Quote Originally Posted by majdan View Post
Another good place to look for a feathered skin would be your local fly fishing shop. I don't know about NH but there are plenty of then in Oregon. I'd use a plain leather sporran as a base and use a leather bonding cement to fix the feathered skin to the front and flap. That is a great idea.
That was what I was thinking.

Quote Originally Posted by David Thornton View Post
Finally, I can help with d DIY question. Pheasant have beautiful feathers and are the easiest to skin. Either the breast or the back feathers will make a beautiful accent, and unlike doves, will actually be big enough to cover a decent patch. I've accented picture frames for pictures of some of my favorite dogs with pheas feathers.
The skins are easy to cure as well, borax or salt should be all you need.
If you don't hunt, or don't know someone who does, there are lots of breeders around who raise birds.
Let me know if you need help.
David

Shooting birds in town is frowned upon and I'm new to the area so I don't know the goods spots yet so I went and searched online for some pheasant skins and found them here. I was really hoping to make one in a soft grey with black spots (i.e. dove or partridge) as that would be more versatile but looking at the pheasant I think that would be a really stunning piece that would complement a red tartan nicely so I ordered some skins. My plan is to take a cheap SWK sporran and, using leather glue, attach the short-feathered skins to the face and flap of the sporran. Then I will take the longer feathers and make tassels.