I am a new turkey hunter - got my first gobbler last spring. Just took down my 2nd, a young gobbler in north eastern WI, last weekend. I joined the group cuz I could not find out the answer to this online on my own.
My question: have you ever seen SPOTS on the turkey's skin? I plucked the bird and he had a bunch of red spots on the sides of the belly and in between the crease of the legs and thighs.
The spots were not raised. The were evenly distributed. The skin did not seem damaged, feathers were all in good shape. They were reddish and round.
(I thought it might have been bruising from the shot, as the spots were round and about the size of shot#4, but the pattern was too consistent on both belly sides, plus it was a hed shot. And none of the spots really showed any damage to the skin.)
Any idea what this is? Is it safe to cook/eat? Sorry for not providing a pic, he's in the deep freeze now.
thanks!