Queston about Field dressing turkey in NM, following the regs

[rbljack]

Ok, I have another question as we approach the spring turkey season. We are going to take the trip over to NM and spend the weekend chasing birds. In the past, I would just go out for a morning or afternoon, and was always close enough to the house to do a quick field dress, and finish the bird up at the house.

But for this trip, we are going out for two days hunting. In another post, I asked a question about what to do once the bird is down, and im pretty much thinking we will head to the truck to put the bird on a cooler of ice to keep the meat in good shape, and then go back out chasing some more.

Now I pulled up the regs, and found this:

The beard and a patch of feathers surrounding the beard must remain on the bird until it is delivered to the place where it will
be eaten or placed in final storage."

There is another statement saying we have to keep all edible portions of the bird, and they classify that as the Thighs, legs, and breast.

So can someone explain the best way to field dress these birds and put them on ice while staying within the confines of the above regs. Looking for some input on this one. Im guessing I jus need to skin it out, but leave the breast area with feathers and on up towards the beard attached...sound about right?

Option b might be to field dress and pluck the bird and leave the beard area and feathers in tact around the beard area,

 

[land cruiser]

Gut first then skin or pluck (I prefer the former, much quicker)

 

[rbljack]

gutting and skinning is no problem. I just need to know what adjustments to make to keep the proof of sex according to NM regs. Never had to clean one this way before where I have to keep the beard and feathers around the beard attached to the bird before...that's really where my question lies.

 

[JPD350]

Just cut the patch and beard almost off then put a baggie over it then place turkey in another bag then into the ice chest.
I can't say I have ever left it on the bird, I've just put it in a baggie and the tail and feet go into another bag and then into the ice chest with the bird, I figure once it is cleaned and bagged the next place it's going is into the oven so the ice chest is the final cold storage.