What's the story on these things? Are the young ones edible? If I plunk one, it will be from an area of mixed conifers, with a few oaks and small grassy open places. Any special care with the carcass? Cooking tips?

Best ways to treat it are as a domesticated bird. Pluck it as soon after shooting as possible and don't overcook it. Skinning it will cause it to be dry. A well dressed bird will be great tablefare and even more so smoked.

They do tend to be a bit dryer than a domestic bird. Try to shoot one later in the fall they will have more fat. Roasting whole will benefit from brining as well. Legs are going to be rather tough no matter what you do and have lots of hard tendons. Early fall birds are full of pin feathers and a pain to pluck as well.

I usually breast my bird out. Pound out slices into thin cutlets bread and fry. I trim as much meat as I can off the carcass and grind it. Unbelievable how tasty ground wild turkey is compared to that store bought crap. The bones make great soup.

If your looking for a roasting option I have roasted just the breast with great success. I pluck the bird then skin trying to leave the skin intact as possible. I Remove the breasts from the bone. I butterfly and pound the breast out to about an inch thick. Cover the breast with your stuffing of choice. Then roll the breast up. Once rolled wrap with a piece the skin and tie it it three or four places. Roast as you would a whole bird, less time of course. Be very moist have the tasty crisp skin and easy to carve.

I have ate a ton of them. They are drier than a popcorn fart. I tried all kinds of methods. Wrapped in bacon , baked in a bag , plucked, skinned, fried whole both ways. You name it. The best way I ever had it was breasted out sliced into strips and fried. I never tried injecting them.

The first wild turkey I killed was a jake, and all I knew to do was to scald it and pluck it like it was a chicken. Tried roasting like you would a domestic bird, and I found it to be very poor table fare. Have also had it smoked, which wasn't too bad.

I always cut the breast out, and cut it up into small pieces, roll in seasoned flour and fry. Not bad that way.

We inject with cajun seasoning and cut into strips. We flour in blend of flour and onion soup mix then deep fry. If you ever saw a two year old running around holding one like a lollipop your would agree.

Thanks a lot fellas, I'll give 'er a whirl. Looking at the forests of the east and the south, they have a lot more variety of diet. Out here, with 30 inches of rain annually, even the grouse can be a tad gamey and need spices, wine and onions to kind of mellow them out a little. Not one person mentioned moist slow cooking with any success...there is a lesson in that I will take to heart.

Several years ago we were camped in a primitive cabin in the hills of Tennessee, I took a jake and the BIL prepared it by cooking low and slow. He used what was available in the cabin which was a couple of enameled wash basins. He jerry rigged a slow cooker out of them and put it on the wood stove. Like most game he prepares he added a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and water, it turned out very well, not dry at all.

I respectfully disagree with Fink.

Wild Turkey is nothing like a Butterball or any domesticated bird.

The fried breast is excellent. It's dry meat, don't over cook it.

Soups, meaty gravy for waffels... are easy used for the rest.

I kill deer just to eat them. Sport and meat are our goals, antlers really don't matter.
Never really pursued fall turkeys, just no interest.

Now in the spring, that's all about fun.
Then on we make the best of the meat.

101 Wild Turkey?
That is pursued for the enjoyment of consumption.

Give it to any Mexicans that want it.. they can make taco meat from them and you wont have to eat it...… they suck for something to eat other than survival food.

I like them better than store bought, they taste more like food and less like styrofoam to me. My favorite is deep fried but I also like to brine and smoke them. I haven’t ever found much difference between spring and fall birds flavor wise. The thighs are my favorite part of any turkey and they are more apt to stay moist and tender when you smoke or bake a bird.

Chunk the breast up in nugget sized pieces, marinade in beer or Italian dressing then cover in your favorite breading or batter and deep fry. I really like Louisiana fish fry for my turkey.

Debone thighs and wings and use to make soup. Toss the drumsticks in the creek.

This here,we breast it out and slice into turkey fingers Italian dressing,very good.

flintlocke,

You need a copy of UPLAND BIRD COOKERY, Eileen Clarke's cookbook on all sorts of upland birds (www.riflesandrecipes.com). It isn't just a recipe book, but a guide on how to treat them from the time they're killed, and how the age of the bird affects pre-freezer care, and recipes. A lot of hunter treat ALL game the same, making the same mistakes. Wild turkeys are NOT a consistent product, like domestic birds sold in stores, so you need to vary the care and cooking techniques, depending on the individual bird.

Deer Mr Boresnest, I think you are a snake oil drummer man. For years and years you been mentionin' Venerable Cartridges. Well, I am an old time scrounger of cartridges, been hoardin' fer years. Ain't seen none what has that headstamp. Venerable...hah. But...I heard your woman was the real McCoy and honest..so I will order the book in spite of the company she keeps.
Thank you, Paul

Chicken fried w/biscuit and gravy!

Treating them all the same and getting different results is probably correct. No surprise. Thats the same as with beef, chicken or anything else. An old one is going to be tougher. I have seen chickens so tough, you could pressure cook them and they were still like a rubber tire.

Paul,

Yeah, you got me! (As I have mentioned somewhere before, am tempted to develop a wildcat called the .25 or .30 Venerable, just to remedy that.

Luckily Eileen isn't trapped by the same sort of rifle-loony stuff. Which is also why she experiments a LOT with wild game before publishing a recipe. I have been benefiting from her jerk experiments for the past couple years. The book will be out very soon...

Skin it and cut the meat off of it. Cut it into steaks across the grain. Pound the steaks with a meat mallet. Soak in milk. Shake up in seasoned flour. Fry it slow in a skillet.