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In my area of British Columbia I hunt in we are starting to get a fairly good population of turkeys and if all goes well this spring one turkey is going to have a less than banner day.
Do most people pluck or skin the birds and are they good eating. Do most cook them like a domestic turkey?

I have plucked a few in my lifetime, if you have an entire afternoon to kill, go for it. It is truly a PIA.

The legs are pretty rugged, I just skin them, breast them out and save the legs, thighs for making BBQ, or turkey salad.

One of my favorite meals with wild turkey breast:

1. Cut breast into strips, dip in egg and dredge through flour (add salt/pepper to flour if it strikes you).

2. Brown stips in a pan.

3. Once browned add a half a cup of apple cider, a can of canned apples and a tablespoon or two of honey.

4. Simmer for 20-25 minutes and serve over a bed of rice.

The flour mix will help thicken up the liquid.

The breast meat of a wild turkey is nice and white just like a domestic bird. When you clean one don't be scared of all the "jelly" looking stuff at the front of the breast (where the neck meets the body) it is just fat.

Thanks Steelhead, I appreciate the information and the recipe.

Skin them, screw that plucking. The whole skin will pull right off.

you have to blanche them first. Feathers come right off then. I have been shinning mine lately though. Bring the big pot of water to a boil, take it off the fire and shove the bird under water for about 15 seconds. Feathers come right off with a little pulling. If you are going to roast it, a skinned breast will get REALLY dry.

Turkey pie!
Skin and boil with celery and onions. Pick out bones and put in bowl with cream of mushroom soup and can of mixed veggies. Mix and put in pie shell with top. Turkey gravy and you will love it. Easy quick and no fuss. Freeze for the future if needed. It makes me want to hunt turkeys even more.

Cooking like domestic turkeys will be less than expected.

I usely skin mine then use all the parts. However, I got email from Lovett Williams in reference dry plucking. He says that if you pluck right after the kill it should be easier. It may be a PIA, however after i shoot the tom, got all day left, can only get one a day in NY so why not pluck so you can have some deep fried, marinated turkey!

skinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn that Gobbler and throw in a pot of hot peanut oil.............deep fried wild turkey..yum yum____

Skinned and fried up like fried chicken with biscuits and gravy........

Skinned, portioned (some in the freezer and first meal fresh) and done in a crockpot. With cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and a bulion cube. Shoot, put in anything you want. You can't go wrong with a crockpot. Cook on low for the whole day.Mmmmmmm

My son got me into turkey hunting and he got his first bird this pat year in NY. It was a young bird and neither of us had plucked one before. I had heard all the horro stories about how hard it is to do, and how tough the legs are, and how it dries out, etc.
He said he wated ot pluck it so we went for it. took about 20 minutes and hardly a pin feather left on it.

Then we cooked it in the oven just as a store bought bird. Used an oven roaster bag, and it turned out to be one of the juiciest turkeys I have ever had. The legs and even the wings were delicious. Like I said, it was a young bird, we plucked it within an hour. Maybe it was beginners luck but I would do it exactly the same next time.

Take those breasts out and pitch the rest. skinning is for the birds, way too much trouble.

I've plucked my share of them too. If I want to cook one on the smoker I'll pluck it. Otherwise I skin it from the breast bone down to the thighs, fillet the breast meat from the bone and take out the thighs. That leaves the leags attached to the skin and the guts still in the carcus, toss all that away. I can do it in less time than it takes to type it.

I cut the breast and thighs into strips and fry it like chicken. My family loves fried turkey.