How does everyone keep their meat clean while still leaving a feathered head attached to the carcass as required by WDFW?
I drive a few hours to hunt turkey, and generally will be out for a few days. I'll switch to Coyote if I fill my tag early. if I do fill my tag early, I will need to keep a dead turkey in my cooler for a couple days to keep evidence of sex, and then process it when I get home.
"It is illegal to possess in the field or transport wild
turkey unless the fully feathered head and beard, if
present at harvest, are left attached to the carcass." - WDFW
Ideally I would take the thigh and breast meat, vacuum seal it at my car and put the clean sealed meat bag into my cooler, keeping everything clean including the contents of my cooler.
I understand and support the need to prove that you're not poaching, but this law seems to guarantee that I won't handle my harvest correctly after shooting it. I wish a fresh beard was all you needed in your possession.
Dead turkeys are sweaty, have lice, ticks, and usually some dandruff. I want to quickly get my meat as far away from that as possible, and ideally keep my cooler as clean as possible too.
Does anyone have a method of keeping the turkey legal while also keeping your meat clean?
Thanks
