Syracuse.com - Auburn hunter bags 20-pound wild turkey

[HuntingNY-News]

yI pluck a bird, and save the wing feathers to give to schools to make quills, like Ben Franklin did. He wanted the turket to be the national bird. If he did, we would be eating eagles, not turkeys." Submitted photoJoe Leogrande, of Auburn, bagged this 20-pound, gobbler, with its 10-inch beard and 1 - inch spurs.He wrote" "Three gobblers the same size came in quiet to attack my intruder jake decoy that was on top on another decoy (to simulate) mating. The decoys were Bubba Jake, a smaller Jake and 4 hens."This bird was taken at 8:30 a.m. May 4 on a farm in Skaneateles with a 12-gauge shotgun, using 3-inch Federal shells at 25 yards."He added in a later email:" I also have photos of the food in the crop of in the bird (chest area) , as well as photos of the food all ground up in the gizzard. The gizzard grinds the corn and grasses as a muscle, and the small gravel birds eat ,helps pulverize the corn and stuff into a fine digestible meal. There must be cup of corn in the crop, plus seeds, and dandelions, and tiny grass seeds, and 1/4 cup of ground stuff in the gizzard."I eat the gizzard, heart, and liver -- plus the bird!! Delicious! "" I can send you photos of the gizzard, and full crop if you want. I have a photo of the head decapitated also, plus defeathered still on the bird, and a plucked whole bird."I pluck a bird, and save the wing feathers to give to schools to make quills, like Ben Franklin did. He wanted the turket to be the national bird. If he did, we would be eating eagles not turkeys."Editor's note: Joe, thanks for the offer, but I'll pass on these other photos. Nice bird, though.

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