Eastern Turkey
The eastern wild turkey is the most populous of the five distinct subspecies found in the United States and can be found throughout the eastern United States and has been transplanted to some western states as well.
The adult male Eastern, called a gobbler or tom, may measure up to 4 feet tall at maturity and weigh more than 20 pounds. Eastern's are the heaviest of the 5 subspecies, and the turkeys found in the northern parts of the U.S. can really become large. Some of the corn fed gobblers in the upper mid-west (Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri) have body weights over 30 pounds. Gobbler over 25 pounds are fairly common in those areas.
Chestnut brown-tipped tail coverts and dark-buff or chocolate-brown tail tips characterize the most abundant and most widely hunted turkey, the Eastern Wild Turkey. The gobbler’s breast feathers are tipped in black, while other body feathers are colored with copper or bronze metallic iridescence. The primary wing feathers have white and black bars that extend to the feather shaft, while the secondary wing feathers mainly have prominent white bars. This results in a white triangular area on each side of the back when the wings are folded backward.
A mature female, called a hen, may be nearly as tall but is usually lighter, weighing between eight and twelve pounds. Females are similar in color to the males but more brown, and the metallic reflections are less brilliant. Feathers of the hen's breast, flanks and sides are tipped with brown rather than the black and white tips of the male.
2012 Texas Eastern Turkey Hunting Season
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