Check Your Turkey Craw

What Is It?

By definition, a crop (a.k.a. “craw”) is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract used for food storage prior to digestion. 

Where Is It?

In the wild turkey, you’ll find it above the breast bone but below the neck. You can gently cut the baseball-sized sac to look at what’s in there while it’s still attached to the bird, or even pull it all free before opening it up.

Why Check It?

I try to check the craw of every wild turkey I kill, spring or fall, including other dead birds in turkey camp. Why? It helps tell me and my buds what primary food sources turkeys have been hitting.

In truth, chances are you won’t find much in a spring gobbler’s crop. He’s too busy chasing down hens and strutting hard with romance on his mind. A recent Maine spring longbeard had just a few blades of grass and a single acorn in his – of course I killed him at mid-morning, but still, he hadn’t been eating much that day.

In fall it’s way different. First off, feeding is a primary activity for both autumn gobblers and hens. The first few hours after fly-down and the last few hours of daylight before roosting see the most feeding activity. In many fall turkey states, either-sex birds are legal. Kill one, check the craw contents, and you’ll know what others in that flock have been eating that day.

As wild turkey hunting tactics go, hunt near those food sources. It may help you or your buds fill those extra turkey tags this season.

– Steve Hickoff

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