Turkey Hunting.....Tips/Techniques/Stories

wow, you must have quite a few birds or very few hunters.

 

We have a pretty good amount of birds and a crap ton of hunters. But you have to be smarter than the turkey lol

 

so what do you all do with the feathers from these birds? besides tail mounts

 

I have done one of those but I prefer bucks on the wall. I normally leave the tail with the carcass.

 

yea man nothing really tops a sweet buck mount! what about body feathers?

 

We breast out the birds so we normally screw those all up opening the bird up. This year we had a old lady who wanted the feathers and she let us hunt her property so we plucked as much as we could out and gave them to her.

 

cool cool nice Idaho buck in your pics!

 

Thanks man! That is one of the only buck's I have taken where we had the digital camera in the pack.

 

aint that the truth! we all tell stories of the big ones but we always forget the camera ha ha

 

Haha! I know last year my dad was wishin he had his camera, but all he has is the story

 

I have a few fan/beard combo mounts on my wall. But my first two I had a taxidermist friend help me do a unique 'backstrap mount'. The whole bird flat on the wall, minus the head.(I have high cathedral ceilings to help with available wall space) It is really beautifull with all the colors that are in the feathers of these birds.

My good friend who shoots traditional archery uses turkey feathers to make fletching for his homemade arrows.

here's a tip for everyone: I take a wing from my bird and spread it wide and let it dry. I always try to keep at least one in my vest for making sounds of a fly down early morning or a bird stretching and flapping her wings mid-day like a chicken will do. Combine this with scratching in the leaves and you have some very cheap calls in your vest that are very effective!

If you don't have a wing, you can flap your hat in the air and across your leg to get similar sounds.

Also look in my daughters picture and you'll see the fan from one of my birds on the decoy sitting next to her.

 

Just thought I would share with you guys. It was a good mothers day for me. 7/8" spurs, 10" beard. Oh yea, and failed to mention. This is my first turkey, and got it within 20 mins of sitting down and getting dug in.

 

^^^Congratulations headhunter!!! Very nice bird, and a terrific first!! I remember my first bird like it was yesterday. Very memorable.

..............well, season is done in Indiana and my son and I finished with no bird and lots of fond memories. 2010 was a great year with his twin sister getting her first bird. My son is big and strong enough to stay with me through the hills of the Hoosier National Forest and we had a blast.

....another successfull season of great memories, good times, and bonding with my kids......and some turkey to munch on to boot.

 

Thanks Hoosier. It was a blast! I look forward to the next season.

 

I hunt Turkey here in Texas and up in Missouri. Bagged my first double bearded bird this past weekend in Dallas County (Missouri), both 10" long beards with 1-1/8" spurs.
Really gets the heart pumping when they gobble about 20 yards out, lots of fun.

 

Thats one hell of a nice Tom Todd!! That is one of the longest double bearded birds I have every seen! Congrats

 

Nice bird Todd, congrats!!!

 

Thanks guys. I guess it was luck as I had two toms come in to the call and this is the one that I shot. When I first walked up to him I thought the beard was just really thick and heavy, then I pulled back the feathers to see it was a double beard, pretty cool suprise!
We (my brother and I) have harvested 6 birds this season, its been a pretty good year for turkey.
Here are a few more pics of last weeks hunt in Missouri.

 

going for the last time, tomorrow!!!

then i dismantle my bow, and buy a new mathews Z7!!!

 

I am still trying to set up another turkey hunt with my buddy but not sure if its gona work out yet.