Eating wild turkey for Thanksgiving is an option Wyoming residents and their visitors can easily enjoy with an over-the-counter license.
You can expect a holiday feast of leaner meat reflecting the free-range lifestyle of the upland bird.
Just don’t expect preparing that succulent bird to be as easy as thawing out a frozen Butterball.
A hunter who has been bagging wild turkeys for more than 30 years advises to prepare this wild bird differently from the domestic turkey you catch in the local grocery store.
Since he was 10 years old, John Bass of Shoshoni, Wyoming, has been hunting turkey and, over the years, he has perfected his recipe for making this normally tough and gamey bird not just edible, but delicious.
It will take a couple of days of marinating, but he said it’s well worth the extra effort to tenderize the wild meat.
Don’t Pluck
His first tip may seem odd.
“I don't pluck them,” Bass said. “I just brush them out. I cut open the skin and cut the breast off each side. Then I would brine that meat in salt water overnight in the fridge.”
After its salt bath, Bass said you take the breast out and dice it up into turkey nuggets. He then uses a trick he learned from his grandmother back in Tennessee watching her make chicken nuggets.
“You put them in Italian salad dressing and let that marinate overnight,” he said. “Take them out of the dressing the next day and put them straight into flour with smoked paprika. I’ll fry those turkey nuggets either in a deep fryer or a skillet.”
Bass said if you follow his directions, the bird will not be gamey and you will be the hit of any holiday gathering.
“It's the best turkey nuggets you're going to eat,” he said. “Even better than any chicken nugget.”
Grill Or Smoke
Bass is always looking at ways to improve his recipe and this Thanksgiving is thinking of trying a new trick.
“I have not tried the Chick-fil-A method,” Bass said. “I heard that they will brine their chicken nuggets in dill pickle juice. That's how they get that flavor that they've got.”
For those not wanting to fry up their bird, he said the grill or smoker work just as well.
“You could just use the Italian dressing method and put the turkey on the smoker in strips if you wanted a healthier alternative.”
Not one to want to waste any meat, Bass also has a recipe for the legs and thighs of the wild turkey.
“They have a lot of really small razor bones in their legs,” he cautioned. “So, the best way to cook the legs and the thighs is the same way that I would a beef roast — in the Crock-Pot. Add chicken broth with butter, onions, potatoes and carrots.
“Cook it on low for 10 hours. Then, remove all the razor leg bones and nobody would be able to guess that they're eating wild turkey legs with the meat. It is fantastic.”
These razor-sharp bones are calcified tendons that some connoisseurs have dubbed “feather bones.”
“You have to cook those turkey legs and thighs that long, because if you try to fry them or cook them any other way, it's just too many sharp bones,” Bass said.
Tucker Bass has been hunting turkeys since he was 8. At right, he poses with his tom he bagged on the Nowood River in Wyoming last year when he was 10 years old. (Courtesy Bass Family) 
Lisa Bass is an avid hunter alongside her husband, John. She was at the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management area on a limited quota hunt a few years back. (Courtesy Bass Family) 
Tucker Bass has been hunting since he was 8 years old. His parents have taught him gun safety and he has taken shooting sports in Hot Springs County 4-H. (Courtesy Bass Family)
Hunting The Bird
Since 1955, hunters have been able to hunt the wild turkey in Wyoming.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department says it all started in 1935, when the department swapped sage grouse with New Mexico for 15 Merriam’s turkeys; nine hens and six toms.
The imports were released on the George Waln Ranch on Cottonwood Creek in Platte County that spring and were reported to lure some of the ranch’s domestic turkeys with them into the Laramie Mountains.
The turkeys thrived in these hills west of Wheatland and were estimated to number more than 1,000 by 1947.
“In Wyoming, you can shoot turkey with a rifle,” Bass said. “The key would be to do a head and neck shot so as not to ruin any meat. I'll check it with the metal detector to make sure there's not any shot in it.”
The fall season is open with each hunter allowed one wild turkey a day.
“In some states back East, they consider turkey big game, but we don't do that here in Wyoming,” Wyoming Game and Fish spokesperson Nish Goicolea said. “If you look at the webpage under Hunter Planner you can find a lot of great information for turkey.”
“In the fall season in Wyoming, you can shoot hens or toms because they're not nesting,” Bass said. “They're not raising their babies so you can shoot either sex in the fall with a fall permit and it's a general tag over the counter.”
For Bass, hunting turkey has become a family tradition with his wife, Lisa, and son, Tucker, in tow. They’ve been hunting the wild bird for this Thanksgiving holiday and are anticipating the coming feast. Just this year, they might be adding dill pickle juice to the recipe.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
