It is the Thanksgiving season, and most of us think about sitting down with family and friends to a bountiful dinner. Usually, this involves turkey and all the trimmings. Often that involves going to the store and selecting a turkey of suitable size, depending on how many dinner guests are coming and how many leftovers we want for soup, sandwiches, etc.

Sometimes the question arises, “Can I go out and harvest a wild turkey during the turkey hunting season and cook it for Thanksgiving?” The answer is yes, with the proper equipment, a turkey tag, knowledge and a little bit of luck. There will be a few differences between a store-bought turkey and a wild turkey harvested from the field, though, and we will look at a few of those differences.

Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are smaller in size; males average 17 pounds and females are an average of 9 pounds.  The state records for turkeys harvested in PA and New York are 29 and 28 pounds, respectively. The domestic turkey male averages 30 pounds, and can be a lot larger; one farm-raised individual was reported to tip the scales at 86 pounds.

Wild turkeys have rich brown colors, with some blue and red, whereas the domestic turkey strain used for food production is mostly white (reportedly bred this way so that any pin feathers missed during the plucking process would not show as well). Just like chickens, though, there are different strains of domestic turkeys bred for various plumages suited for show events or to keep as pets. 

Domestic turkeys have lost the ability to fly due to selective breeding and their large size; wild turkeys are agile fliers and can escape predators by flying into trees. Wild turkeys have very keen eyesight, but domestic turkeys, not so much.

As far as taste goes, wild turkeys are more flavorful but drier, whereas the domestic turkey will have more meat and be more tender, especially the breast. This is likely due to how wild turkeys walk long distances while foraging, and flying to stay out of harm’s way, as opposed to the domestic turkey’s mostly sedentary lifestyle.

One could ask if chickens were domesticated from a wild bird (they were; they were domesticated from the wild red jungle fowl), but we’re talking turkey here. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and have a joyful and safe holiday season.