After The Shot??????

First off, let me say I've never shot a turkey, so understand my question.

I've been thinking about it, and I really don't know what to do after I hopefully shoot one this spring. I've seen lotsa writings about dressing deer, but never turkeys. I figure there's a few beginners out there in the same boat.

How do you clean a Turkey.

What precautions do you take not to damage the fan if to be mounted?

Jay

All I do is slice open the breast, peel back the skin, and remove the meat from both sides of the breast.

GA1dad said:

First off, let me say I've never shot a turkey, so understand my question.

I've been thinking about it, and I really don't know what to do after I hopefully shoot one this spring. I've seen lotsa writings about dressing deer, but never turkeys. I figure there's a few beginners out there in the same boat.

How do you clean a Turkey.

What precautions do you take not to damage the fan if to be mounted?

Jay

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I skin out the cape/fan and remove the wings (to mount with the beard and spurs and to make wingbone calls)...then keep the breast and legs to eat.

David Mills said:

All I do is slice open the breast, peel back the skin, and remove the meat from both sides of the breast.

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Yep, what he said.

As far the fan goes, I think that once you have the bird in front of you you'll be able to see how to remove the fan. Once the fan is removed spread it out and remove all the remaining meat/fat. Remove the beard, get ya a peice of old barn board some leather and make yourself a do-it-yourself mount. Here is a picture of one I did several years ago. It's been dropped and moved several times thus the reason for the mangled feathers but it should give you an idea on what to try.

GA1dad said:

First off, let me say I've never shot a turkey, so understand my question.

I've been thinking about it, and I really don't know what to do after I hopefully shoot one this spring. I've seen lotsa writings about dressing deer, but never turkeys. I figure there's a few beginners out there in the same boat.

How do you clean a Turkey.

What precautions do you take not to damage the fan if to be mounted?

Jay

Click to expand...

This is when the real fun begins! Peel back his skin and remove the breast, cut him into strips and marinate him in italian dressing. Fire up the Grill and ice down somethin cold. Call some buddies to come eat, but don't call too many cause youre gonna want to eat the whole thing yourself.

If you just want to field dress the bird and remove the trophy and meat parts later, simply make a cut at the top of the stomach area right below the breast big enough to get your hand in. Then reach in and pull out the guts.

PINCH THE BEARD WHERE THE FEATHERS (YES THEY ARE FEATHERS THAT IS WHAT THE BEARD IS) GOES INTO CHEST. CUT IT OFF ABOUT 1/4-1/2 BEHIND THE END OF THE BEARD FEATHERS, YOU CAN TRIMM THIS MORE LATER.
CUT HIS FEET OFF AT THE KNEES. YOU CAN DO THIS WITH A POCKET KNIFE.
NOW WITH 2 HANDS COLLECT THE TAIL FEATHERS AND WHAT EVER FEATHERS YOU WANT TO COME OFF WITH THE FAN AND GET THEM INTO ONE HAND. yOU CAN ALWAYS PULL SOME OFF SO TAKE A BUNCH.
YOU WILL FEEL AND AREA THAT IS WHERE THEY ALL COME TOGATHER AND IT IS ROUNDED OFF THERE. GRAB THIS WITH ONE HAND AT THE BASE AND THEN CUT JUST BELOW IT.
NOW SPLIT BREAST IN IMDDLE AND SKIN DOWN SIDES.
NOW JUST FILLET OFF BREAST MEAT STAYING CLOSE TO BONE SO YOU GET THE TENDERLOIN.

THEN GO KILL ANOTHER.
YOU CAN SALT THE BEARD END IF YOU WOULD LIKE BUT YOU DO NOT NEED TO.
DO NOT SET BEARD / LEGS WHERE A CAT /RAT OR DOG CAN GET TO THEM.
IT IS OK TO FREEZE EVERYTHING UNTIL YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH IT.
IF YOU ARE SCARED OF TAIL FEATHERS GETTING MESSED UP. CUT A PIECE OF CARDBOARD THAT IS A LITTLE LONGER AND TWICE AS WIDE WHEN THE TAILS IS CLOSED. FOLD CARD BOARD IN HALF AND INSERT TAIL FEATHERS AND PUT SOME TAPE AROUND IT.
THIS WILL PROTECT IT IN THE FREEZER.
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO WRITE "DONT THROW AWAY" ON THE CARDBOARD.

lol,
get yourself some powdered borax. it'll help the curing process.

I bring home these 4'x4' sheets of cardboard from work to pin my beard and tail to. Large sheets of styrofoam will work as well.

trim away all fat and meat from the skin and rub it down with borax and let sit for two weeks in a dry spot.

Pick a mounting plaque of some type and go to town.

