This week on Kentucky Afield, with the opportunity to get out and bag a turkey just right around the corner we thought it'd be nice to show you how to process one.

Then, we'll head out on the Tennessee River and see what we can catch.

It's all next on Kentucky Afield.

Hello and welcome to Kentucky Afield.

I'm your host, Chad Miles.

Join us as we journey the commonwealth in search of outdoor adventure.

Our spring turkey season opens up next weekend, April 13th.

And if you're lucky enough to take a turkey, then what?

Well, let's check in with our field to fork coordinator to find out how to process a turkey.

Hi, I'm Becky Bloomfield.

I'm the field to fork coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

Today, I'm going to demonstrate how to process a wild turkey.

I'm going to show you how to remove the beard and the fan.

And then we're going to process out the breast meat, the thighs and the drumsticks.

To begin, it is important that we have our turkey tagged, tele-checked and marked on our harvest log.

I already have this one recorded, so we're going to get started.

You don't need a lot of tools for processing a turkey.

I'm going to use a fillet knife out of my outdoor edge kit here.

I like a fillet knife because it has a long, thin blade and a nice sharp point on it.

I'm also going to be wearing disposable gloves so that I can keep the meat clean and then I have gallon bags to put the meat in after I've processed it off the bone.

All right.

The first thing I'm going to do is remove the beard.

The beard is modified feathers that are typically found on male turkeys.

So to remove the beard, we're going to grab it close to the base of the body and give it a quick yank.

If you're not comfortable with that method, you can cut it at the base and then just remove any excess feathers or meat before you preserve it.

To preserve the beard, you can package it in the borax at the base and leave it sit for about a month.

A lot of hunters like to keep the fan of a turkey, either as a mount or as a way to entice turkeys in the following season.

To remove it we're going to grab all of the feathers, pull it back up against the back of the bird, and make a cut just above the cloaca.

Once you have the fan removed, you want to trim as much meat off of the base as possible before you preserve it.

To preserve the tail fan, you're going to pin it down, open on a piece of cardboard and then pack that end in borax and leave it sit just like you did the beard.

So now we have our beard and our fan ready to be preserved.

Now we're going to move on to processing the meat, to process the meat out.

I'm actually going to flip the turkey onto its back and rotated around.

We're going to start with the breast meat and then we'll move on to the legs.

So to begin cutting the breast meat out, we're first going to make an incision on the chest bone.

So we're just going to make a small cut through the skin and then we're going to open it up a little bit with our fingers here.

Once we have it open up a little bit, we can flip our knife over and start cutting from the inside out to finish making a cut the length of the breast.

The reason you want to cut from the inside out is to keep your knife blade clean.

It allows the blade to move between the feathers instead of cutting through the feathers and creating a bunch of fuzzy bits that will stick to your meat.

So this cut just goes up about four inches.

And then I'm going to come down a little bit as well.

Still cutting from the inside out and we're just cutting that skin.

Open it up.

Okay, Now we're going to skin the turkey on the left and right side to expose the breast meat.

So I'm going to use my off hand to pull tension on the skin, which gives me a good idea of where to run my knife blade.

You want to skin the turkey up towards the armpit of the bird up under the wing and also down towards the hip joint.

We got that side skinned out.

So let's work on the other side and we're just going to skin this side the exact same way.

Sometimes you can use your hands to peel the skin away instead of making so many cuts.

Again, you just want to work the skin down to the hip joint and up under the wings.

So now that we've got the breast meat exposed, we've peeled the skin all the way back.

And you can see that two beautiful pieces of breast meat, one on each side.

Before we begin to cut the breast meat, I want to show you the distinguished difference between this soft tissue here, which is the crop and the muscle meat of the breast meat.

The crop is part of the digestive track of the turkey.

So when we are filleting out the breast meat, we want to trim the crop away and try not to cut into it.

To begin cutting the breast meat we're going to start again using the top of that keel bone as our guide, and we're going to start cutting straight down until we reach the bottom of the bone, which then tees off.

So we'll rotate our blade to the outside of the bird and work the bottom piece off.

