# White turkeys???



## Walligator (Mar 30, 2003)

Have any of you ever seen a white (wild) turkey? I live up here in turkey country and have never seen one until yesterday. They weren't albino either, they had slight black stripes and dark eyes. They were with a bunch of other turkeys eating on the side of the road. Has any one ever seen this before? I thought it was pretty crazy!!


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## jml2 (Dec 10, 2004)

I have seen them a couple of times. I believe they are referred to as "smokey grey's"

A buddy of mine has a smokey grey jake mounted--pretty cool.


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## mich buckmaster (Nov 20, 2001)

They are more common then some believe. We have quite a few in the SW part of the state!!


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## w7durango (May 28, 2005)

a buddy of mine shot one just like that ths past season near kingston. it had a 9 in beard and was 20 lbs.


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## Walligator (Mar 30, 2003)

Well, thanks for the responses.....I now know I'm not crazy!!! lol I've just never seen a white/gray turkey.....pretty cool though.....and I'm glad I've seen them now!!! Thanks for the responses!!!

Walligator


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## dinoday (Feb 22, 2004)

I had a white and gray hen hang out with my decoys a couple years ago.She stood out there cuttin' and cluckin'...called in 4 toms for me, one of which didn't make it to his girlfriend :evil:


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## riverman (Jan 9, 2002)

Quite common here in southern MI. If I remember right, it's a recessive gene that came with the original stockers from Iowa or where ever they came from. Riverman


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## uptracker (Jul 27, 2004)

I've seen two


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## wild bill (Apr 20, 2001)

i hope to put one on the wall this fall. i have 2 that have been around for a couple years now.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

Although there are some areas of Michigan where, way back when, wild turkeys with a recessive white gene were introduced, like Allegan back in 1968 when white birds proven to be from a stocking in Iowa showed up, there is a great deal of controversy about these birds in the wildlife world. 

The key word here, I've been told, is RECESSIVE. That means it should NOT show up often. Maybe one bird will have white tendencies out of 1000. Any more and you'd better start asking your neighbors around there if they've had any escaped domestic birds. Wild turkeys, especially the toms, don't care if it's wild or domestic, they'll breed with anything. 

Cruise around the web a bit and take a look at some of the photos of the domestic turkeys out there. Chances are, you're going to recognize some of the markings...cool looking birds, but wild, no...and a disease threat to wild flocks. 

All of the white or partially white birds I've ever seen up here in northern Michigan over the past 20 odd years proved to be descendants of escapees or escapees themselves. We still get an occasional report of a fawn colored hen, or partially white hen, and that's fine, but it should be rare...real rare. When you get reports of more than one or two, something's probably not right. 

For the good of the wild flock, they should be removed as quickly as possible. The DNR used to run out and investigate all reports of white turkeys, but doesn't do anything like that any more at all. There's just too many of them. That should give you a hint. That and that flock of domestic birds down the road.


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## Randy Kidd (Apr 21, 2001)

There are lots in the Livingston County area, I have been watching at least 4 different flocks that have grown very large over the years and each flock has whites both hens and toms, This is State Land I would love to do my part and remove some..Too bad I have not received a tag in 5 years of trying, and they have not had a fall hunt on public land here in awhile.


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## Walligator (Mar 30, 2003)

There were only 3 white turkeys in a group of about 20. This is the first time seeing them and I've lived up here for 30 years! I'd like to see one during hunting season too, they'd be an awesome mount.

Walligator


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## w7durango (May 28, 2005)

i got the ful story from a friend of mine and he told me that the turkey he shot had a all white duck right behind it . the turkey was gobbleing the whole time he was calling so i guess the turkey could of been from a local farm its hard to belive but he wouldnt lie and his dad told the same story


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## snakebit67 (Oct 18, 2003)

heres one from the omer area


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## redwingsdude (Jan 6, 2002)

I saw what I believe was a white turkey last spring season. At first I thought it was just the light hitting the bird through the trees, but then I noticed it was still white when it was in the shade! Pretty neat looking birds.


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## hunting man (Mar 2, 2005)

All the Michigan turkeys came from the original stocking in Allegan. They used to trap them and release them state wide. Now we have turkey in all of the counties.

I see the smokey/white turkeys most falls and springs right around the Allegan forest. I know of some right now that are really close to the Allegan Dam itself. They are easy to find if you try.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

sorry, that's not true. Michigan has obtained birds over the years from Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Missouri to stock both the Allegan and Baldwin areas, as well as the Fairview area and Menominee County in the UP a bit later.

Most of the birds in northern Michigan came from either the UP or from the Fairview area. Some came from Baldwin, but most of the Baldwin area birds ended up in southern and mid-Michigan over the years.


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## lwingwatcher (Mar 25, 2001)

West of Ithaca (central Michigan) has a major flock(s) of the darned things.

Last spring we had some here too.

If the DNR wants them gone, why don't they designate them as non-game and let hunters cull them when they see them without fear of being a violator?


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## LJA (Aug 30, 2000)

Saw one last bow season that looked like the turkey on the right (in the link below), except it had even more black feathers sprinkled in under the neck area. Bird was almost half black / half white with a normal head and was in a flock of ~20 wild birds in Lapeer Co. Hopefully, I'll get a picture of me holding it this fall! There aren't any restrictions on this are there? 

http://www.wheelinsportsmen.org/nwtf_newsroom/nftr_archive.html?id=64


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

an almost perfectly half black, half white bird is suspicious to me, no matter what it's running with. We've had two birds like that, both turned out to be escaped domestics-royal hollands, I was told at the time, but since then have been told they were probably Royal Palms. Popular with the 4-H crowd. 

Wild white turkeys are almost always invariably smokey grays, or normal colored with some white or tan markings. Occasionally there are true albinos seen, (pink eyes, beak, etc. as well as pink legs, head and feet)
but usually they're only off-colored. 

A bird with distinctively white and distinctively black markings would really cause me concern, particularly if it gobbled all the time, not just in the spring, gobbled all the time when it was walking around, and came to a call very, very easily. 

There's no laws regarding white turkeys at all...have at 'em...in fact, if you KNOW they're not wild, but escaped domestics, you don't even need to wait for the turkey season...but you'd better have permission from the owner to kill his bird. Otherwise, he'd could sue you. And don't get caught HUNTING that bird if it's with wild turkeys-a CO might not look kindly on the fact that you're hunting out of season.


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## unclecbass (Sep 29, 2005)

I have seen one in Grand Traverse county, one in Antrim county and a picture of one taken in Benzie county. Three in my lifetime. I have been hunting since I was knee high to a grasshopper and in my experience white turkeys should be extremely rare. The two I saw had white feathers where the lighter brown,transclucent feathers should have been, feather tips and tail feather tips were still dark just like a regular wild turkey.


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## Blueracer (Jan 14, 2005)

Livingston County

No picture, but got the hunt on video.
The turkey looks more grey than bright white. Mostly with the tips being dark.


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## FixedBlade (Oct 14, 2002)

I have seen 2. These had a dalmation effect to them.


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## Blueracer (Jan 14, 2005)

Had 10 turkeys under 15 yards tonight.
2 were mostly white/gray with some black feathers and then another of them had a white patch on it's back.

Too bad already got this falls turkey :bloos: Next fall I think I'll wait until the last few weeks to really try to fill the tag because guess I never know when there'll be an opportunity during bow season.


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