Rob

i hang the bird by the neck. cut the beard off where it connects to the skin. cut the legs off at the first joint. cut the wings off at his shoulders. make a cut around the base of his neck and start fleshing it down. cutting and pulling. cut the line where his shoulders meet the breast on each side. the breast will almost fall out in your hand in one big hunk of meat. keep a bowl of water next to you to rinse the feathers off your knife and hands. look for any dark spots where the shot has driven the feathers into the meat and pull those and the shot out. having a good tight shooting gun will keep these to a minimum. rinse the meat off pulling any of that slick membrane of as you go. cook it like you want or wrap it and freeze it.

I pick my birds and save every feather and plume for trade goods. The breast is removed and cut in strips for fryin`. The rest of the bird is put into dumplins`.

Good Stuff!!! Thanks to all.

Invest $10 in the book "After the Hunt" by Lovette Williams.

It will answer all your questions with writing and pictures.

It's on my top 5 list of turkey hunters must read.

I got this off of the internet. It's long but it's in pretty good detail.


Field Dressing Your Wild Turkey
-- By Rob Ramsdale --
Field dressing is essentially gutting the bird in the field while leaving the feathers on. Removing the guts or entrails is important to help allow the bird to cool faster and to keep the "juices" inside the bird from spoiling any meat. If it is a cool day and you aren't far from home, you can skip the field dressing step and wait until you are home before cleaning the bird.


Here are the steps for gutting or field dressing a wild turkey.
1. Lay the turkey on its back.
2. Follow the breast down to the rear of the bird until it narrows to a point between the legs.
3. Pull up on the tip and cut the bird open by making a shallow horizontal incision (through the skin only) between the tip of the breast and the vent (anus). It helps to pull out a few of the feathers in this spot so you can cut more easily.
4. Make the incision large enough to insert your hand and pull out the entrails, making sure to pull out the heart and lungs.
5. Cut around the vent (anus) by carefully following the intestine back and then cutting around its exterior. This is where you need to be careful since you don't want any of the intestine's contents getting on the turkey.
6. Remove the crop (sac-like thing filled with what the turkey's been eating) by making a cut on the neck of the turkey and reaching down and removing the crop located at the top of the breast.
7. Rinse out with water and wipe with paper towels if you have these available.
Plucking Your Wild Turkey
The traditional way to clean a wild turkey is to pluck the feathers off and then gut the bird. This will keep the skin on the turkey which will give it more moisture and flavor after you cook it. You can also save the "giblets" (heart, liver, gizzard) from the bird and make a traditional turkey gravy later when you cook it.
It is preferable to pluck the turkey before removing the entrails. This keeps feathers from getting inside the bird cavity and in general keeps things cleaner. If you've already field-dressed the bird, don't worry about it but be sure and rinse out the cavity good to remove any feathers when you are done plucking.

Plucking Your Bird:
Turkeys have over 5,000 feathers on them and it is easier to remove them if the bird is dipped in hot water. Some people use boiling water but many people swear that water at 140 degrees is the optimal temperature for plucking a bird. Once a bird has been dipped in hot water, the feathers will come off much easier and they also are easier to handle since they are damp and they won't fly around the room. A large washtub is best for dipping the bird but you may have to improvise if one's not available. The large primary wing feathers can also be a problem and it's easier to just remove the wing at the first joint past the shoulder so those very large primary feathers don't have to be pulled out.
If you have left the legs on to help you dip the bird, you now need to cut them off. Then it is time to go ahead and remove the entrails by gutting the bird. This process is basically the same as Field Dressing with the exception of needing to remove the head with a large knife, cleaver or hatchet. Some people also like to use the neck to toss in the stock pot. That is your choice. You can also save the turkey giblets (heart, liver, gizzard) and use them to make a traditional turkey gravy. The gizzard is what allows the bird to grind up its food. Be sure and cut the gizzard open and to thoroughly clean it.
You should now have a cleaned bird that is ready to be cooked or frozen.

Skinning and Filleting Your Wild Turkey

Another option to the plucking and gutting method is to skin and then filet the bird's breast meat off and remove the legs and thighs. This method is quick and easy and allows you to remove the meat from the bird without even opening up the body cavity. If you plan on roasting, smoking or whole deep frying your turkey, you might stick with plucking and gutting the bird since this method does not save the skin. I generally cook my turkey by frying or grilling pieces of turkey; using methods that make up for not having the skin on.


