Gobbler Down

[garyb]

Day 3 of spring turkey season. The gobbler came in again this morning. This time he had 2 hens with him as they fed toward me, they brought him in. I watched him for 2 1/2 hrs and called. Sometimes I would purr, cluck or even gobble to make him think he might have competition. He would gobble back to me most of the time, but never left the hens. I also had one gobble up hill to the north of me and another down hill to the south of me. I had a jake decoy on one side of me and 3 feeding hen decoys on the other side of me. Good set up.


As I was trying to bring in the bird with the 2 hens, I had 3 jakes and another long beard come in to my hen decoys. They were the birds I heard gobble from the south of me. I passed on the jakes, but the long beard was nervous and never gave me a close shot.


One of the hens with the gobbler I shot, went around me and fed with the hen decoys. I lost track of her. The other hen headed toward the jake decoy, causing the gobbler to go toward the jake. My gobbler calls had made him mad and he did not like the jake there. Big mistake. My TC Encore 12ga turkey barrel did the job again. 9" beard, 1" spurs, 19 lbs.


Now I know that I have another gobbler around. Going back out tomorrow with a buddy.

[gb6491]

Congrats on a successful hunt!
Regards,
Greg

[muggsy]

Congrats. I like my with yams and broccoli. What time is dinner?

[garyb]

LOL, thanks guys. He is in the freezer now. The tail, beard and spurs are drying in dry preservative in preparation for a wall plaque for the garage turkey wall. Getting up at 4:30 to hunt these birds is tiring and makes me feel like a zombie all day. Time for lunch and a nap now. Gotta get rested up for bird #2, tomorrow. I usually call one in for my buddy every year, so I know he'll be excited to get out early and pound the woods. We usually cover a lot of ground. I'd say I'm getting too old to hunt turkey, but he is 10 yrs older than me....so I'll keep quiet and let him think I'm out doing him....LOL.

[bsmith712]

Good job. Back out next week myself for round two.

[Ikeo74]

My son is a Turkey hunter. I live in the country. This is my view out of my office window. He was out hunting this AM but the turkeys didn't show. I have seen these outside in my yard 3 different days. One day there were 3 Toms all displaying at the same time.

These photos were taken through the window while working at my computer.

[Longitude Zero]

Good eatin.

[AIRret]

garyb, great, great, great!

I'm sure you've shared your story, "in detail with the grandkids" (especially the one)!

How do you prepare them? You don't have to respond right away, get some rest!

What's the limit?

[AIRret]

Ikeo 74 great photos, thanks

[garyb]

garyb, great, great, great!

I'm sure you've shared your story, "in detail with the grandkids" (especially the one)!

How do you prepare them? You don't have to respond right away, get some rest!

What's the limit?

Limit is 2 spring gobblers. I spoke to my grandson last night about my opening day. He gave me the idea of putting the jake decoy on one side of my house for the fighting gobbler, hens on the other side of the house for the lover gobbler, and hens on the side of the house. I asked him where I should be so I can see them all. He said that I need to build a platform over the house so I can see them all. I told him that I have a tower blind that I can do that with. He said, "Try it PopPop....I'm telling you it works". Now understanding that he has never turkey hunted or even gone turkey hunting, I got a chuckle from his confidence. But I tried it and I'll be darned if it worked. I tried to call him today, but their family must have been busy. I will try right after dinner tonight. We are headed down to FL to my son-in-laws graduation from engineering school next week. I will get to see the grand kids then.


To prepare wild turkey, I cut off the wings and throw them away. I cut off the legs (very dark and tendon) and she makes a turkey stew out of them, by first cooking the legs in the crock pot slowly, then cutting off the meat. She makes it with vegetables and dumplings. Very good. The rest of the breast stays on the bone as you would with a regular turkey. She injects the breast with garlic and butter. She puts the turkey in a brown-in-bag...just like a regular turkey. They taste just like a regular turkey, but no fat. Good, healthy wild game meal.


I wish my grand son was here to be part of the event. Just seeing and hearing the gobbler, gobbling and coming in. He would have been so excited.
Best.

