicken.
:coolpics:

I stalked a bird up by Scobey.

 

[Goosemaster]

View attachment 2429

Looks like montana

 

[Goosemaster]

I have one set of tail feathers (2 feathers) sitting in my office that came off of a wild pheasant from eastern Oregon that have 34 bars and the tail feather is 28.5 inches long (total length). I have shot some others from that area that are 25 inches or so.

I do have a question concerning those feathers. I am going to get a pheasant mounted, is it possible to exchange the tail feathers in that bird for the longer ones? Basically remove two feathers and add the two longer ones?

Yeah, but that would be bogus.