When people most people think of turkey, domestic or wild, they envision a whole bird. The skin is crispy, caramelized from a long oven roast, and stuffed to the brim as a dinner table centerpiece. This was the picture I had in my mind when I bagged my first wild turkey over 12 years ago. I treated it no differently than a Thanksgiving bird. Upon trying to carve and bite into the thighs, I immediately realized that one does not simply roast a wild turkey whole.

While I still know alleged wild game chefs that do this and proclaim it works based on XYZ, I think they’re spitting on my cupcake and telling me it’s frosting. The truth is that wild turkey meat can taste incredible if you know how to butcher and cook it correctly.