The hidden trophy within the Wild Gobbler!

A successful turkey hunt is far and few between for many hunters, so we like to collect and keep as many parts of the bird as we can to cherish the memories of the hunt. Many hunters don't know that after the beards, spurs, fans, and meat, there is another trophy hidden deep within a wild gobbler. Turkey Jewels!

A friend of mine posted about this last year, and since I got my very first gobbler yesterday, I decided to go on my own treasure hunt. As a turkey grows and eats, he picks up small stones and swallows them. These stones settle into the turkey's gizzard, where they aid in digestion by grinding up all other digestible food that the turkey eats from day to day. Because they are constantly grinding, the stones are worn down smooth and some of them can be quite pretty. Some birds may have fine stones, others bulky stones, some dark stones, some light and patterned stones. If you're lucky, you can even find precious metals! It can be a little dirty, but quite frankly, if you can field dress a turkey without hurling, you can do this! 

Here's how to find your Turkey Jewels!

1. After field dressing your bird, locate the gizzard
and cut it free from the rest of the innards.



 2. Split the gizzard open with a sharp knife.

3. Spill all of the contents into a bucket.

Rinse the gizzard with a hose to get everything out!

4. Cover the contents with a good amount of water and rigorously SWISH IT ALL AROUND! The Jewels will settle to the bottom of the bucket while the seeds and other vegetation float.

5. Pour the water off. 

6. Repeat a few times until the water stays clear and you can see your Jewels!

7. Empty your Jewels onto a clean surface.

At this point, you can pick out your favorites to save, or just save all of them!

I've started this tradition for myself with my first gobbler, and I'll save the Jewels from all my future gobblers. I'm going to bottle all my gobblers' Jewels from each year into separate containers (I'm using a re-purposed Cracker Barrel syrup bottle!). You can then add water or mineral oil into the bottle to create a great conversation piece. This is a great tradition to start with kids, or even for the seasoned hunter. Good luck turkey hunters!

 

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