Turkey Season

[Zach Matthews]

Guys I killed my first turkey all on my own this weekend. I hunted turkeys pretty hard two years ago with an excellent turkey caller and learned a lot. For various reasons I laid off last year and did not hunt at all, but I found I missed it and went back to it this year. Before season started I broke out my turkey trumpet and practiced quite a bit, and finally got the high note that needs to roll over to sound like a proper turkey more or less dialed in.

Saturday was beautiful weather with a lot of gobbling going on early. I got to the woods slightly late due to underestimating the distance, and wound up hiking about three miles of very up and down terrain in the morning. That area (North Georgia) got nailed with ice storms and there were blow downs all over the place making straight line navigation almost impossible. At one point I passed a fellow hunter who had set up camp basically up on a ridge top. Turkey Trumpets are difficult and unusual calls and people aren’t used to hearing them. He’s probably still disappointed those hens didn’t come his way with their big Tom. 🙂

Anyway that afternoon I hopped across the road and hunted another section. I wound up hiking around six miles total, passing a very, very nice and friendly fellow turkey hunter along the way. I really appreciated how considerate he was; he had a full blind going and I never realized he was there until I literally crossed straight in front of him. He explained the lay of the land to me and ultimately I wound up working a gobbler. This was the first time I’d had actual real gobblers gobbling back to my calls so it was kind of a landmark moment for me.

Anyway after a six or seven gobbles back and forth I began to close the distance, and a group of jakes (year old turkeys) came in to my calls. Generally speaking killing a jake is not ideal; we would all rather let them walk, but this is a big piece of very public WMA property and I couldn’t afford to be too selective. I took the shot and hiked the jake out, but marked where the gobbler had been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Q8Nh2XMGE

(I am not a good caller yet but I am getting into the range of being able to get it done. This is sort of like catching a fish with a poorly tied fly; it’ll work even if it’s not exactly ideal.)

Sunday I was joined by my friend Ken Barre, who also had never gotten to turkey hunt before. We hiked around six or seven total miles around the same section of property. It rained more or less the whole time, which typically shuts the thundering down. When we finally were about to bag it at my 4Runner’s tailgate, I made one last call and wouldn’t you know it, a gobbler called back. This was almost certainly the same bird I had worked yesterday as we had driven in on the opposite side of the property, right by where I had killed my jake.

Ken ready to either kill a turkey or overthrow a Panamanian dictator, whatever came first.

We plunged down a forest creek wash and got another two or three gobbles out of him, as well as some half-gurgling that was probably the rest of that group of jakes. Unfortunately it then began to really rain in earnest, to the point that the noise of raindrops shut down our ability to hear them. We bagged it. I know where he is, though. 🙂

All in all I call it a very successful opener. I feel like I have made big steps forward.

Zach

[Mike Tolbert]

Well done sir!

Here is the brine recipe I told you about. I’ve used it 3 times and each time it has turned out perfect. I don’t follow the instructions for cooking. I just smoke it at around 200 – 225. You can estimate 1hr cook time per 2lbs so an 18lb bird will take around 9 hours.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/honey-brined-smoked-turkey-recipe2.html

[Zach Matthews]

Thanks Mike. I butterflied the first breast out and made a wheel of turkey, portabello, pancetta, shallots, dried cranberry and green onion, oven cooked in panko crumbs, but I’d like to do something different with the other breast and this looks fantastic. I may steal that jalapeno pimento cheese recipe to serve with it too!

Zach

[Mike Tolbert]

Zach, I told you wrong. Smoke is around 185 degrees on my traeger.

[Brian Greer]

Wild turkey is pretty abundant in Missouri. More so in the southern part of the state (the Ozarks), compared to the northern area.
That’s due to the habitat. Northern Missouri is much flatter and less wooded than the southern part of the state.

Missouri has a spring and a fall turkey hunting season. The spring season doesnt kick off until April 20 and then ends May 10th.
It sounds like our hunting regulations are quite different. In Missouri you can hunt turkey from 1/2 hour before sunrise until 1pm. That being said, you had better be planted in your spot well before any daylight shows. We are allowed to use bow or shotgun (no rifles). Plus, there are several other small rules.

Zach, it sounds like hunters in your neck of the woods are a little more tolerant than what I’ve generally seen. Most are usually pissed if you walk in on them when they’re already set up. That may be due to only hunting early hours.

It looks like you’re all set for turkey feathers for flies.

[Author]

Posts