Ticks on my bird

I was lucky yesterday and killed a nice 20lbs 10.5" bearded turkey. I used my 3 wheeler to get to my hunting area, as I hunt near my home. When I got home I put my bird in my Chevy Tracker ( A small SUV). Took it to Sugar Ridge FWS to check it in. When I got home I went in to get some food and a short break before skinning my bird. I left it in the Tracker as my three black labs would love to play tug of war with the bird. After about an hour and a half I went out to get my bird to skin and noticed ticks crawling everywhere in the back of the Tracker. A closer look at this turkey about sickened me. It was covered in ticks. You could not touch this bird without touching a tick. These were both tiny deer and regular dog ticks. The only place the bird was not infested was his feet,neck and head. I went ahead and cut the breast meat out and wrapped and placed in the freezer, but I think I will have a hard time eating this years harvest. I have killed birds in the past with some ticks, but nothing like this. I really don't see how this bird was walking around, let alone weigh 20lbs and looking healthy. I fumigated the back of the Tracker with Permanone. I hope I killed them all. I'm itching now just thinking about it!!