Wild Turkeys anyone?

[tractorshopper]

I used to have them all the time around my place except for April (hunting season). About 6 months ago, the family across the street bought a full grown English Springer Spaniel. I haven't seen the turkeys since and my ducks stay in the pond a lot now because he comes roaming every day. Even saw him swimming in my pond a week ago.

 

[oosik]

Wild turkeys were introduced to EA WA state about 15 years ago and they have bread like rabbits and literally taken over. Several folks out here in the hinterlands have found that feeding them has very negative side effects. They will come into your yard daily and tear up your yard, lawn, flower beds etc looking for food. The birds in our area are fairly tough also and are best cooked in a deep fat cooker.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Wild turkeys were introduced to EA WA state about 15 years ago and they have bread like rabbits and literally taken over. Several folks out here in the hinterlands have found that feeding them has very negative side effects. They will come into your yard daily and tear up your yard, lawn, flower beds etc looking for food. The birds in our area are fairly tough also and are best cooked in a deep fat cooker.

They don't cause those kinds of problems here; they do come into the yard and browse under the bird feeder, catch a few grasshoppers and other bugs and occasionally take a peck at something in the garden, but about the worst thing they do is leave their droppings on the driveway...and FWIW, turkey feathers do NOT mulch up well when you mow.

 

[oosik]

I think the folks that have the yard problems with the turkeys are the ones that think its neat to feed them; then for whatever reason quit feeding them. The turkeys continue coming to the yard for food and when none is there they start digging for food. At times they dig in my driveway and by golly - they can dig a pretty good hole if they want. A couple years ago my cocker spaniel chased a small group out of the yard and over the knoll. There was a great commotion and he came slinking back - I think he just had the snot whipped out of him. He doesn't even pretend to notice the turkeys when they are in the yard now. Turkey non grata.

 

[teejk]

A friend ruined a young yellow lab by turning it loose on wounded goose a few years ago...our cocker got "cocky" after giving a few woodchucks cardiac arrest (doesn't seem to take much on the young ones) and met a turkey in the yard thinking all animals tipped over and died at his presence. He came slinking back in the same manner and showed no interest after that. Then he met a grown-up woodchuck and after a long battle gave them up as well.

 

[RobertN]

I have found them to actually have flavor, but I don't consider it gamey. I guess I would consider like a comparison to free range chicken. They have more flavor than a grain fed domestic bird.

The strict diets of ranch raised birds takes away all the natural flavors the bird would have. to me, it is flavor vs blad, as compared to gamey vs not gamey.

It's been a long time since I have eaten wild turkey, but I found it a bit too gamy for my taste, especially the drumsticks. It was, however, killed on a Spring hunt, and the bird had little or no fat. I suspect the diet during the Winter had something to do with the gamy taste, but couldn't be sure. I always speculated that a Fall turkey would be a bit fatter and a bit more well-fed and that might affect the flavor some.

 

[RobertN]

We marinade/brine them overnight. Toss the dressed out bird in an icechest with a cup of rock salt, a 5th of wild Turkey whiskey, and enough water to cover. Next day, cook low and slow. turns out really good.

Most people only use the breast meat but the very tough legs and thighs make a very good soup if allowed to cook for a while (I smoke them first).

 

[teejk]

I have found them to actually have flavor, but I don't consider it gamey. I guess I would consider like a comparison to free range chicken. They have more flavor than a grain fed domestic bird.

The strict diets of ranch raised birds takes away all the natural flavors the bird would have. to me, it is flavor vs blad, as compared to gamey vs not gamey.

My experience is that they taste exactly like a domestic turkey but the meat has a little more texture (that is apparently bred out of the domestic "mush"). The legs/thighs are full of tendons and the meat is tough because the wild birds have to use those muscles whereas the domestic variety is engineered to produce massive amounts of white meat that gets supported on little pegs that never get used (and in fact if a domestic turkey gets too big, the weight will break their legs).

Two of my hunting buddies used to only take the breast meat. I convinced one of them to at least salvage the legs/thighs for soup...he went overboard and actually stews the entire breastless carcass to get at the back meat also. I find smoking first works best for me but that's personal preference.

 

[jinman]

My problem with wild turkeys is that they never come around in the summer when the grasshoppers are really bad. We feed sunflower seeds to the birds and that really helps reduce the grasshoppers in our yard, but the garden is not so lucky. Maybe I need to put a bird feeder down there to attract birds. Grasshoppers are smart enough to stay away from high bird populations. I could get some guineas, but then the bobcats, and owls all sit in the woods waiting for the sun to go down so they can raid the guinea roost buffet.

 

[randy41]

I could get some guineas

and then have to deal with the noise