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I shot this bird on PA State game lands last Monday.  Buddies at work were busting my stones saying I shot a domesticated bird but there's no farms near these game lands so I doubt that is the case. One guy suggested it was a smoke phase but any pic that comes up on a Google search shows a bird with the coloring throughout, not just the wing feathers.  Any ideas as to explain why the wing feathers on this bird are white? He had some pretty bad beard rot and I thought he was a Jake when he first came into my setup (he was with another Jake that came in first), could the deficiency that causes beard rot cause the feather discoloration as well? Thanks!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190505/0443b4969e56ce9d7accffa604adf11c.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190505/8c3a75f3af60f8ad91db23505d47b4f2.jpg)

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It's partial albinism, similar to that of like a "piebald" deer. I've seen hens with white wings much like this  gobbler.

For reference, the two different hens I've seen similar to this were both in NW MO located in an area where there were no farm turkeys within any reasonable amount of distance. One of the hens had some breast and body feathers effected, but not entirely, and the other was just wings like this gobbler.

Quote from: HookedonHooks on May 05, 2019, 08:53:49 AM
It's partial albinism, similar to that of like a "piebald" deer. I've seen hens with white wings much like this  gobbler.

Thanks for the input!  Appreciate it!

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Very unique bird! I am by no means a turkey biologist, but the wings on this bird favor a smoke phase birds wings. The barring is mostly non existent. The quills are white instead of black like on a normal eastern wild turkey. The red phase birds I have killed over the years, thr quills are orange vs black.

That is a beautiful bird my friend, and very unique. Regardless of beard rot, that bird would make a wonderful hanging dead or flying mount to display the uniqueness.

Quote from: appalachianstruttstopper on May 05, 2019, 08:56:13 AM
Very unique bird! I am by no means a turkey biologist, but the wings on this bird favor a smoke phase birds wings. The barring is mostly non existent. The quills are white instead of black like on a normal eastern wild turkey. The red phase birds I have killed over the years, thr quills are orange vs black.

That is a beautiful bird my friend, and very unique. Regardless of beard rot, that bird would make a wonderful hanging dead or flying mount to display the uniqueness.

Oh believe me, I wanted to take him to the taxidermist, I thought the same thing a flying dispaly.  Unfortunately as soon as the word taxidermist was mentioned by a friend who came over to see the bird my wife ears shot up . She's not too happy about the $700 bill from the limb hanger I shot two seasons ago and my archery buck from last fall that's still at the taxidermist and being paid for.  I kept the wings and they are currently in the freezer until I have time to get to them.   I plan to do a simple fan/wing display.

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New one on me.  I've never seen one even remotely similar.   Congrats!

Quote from: guesswho on May 05, 2019, 09:20:47 AM
New one on me.  I've never seen one even remotely similar.   Congrats!

Thank you!  I've never seen a bird like it either and was pretty shocked when I seen him come high stepping in towards my decoy.

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Haven't seen one like that before. Congrats on a beautiful and unique bird

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Quote from: tomstopper on May 05, 2019, 09:57:49 AM
Haven't seen one like that before. Congrats on a beautiful and unique bird

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Thanks

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It's definitely not a smoke phase. We have a bunch of them around where I hunt. The ones I've seen are gray in color.
I doubt the beard rot has anything to do with the color either.
It's neat whatever else it is. Congrats...

I killed a bird like this in pa a few years ago.  It also had a very bad beard.  Looked like a Jake beard.  I'll post pics in a lil bit.

Quote from: quickdrawm249 on May 05, 2019, 09:00:43 AM

Quote from: appalachianstruttstopper on May 05, 2019, 08:56:13 AM
Very unique bird! I am by no means a turkey biologist, but the wings on this bird favor a smoke phase birds wings. The barring is mostly non existent. The quills are white instead of black like on a normal eastern wild turkey. The red phase birds I have killed over the years, thr quills are orange vs black.

That is a beautiful bird my friend, and very unique. Regardless of beard rot, that bird would make a wonderful hanging dead or flying mount to display the uniqueness.

