Had a good turkey season

Paul Downes

Member
Messages
959
Location
Westphalia, Michigan
We went 3 for 3 on the turkeys this year. My 12 year old scored on the evening of the last day of the season. A friend of mine took us to an area where the birds hadn't been hunted much and we chased some around for a while and almost whacked a jake. Set up in a turkey hang out area and called softly off and on for 2 hours with a jake decoy breeding a hen @ 10 yards from the tent. This Tom turkey came screaming in with the after burners on. I just caught a black blur out of the corner of my eye and I thought the bird would run right over the decoy.He passed the tent @ 5 yards and after a yelp to get him to look he met a 20 gauge load at 10 yards.:thumb: 10-1/2" beard and 1-1/4" spurs. Just under 20 lbs.

My bird wasn't quite as big but was a 3 or 4 yr. old. We ambushed him going toward his roost in the evening on the Saturday before Memorial day. I let him get within 20 yards before convincing him to come home with me.

My 14 yr. old also scored earlier in the season on a mid-day stalk on 3 strutting toms. His Godfather Mike did most of the work and I hung back and watched the action. Mike gave Seth a 20 gauge 3 years ago that he had used as a youngster. That shotgun has accounted for 5 birds since between the 2 boys.
 

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Nice Turkey Paul good hunting. Those are times with your boy you will rember till the end of your days.:D:thumb:

Now are you going to cook this one while its fresh or freeze it?:huh:

This is how I like mine
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These birds are generally tough. I slow cooked the last one in a crock pot for 2 days. It is plenty soft now. I've tried injecting them, deep frying them, roaster oven, I always soak them for a day in ice water- they are still tough. The crock pot is the preferred method now. Just wish I'd found enough morel mushrooms to go with it.
 
hey paul the last one i got with my bow,, we had for thanksgiving two years ago, injected it and left in marinate for two days in the fridge,,then cooked it on the charcoal grill it was only tough in the legs the rest was great.. but the crock pot is the fastest and the safest way to cook the buzzards:)
 
We have turkeys and deer in our yard almost daily, sometimes together.
This hen is a regular. She comes by herself and will wander around for hours. I think she is helping keep the tick population under control.
It would be no problem to step out my garage door and shoot her but I just couldn't do that.
One day, though, maybe one of the toms that comes around will end up in our cooking pot.

Edit: this was taken about two minutes before I posted. Took pic just to show y'all.
 

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Nice scores, Paul. I've only eaten wild turkey once (drank it a few times, though), and you're right about them being tough.

I also know from experience that a 180 grain semi-hollowpoint elk load out of a 30-06 properly placed to the backside of a departing turkey will result in a field-dressed bird before it hits the ground. :D My hunting partner ran into a flock while deer hunting one morning and took two out that way.
 
I really want to get the video camera going. We have watched deer and turkey skirmishes many times while out hunting the birds. One buck took a distinct dislike to some birds one year and chased them all over the field tying to stomp them. I've watched coyotes stalk flocks before. We've also had some hunts where I'm suprised the bird got shot given we were laughing so hard. Some hunts resemble cartoons more than anything else. One time my friend shot a bird and jumped up to get him and promptly did a face plant because his feet had gone to sleep sitting for too long.
 
Have you tried brine? We haven't done this with a wild turkey yet, but following Alton Brown's brine method in his book, "I'm Just Here for the Food" gives us perfectly moist turkeys each time.

Although the turkeys are better if they aren't roasted upside down. :eek: :doh: :rofl:
 
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