Turkey season is in the horizon!

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SoonerMedic

SoonerMedic

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Do you hunt turkey for the trophy or for the meat? Both?

I'm hoping to score my first bird this spring and will be happy with a nice mature tom regardless of how trophy worthy it is. After an amazing dinner tonight made up of peas, potatoes and grilled backstrap cooked medium rare, I'm excited to taste wild turkey and dumplings! I hear that's one of the best ways to cook them.

If you zoom in on this picture you can see two blurry toms in full strut. I took it this morning on my way to check my cracked corn. They were about 6-800 yards away from my stand. Setting up my new trail cam tomorrow on my spot.
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big gobbler strutb(1).jpg gobbler(1).jpg I shoot em to eat. Though I do pass on Jakes and smaller toms. Can't wait to start calling again! Soon.... Got my eye on this fat one that's been taunting me;)
 
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I hear ya'. Only another month before our firearm season opens here in Kansas. Our season is long enough that I can be picky about the gobblers I take. Very seldom am I able to see the spurs, so I just try to make sure the one I am shooting has a decent 9" + beard. I actually hunt turkeys more for the sheer enjoyment of calling and watching them strut and gobble. To be sure, we do eat them and they are mighty fine tasting. But I keep the beards and mount them on a homemade beard board. Also keep the spurs and put them on a "necklace". Have 5 necklaces so far. Over the years, I have also cured a good number of turkey fans/capes and mounted them on homemade boards. Pretty much every one in my family has one of my turkeys hanging on their wall.

As the weather warms up, I have been seeing more gobblers. A week ago there was a gobbler flock a couple hundred yards from my house that numbered over 50. And I have been seeing more and more smaller bunches of them, which would indicate they are breaking up their winter flocks. I even heard a few gobbles this morning not far from my back yard. Yep, definitely starting to stir the juices. Good luck to you on your upcoming season!
 
I shoot for both. Last year I fanned a 26 pounder in Iowa. Our season starts next weekend. Did some scouting yesterday, but no sign. I want to eventually get the whole back wall of my gun cabinet covered in fans.
 
Shanghai McCoy said:
From a personal standpoint the only two turkeys that I have gotten, both jakes, are "trophies" cause I got them with my flintlock smoothbore. :)
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I agree 100% with your assessment. Even though we often strive to get the "biggest rack" or the "longest beard", any game animal taken in fair pursuit is, indeed, a trophy. The very first turkey I ever called in was a jake, and I was very proud to take him. I "normally" shoot long guns left handed and I shot this jake "wrong" (right) handed. This was in 1995 and his fan still resides on my wall.
 
Any turkey is a good turkey although jakes can be pretty gullible. Back when we could shoot jakes, not legal now, I didn't hesitate to bust one if I didn't have a bird in the freezer. Now they must have a full fan or a 6" beard here in Arkansas. I have always had problems when it came to trying to measure a beard while looking over my sights, but I guess the Game Wardens have a special technique that I don't know about.

My favorite way to cook them is to fillet the breast, cut it across the grain, dip in milk and egg, salt and pepper, roll in flour and deep fry it. I have yet to find a way to cook the legs and thighs. Pressure cook maybe?
 
Captcurt said:
Any turkey is a good turkey although jakes can be pretty gullible. Back when we could shoot jakes, not legal now, I didn't hesitate to bust one if I didn't have a bird in the freezer. Now they must have a full fan or a 6" beard here in Arkansas. I have always had problems when it came to trying to measure a beard while looking over my sights, but I guess the Game Wardens have a special technique that I don't know about.

My favorite way to cook them is to fillet the breast, cut it across the grain, dip in milk and egg, salt and pepper, roll in flour and deep fry it. I have yet to find a way to cook the legs and thighs. Pressure cook maybe?
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I've heard the legs and thighs are a bit tough and greasy. The one thing I can imagine that meat being perfect for is some thing like a stew or dumplings that will take a long long time at low heat to really slow cook it. And I'm betting the natural oils will just add to the flavor of each meal.
 
I have a buddy that slow cooks them for most of a day and then makes some cajun dish with them. It reminds my wife of eating crawfish. An awful lot of work for a little meat.
 
For 50 years i was a dedicated turkey hunter but gave it up: We no longer eat wild turkey. Giving away wild turkeys is problematic: It's the wild hog story all over again. No one wants a whole wild turkey. Everyone wants a nicely picked and dressed wild turkey.
 
