“Everything in moderation is okay except wild turkey’ – Evel Knievel (daredevil)
What Evel Knievel was talking about is a Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey that is 80 proof and would probably knock the feathers off a real wild turkey. Apparently a distillery executive from Kentucky took some warehouse samples with him on a wild turkey shoot in 1940 and next year his friends all asked if he had brought along any more of that ‘wild turkey whiskey’ and the brand name was born.
In Alberta wild turkey is all the rage. The fowl type not the drinking type. Of all the bird fowl that exist in this province I would have thought that “mellagris gallopavo merriami” would be the unlikeliest to thrive in increasing numbers.  But thrive they have.  Since their introduction to the Cypress and Porcupine Hills in 1962 the populations of this amazing bird have taken off, literally.  Road Watch in the Pass, the non-profit organization dedicated to increasing human and wildlife safety along Highway #3, reported 40 birds east of Bellevue November 28th on their new face book site.  Sightings of large flocks have been noted many times out around Lee Lake and as far west as West Coleman and on into the Elk Valley. Their phenomenal transplant success led to the introduction of an Alberta Fish and Wildlife hunting season in 1991.  In 2005 they issued 200 tags for the birds whose season runs from March through May.  
Down south of us in the good old US of A the wild turkey is much more common.  The Pilgrims reportedly brought domesticated wild turkeys with them in 1620 when they landed at Plymouth.  Interestingly enough the Spaniards brought domesticated wild turkeys back to Europe in the mid sixteenth century from Mexico. They then spread from Spain to France and later to England where they became the centerpiece of feasts of the well-to-do. So the pilgrims brought domesticated turkeys not realizing that a larger close relative already existed in the forests of Massachusetts. Go figure!
Wild turkey hunting stateside is a big deal and a 2005 statistic indicated there were an estimated seven million birds in North America. This is amazing considering they were almost extirpated out of most areas by the 1940’s.
There are six subspecies of gobblers, each with subtle differences in coloration, habitat and behaviour. Eastern Canada has the Eastern Wild Turkey (well duh!) while the United States has five other versions including the Florida, Rio Grande, Gould’s, South Mexican and Merriam’s. The subspecies in the Pass and Elk Valley areas are Merriam’s and range throughout the Rocky Mountains all the way down to New Mexico.
The large gregarious males, called toms, are a remarkable site to behold.  When a gobbler is excited his head turns blue, when ready to fight it turns red.
The males have a snood which is a fleshy bump on the dorsal surface of the beak. They are unique to turkeys.