It is not uncommon to see a white turkey, or off color turkey on one pine plantation I hunt. There are homes nearby with free walking tame turkey but these stay around the house, I friend tells of his father releasing tame turkey on a lease several miles from where I hunt. What do u guys think of these? Obviously there is alot of domestic blood running through this area, I was thinking of a question. If you called up a white hen, say just blind calling , no gobbling turkey around, what would you do? :lol:
Take a picture.
Look at it
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wait on her boyfriend.
I'd be amazed. I saw a hen here a few years ago that had some really light colored feathers on her left wing, but other than that our birds don't seem to vary much from the ordinary coloration in my experience.
Bob
So it sounds like we are talking a domesticated "white" bird crossing with "Wild" birds... can't see how this could be good, if I had the chance (fall season) here I would be taking every one of them I could out of the gene pool. I can understand a naturally occurring oddity/mutation but purposely introducing domestic stock w/wild is just not something I could see being good in any way shape or form. Funny your state agency would allow this, unless they are just not aware of it...
MK M GOBL
Letting domestic birds intermingle with wild birds is a recipe for disaster. Obviously, it dilutes the wild gene pool of the birds, but more importantly, the possibility of the domestic birds introducing a poultry disease is significant, and can jeopardize the entire wild turkey population in that area.
You should ask your wildlife agency about whether you can legally shoot those birds or not. They might want you to,...assuming there was some verification that the off-colored birds are domestic stock or hybrids. I'll guarantee they don't want them there.
If those birds are domestic/hybrids, you would be doing your true wild turkeys a favor by wiping them out.
A released turkey wouldn't survive a day in the wild. As Gobblenut said...BAD idea.
Quote from: fallhnt on March 10, 2016, 10:01:10 AM
A released turkey wouldn't survive a day in the wild. As Gobblenut said...BAD idea.
Yep, not a chance.
I've only seen 1 white bird and it wasn't all white. Saw out of my truck feeding with regular looking birds in a pasture outside of Waynesboro Mississippi. I saw birds there quite often, but only saw the white one once.
There's a neighborhood in the city next to me where there is a stupid amount of turkeys walking around. Kind of a slummy place where this is happening. The turkeys range from white to the color of a wild bird and every mix in between. I saw 30 or 40 birds that were just walking around doing turkey stuff. It's a wild kind of place, trees and ponds and I'm sure this is the result of wild and domestic birds breeding. Just reporting what I saw a few years ago......
I watch this guy as he was a poult. Split from his mom hen and start running with a group of 7 other jakes. Have about 20 trailcam pics and was very fortunate to kill him a few years ago.
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/P1030051.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/P1030051.jpg.html)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/100_9101.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/100_9101.jpg.html)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/SUNP0240.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/SUNP0240.jpg.html)
Cool pics!
We have a good many turkeys in MS that have some white patches on them but usually not solid white like a tame turkey. I think it's just a natural color phase. I'll try to post a pic of a fan with some white streaks in it that I took a couple years ago.
I bunted a white and black gobbler in this area that stayed in a pasture,never got him after two of trying
Really neat and nice bird, i bet it was awesome seeing that turkey come in!
Not permitted to shoot hens in the Spring in NY. Therefore, I would enjoy the show ... And hope for lover boy to appear.
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Quote from: Fatbeard on March 10, 2016, 09:50:56 PM
I watch this guy as he was a poult. Split from his mom hen and start running with a group of 7 other jakes. Have about 20 trailcam pics and was very fortunate to kill him a few years ago.
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/P1030051.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/P1030051.jpg.html)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/100_9101.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/100_9101.jpg.html)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee290/fatbeards/SUNP0240.jpg) (http://s233.photobucket.com/user/fatbeards/media/SUNP0240.jpg.html)
Awesome bird.
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I have 2 partial white birds on my farm, both hens though. Be nice if one of them produced a white gobbler!
Have a couple white hens on out lease... they are not completely white but probably 80% ...never seen a tom that color though. The hens are usually dark under their wings.
I was scouting an area a few weeks ago with my two grandsons and a flock of birds (8-10) where out in the road, and one was a white hen. As we slowly move forward they left the road into some Palmettos, and when we got too close they busted and flew off into a swam bottom. She was pretty both on the ground and in the air.
Quote from: fallhnt on March 10, 2016, 10:01:10 AM
A released turkey wouldn't survive a day in the wild. As Gobblenut said...BAD idea.
why wouldn't they survive a day? Or even a year? Domestic birds get free and survive all the time.
Quote from: snapper1982 on March 11, 2016, 06:52:35 PM
Quote from: fallhnt on March 10, 2016, 10:01:10 AM
A released turkey wouldn't survive a day in the wild. As Gobblenut said...BAD idea.
why wouldn't they survive a day? Or even a year? Domestic birds get free and survive all the time.
We raised "Bronze" turkeys on the farm, our hens raised the young but we had numerous problems with owls, hawks, mink, fox and cats killing them in and around the barnyard let alone the coyotes, bobcats, wolves, dogs and others on the "predator" list living around us. When we would lose one wasn't usually to long until we would find the tell tale pile of feathers... Domesticated birds, at least around here wouldn't have a chance surviving. Now I don't necessarily say it's not going to not make it out there for a day but doubt it could make it a week. Our hens could fly, the toms so-so... but even with this they never left the barnyard. They just don't have the survival instincts, wariness, or heartiness needed to live as a "wild" bird does.
MK M GOBL
I'd get as much video as I could... if it was fall season, she'd be flopping. Spring season I would just enjoy watching and filming. White or gray phase turkey would pretty much be worth throwing down the cash for a full body mount. And I've never sent anything to a taxidermist before.
Id enjoy the moment unless it was fall. I bet those half tame ones are real tender though :-)
(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160320/190a0bb1b21897837b4facbab809b757.jpg)
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^^^Ks...last year
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Quote from: fallhnt on March 20, 2016, 02:20:06 PM
^^^Ks...last year
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That would appear to be a Smokey Phase "Wild" bird than a "released" domesticated bird.
MK M GOBL
I have a white and gray bird in a flock of about 40 birds a mile from my house in one direction,and 2 white and gray birds in a flock of 8 birds about 2 miles from my house in opposite direction,all 3 last years hatch,i don't know if hens or gobblers,but to far apart to have any genetic relations.No tame turkeys in the area,just some sort of mutations I suppose. dlw
I have shot 1 hen in my life she had a 6 in beard and it was 2 hours before my season ended for the year...can't shoot hens in spring in Illinois only ones with beards...have had many many chances at hens in the fall with my bow ..they are legal with a bow but I have no desire to..if I were presented a shot on a all white gobbler...i would let him walk ..just so few an to unique...now if a gobbler was partially white I would take him...always hunt no matter what the weather....just my opinion on the white ones
If I see a white gobbler I'm taken him.
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