Who's getting pumped up?????????

[Feltwad]

It is every man too his own but here in the UK we do not have wild turkeys that I know of and glad of that
Many decades ago I used to breed turkeys for Xmas they must have been the dumbest of all birds with a brain has big has a pea and if wild turkeys are the same why have they not been shot out in the states years ago .Are they shot has a sitting bird or flying ? has a sporting bird or just one for the pot no offence only asking
Feltwad :idunno:

 

[azmntman]

Wild turkeys are usually hunted by calling them in in spring mating season. In fall we try to find a flock and "bust it up" then call and they come to "regroup" and get shot. Other method is sit water.

Dumb? Maybe in a pen. In the woods of N AZ I have mentored several youngsters in turkey hunting and I can tell ya they are very wary and smart. When coming to call you cannot even blink or they will see you and either hang up or take off. I'd rather hunt turkey than anything else. Elk is second. There is about 270 lb difference in meat harvest though :haha:

Some say the wild turkey is the hardest to harvest of all AZ big game. Myself I can sit totally motionless for a looong time and have great luck. Teaching a ten yer old to do that is the hard part, especially when Mr Tom comes in strutting and gobbling all the way! That and ya gotta hit him in the neck or head, in the hysteria of the first hunting many "roll em" or shoot for the body which doesn't result in a turkey dinner.

 

[Jimbo47]

Yep, if you never hunted spring turkey season you don't know what you are missing.
Calling in a bird from way off in the distance is a thrill, and once called in they have excellent eyesight and they are tuned into trying to figure out where that hen is that was doing all that calling.
Some of the memorable hunts I've had was calling back and forth what seemed an eternity only to have that bird stop answering and then show up only yards away popping out from behind a bush and suddenly seeing you and taking off leaving you sitting there

 

[Ron LaClair]

Feltwad, we hunt turkeys in the spring by calling like a hen turkey. There are various types of commercial calls you can use but I like to use a "Wing bone" call made out of the bones in a wild turkey wing like the old timers did. You make the clucking sound of a hen by sucking on the small end of the bone as you cup the call in your hand.

Domestic turkeys may be dumb but wild birds are very wary. If they weren't the fox and coyotes would wipe them out.

Hunting them in this manner is exciting when you get an answer to your call, and then know they are coming to you when you hear the gobble getting closer after you call again. Even so, sometimes they will "hang up" when they can't see the hen. A turkey hen decoy can sometimes help bring them into the range of your smoothbore loaded with shot. You have to make a head shot because their body is hard for the shot to penetrate to the vitals.

That's my wingbone call laying on my bag.

 

[Feltwad]

Feltwad, we hunt turkeys in the spring by calling like a hen turkey. There are various types of commercial calls you can use but I like to use a "Wing bone" call made out of the bones in a wild turkey wing like the old timers did. You make the clucking sound of a hen by sucking on the small end of the bone as you cup the call in your hand.

Domestic turkeys may be dumb but wild birds are very wary. If they weren't the fox and coyotes would wipe them out.

Hunting them in this manner is exciting when you get an answer to your call, and then know they are coming to you when you hear the gobble getting closer after you call again. Even so, sometimes they will "hang up" when they can't see the hen. A turkey hen decoy can sometimes help bring them into the range of your smoothbore loaded with shot. You have to make a head shot because their body is hard for the shot to penetrate to the vitals.

That's my wingbone call laying on my bag.

I still think that a turkey is the dumbest bird ,I have just watch a video on Turkey hunting .
It involved a Shooter which had out a hen bird decoy and he sat behind a turkey decoy which had a fan tail he used a call which the turkey Tom we call them jocks came running towards him and when at no more than a couple of yards away he shot it. It does show that a turkey is dumb or at that time of the year its mind was lost for love .
quaint.
Feltwad :surrender:

 

[azmntman]

Well think about it......."that time" is only once a year. I'm betting a few of us, on both sides of the pond, may begin to think erratically if we also had only once a year to look forward to?

Bull elk the same. Hunt em in the rut its not too bad, they're minds are on the yearly ritual. Hunt em any other time and they will out smart 95% of us 95% of the time.

 

[robinsroost]

Feltwad, I agree with your assessment, they are as dumb as a post or a box of rocks, but their instinct for survival is superior. They have eyesight comparable to us looking through 8 power binoculars and they see in color. Their hearing is so good, that they can hear a hen call from 250 yards away, through the woods, and come to that exact spot. And they are as wary as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Keep yer powder dry....robin :hmm:

 

[Feltwad]

Feltwad, I agree with your assessment, they are as dumb as a post or a box of rocks, but their instinct for survival is superior. They have eyesight comparable to us looking through 8 power binoculars and they see in color. Their hearing is so good, that they can hear a hen call from 250 yards away, through the woods, and come to that exact spot. And they are as wary as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Keep yer powder dry....robin :hmm:

I agree on their hearing when I kept the domestic ones there was a quarry about 15 miles up the valley and when they blasted the turkeys would gobble , gobble, and it drove me nuts .
Feltwad :cursing:

 

[Britsmoothy]

On a local estate I use to frequent they had some wild American turkey released in the woods, those birds were not dumb at all. Occasionally I got a fleeting glance but that was all I got.
On a shoot day if they got up they would match any high pheasant in Britain!

