Last week I took my wife and kids out to our deer lease to try to get her a pig but we were unsuccessful. However, she did see the long beard below while waiting on a porker to show his face...
Turkey season started today in the county I hunt so I took off early this morning to try to intercept him. It was a beautiful morning and the turkeys sounded off at around 7:30 and gobbled intermittently until after 10. The turkey below snuck up on me without making a sound until he was within 20 feet or so. I cut a few notes on my slate (not knowing he was behind me) and he ERUPTED! I nearly jumped straight up and I did utter an audible F%$!. But, the old tom was locked in on the jake decoy I had positioned a few feet away. Eyes locked in on his adversary, he puffed up and strutted until he was beak to beak with the rubber intruder. Two ounces of heavy shot caught him in the head at a distance of 15 feet. This is the first turkey I have taken during a spring season, though not the first I have called in.
Now to my question. While dressing the bird I found a "port" in the upper breast muscle near the breast bone. It was approximately the diameter of a pencil and the associated duct ran down the left side of the sternum of the bird. I have been trying to figure out what this is, and have run across a single mention of an oil sac specific to sexually mature male turkeys. Has anyone else seen this before? The duct was filled with a waxy greenish-brown substance I could easily imagine as some sort of preening oil. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Turkey season started today in the county I hunt so I took off early this morning to try to intercept him. It was a beautiful morning and the turkeys sounded off at around 7:30 and gobbled intermittently until after 10. The turkey below snuck up on me without making a sound until he was within 20 feet or so. I cut a few notes on my slate (not knowing he was behind me) and he ERUPTED! I nearly jumped straight up and I did utter an audible F%$!. But, the old tom was locked in on the jake decoy I had positioned a few feet away. Eyes locked in on his adversary, he puffed up and strutted until he was beak to beak with the rubber intruder. Two ounces of heavy shot caught him in the head at a distance of 15 feet. This is the first turkey I have taken during a spring season, though not the first I have called in.
Now to my question. While dressing the bird I found a "port" in the upper breast muscle near the breast bone. It was approximately the diameter of a pencil and the associated duct ran down the left side of the sternum of the bird. I have been trying to figure out what this is, and have run across a single mention of an oil sac specific to sexually mature male turkeys. Has anyone else seen this before? The duct was filled with a waxy greenish-brown substance I could easily imagine as some sort of preening oil. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
