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A small flock crowded in where I was hoping a deer would pass. I had to yell twice to distract the biggest from eating. Since I had a carpeted 2 X 4 handrail to steady my Remington 700 in .270, and a scope set to 6X, I placed an 80 yard shot a little behind the butt of the wing as the bird stood sideways. After a few seconds of flapping, it was still.
I worried that the 30 gr. round would blow up the turkey, but I only found a slight amount of meat ruined as the round passed below one thigh bone and broke the opposite bone as it exited. The insides yielded an intact gizzard and heart. The breast was completely intact as were the drumsticks.
Can't say I would recommend using a deer rifle on turkeys, but if you do, the advice given in most hunting texts is valid: aim at a point where the folded wing forms a "butt" as it lays against the body. Here, the breast is completely out of the picture as are most of the hind quarters. Great soup from the dark meat, internals and neck! I simmered for 4 hours, then added onions and carrots the last half hour. Used over rice for several meals. The breast was smoked for 5 hours, and baked another 2 in the oven at 300 degrees. Since I plucked the bird, leaving the skin on, the meat stayed remarkably moist when I served it up to friends on New Year's Eve.
The beard is 9" long. I left the feathers for a Uvalde County (TX) man who makes Native American attire for various pow-wows.
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