So let's start at the top here.

Using the bone as a guide.

So you want to kind of angle your blade in towards the bone.

That way you don't miss any meat.

Now, if you do happen to miss some no big deal, you can always come back in and trim that off.

So the breast meat runs all the way down.

I'm just going to run my blade the entire length of the keel bone and I'm using the bone as a guide the whole time.

I can tell with the tip of my knife that I've reached the bottom here.

So I'm going to come back up here and finish this cut up top, trim the meat away just a little bit up here by the crop section.

And now we're going to rotate our blade and start cutting towards the outside of the bird to get the bottom piece of the breast.

So really, I'm just tracing this bone to get the meat off.

Okay, I'm going to use my hand just to feel where it's connected.

Let's go back in, make my last little cut here.

And now we've got the breast meat.

So that's one side.

And you can see very clearly that we didn't leave anything behind.

We trace the keel bone straight down and then followed it around on the breast meat.

I do want to show you on the back side, there is this natural separation in the muscle.

This small piece is called the Tenderloin, and that is a tender piece of meat on the turkey.

It's up to you whether you'd like to package the breast meat and the Tenderloin together or separate.

I'm going to package them together.

So this is one breast.

There's another one just like it on the other side.

So on this side, the process is the exact same.

We're going to use the bone as our guide the whole way down and then start peeling that muscle back.

So that you can see where your knife blade needs to run.

We've got the bottom part of the breast meat free, so we're going to work up to free the top here.

Remember, we're trimming around the crop.

We just got to free the top of this breast meat.

Okay, There's our other side of the breast meat.

And we've got that tenderloin on the backside as well.

So I'm going to package this up.

And we've got both breasts now.

We're going to move on to the legs.

The first step is to skin the legs out.

So we're going to start by making a cut at the top and work our way down to the scaly part of the leg.

We're going to work from the inside out again, remember, that keeps our knife blade clean when we're doing this, we're not pushing the tip of the knife blade towards ourselves.

We're pulling out towards the outside of the bird to cut that skin.

So we come all the way down to the scaly part of the leg, and now we're just going to finish skinning this out.

We're going to skin all the way around the leg.

So I'm using my off hand again to pull tension on the skin, gives me a really clear spot to cut, and I'm going to try and peel some of this with my hand as well, just peeling that skin away.

And you want to peel pretty deep because this thigh runs all the way to the backside of the bird.

So you're skinning all the way down to the spine.

So now you can see we've made it all the way around the skins not attached here anymore.

On the backside, we're going to come all the way up and cut it to release it from this area near the joint.

So we've got that all skinned out and we're just going to work a little bit farther down on the backside of this thigh, right here.

Okay.

We've got this leg completely skinned out at this point.

I'm going to remove the scaly part of the leg.

I like to do this while it's still attached to the bird so that I have more leverage.

I█m going to use my knife to cut the ligaments around the joint.

You're just going to ring around this joint here.

Once we cut all the way around it, we should be able to twist it off here.

So I'm going to just give it some twisting action here.

Got a few more pieces hanging on.

We'll just cut that real quick and it comes off nice and clean.

You do have the option to use a saw, but when you use the knife, you don't get any bone fragments or sharp edges.

Now, at this point, you may choose to save the spur.

If you're going to save the spur, you would soar above and below the spur and then package that in borax.

You can also choose to save the leg hole where you would position it as if it were standing and dry it like that so that you can use it as a tool while you're hunting next season to mimic Turkey scratching the ground.

Now we're going to get the drumstick and the thigh detached from the body.

To do that I'm going to start by cutting down the inner thigh until my knife blade hits the ball joint in the hip.

I can feel with the tip of my knife that I can't go any farther because I've hit the hip joint.

At this point, I'm going to push down on the leg and pull the body of the bird in the opposite direction, and that exposes the ball joint, which you can see right here.

Now, I'm going to continue my cut past the joint and remove the rest of the leg.

We're cutting beyond the hip joint and using this muscle as our guide that of freed us from the skin.

Come back in and get the top.

