Memorable/Unique Turkey

[dburl]

  I just become a member about a month or so ago so I missed all of the turkey season gossip/talk and the chance to share with all of you this "wild" turkey I harvested last spring.

  Last summer I fired up all of my trail cams on my farm , on feeders and various corn piles , trying to get a pic of a giant buck. It's like opening Christmas presents , I can't wait to see what's on that memory card. There was this group of about 8 gobblers showing up and I got a handfull of pics of them. At the time I didn't really notice how most of them had redish-orange secondary wing feathers because the solid red/orange with white wings stood out stading amongst them. I couldn't hardly wait till spring , hoping to get a crack at taking that turkey but figured a poacher or predator would get it long before that. I mean the thing looked like it was a walmart sack floating out across the pasture.

 Well spring season came and I saw lots of gobblers strutting around our pastures; tried to take one with my recurve.... Don't know what I was thinking. Kidos to those that have accomplished that feat! I took a nice bird with a little over 12 inch beard and 1-1/4" spurs early on in the season with the ol mossberg. The red and white bird was not to be seen for most of the season , until the last 3 or 4 days of season. I was sitting on a field edge one evening and him and another BIG gobbler came out strutting with a hen. I couldn't call them away from her. I tried two days in a roll chasing them all over the field with no luck. That last Saturday morning it was raining so , I just sat there on the couch kinda waiting for it to stop. After it quit , I stepped outside of my house and crow called and heard two gobbling pretty close. I threw my stuff on and hurried out there. I got sat down made a call or two and saw him and another one running straight to me from across the pasture. The really big one just about blew the whole thing , he got way too close but I ended up ol red.

 Sorry for the long story but , I figure I'll never kill another one like this and enjoy sharing it. Check out the pics and If anyone else has a good memorable turkey hunt I like to hear also.

[DeerSlayer]

Amazing! Wonder what caused this coloration?

[dburl]

 Thanks DeerSlayer. I sent an email and some pics off to the AGFC and NWTF requesting one of their biologits to explain their thoughts. A couple of guys sent me a few emails back with their insight. In a nutshell they both said it's a trait that can be carried but rarely shows up, like a pie bald deer or any albino animal. They said they can have this color somewhere down the line bred in and it never show up until maybe two turkeys breed that both have the trait and you get something like this.

[Kevin]

That is pretty incredible dburl. Thanks for sharing. I have seen some albinos but never one like that.

[ChicHunts]

Wow. That certainly is a unique bird. I'm wondering what caused the coloration with DeerSlayer, crazy coloring.......Congrats tho =)

[Wizard]

That's awesome!!!  Did you get it mounted?

[dburl]

 It's at the taxidermist right now. I'm getting it mounted in a half strut and gobble... or full strut gobbling??? To tell you the truth it's been there so long now I have forgot how it's going to be posed. One of the two ways. I actually came across a pretty large piece of red wood that has been slabbed from the bottom the tree that I'm going to check and see if he'll attach it to that and apply some scenery to. If so , I'll add a base to it so it can stand like a table.
 
 I'll post some pics when I finally get it back.

[mpoor]

That is a once in a lifetime bird. Congratulations. I've never seen a turkey like that, heck I've never heard of a turkey colored like that.

[Fly Tier]

That is one awesome bird,Congrats on the harvest.