The 15 States Bustling With the Most Wild Turkeys

AZ Animals ^ | 7/28/25 | Hannah Crawford

[Carry_Okie]

California too.

[fso301]

Can’t really say I’ve ever enjoyed eating wild turkey. I much prefer the flavor and texture of domestic birds.

[Jeff Vader]

We went to Ramsey Canyon/Sierra Vista 2 years ago and the place was crawling with them. They’d nest up in the trees at night

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I think the “unregulated hunting and habitat loss” phrase belongs in the preceding sentence. Really easy to do that sort of thing with word processing programs if the writer’s not careful.

[ADSUM]

I have seen them cross our street all the time 6-7 at a time (males as a group or females as a group). the males roost in a large tree in our back yard next to the pond, anywhere from 3-16. They disappear during mating season.

They fly up and down at night and dawn, otherwise they walk around the neighborhood all day.

[Vigilanteman]

Pennsylvania, unsurprisingly, is one of the 15. Not unusual to see them here at all in the SW corner of the state. They are kind of cool and taste a lot better than their farm raised cousins.

[angry elephant]

I have large property in Eastern Washington and folks hunt turkey there in the fall hunting season. It adjoins a large hunt club whose organizers bring in hunters from Spokane to hunt the wild turkey.

It is the cattle standing in the middle of the dirt road refusing to budge that is a problem over there.

[4yearlurker]

Here in SW Pennsylvania I see wild turkey every time I go out. (Also white tail deer!)

[Colt1851Navy]

Turkeys are everywhere around here in Central Alabama, cattle farmers feed them, residents feed them, and miles of creek bottom empty property and woods support several flocks within five miles of my wife’s house.

[ETCM]

Surprised CA isn’t on the list. They are in huge numbers in much of the state, including many suburban areas that border open space. With little hunting pressure or predation, they walk around freely in neighborhoods. Sometimes a dozen or more. I know of people who set up feeding stations for them, as their normal diet of acorns makes them too gamy.

[NorthMountain]

Wild turkeys were almost wiped out over 120 years ago. But, thanks to unregulated hunting and habitat loss, they’ve made a huge comeback across the U.S.

Am I alone in thinking that this sentence is a bit confused?

[Mean Daddy]

Back in the 80s in eastern Nebraska, I had gotten in my deer stand and kept hearing clicking. Too dark for squirrels and I saw a bunch of blobs I thought were guinea hens roosting. Sun came up and about a dozen turkeys flew out of the roost. Game warden came down the road couple days later & we told him about it. Said they had transported them from another area. Neat then but now they’re a nuisance, IMO.

[glorgau]

A couple years back when I lived in Hingham, MA (south bay) they were all over the place. Even back in 2000 in Folsom CA there was a regular flock that went through the apartment complex I lived in.

[Karoo]

In early spring about twenty fly into my NC mtn yard, eat all my wild bird feed/seeds, then fly off after a few days until the next spring.

[Wilderness Conservative]

Brining the wild turkey for 24 hours makes a huge difference.

[chief lee runamok]

   Some of the resident toms on display.

[GSWarrior]

Wild turkeys are a common site in and around Oakland, CA

[PJ-Comix]

Brining the wild turkey for 24 hours makes a huge difference.

Guess what? Brining domestic turkeys for 24 hours makes a huge difference. Basically changes the chemistry of the meat. You can see it in the color of the smoked turkey. Unbrined turkey has a light golden coloring. Brined turkey has a dark brown coloring. Also brined turkeys are much juicier.

BTW, dry brined turkey is much preferable than wet brined turkey. Dry brined is less messy and yields much better results.

[TalBlack]

Twenty of them came waltzing thru the yard of my MIL last weekend here on the south shore of Long Island. Prior to that we would see one or two at long intervals. I was wondering where the heck are the neighborhoods dogs? I grew up here fifty years ago and if a turkey ever so much as showed its face it would have died a quick and horrible death. The types of dogs people have here has changed dramatically.

[4Liberty]

In southern NH, we see them everywhere.....