Albino turkey? - AR15.COM

Posted: 1/20/2015 11:43:14 AM EDT

Was yote huntin this weekend when a flock of about 100 turkeys walked 75-100 yards in front of me. i noticed that there was one completly white one in the bunch which i thought was pretty cool. are albino turkeys kind of rare? ive never seen one but i havent been into turkey hunting very much. would it be worth getting a tag and trying to take it?

Posted: 1/20/2015 2:02:33 PM EDT

[#1]

Escaped farm variety? Did its body shape look off?

Posted: 1/20/2015 2:14:00 PM EDT

[#2]

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Quoted:
Escaped farm variety? Did its body shape look off?

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That would be my (admittedly uneducated) guess. Domestic turkeys are white. And I have seen one or two by the side of the road, occasionally, so they do apparently get out now and then and go walkabout.

Unless you were able to see your turkeys eyes with your rifle's optics...did it have the pink eyes like a true albino?

Posted: 1/20/2015 6:11:24 PM EDT

[#3]

it appeared to be the same size as the other "normal" ones. and i dont think it would be an escaped bird from a farm, seeing as i haven't heard of any turkey farm anywhere close to where i am located.

ill start bringing a digital camera with me on my sets and try to snap a pic. or hell i think turkey season ends the 31st so maybe i should just try and take it!

Posted: 3/6/2015 4:26:23 AM EDT

[#4]

I saw one a few years back in a flock of wild turkeys and it was not a domestic escapee, it was a wild turkey. It had one dark feather in the middle of its chest. I had a picture but cannot find it. I was in the southern coal fields of West Virginia.

Posted: 3/6/2015 7:21:56 AM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
it appeared to be the same size as the other "normal" ones. and i dont think it would be an escaped bird from a farm, seeing as i haven't heard of any turkey farm anywhere close to where i am located.

ill start bringing a digital camera with me on my sets and try to snap a pic. or hell i think turkey season ends the 31st so maybe i should just try and take it!

View Quote

It could be an escapee from a farm, just 2 or 3 turkeys. Wouldn't have to be from a turkey farm.

Posted: 3/6/2015 12:51:31 PM EDT

[#6]

It's most likely an escapee, but albinism does occur.

There's also the "smoke" phase coloration, an incomplete albino. Won't have the red eyes. Other phases include melanistic (black), erythritic (red) and the albinotic.

"Smoke" phase

Erythritic phase

Melanistic phase

(not my pics or me!)

Posted: 5/3/2015 12:52:04 PM EDT

[#7]

I was actually just looking this stuff up yesterday after I dropped my Goulds bird. I think it would be super cool to get a wild albino turkey.

Posted: 5/3/2015 1:35:25 PM EDT

[#8]

Buddy of mine has an albino turkey mounted.

Posted: 5/13/2015 11:13:20 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
I was actually just looking this stuff up yesterday after I dropped my Goulds bird. I think it would be super cool to get a wild albino turkey.

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I've only seen one in the wild, not a true albino but the Smoke phase. That particular bird was on an interstate median. Lord only knows why.

Posted: 5/18/2015 10:56:38 AM EDT

[#10]

I would see two albino's around my place. Stopped seeing them 10 years ago. Then the great purge known as "Katrina" happened, the turkeys are just now last year starting to come back.

Never had a shot at either one, I would always see them at a distance as they ran for cover. They looked the same size and shape as the other hens they were with, from what I could see there was nothing wrong with them. Kinda like an antlered doe, it just happens sometimes.

Posted: 6/12/2015 5:37:02 PM EDT

[#11]

its been some time since I saw it but if my memory serves me right it resembled the smoke phase. haven't seen it since I posted though. the hordes around my parts have all disappeared. flocks of 50-80 were seen twice a day, now its maybe a stray hen or if you are lucky a tom chasing a couple hens.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Albino turkey?

Outdoors » Bird Hunting

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