Fall Turkey Hunting

[JimP]

Went out scouting deer/fall turkey hunting with Eldest last weekend....

Saturday afternoon about 4PM, we set up on the edge of a dry creek in some trees bordering a (roughly) 50 acre winter wheat field (I thought it was stubble at first, as they have not had any rain to speak of since August- it was that thin). We had a hen and a jake decoy set up 20 yards in front of us. The creek bordered the field on the north and east( where we set up), and there were trees on the west, and an unpicked milo field on the south. Within a half hour, 100 to 150 turkeys emerged from the milo and milled around on the field, feeding (sprouting wheat and waste grain from July) and the Jakes fighting. The old hens kind of kept them away from the trees, either by calling or, if that failed, actually chasing the young birds back.   The Toms all stayed in a group in the middle of the field, feeding.

I hen-yelped and kee-kee'd and some of the young birds would drift our way, but then the hens would herd them back away from the trees ..... this happened several times over an hour or so....  they never got closer than 100 yards.

The sun sank lower and I said to my daughter that all the chatter and chasing and runnin' around reminded me of a middle school recess .... 2 jakes would start fighting,  all the other jakes and jennies would run over and watch, one would lose and the other would chase him till he got tired.... The whole flock started to drift north toward the trees, 200 yards away. Looked like they were going to roost .... and the idea hit me..... I started dragging the striker across the slate in an effort to sound like a fighting turkey.  Immediately, a dozen of the nearest jakes and jennies made a bee-line for us. I kept it up  and they kept comming...  A couple of old hens followed them, trying to herd them back, without getting to close to us..... The jakes stopped 20 yards out, next to our dekes, heads up straining to see the fighting birds they had heard a few seconds ago. I had dropped the slate and picked up my shotgun (we had a 3' diameter deadfall in front of us to cover that movement. and eased it up to take a bead on the jake nearest me..... I whispered to Eldest , "Pick one.", and waited for her to shoot......  she raised up to get a clearer shot, and one of the Boss Hens in the back must have seen her: she put out the alarm and the old hens  took off.  Eldest fired and missed high (she swears the jake ducked) and I killed a jake ...  Eldest then put a load of 7 1/2's right over the head of one of my decoys. .... says the pulled up at the last second realizing that it wast edible....

[JimP]

... The whole flock fled to the west end of the field and we watched them until they went into the trees to roost.

We went back to my uncle's and cleaned the bird..... and made plans for the next morning.....

We got up at OhMyit'sDark (Not really-near full moon.) and drove back to the field ...... walked across to where the birds roosted, sneaked into the trees and sat down waiting for first light..... with the idea of scattering them in all deirections and calling a jake back- it has worked before.

All went well until an old hen saw us, hit the alarm, and flew down out into the field about 50 yards...... yelping for the rest of the birds. The birds began calling, flying from tree to tree, some (including a big Tom) joining the hen in the field .....  I go up and walked deeper into the trees, trying to kick more birds off the roost..... It was chaos now, birds flying down in all directions - some going west, which I did not want- that was off the property .... and I heard Eldest behind me shoot ..... and shoot again.  I ran back and she hollered, "I got one!"  The old hen had walked back toward the trees trying to get the birds to follow her..... Eldest had crept to the edge of the trees and knocked it over with the first shot.... and the bird apparently tried to right itself- and Eldest had run up on it and nearly blew it's head off with the second.  Another bird flew down and she took a shot at it but it was too far out....

We moved 200 yards south and set up the dekes on the edge of the field, and stated calling .... got a group to come from the north to within about 50 yards (behind us), but the flock got regrouped and went west off the property....

[RobertH]

good read.  i need to know where i can see 100+ birds.  i can't wait til i get my first turkey.  how are you going to cook them?

[bkoenig]

I would love to go turkey hunting but I don't have anywhere to go.  I have some great land for deer, but I never see any turkeys out there.

[JimP]

i need to know where i can see 100+ birds.

It is not hard to see them, but getting permission to hunt is the tricky part.

I won't tell you exactly where...... but-

SW Nebraska- southern tier of counties (Republican river and tributaties) has lots of turkeys ....... They flock up in the fall, congregating in the river and creek bottoms, where they have been plentiful for the last 15 years. This year, land owners up on the "table land" have seen smaller flocks, miles from the creeks and rivers...... they are spreading out.


Q: How am I going to cook them? 

A: In an oven......

I skin them and cook them inside a greased bag to keep them from drying out- like most game, their fat is not stored in the meat, but in a layer under the skin and around the internal organs .... you gotta find someway of retaining moisture, or they will dry out.

[Josjor]

Brining of the wild birds is another great trick that increases the moisture content of the meat.

Get a cooler large enough to hold the cleaned bird plus two small bags of ice. 

Put the ice, still in their bags, on the bottom of the cooler. 

Put a heavey trash bag in the cooler.

Put the bird in the trash bag.

Mix 1 cup kosher salt and 1 cup good (not fake) maple syrup into 1 gallon of water until disolved.  Pour this into the bag with the bird.  Add more water until the bird is covered.

Put a lid on the cooler and keep in a cool place at least 12 hours before roasting the bird.  Before roasting remove the bird and use paper towels to remove any excess surface moisture.  Season and roast as usual.

This works well on pork loins, pork chops, and store bought chickens and turkeys.  Do it once and you will never NOT brine a these meats again.  It adds so much moisture the difference is night and day.  If you want the Mr. Wizard science of it all, go to youtube and search "Alton Brown Brining" to watch a video.