Oh believe me, I wanted to take him to the taxidermist, I thought the same thing a flying dispaly.  Unfortunately as soon as the word taxidermist was mentioned by a friend who came over to see the bird my wife ears shot up . She's not too happy about the $700 bill from the limb hanger I shot two seasons ago and my archery buck from last fall that's still at the taxidermist and being paid for.  I kept the wings and they are currently in the freezer until I have time to get to them.   I plan to do a simple fan/wing display.

CONGRATS on an awesome and unique bird !!!!

Gotta say...........had I shot that bird, there'd be 2 votes in my house as to whether it went to the taxidermist or not..........and HER'S don't count.............    The cool thing about women is they usually get over stuff like that, eventually.   ;D

Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on May 05, 2019, 11:02:12 AM
It's definitely not a smoke phase. We have a bunch of them around where I hunt. The ones I've seen are gray in color.
I doubt the beard rot has anything to do with the color either.
It's neat whatever else it is. Congrats...

Yeah I agree about it not being a true smoke phase after looking at tons of smoke phase turkey pics on the internet...thanks for the input

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Quote from: Yoder409 on May 05, 2019, 12:00:32 PM

Quote from: quickdrawm249 on May 05, 2019, 09:00:43 AM

Quote from: appalachianstruttstopper on May 05, 2019, 08:56:13 AM
Very unique bird! I am by no means a turkey biologist, but the wings on this bird favor a smoke phase birds wings. The barring is mostly non existent. The quills are white instead of black like on a normal eastern wild turkey. The red phase birds I have killed over the years, thr quills are orange vs black.

That is a beautiful bird my friend, and very unique. Regardless of beard rot, that bird would make a wonderful hanging dead or flying mount to display the uniqueness.

Oh believe me, I wanted to take him to the taxidermist, I thought the same thing a flying dispaly.  Unfortunately as soon as the word taxidermist was mentioned by a friend who came over to see the bird my wife ears shot up . She's not too happy about the $700 bill from the limb hanger I shot two seasons ago and my archery buck from last fall that's still at the taxidermist and being paid for.  I kept the wings and they are currently in the freezer until I have time to get to them.   I plan to do a simple fan/wing display.

CONGRATS on an awesome and unique bird !!!!

Gotta say...........had I shot that bird, there'd be 2 votes in my house as to whether it went to the taxidermist or not..........and HER'S don't count.............    The cool thing about women is they usually get over stuff like that, eventually.   ;D

haha I agree I'm usually more bold with decisions like that...I figured I should tread lightly on this decision though being that I just took a new job requiring a lot more hours and I've already let it be known my time spent hunting will not be impacted...figured I gotta let her win sometimes to keep the peace.  She always tells me to pick my battles when arguing with our kids over stuff...little does she know I take her advice more when it comes to arguing with her

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 Don't know anything about it but it is COOL !!!!!

Really cool bird..congrats. .when you get your tail fan and wing display please post a pic l think it will be pretty cool

Quote from: Clydetaylor1 on May 05, 2019, 01:08:48 PM
Don't know anything about it but it is COOL !!!!!

Thanks !

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Quote from: Yoteduster on May 05, 2019, 01:09:07 PM
Really cool bird..congrats. .when you get your tail fan and wing display please post a pic l think it will be pretty cool

Thank youI definitely will post some pics when I get the display finished

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Here is one that I killed in PA.  He was strutting in the sun and glowed like a lightbulb.  I could see his full fan and his good sounding gobble when he was in the field but as he came in I never looked for a beard.  I shot him then i noticed his beard was only 3" and only thick as a pencil, it was weird.  He had nice spurs bout 1" long.  I had my taxi do a back skin like this pic but I never took a pic of the finished product. Looks nice though.

(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t396/afhunter1/Mobile%20Uploads/4585DDB6-DBEE-4221-AD6F-409688B1B571_zpsjnmpi5ah.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/afhunter1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/4585DDB6-DBEE-4221-AD6F-409688B1B571_zpsjnmpi5ah.jpg.html)


(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t396/afhunter1/Mobile%20Uploads/A9289AD7-6DB7-4551-931F-FEDBA2D0F019_zpsqfgwwxr2.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/afhunter1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/A9289AD7-6DB7-4551-931F-FEDBA2D0F019_zpsqfgwwxr2.jpg.html)

Got a buddy who's wife killed one identical to that on state game lands

I have no idea what it is other than a very unique turkey. Congratulations.