Wild Turkeys - DPChallenge Forums

02/22/2005 11:15:33 AM · #1

not the best photo in the world - but these things came out of nowhere. and i didn't want to scare them away... i had to shoot into the sun, and only had about 1 minute to get camera, and get outside before they were off into the brambles.

looked out the kitchen window, and there were like 30 or so of these giant birds strolling along. never seen anything like it before. and didn't know they could fly so well...

Corwyn

02/22/2005 11:18:43 AM · #2

MMMMMMMMMM....... Turkey!!

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

02/22/2005 11:25:59 AM · #3

yeah - don't have a shot gun though... ;}
my dog is about 37 pounds, and these birds looked to be about the same size as her.

i hear deep fried wild turkey is pretty tastey though.

undieyatch

Olympus E-10

02/22/2005 11:30:50 AM · #4

Nice pics of turkeys Soup. They are interesting birds. There was a serious traffic incident here in my town recently, where a guy drove into a flock and totaled his vehicle. The birds are not native to my area, but have been introduced by gun clubs, and they have reproduced greatly. I have not been able to get very close to turkeys with my short lenses, but have this shopped effort, and to an extent shows the usuall habitat I see them in.

some turkeys

Message edited by author 2005-02-22 11:33:26.

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

02/22/2005 11:51:28 AM · #5

Soup,

the wild turkey is arguably the most intelligent of all game birds. Benjamin Franklin wanted it for our national bird instead of the eagle, which is really just a carrion-eater most of the time. The birds are pretty similar to your dog dimension-wise, but of course they weigh a lot less inch-for inch. They are very difficult birds to hunt, they have to be stalked like deer. And yes, they are very good fliers. Nice shots.

Undie, your image is fantastic. I love it!

Robt.

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

02/22/2005 12:17:19 PM · #6

Intelligent? Around here they peck at the headlights of cars. All you need to do for Thanksgiving is take your foot off the brake.

Message edited by author 2005-02-22 12:17:39.

longlivenyhc

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro for Canon

02/22/2005 12:18:12 PM · #7

Originally posted by soup:

i hear deep fried wild turkey is pretty tastey though.

i had it once, it was pretty good.

cpurser

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/22/2005 12:25:29 PM · #8

Originally posted by emorgan49:

Intelligent? Around here they peck at the headlights of cars. All you need to do for Thanksgiving is take your foot off the brake.

LOL, I laughed out loud at that one. Maybe they're just not too smart in MA. :-)

Chad

saintaugust

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

02/22/2005 12:27:14 PM · #9

weird.. i saw those too not too far from where i live.. never seen them before. we didnt know what the hell they were and i missed the shot staring at them.

drz01

Pentax K50

Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR

02/22/2005 12:37:55 PM · #10

Anyone see the humor in the posters name?

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

02/22/2005 12:41:51 PM · #11

Originally posted by drz01:

Anyone see the humor in the posters name?

Woulda been funnier if he'd been shooting ducks :-)

pawdrix

Nikon D700

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

02/22/2005 12:45:50 PM · #12

Slow roast at around 300(310?)degrees for roughly, 10-15 minutes per pound.

...always keep'em laughing, I say.

I teach a cooking class, which adds up to about 60 birds a year. I'm happy that we are still a little smarter than they are because they taste sooooo good.

PS Terrible picture...I know. I have a bad flourescent problem with that room combined with the stainless steel reflection. My old Fuji Finepix S5000 couldn't really cut it.

Message edited by author 2005-02-22 12:46:43.

vivien

Sony DSC-F717

02/22/2005 12:46:30 PM · #13

...or chicken, sorry Soup hope you didn't get it wrong LOL

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by drz01:
Anyone see the humor in the posters name?

Woulda been funnier if he'd been shooting ducks :-)

02/22/2005 12:49:49 PM · #14

Yeah, but chicken soup is HEALTHY, comfortable, duck soup is FUNNY, Marx brothers all the way...

Robt.

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

02/22/2005 12:51:41 PM · #15

Originally posted by pawdrix:

Slow roast at around 300(310?)degrees for roughly, 10-15 minutes per pound.

Say what? At 310 degrees and 10 mins a pound, you're gonna have really rare dark meat. Unless that's a convection oven? Yeah, must be...

Robt.

pawdrix

Nikon D700

02/22/2005 12:53:04 PM · #16

OK...at 315 for 18 minutes?

And yes, we do have very nice, new convection ovens that run steady.
You also need to let the bird rest for while and the whole formula does truly depend on size.

We actually melt the birds to doneness usually weighing in at
22lbs at 315 for approx 4 hours.

Message edited by author 2005-02-22 12:57:44.

02/22/2005 12:56:27 PM · #17

That would be a lot closer. In a conventional oven I estimate 15 mins a pound at 325. But I always take temperature readings near the end, and adjust as needed. There's a HUGE variation in cooking times on turkeys. As a rule, the more expensive they are the longer they need to cook.

Why? Because the more expensive birds have had some degree of mobility, they aren't caged birds, and their muscle tissue is denser. Also, the cheap birds have significant amounts of water injected, and this inflates the weight but not the cooking time.

Robt.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

02/22/2005 01:13:46 PM · #18

i've only lived in this house a bit over a year, the neighbors told me the only other time they had seen turkeys in the yard was prior to a blizzard. there was one predicted for yesterday ( though it fizzled out ) the photos are from sunday afternoon.

no offense taken about the spin on the user name ;}

been keeping my eyes open for them again, but haven't seen them again.

i did follow them in a round about way, into the brush, one spotted me a flew up and landed a bit away. immediately all them flew up and out. crazy sight seeing all these pot bellied birds flapping away.
loud too.

i was using a 300mm lense - first time since october i have used it.

the best cooking turkey i have had - is a locally slaughtered free range bird - slaughtered a day before cooking, and not frozen. brine it over night, brown the skin at 425 or so, and then lower the oven temp and cook the rest of the way.

Message edited by author 2005-02-22 13:13:59.

scalvert

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

02/22/2005 01:22:44 PM · #19

Every once in a while, we'll get wild turkeys "trapped" inside our backyard fence. They'll bounce around like pinballs off the fence for 10 or 15 minutes before one of them reminds the others that they can fly.