[AJBert]

I know you said "turkey barrel", but does it have a choke? If so, which choke size? Also, what shot size did you use? Just curious as what it takes to put on of these birds down.


I've always said a .22 in the head would do the job but I don't know if that is even legal. I know at 25-30 yards I can put a .22 inside of a quarter.

[knkali]

good job

[AIRret]

Limit is 2 spring gobblers. I spoke to my grandson last night about my opening day. He gave me the idea of putting the jake decoy on one side of my house for the fighting gobbler, hens on the other side of the house for the lover gobbler, and hens on the side of the house. I asked him where I should be so I can see them all. He said that I need to build a platform over the house so I can see them all. I told him that I have a tower blind that I can do that with. He said, "Try it PopPop....I'm telling you it works". Now understanding that he has never turkey hunted or even gone turkey hunting, I got a chuckle from his confidence. But I tried it and I'll be darned if it worked. I tried to call him today, but their family must have been busy. I will try right after dinner tonight. We are headed down to FL to my son-in-laws graduation from engineering school next week. I will get to see the grand kids then.


To prepare wild turkey, I cut off the wings and throw them away. I cut off the legs (very dark and tendon) and she makes a turkey stew out of them, by first cooking the legs in the crock pot slowly, then cutting off the meat. She makes it with vegetables and dumplings. Very good. The rest of the breast stays on the bone as you would with a regular turkey. She injects the breast with garlic and butter. She puts the turkey in a brown-in-bag...just like a regular turkey. They taste just like a regular turkey, but no fat. Good, healthy wild game meal.


I wish my grand son was here to be part of the event. Just seeing and hearing the gobbler, gobbling and coming in. He would have been so excited.
Best.

I figured that your Grandson would come into the story. He must be a natural
hunter, that was some strategy he came up with!!!

Give our congratulations to your Son in Law on his graduation!

And finally, thanks for the recipe I'll have to copy those ideas down.

[leftysixty]

But! but! I thought that you was spos'ta shoot 'em when they was fying


Congratulations! Sounds like fun, job well done!

[garyb]

I know you said "turkey barrel", but does it have a choke? If so, which choke size? Also, what shot size did you use? Just curious as what it takes to put on of these birds down.


I've always said a .22 in the head would do the job but I don't know if that is even legal. I know at 25-30 yards I can put a .22 inside of a quarter.

TC makes a turkey barrel which comes with FO sights and a ported turkey choke tube. There are various market turkey chokes on the market. Each one is slightly different. I am not sure what the choke is on this particular tube, but it was probably an aftermarket choke tube that TC puts on their barrel. A turkey choke is tighter than a full choke tube. You must pattern every gun and ammo combo so you get a good tight group. I use Win 12ga 3", 2 oz, 4's or 6's. Both work fine. I have used other shotgun brands, but prefer the 2oz lead. More holes.


You shoot a turkey in the head and neck, so there is no real magic. You do not shoot a turkey in the body with a shotgun. We eat the body and who wants shot in their meat. Besides, a gobbler's breast is quite large an thick. Not a good place to put a #4 or #6 shot. Exception to shooting them in the body, is using a bow for a body shot. But even then, some guys prefer specially designed broadheads with a wide 2 -2.5" diameter cut to sever the head and neck.

As for .22LR for turkey...might work, but not legal. To me it would be like using a 9mm on a deer. Not a wise choice. You may hit a quarter at 25-30 yrds, but a turkey head is always moving and moving erratically. Some might want to say they have tried it but they would not want to say it here....catch my drift. It is illegal because you are more likely to wound the bird. A shotgun is more ethical. It is not as easy to call in and kill a turkey as you may think. You need to talk their language, know how to set up for them, what calls to make at certain times, cover a lot of ground, tree them just before dark so you can call them off their roost, etc... It is a hunting sport in itself. They have excellent eyes and although they are not intelligent, they can be very wary. Some days they are hot and gobbling. Other days, like today, they are quiet and hung up some place. Some days they lock up with hens and you can not call them in unless you talk the hens in.