Celebrating Thanksgiving with Turkey Hunting Patents

On this most festive of American holidays, where we emerse ourselves with family, food and football, I am once again inspired to share some thematically appropriate patents. After all, what better way to celebrate a holiday than reading patents appropriate for the festivities?

Before proceeding immediately into the discussion of various turkey related U.S. patents, allow me to first present my yearly Thanksgiving public service announcement.  This announcement is not about the perils of eating too much turkey and falling asleep before dessert, or before you have gotten your appropriate fill of the NFL.  Rather, this public service announcement is for the mathematically, or at least geometrically, challenged in the audience.

If you are going to deep fry your turkey you MUST remember 2 things (at least).  First, make sure the turkey is completely thawed! You do not want to put something frozen into a pot of boiling oil!  Second, for goodness sakes don’t fill the turkey fryer to the top with oil and then put in the turkey!  Let Archimedes be your guide.

If you fill the fryer to the top with boiling oil and then drop your turkey into the fryer you will be in for quite a surprise; one that may actually burn your house down or at least destroy your deck. You see, the oil that will overflow the cooking vessel will be equal in volume to that of the turkey you just dropped into the cooking vessel! That means boiling oil everywhere, likely on you, and definitely scatter copiously around soon to be ignited by the bunsen-burner-like flame that you used to heat the oil in the first place.

One more — all new — public service announcement related to Thanksgiving, but worth applying in your day to day life no doubt.  Whatever you do don’t drink too much before you start to carve the turkey, ham or roast beast of whatever variety.  Trust me, nothing good will come of it! Although one of my fondest Thanksgiving memories was that Thanksgiving so many years ago — maybe 25 years ago now or more — when my father had bandages on nearly every one of his fingers, even his thumbs. I can’t ever remember laughing that hard as my uncle and I kept giving him more and more jazz as he carved up finger after finger in what would become a futile attempt to carve the holiday turkey.

On that note, and without any further ado, here a couple holiday appropriate patents that relate to hunting turkeys for your reading pleasure and thoughtful consideration.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your time with family and friends!

Turkey decoy
U.S. Patent No. 8,191,304
Issued June 5, 2012

There are numerous turkey decoys to choose from, but this one was actually issued since last Thanksgiving, making it one of the most recently issued turkey patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That being the case I just couldn’t pass is up.

This invention relates to an animal decoy specifically for use in hunting, and is designed to be stored and conveyed in a collapsible configuration. More specifically the invention relates to the hunting of the wild turkeys.  The decoy device presents an artificial representation of a male turkey in a mating display termed “strutting.”  Strutting attracts other male turkeys.  The decoy device, therefore, creates the illusion of a male turkey displaying mating actions, strutting, or attempting to attract females, which in turn draws the attention and prospective interaction of other male turkeys.  The patent is quick to explain that the attracting of turkeys is “for the purpose of legal harvesting or photographing.”

Collapsible hunting blind
U.S. Patent No. 7,828,003
Issued November 9, 2010

This invention is a combination decoy and hunting blind that provides a portable and lightweight configuration. According to the patent the use of the invention is to attract game animals, such as turkeys, while also concealing a hunter from those game animals that will be attracted. More specifically, a turkey decoy and hunting blind is provided by this portable structure that approximates an extremely large umbrella frame that is laid on the grown.

It is a bit difficult to take this invention too seriously for several reasons.  First, according to Oregon State University poultry scientist Tom Savage, turkeys are “smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings.”  That being the case, exactly which turkeys are likely to be attracted by a 6 foot turkey plastered onto a giant umbrella laid on its side, as pictured in the main drawing in the patent? Furthermore, Figure 13 (see below) is exactly an umbrella with a turkey decoration, yet the patent describes Figure 13 as a “fully deployed configuration of a blind as as to illustrate turkey decoy image.”  Really? A hunting blind?  This is an old fashion umbrella.

The invention might make a nice gag gift, but I just don’t see this fooling anyone other than the hunter.

For other turkey and Thanksgiving themed patents please see these other articles:

For more festive patents check out our Holiday Patents page too!