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Mary Mars and her “white hen” |
White hen?
One Monday last fall as I was walking through the woods to my treestand, I found a white feather amidst turkey scratchings. I immediately thought we must have a white turkey on the property. I’ve seen several flocks many times, but never one with a white turkey, which made me think that maybe it was just an odd feather that had fallen off one of the normal-colored birds.
An hour or so later, after settling into my stand, a flock showed up. I tried to pull the trigger on the first turkey that came into the open, but my muzzleloader wouldn’t shoot. I had to sit there and watch them all feed.
The next thing I knew, another flock arrived, and at the end of the line — a white hen! There she was, right in front of me, and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I decided right then I had to have her, so I snapped a photo of her with my phone. As I showed people, I asked them if they could see my name written on her side. That got some laughs!
I chased that hen all week. I set up where I thought the flock would be. I even tried to track them down a time or two. Finally, it all came together one evening when her flock decided to come by my stand again.
I sat, waiting for the right moment. When the time was right, I took my shot. I shot her cleanly, so it didn’t damage her looks for the mount I was already anticipating.
I don’t think I could have been happier if I was holding an 8-point buck! I finally joined my dad in his white turkey club.
She’s definitely the trophy of my life.
— Mary Mars, Tennessee
Congrats on bagging a rare bird. A few wild turkeys grow unusually colored feathers. Your white hen is actually a color phase called, “smokey grey.” There are four color phases, a smokey gray color phase, a melanistic color phase (all black), an erythritic color phase (reddish coloration) and an albino color phase (which is very rare).
Strangely enough, Tennessee seems to be home to more smokey grey turkeys than anywhere else. We have many reports of smokey grey hens from across the country, with the most sightings from Tennessee.
— P.J. Perea, senior editor
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