where to get some feathers?

[beartail]

howdy everyone.i am looking for a source to get some feathers.i got 10 rivercane shafts knocked straight and ready for some feathers! who do yall recommend?

[agd68]

If you have Canada geese in your area you can pick up bags full when they molt in late spring/early summer

[JEB]

Check on the trading post.  Someone is bound to have some feathers they will trade you for something.

[HDF]

I've found all of mine just walking around the local woods, if you can find the spot of something like a recent fox or hawk kill you'll be able to pick up a few too.

[toomanyknots]

While we are on the subject, is it cool to use molted geese feathers? Do you gotta worry about bugs or mites? You gotta spray em with stuff?

[bubby]

tmk put them in a zip lock in the freezer for a week that will kill any mites

[Danzn Bar]

I do as bubby, or you can spray a little bug killer in the bag before you seal it up, no need to freeze.
DBar

[Pat B]

Guys, be careful of the feathers you pick up. Most found feathers(in the US) are federally protected and have been for a hundred years.

[HDF]

Guys, be careful of the feathers you pick up. Most found feathers(in the US) are federally protected and have been for a hundred years.

I don't think I've got such trouble in the UK thankfully, I imagine that's pretty much the only area the English have more freedom than the Americans though! Most of the feathers I've been picking up are wood pigeon feathers, they seem to work well but unless you get a tail feather they aren't particularly big. Possibly try and find a local farm with geese or turkeys?

[JEB]

I do as a couple of guys wrote put them in the freezer for a week or so and then remove them for a few days and then put them back in the freezer until I need them or until my wife tells me to remove them, which ever action comes first. The reason I remove them for a few days and out them back is, someone told me that the mite eggs can hatch after being removed and the second freezing takes care of that.  Whether that is true or not I do not know but that is what I do.

[Banjoe]

I was getting by with some castoff feathers from gulls and crows (ravens?) down by Golden Gardens beach nearby, but I realized I needed something a bit more colorful because I kept losing the darn arrows in the forest.

So, went to the local arts-and-crafts shop and got some "craft feathers". They are turkey quills, plenty strong enough for good vanes, and brightly colored enough so that I will hopefully lose fewer arrows in the leaf litter. Cheap enough, too.
Added bonus, no worries about grabbing feathers that the government says I shouldn't pick up from the ground.

Goofy looking bright colors, but considering how fast I destroy/lose arrows, I'll only regret the colors for a little while before the arrows are lost.

[Goose Fletch]

Road kill. Haha. It works. Lots of geese here. I would also agree with freezing them if you pick them off the ground. Harder than acquiring them is grinding them all comsistently. I am currently trying to reproduce a "great northern feathers grinding jig". Also, try local farms, just do a quick map search on google, i was surprised to learn about all the farms in my area that produce geese and turkey. The problem with molting feathers is that they're often torn or in bad condition.

[JackCrafty]

I've had very good luck buying turkey feathers in bulk online.  I've also got some very good friends that have given me plenty of wild turkey wings and tails.

I used to try and pick up goose and duck feathers from parks and such but I'm lazy now.  The stuff online is cheap.  I'm saving the wild turkey feathers for the "perfect" arrows that I will build someday...

[bow101]

Found lots of crow feathers on the beach.

[Tracker0721]

My father in law in Washington state got a turkey and I clipped all the feathers I could. Big ole tom with some feathers bigger then my forearm in length!! But I found one of those geese hunting outfitters online(Facebook) and he said he'd cut the flight feathers and send em by the box full to me. I just pay shipping.