Even though they are pretty easy to get, I don't shoot them any more... I mean they wonder through my yard quite often,

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This is within shotgun range from my house,

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I'm not crazy about the way they taste and the license cost about the same as, or more than just buying a GOOD tasting turkey at the store..

This is from my deer blind,

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for a $15.00 tag, I could shoot one of those does, which would you shoot??

May as well spend the money on something that has some meat on it. lol

DM
 
I have been chasing turkeys for around 30 years. At first it was like winning the lottery to draw a tag. After not drawing for around 5 years back in the late 80's I drove 4 hours to pick up a left over tag in the UP. I was able to get access to a huge farm through a friend I new up there. I took three multi bearded turkeys off of that farm along with others. They finally came up with a tag I could buy over the counter for around home which I have done ever since. There are still a couple of drawn hunts of a week each prior to the season I hunt which ends up being for most of the month of May. I look at the two drawn hunts are for those that are not confident of there hunting abilities. L;)

As I have aged and my disabilities have gotten worse I have not been that picky about shooting a long beard but the last 4 years they have all been long beards. When I first started hunting them I had to drive 30 miles from home before I could find any turkeys but now I have them right around home.

I scald and pick all of my turkeys so I can roast them in a bag. They always come out nice and moist because the skin is on them. I roast them for Thanksgiving. I roast them the day before so I can bone the breast out when it cools and then cut it cross grain. I put some of the liquid from the bag in the casserole with the meat so it stays moist.The wild turkey goes before the store bought one as it has way more flavor than the store bought one. The carcass is boiled to get the meat off and it all goes into soup.

I cut the plastic off of the shell I took the turkey with. I then put a piece of dowel in the shell base to epoxy the beard too. The spurs are cut off of the legs with a piece of leg bone attached and hung through a hole drilled in the base of the shell. I have a beard board that has a piece of wall paper boarder with wild turkeys on it that the beards are hung on.
 
tomturkey said:
I cut the plastic off of the shell I took the turkey with. I then put a piece of dowel in the shell base to epoxy the beard too. The spurs are cut off of the legs with a piece of leg bone attached and hung through a hole drilled in the base of the shell. I have a beard board that has a piece of wall paper boarder with wild turkeys on it that the beards are hung on.
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If you have a picture of the spur mount I'm curious to see it.
 
I will have to see if I can locate the beads as they are stored since I moved to a different house. Then it will be if this computer illiterate old guy can figure out how to post a picture.
 
I only shoot critters that I plan on eating, but I keep beards and bands and antlers and whatnot as trophies.
That being said, I only hunt public land, so every bird I take is a trophy to me.

I skin the birds I shoot, because it only takes a few minutes, and scalding and plucking is for the birds. /sigh
I just cover the turkey with foil and roast it in the oven like any other bird. The dark meat is a little darker, but the breasts are nice and white, just like a commercial turkey.
 
Man! I'm not going home with a bird right now, but this experience was SO worth it! I called these two small toms in from about 300 yards who were henned up all morning, across a field, a fence, gravel road, over a cattle guard and recorded them taking a looksie-loo at my decoys. They obviously weren't too impressed by them as they only stayed maybe 5 minutes or so and didn't even ask the hen on a date.
I could have easily taken one of them, but I want my first bird to be a stud. I know I probably shouldn't be so picky, but I saw two much bigger beards in the field, they just chose not to follow the two younger toms and instead stayed with the hens they were with for several hours before I got the two to break my way.
 

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20180406_164043.jpg 20180406_182856.jpg 20180406_164242.jpg Hi guys! After going home for a 2 hour nap I made it back out. 5 minutes after setting up my decoys my patience paid off. The guys I was waiting on! I had to wait another 5 minutes with my magnum shouldered before the two toms spread apart long enough that I could take a shot at just one. Amazing day of first time successes here in Oklahoma. Couldn't be happier! :)
 
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As far as the meat goes, we will fillet the breast from the bone, cube it, roll in seasoned flour, then deep fry. French fries, and a couple of different dipping sauces like honey mustard and bbq will make a fun meal for all. This is our familys favorite way to prepare wild turkey. Ill post some pics of it, perhaps monday night.
 
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