Okay, so now we've got our drumstick and our thigh meat here.

I'm going to package this whole and then later when I cook it, I'm going to cook it whole as well.

The thighs do tend to have a lot of ligaments and tendons, so the best way to make this cut tender is to cook it low and slow.

You could throw this whole thing in a pressure cooker or a crock pot or cook it low and slow in the oven and it's going to allow the meat to separate from those tendons and be really tender.

So we've got one thigh.

We'll move on to the next.

And processing out this thigh is the exact same as the other side.

You can tell by using this method we didn't leave a whole lot of meat behind.

We've gotten everything that the bird has to offer us.

We've got two thighs and drumsticks and then we also have both breasts and the tenderloins.

We also have our tail fan, our beard and our spurs to commemorate the harvest.

So at this point, I'm going to throw this meat in a cooler, take it home for long term storage or for dinner tonight.

If you would like more information on how to hunt turkeys in Kentucky, check out our Web site at FW.KY.GOV.

And look at our Learn to Hunt Turkey Web page.

One of the best things about fishing a river system here in Kentucky in the spring is a number of species of fish you can catch.

Now let's head to western Kentucky with a good buddy, Jim Doom and hit the Tennessee River.

Today is one of those days I really look forward to, and that's hitting the river down here in western Kentucky with Jim Doom.

How you doing today?

I'm good.

How are you doing?

I'm good.

You know, this is the time of year that you just told me a date and we said, let's make it happen.

But you know what?

Any time you come to the river, you've got to be ready to catch whatever whatever the river will give you.

Right.

Yeah.

We'll throw some swim bait.

And if I don't work, we'll catch some live bait and try that.

Let's go give it a try and see what we can't luck into.

I noticed you brought your fishing buddy with you today, too.

Yeah.

She wouldn't let me leave the house without her this morning.

I mean, look at that face.

Who could leave that at home?

All right, well, let's roll.

Go ahead.

Which way we going here?

That way?

Yeah.

Just start fishing.

Here we go.

I don█t know what it is.

I believe that may be a small mouth.

You think so?

If not, It could be a striper.

No its a smallmouth.

Well, what do you know?

Oh that█s a good one.

Look at that, smallmouth bass.

I'll tell you what, people travel all over the place to try to catch them a three and a half pound smallie like that, huh?

Look at that beautiful fish.

Now, these are some of my absolute favorite fish to catch.

But I'll tell you what.

I couldn't bring myself to eat one of these for $1,000,000.

This one█s going back.

Here we go.

Another smallmouth.

It█s what it looks like.

Smallmouth.

Man, and he wanted it.

Look at that, spittin█ up shad.

Another good fish.

Look at there.

What a beautiful fish.

What do you want?

Want a treat?

Here we go.

Think i█m going to have to steal one of those little green baits.

Hey, I got a pocket full of them here.

What do we got this time?

Looks like another small mouth again.

Oh, a buffalo.

Maybe I don't want one of them green baits.

That's not exactly what we were going for, wasn't it?

He ate it.

Ellie, that's more your style right there, girl.

All right.

See you later.

Here we go.

I tell you what.

Man, this is small mouth here.

This is a better fish here, giving this reel a workout in this current.

Oh, looky here.

Now what?

That's a striper.

What do you know?

Sitting here, four casts in a row, three different species of fish, and now we've got a striper.

What do you think, Ellie?

Jim, What's the length limit on these?

15 inches?

I believe this is going to make it.

I think he'll make it.

Uh oh.

What do you got?

Don't look, found another rock.

So, you know, the length limit for striper changes on different bodies of water.

But here you say it's 15 inches.

And what are you allowed?

What are you allowed?

Five.

Five of them?

Five striper.

We'll see what we got here.

Because if that thing is a keeper, I'll tell you what.

It doesn't get much better eatin█ than this right here, does it?

Some good stuff.

22 inches, I believe that's a good one.

You think we'll keep it?

If you don't, I will.

Small mouth and stripers?

What you got going on down here?

Living the dream.

You are living the dream.

Catching some prize fish today as far as species go, that's for sure.

