The killer turkeys are getting BOLD!

[Steave]

My vote is you can eat it if you're very hungry but I prefer store bought anyday. I find it a little tough even tried boiling it first to tenderize. Tried roasting it like a store bought and that didn't work. A neighbor battered it and deep fried it in small chunks about the size of meatballs and it tasted ok but we were drinking too. :drink:

Long story short I vote dog food.

Hunting those turkeys won't cause them to leave the area. Only the one that didn't survive the hunt will be gone. The others will come back as long as they find food in the area.

 

[oosik]

I've shot and eaten both wild goose & wild turkey. Both are a lot tougher & more sinew than tame. The goose has a lot of oil/fat because they feed in the wheat fields. Gotta cook them long enough to cook out most of the fat/oil. Wild turkey doesn't cook up well in an oven - its just too tough and takes forever. Around here most turkeys are cooked in one of those deep fat cookers. Pretty tasty when done that way.

I will kill a wild turkey and take it down to the neighbors. He has a deep fat cooker and when its done we split the turkey.

 

[STx]

So I tell you they are good. Someone else tells you their Dad says they ain't and you go with that. Maybe go to town and buy a fatted bird then. Happy Thanksgiving!!

I didn't say he said it was bad, I said what you did. Legs and thighs are tough and really only suited for soup, breast meat was good but, different than store bought. I wouldn't hesitate to eat one based on what he told me, I just wouldn't expect to be able to throw it in the oven and roast it like a Butterball is all.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

We have turkeys all over the place; they come through 2 or 3 times a day and roost in the creek behind the house. They terrorize the local feral cats, but pretty much avoid our little Boston Terrier, who likes to chase them. Oddly enough, they tend to out run her and rarely have to fly.

I have hunted and killed turkeys, but only in the Spring. They were, in my opinion, practically inedible. I attribute it partly to the fact that a Spring turkey has survived the Winter and gone through some lean times with not much of a food source; Fall turkeys on the other hand would have had a better diet. In any case, we get our turkeys from the grocery store. My Dad was a duck hunter, and we ate lots of duck, mostly oven baked with dressing. Never liked it much but would eat it during a famine. My preference is for quail and pheasant...fried! Equal to anything else with wings and feathers!

 

[teejk]

We have turkeys all over the place; they come through 2 or 3 times a day and roost in the creek behind the house. They terrorize the local feral cats, but pretty much avoid our little Boston Terrier, who likes to chase them. Oddly enough, they tend to out run her and rarely have to fly.

I have hunted and killed turkeys, but only in the Spring. They were, in my opinion, practically inedible. I attribute it partly to the fact that a Spring turkey has survived the Winter and gone through some lean times with not much of a food source; Fall turkeys on the other hand would have had a better diet. In any case, we get our turkeys from the grocery store. My Dad was a duck hunter, and we ate lots of duck, mostly oven baked with dressing. Never liked it much but would eat it during a famine. My preference is for quail and pheasant...fried! Equal to anything else with wings and feathers!

Wild turkey is not for everybody. Anybody with a gas grill (natural by-product of propane is water) or smoker with a water bowl might learn to love the flavor/texture. I grew up being taught that if I shoot something I had to eat it. I stick by that decades later (exceptions for cowbirds and pine squirrels and maybe a few other pests). I can always make it edible.

 

[Otto Syracuse]

Oh my, what a different conversation here than on the hunting forums I visit! I don't know about turkeys in other parts of the US, but northeast turkeys are great table fare.

Wild turkey is delicious, all parts of it, not just the breasts. Like any wild game, or even any meat, it needs proper field care, butchering, preparation, and cooking. For this version, I spatchcocked the bird (split it in half), brined it for 24 hours, then seasoned it with olive oil, salt, pepper and a few other spices, and grilled it on a propane grill. The entire bird was delicious! Rave reviews even from my wife, who was raised on cellphone meat her entire life.

 

[ovrszd]

Friend of mine does something similar and it is delicious.

 

[JRobyn]

The brining might be what is the major difference. Virtually all grocery store domestic turkeys are heavily brined.

 

[dickfoster]

Funny thing, every thread on this forum about any kind of critter eventually turns into how good they are to eat, how to skin em, cook em up etc. Not a place for fans of PETA to hang out. :laughing:

 

[check]

Oh my, what a different conversation here than on the hunting forums I visit! I don't know about turkeys in other parts of the US, but northeast turkeys are great table fare. Wild turkey is delicious, all parts of it, not just the breasts. Like any wild game, or even any meat, it needs proper field care, butchering, preparation, and cooking. For this version, I spatchcocked the bird (split it in half), brined it for 24 hours, then seasoned it with olive oil, salt, pepper and a few other spices, and grilled it on a propane grill. The entire bird was delicious! Rave reviews even from my wife, who was raised on cellphone meat her entire life. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=483547"/>

Otto, how long did it take to cook?