Rare Color Phase?

[MToutdoorsman]

So I was driving home yesterday from work and noticed some turkeys by my house. Then I noticed this tom with a bunch of hens. I was able to snap a couple of photos. I went home and did some research and only found one website that had this exact color phase and it said it was a rare color phase.

Not sure if I believe it or not. Has anyone had any experiences with a turkey's looking like this one. Wish I had a tag but my area only gives out around 30 tags.

Sorry about the pic I didn't have time to download it off my camera.

 

[Wally Dog]

From NWTF
Feathers:
Males: Gobblers have iridescent red, green, copper, bronze and gold feathers. They use these bright colors to great advantage when attracting females during breeding season.
Females: Hens have drab, usually brown or gray feathers. They make great camouflage and hide hens when they sit on their nests.
Color Phases: A few wild turkeys grow unusually colored feathers. These are known as color phases. There are four color phases, a smokey gray color phase, a melanistic color phase (all black), an erythritic color phase (reddish coloration) and an albino color phase (very rare)

 

[EasternMTHunter]

It looks like one of my Bourbon Red Toms I have out on our hobby farm. I wouldn't put it past a domestic bird to escape and follow with the wild birds. Even after I wing clipped our birds they still got out of our fencing. Watching the toms fight over the hens I have is pretty amusing.

 

[MThuntr]

Looks like others posted while I was typing

 

[MToutdoorsman]

Kinda what I firgured. Thought I saw bigfoot..

 

[1_pointer]

We had a mostly white hen running around on our place last year. Haven't seen her since early fall. I got a couple of cruddy pics, which I don't have on photobucket.

That said, I'd be shooting that tom! Kinda like 'Fin with pronghorns, freaks rule!

 

[naturebob]

Might be related to the Obamma family, only a little bit smarter........BOB!

 

[ihuntelk]

I killed a Melanistic Merriam's in Wyoming about 10 years ago. I saw it while scouting and recognized what it was. I called several big call manufacturers and the NWTF. All of them told me I was smoking pot and didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't even try to explain that I went to school at UWYO and not UM in Missoula .
I decided I was going to hunt that bird until I killed it which just so happend to be about noon on opening day.



A week later, Rob Keck, called me at home to congratulate me on my bird and ask if I'd dontate it to the NWTF to put in their museum in Edgefield. He'd never heard of a Melanistic Merriam that had been harvested before. I politely said I'd call him back when I didn't have a bad case of the munchies .

Dale Manning with Custom Birdworks in Missoula mounted it and did an unbelievable job. It really doesn't belong in my office at home. I should find someone like a Cabelas or Bass Pro to put in their store................



Bird had one feather on his tail that was normal. I feather on his back that was normal. Feet/legs were even black. Just a 2 year-old tom but pretty unique, nonetheless.

Wish you had a tag! Thanks for posting.
-Cade

 

[MToutdoorsman]

ihunt thats an awesome bird. Yeah it's frustrating not having a tag to hunt in my county. The farm I have permission to hunt has a huge flock running around on it. Which i'm suprised they only give out 30 tags because you could shoot 30 alone out of this flock and still have 30 left.

I checked out the post from wally dog about the erythristic color phase, and have my answer. It believe this is what I saw. 1/300,000 toms will look like this. I compared it to the picture. I actually found a quite a few pics to compare it to but this was the coolest one I found.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

I like to see the freaks too. Those birds are very cool and especially like your response to Mr. Keck, Ihuntelk. I drew my first shotgun turkey tag this year, so I'm hoping in 4 weeks that I find one with the color phase of red... all over the ground.

 

[kansasdad]

The bird pictured above was taken on video and featured in a hunting show where the host waxed eloquently regarding color phase turkeys. The location IIRC Oregon/Washington.

 

[Gerald Martin]

an erythritic color phase (reddish coloration

) I just saw a smokey grey phase hen around here a couple weeks ago.

When I first moved to Montana there were quite a few flocks of birds with white turkeys in them. My buddy killed this one.