Oh, here we go.

Look at that.

Oh, that's a good smalley.

Here we go.

Oh, that there is a good fish.

That's a beautiful, beautiful smallmouth bass right there.

I think we've caught more small amounts than anything else.

And, hey, this is a really, really good one.

Oh, you got one?

I got a fish, yeah.

Okay.

Think it█s a striper?

I think so.

There you go.

Need a net?

There you go.

Thank you, sir.

Hey, this is getting.

This is getting good.

No, we're not on Lake Cumberland, we are out here on the Tennessee River catching stripers and small mouth off a rock pile on swim baits.

Oh, no.

I don't want any sugar.

You might█ve eaten something bad.

Oh, bite.

What do we got here?

Here's what they are.

Hey, I'll tell you what, If there's a bunch of them in there, we'll have a good time, too.

You ain't kidding.

Look at that.

That's a big old bait that is completely gone.

This is a white bass, kind of a small one.

But you think we'll catch a bigger one or you think we ought to keep that?

What do you think?

You clean them that size normally?

I do.

Well, let's go.

That's good, I'm good with that.

Uh Oh, got him.

I think they're just all over this point.

If these were probably a pound and a half apiece, we'd to have a mess of fish, you know?

Oh, you ain█t kidding.

The bigger fish could be out just a touch further.

Here we go.

A little better fish.

Hey, now we're white bass fishing.

This is what█s its supposed to be like right here.

A little better fish, we█ll take that.

Rods bending a little more on that one.

That's a good one.

Big enough.

Ellie, you want to get a bite of that?

Little better fish, isn█t it?

Yep.

There we go.

That's what we're after right there.

Look at that.

That's a pretty white bass right there.

Tell you what, it doesn█t get any better than that.

They fight way bigger than their size, and they taste way better than you think.

And when you catch a couple, usually you get on bunches.

We've had a great day of fishing so far, and we were about ready to call it quits, and we're like, “you know?

we've got live bait in here.

Let█s make a couple of drifts to see if we can't pick up another big fish.” That felt like a bite.

Got it?

Yeah.

Sweet.

Hold on.

Look at this, we have doubled up.

Think we█re tangled together.

Uh oh, I have a feeling that you hooked that fish and I ended up getting wrapped up in here.

That's a good assist.

You were like, How come my fish just got lighter?

I'll tell you what, though.

That's a beautiful fish, isn't it?

It is.

Wow.

There you go.

Hey, what a nice fish.

We're right here under the highway, below the bridge.

Very first drift.

Wham!

Nice striper.

We'll take that every time.

Well, Jim, I know you told me that fishing had gotten kind of slow, but there was nothing slow about this.

It was a pretty good day.

It was a good- Hey, we caught lot of different species of fish.

We had a lot of fun.

Caught some of my favorite fish, some small mouth, and got a cooler full to go clean.

I appreciate you having us down.

It's always a great time to get down here.

Let's go clean some fish.

All righty.

Hey, nothing beats a good fish sandwich after a day on the lake like this.

Here we have Mike Eden who caught this nice 5lb largemouth at Nolin Lake.

This picture was actually taken by a conservation officer who was checking his license.

Nice job.

Here we have 12 year old Noah, who caught his first bass of the season in Springfield, Kentucky.

Nice job.

Here we have Lucas Parsley with his largest crappie to date.

This nice black crappie was caught on Wood Creek Lake.

Congratulations.

Our youth Turkey season is now in, and statewide it opens up next weekend on April the 13th.

Good luck and stay safe.

And remember, hunting and fishing on private property is a privilege.

Always ask permission and thank the landowner.

Until next week, I'm your host Chad Miles, and I hope to see you in the woods or on the water.

If you hold a Kentucky hunting or fishing license, then you have helped make possible Kentucky's wildlife management areas.

Places to hunt, fish, bird watch or just let your mind wander.

With nearly 100 dotting the Commonwealth put Wildlife management areas and your sites and see more of what makes Kentucky's outdoors outstanding.

Get all the info online at FW.KY.GOV.