I'm no expert but I've done a half dozen or so pheasant.
First off, I found the biggest part is skinning the bugger. Their skin is very thin and easy to cut through, tear or rip. I found an exacto knife with a curved edge worked the best for me.
Once the bird is skinned and I've removed as much of the fat & tissue as possible without further damaging the skin, I'll wash it in luke warm water with some mild soap to remove all the blood and stuff. Your wife will really love it if you do this in the kitchen sink
Next, I'll dry it off with an old rag or some paper towels and then staple it feather side down/skinned side up to a piece of plywood. I have a bunch of 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch thick pieces I use for this purpose.
I'll separate the wings and the tail/butt from the rest of the skin/pelt. I like to extend or spread out wings and tail section when I staple them to a board. I think it's easier to identify which feathers I want to pluck after it's dried.
Finally, I'll put the boards in some sort of container (currently I'm using a paper box lid for some deer) and cover the skins/boards with a 50/50 mixture of Borax and salt. Then I'll put them on a shelf in my garage and forget about them for a while.
My OCD will have me checking on them from time to time (once a month or so)...shaking or moving around the salt mixture and generally futzing with them to make sure there's dry mixture against the skin.
Don't be in a hurry cuz it can take a couple three months to dry everything out...and you want it dry to avoid smells later on. Once dry, I'll store them in cheap plastic shoe boxes from Freddy's or Wally World and I've never had problems with bugs, moths, or larvae infesting my materials once dry.
I'm sure I left something out but that's about it. Have fun and before you know it you'll be scavenging road kills and playing around with dye baths
Mike d