Generally, the areas I hunt are only about a half hour or less from my home so I never worry about field dressing the turkey. I just take it home and clean it immediately. I also hunt in Kansas and the weather is typically very cool during most of the spring and fall turkey seasons. On one hunt during the spring, the weather changed from sunny, to rain. to hail, to sleet and finally snow. If it is warm where you are hunting and it takes you awhile to get to a place to finish dressing the turkey, by all means field dress it first.
1. If you are saving the tail fan or cape from the turkey, remove them first. I also always remove the beard before starting to clean the bird. If you are not saving the bird's cape or tail you can leave them on and start by laying the turkey on it's back.
2. To begin removing the breast filets, pluck some feathers from the middle of the breast and make a small cut through the skin. Then work your fingers underneath the skin and pull the skin back from the breast down to the sides of the turkey.
3. Find the breast bone and start by cutting down one side of the breast bone to loosen the breast filet from the bone. This cut will run from the lower tip of the breast all of the way along the breast bone and eventually up along the wishbone and to the shoulder / wing joint..
4. Start at the bottom tip of the breast and work your way from the rear of the breast forward, fileting off the breast by pulling the filet and using the knife to help separate the breast where needed. Be careful of the crop when you get to the top of the breast. (The crop is the balloon-like sac up between the two halves of the breast by the neck). It is full of some nasty stuff and you don't want to puncture it.
5. Repeat this for the other side of the breast.
6. Remove the thigh/leg by flipping the turkey over on it's breastbone and skinning the thigh and leg.
7. After they are skinned, cut through the thigh muscle where it attaches to the back. To help this process, grab the leg/thigh and bend them up towards the backbone until the joint pops loose. Keep working and cutting through the thigh until you can free the thigh/leg from the turkey's body. Repeat for the other side. I usually then cut through the leg joint and separate the drumstick from the thigh. Wild turkey drumsticks are notoriously tough when you cook them. They also have tons of tiny, tough, bone-like tendons running through them. The only way I've found to make them edible is to cook them for a long time in a crock-pot and sometimes on an old gobbler this doesn't even work.
I hope these methods will help you enjoy your turkey.

nicodemus said:

I pick my birds and save every feather and plume for trade goods. The breast is removed and cut in strips for fryin`. The rest of the bird is put into dumplins`.

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You got a lot of feathers laying around then...

get a bottle of franks red hot and pour a bunch of it in a bowl. cut the breast into strips and sprinkle with cajun shake then put into the hot sauce. pull it out of the hot sauce (don't wipe any off, you want it all on there) and roll it in flour. fry at 350 till it turns a beautiful orange brown. this is my absolute favorite way to do turkey!!!

FERAL ONE said:

get a bottle of franks red hot and pour a bunch of it in a bowl. cut the breast into strips and sprinkle with cajun shake then put into the hot sauce. pull it out of the hot sauce (don't wipe any off, you want it all on there) and roll it in flour. fry at 350 till it turns a beautiful orange brown. this is my absolute favorite way to do turkey!!!

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Okay....I can't wait until I kill a bird to try that.....gonna try that on chicken tenderloins real soon!!!!

FERAL ONE said:

get a bottle of franks red hot and pour a bunch of it in a bowl. cut the breast into strips and sprinkle with cajun shake then put into the hot sauce. pull it out of the hot sauce (don't wipe any off, you want it all on there) and roll it in flour. fry at 350 till it turns a beautiful orange brown. this is my absolute favorite way to do turkey!!!

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Oh Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do a variation of the same recipe.

I use Cavender's seasoning and Crystal hot sauce.

I substitute flour for Adluh's seafood breader. It is from Columbia,SC and available at Piggly Wiggly in the LC.

Good stuff.

I pluck my birds completely then I inject them and drop them in my fish fryer. Nothin on earth like Cajun fried turkey! I cut the tail off just in front of the "knuckle" then remove the flesh from under the skin and salt it down real good. Lastly, I spread the fan out on a piece of plywood and tack it down. Using thumbtacks to hold each individual feather in place. I also run fishin line between the tacks in a spider-web like fashion to keep the feathers flat in the wind. After it has dried for a week or two, weather depending, it will stay fanned out so you can mount it as is, or make a mount for it, or of course buy one of the turkey fan mounting kits. The beard is simply pinched or cut off, and the spurs can be saved by either cutting above and below them, or simply removing the whole leg. I prefer the latter. Just let em dry and they will be hard as a rock. Then you can spray em with varnish or clear-kote. Whatever you prefer.

After the shot you.............


Jump up and run 30 yards to where he is kicking around and try and find you other shelld cause you missed him the last two shots. Then you beat him with a very nice Browning that has exceptional wood and break the stock. Because he has 3 beards that are 10, 8 and 6 inches long and weighs 21 lbs., you take him and show everyone around that you have been hunting with for the last 20 years until he is so stiff you take pictures of it and he looks like he is still alive. Then you put him in a big trash bag and take it to a taxidermist who eats your turkey. Then you send the gun back to Browning and tell them that the 3 inch shells you were shooting were too much for this wood. They send you a nicer stock than you had in the beginning. Then one day you come home and se a turkey strutting on the 1980 model Z-28 that you have been restoring and almost shoot your mount with your service weapon..........well thats what happened to me. Never mind. Listen to the ones before me. Good Luck, Tim

ttt for us rookies !!