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After the kill preparations

Ladys man":2jfuvvc7 said:
Just curious but after the kill are there any certain things I need to know?
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Rule #1 take good pictures
Rule #2 if you sling it over your shoulder to walk out be careful getting in your car cause chances are you have blood all down the back of your legs
Rule #3 send the pic from rule #1 to all your buddies with a caption of "suck it" lol
 
Watch a couple videos on how to clean a turkey. Most folks just take the breast meat, others keep legs and thighs. Keep some salt and borax in the garage so you can dry the end of the beard and the tail. I lay the tail out and use some 4x4 pieces laid on top to keep it spread while it drys.


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Ladys man":3vnd1ejh said:
Just curious but after the kill are there any certain things I need to know?
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Make sure he's dead :D !

Trust me, they can fool you. If his head is up as you approach him after the first shot, don't hesitate to shoot him again.
 
Gravey":d4tb32l4 said:
When his legs are still kicking don't try to grab them. Those spurs are sharp. To remove the beard just grab it at the base and pull. Comes out without having to do any trimming at all. Good luck!
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So if he's still kicking and flopping ? Step on his head ? Whats that procedure lol
 
Ladys man":1srp090f said:
Gravey":1srp090f said:
When his legs are still kicking don't try to grab them. Those spurs are sharp. To remove the beard just grab it at the base and pull. Comes out without having to do any trimming at all. Good luck!
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So if he's still kicking and flopping ? Step on his head ? Whats that procedure lol
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Stepping on his head doesn't keep those legs from flying around and ripping your pants and cutting your leg. I put my boot on his feet or just let him flop out. As mentioned above though if he's down and head still up shoot him again.
 
I see a lot of advice here that I agree with and some that I don't. Im not saying either way is wrong, but just different approaches. After the shot, if hes down Im getting to him ASAP and getting my hand around his NECK. NOT HIS LEGS! Once I get my hand around his neck hes mine! Ive grabbed well over 200 birds this way and the worst Ive ever had one hurt me was to brush a call out of my lips. Hes gonna flop, hes gonna twist, but as long as you don't let go, hes yours. Ive wrung a bunch of necks this way too, some of them barely hurt lol. My first Osceola is a good example: He was strutting with hens in a logyard and I shucked my vest and belly crawled up a ditch until I THOUGHT I was close enough. At the shot, he ran, 2nd shot he flew, 3rd shot flying he came down into the palmettoes. I ran in after him with an empty gun and ran right at me! I tackled him like he had the football and rung his neck. THIS TURKEY WAS NOT HURT! NOT A SINGLE PELLET IN HIM! I literally killed him with my bare hands.
After hes dead and you've taken pics, lay him on his back and spread his wings out and hold them down with your knees. DO NOT FIELD DRESS A TURKEY! That's the stinkiest crap you will ever smell! CUT THE BEARD OFF leaving a little meat and skin attached. Ive seen them fall apart later if you just yank them out. FInd the breast bone and make a cut along it. Then pull the skin down until both breasts are exposed down to the thighs. Cut them out and the thighs if you want them. Cut the legs off at the knee joint and your done. I promise you, it took me longer to type this out than it takes me to fully dress a turkey! LOL
 
If your bird is not flopping when you get to him, h will probably start flopping like crazy soon as you touch him...so don't get spurred. Let the nerves calm down and then sling him over your shoulder. You'll get that blood stain on your pants from carrying him out, the mark of success


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Huntaholic":2ugwhk8x said:
After hes dead and you've taken pics, lay him on his back and spread his wings out and hold them down with your knees. DO NOT FIELD DRESS A TURKEY! That's the stinkiest crap you will ever smell!
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I would like to add if you want to smoke or roast the whole bird, you will have to gut it. Yes they got a smell to them, but don't cut the $#!t pipe and it won't be as bad. The innards all come out easily except the lungs which are recessed into the ribcage and take a little extra work if you even bother with those.

Most people don't fool with the legs, but they taste great, the only thing is they are very tough and will need to be cooked a long time, preferably boiled, crock pot, pressure cooked (the fastest), or smoked. If you smoke the legs, you'll want to wrap them in foil after the initial smoking so they don't dry out in the smoker. Baste in butter, wrap in foil and let em go a few hours till the meat falls off the bone. It's delicious. Pull the meat and make bbq sandwiches with your favorite sauce. Dang good eating


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Good thread guys. I'll add if you want to breast him out to pull as many feathers off the under side of the hide as possible prior to cutting. It will be much cleaner.


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catman529":1ih5cc5p said:
If your bird is not flopping when you get to him, h will probably start flopping like crazy soon as you touch him...so don't get spurred. Let the nerves calm down and then sling him over your shoulder. You'll get that blood stain on your pants from carrying him out, the mark of success


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Yep, for some reason they like to flop when you get to them and touch them!

I've killed very few that never flopped, and from my experience if you shoot one that doesn't flop you didn't hit him right. I've seen a lot of decapitated birds and chickens in my life, it doesn't matter, they flop with a head on or not.

Seems like if he doesn't flop you hit some other vital organs in the body cavity that caused his death.



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Forget all the grabbing the flopping bird. That's a good way to get hurt. Literally sit on the bird and squeeze the air out of his chest. He can't thrash around and spur you. You'll know when he's done when gives a big deep exhale and you feel the muscles quivering. Wait another 30s, then u can pick him up. You won't damage or pull out as many feathers this way if you want to do any kind of mount.

I had one stick a 1.5in spur deep into my calf back in the 90s when I used to step on their neck. Sitting on them is much safer and they won't flop as long.

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If you want to smoke it on a smoker or roast the turkey in the oven, I suggest plucking it and you have to gut it. Cut an x or plus sign in the vent hole, not too deep, and just reach in there and pull it out slowly. Plucking it leaves the skin on which holds moisture. Wild turkey very dry. When you gut the bird, the lungs are the hardest things to remove, and I don't know a good way to get them out. The lungs will not come out with the other main organs in my experience. They are attached just underneath the ribs, and you basically have to just scrape them out in pieces.

When I pluck my birds, I put them in a big tub and pour almost boiling water on them, and try to concentrate most of the hot water on the legs and wings. The little feathers on the legs and the primary wing feathers can be tough to get off. Pull the feathers off with the grain to keep from tearing meat. Also don't pour scalding boiling water on it because it will cook some of the meat and turn out very dry. Just kinda takes a knack to get a feel for it.

I will also add that the only birds I pluck will be ones killed in early season, late season birds are covered with ticks and it's just unsightly so I usually just breast them out.

Breasting a turkey is very easy. Cut I small slit on down the keel bone, then you can rip it and spread it out, and just fillet the breast off like your filleting a fish.

Cut legs off at hock joint, hyperextend the joint and cut right between it, usually takes about 3 seconds. I pluck my beards off, I think they last longer.

Cut the tail fan off by grabbing the tail head, and basically just cut it off.

So much easier to butcher than a deer.


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