B.

 

[Skychief]

It is every man too his own but here in the UK we do not have wild turkeys that I know of and glad of that
Many decades ago I used to breed turkeys for Xmas they must have been the dumbest of all birds with a brain has big has a pea and if wild turkeys are the same why have they not been shot out in the states years ago .Are they shot has a sitting bird or flying ? has a sporting bird or just one for the pot no offence only asking
Feltwad :idunno:

As you have demonstrated the highest degree of ignorance regarding wild turkeys in the USA, no "offence" taken.

Best regards, Skychief :blah:

 

[Black Hand]

It is every man too his own but here in the UK we do not have wild turkeys that I know of and glad of that
Many decades ago I used to breed turkeys for Xmas they must have been the dumbest of all birds with a brain has big has a pea and if wild turkeys are the same why have they not been shot out in the states years ago .Are they shot has a sitting bird or flying ? has a sporting bird or just one for the pot no offence only asking
Feltwad :idunno:

Domestic turkeys are dumber than a box of hammers, wild turkeys are not. The wild variety are crafty/smart birds and the toughest things I've tried to hunt. Deer are easy by comparison (keeping in mind that MT deer are not those near-tame deer one finds hanging around a feeder that people shoot in much of the country).

 

[Ron LaClair]

I still think that a turkey is the dumbest bird ,I have just watch a video on Turkey hunting .
It involved a Shooter which had out a hen bird decoy and he sat behind a turkey decoy which had a fan tail he used a call which the turkey Tom we call them jocks came running towards him and when at no more than a couple of yards away he shot it. It does show that a turkey is dumb or at that time of the year its mind was lost for love .
quai

You assume wild turkeys are dumb because you watched a video but that's not the way it usually happens. Jakes, that's what we call young gobblers are easy to kill but a wise old longbeard is something else. A turkey is like a crow,.. if you've ever hunted them...if you fool them once and don't kill them and they remember that and that makes them wary and hard to fool again.

Years ago I hunted with Ben Lee from Alabama who at the time was the world champion turkey caller. He said that if turkeys had a nose like a whitetail deer it would be nearly impossible to kill them. I'm sure if you ever had the chance to hunt turkeys here in the spring, you'd have a different opinion of them.

 

[Feltwad]

Nothing is impossible too kill no I have never shot wild turkey because there are none here in the UK .Crows yes at corn time from July to October is a busy time for me with a average of 4days a week . On the stubbles I use black powder muzzle loaders or black powder hammer guns
Feltwad
Average day with a percussion gun

 

[Griz44Mag]

.Crows yes at corn time from July to October is a busy time for me with a average of 4days a week

You need to try Scott Rea's English crow recipe. You can find him and a lot of good wild game recipes. One of my favorite English hunting butcher!

 

[Brokennock]

It is every man too his own but here in the UK we do not have wild turkeys that I know of and glad of that
Many decades ago I used to breed turkeys for Xmas they must have been the dumbest of all birds with a brain has big has a pea and if wild turkeys are the same why have they not been shot out in the states years ago .Are they shot has a sitting bird or flying ? has a sporting bird or just one for the pot no offence only asking
Feltwad :idunno:

As you have demonstrated the highest degree of ignorance regarding wild turkeys in the USA, no "offence" taken.

Best regards, Skychief :blah:

Here, here!

How many "takes" went into that video? Like the fishing shows where the guy catches a mess of fish, all trophy size, in half an hour. Doesn't show the hours of catching nothing.

Turkeys may not be educated, but there's a difference between educated and smart.

Wild turkeys are smarter than domestic for sure, but both are smarter than many humans.

 

[azmntman]

Least they don't vote :blah:

Shall we all remember the wild turkey nearly beat out the Bald Eagle as Americas national bird :shocked2:

And ya if they could smell they would not find a oven very dang often. As for the eye site....I'd say 20pwr zoom binos myself. I was oncst minding my own business in a tree stand hunting archery deer and does would walk by and I'd scratch and stretch n move all over. They never seen me. Then comes a flock of bee pobbing turkeys and I moved my hand JUST SLIGHTLY and "poof" they were gone.

 

[excess650]

I'm not a turkey hunter, but can appreciate the challenge it presents.

This is a reminder to me that I should part with my 12 bore so that someone else can put it to use and enjoy it. It'll be listed shortly....

 

[PaulN/KS]

Ours starts about mid-April here in Kansas. Need to dust off the 62 smooth bore for this years hunt.

 

[FiremanBrad]

April 16 to May 6 here in Mo.

Going to shoot the Trade Gun today with some heavy lubed cushion wads here shortly!!!

 

[jrmflintlock]

Photos like NWTFHunter's really get me going!!

Damn I hate Nevada!! I need to get out of here to someplace with turkeys!!!