The Wild Turkey You Should Get for the Ultimate Christmas Feast Next Year

In the spring, you can apply for a special license issued through a lottery to shoot one.

So, you want to host the most badass Christmas feast? Then you must shoot a wild turkey yourself. You’ll need a special license issued through a lottery to shoot a bearded Merriam’s turkey, a subspecies of wild turkey that runs wild in southern Alberta. They’re smaller, sweeter and juicier than their grocery-store cousins and far more striking, with bumpy blue heads, bright-red cowl necks and shimmery bronze feathers. They’re damn good deep fried, but then you miss out on their rich gravy. A serious dilemma, indeed.

However you cook them, hunting season runs through May. To be entered for a license you must have applied the previous spring, so you’re out of luck this Christmas. Fortunately Christmas comes every year.

albertaregulations.ca/huntingregs