Mississippi turkey season: These are some of the rarest birds bagged in recent years
Mississippi's turkey season is right around the corner and for some, it's the most exciting time of year. However, many turkey hunters say harvesting a bird in Mississippi is a serious challenge.
So, harvesting a turkey in Mississippi is cause for celebration.
But once in a while a hunter is lucky enough to harvest something out of the ordinary. Rare smoke phase, red phase and even white turkeys have been harvested in the wild and the birds always stir up interest.
Let's take a look at some of the most unusual gobblers harvested in Mississippi in recent years.
A one in 1,000 gobbler
Bo Brown harvested a rare turkey in Copiah County in 2018, but it almost didn't happen. Brown was setting up when he saw the turkey and it saw him at the same time.
The bird turned to run, but Brown fired three shots and the bird went down.
It was identified as a smoke phase turkey. According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the pigment anomaly occurs in about one in 100 among hens, but in males it's more like one in 1,000.
This hunter harvested an albinotic turkey
Opening day of youth turkey season in 2020 was extra special for then 10-year-old Jack Faulkner. Not only did he take a coyote, but soon after he harvested a strange-looking turkey he'd only seen in trail camera photos.
The bird was estimated to be 3 years old with 1¼-inch spurs and a 9-inch beard, but what exactly was it? According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, the turkey was albinotic and a one in several thousand rarity.
This Mississippi white turkey drew the ire of Keith Olbermann
In 2019 Hunter Waltman of Kiln harvested a white turkey. Its feathers lacked pigment, but its beard and eyes were normal. It was determined to have a genetic condition known as leucism.
As wild as the bird was, the fallout was even wilder.
Sportscaster, journalist and commentator Keith Olbermann got his feathers ruffled by a Clarion Ledger story about Waltman and called on his 1.08 million Twitter followers to, "make sure the rest of his life is a living hell," for harvesting the bird.
The controversy made national news and Olbermann was criticized for his action. He later apologized.
'He was a monster':Mississippi deer hunter bags 179-inch, 14-point buck
This Mississippi turkey is truly rare
Justin Hutton of Madison found himself within 30 yards of three gobblers in 2021. Hutton intended to harvest the leading bird, but didn't get a shot.
Hutton set his sight on the second bird and dropped him. When he approached the gobbler, Hutton realized it was something spectacular.
The gobbler was rust-colored and identified as being erythristic, more commonly called a red phase. According to MDWFP, the genetic condition is so rare that there are no statistics on it.
'He was always nocturnal':Deer hunter bags 192-inch Mississippi buck dubbed The Ghost
Turkey of a lifetime for young Mississippi hunter
The 2019 season was 7-year-old Brody Brock's first year to hunt turkeys and it was a banner one. He harvested his first jake and first gobbler.
A hunt to get his third bird didn't start off so well, though.
He and his father went hunting after school one day and they scared two smoke phase gobblers that were in front of their blind. Figuring the birds wouldn't return, they moved to another location.
Brock watched a jake come to his decoys and then a smoky gobbler came. Brock bagged it with a .410 shotgun loaded with tungsten shot.
Contact Brian Broom at bbroom@gannett.com or 601-961-7225.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: These rare turkeys were bagged in Mississippi
