Gobbler Down

It may have taken a few tries this year but I finally got close enough to a turkey. This year has been interesting in the fact that I’ve hunted turkeys 5 times and all of them have been in places I’ve never hunted turkeys in. I’m grateful to have had so many places to try and it has been interesting to see how things lay out on each place. The great thing is every trip I’ve heard gobbles and that is kind of like seeing a deer while deer hunting for me. It makes it a great hunt whether I end up with an opportunity at an animal or not.

I’ve dealt with birds that stayed across the property lines, birds that went the other way, and birds that just ghosted. Either way it has been fun and the place I did eventually get my bird was super unique. A few months ago when I was looking for a place to host a small get together for my brother near where he lives. I stumbled across a VRBO that had a headline with the word Hunt in it. If you know me than you know I immediately clicked on that and started scheming about maybe we could get a turkey hunt in. The place looked great, had 300 acres, and would be the perfect spot. I booked it and then the waiting began. Once turkey season opened up I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to kill a turkey elsewhere even though I tried. I’m certain that if an opportunity presented itself there were going to be no passes given.

Once we arrived at the property we bumped into the property manager and found out the place went full into a hunting lodge. However we “snuck” in at the regular VRBO rates and still had full run of the property. The manager assured us there were plenty of birds and we headed out to do a little scouting. The property was huge, .97 miles from end to end and the biggest piece of continuous private land I’ve ever hunted. It didn’t take long to find a few birds and hatch a plan for the next morning.

There were 2 areas we’d seen turkeys in and the other couple guys hunting went to one and I went to the other. We were too busy having a few beers to go try and roost some birds but I was feeling really good about my spot for the morning. I could never get back to where I wanted to set up while scouting because I didn’t want to disturb it. So I’d have to find a place in the darkness in the morning luckily the moon was pretty bright. I found a solid little hidey hole and of course absolutely tore up my hands clearing some dead raspberry bushes. The trap was set with a jake and a hen decoy, I just had to wait on the gobbling to start.

I had a few birds gobbling in an area I thought they might roost and sort of regretted setting up where I did. That went on for about 15 minutes when one lit up right by me. I got into position and ready for this bird to pop into view. I had poor visibility in that area but if the bird came into view it was game over. I think this bird was with a hen because it sounded like some faint clucking was happening too. I could never coax the birds into view and eventually all went quiet. Time for the waiting game now but luckily I only had to sit through about a half hour of quiet. After a bit of calling a gobble thundered out pretty close and in another direction. I got set up and this bird would either be coming through the woods or along the fence row if things went to plan. It happened fast at that point and I had a great set up with open spaces and spots of cover that would allow me to move and get my gun up. The image of that bird popping into the first opening with the sun on him is still burned in my head. He was fixated on the decoys and it couldn’t have lined up better for me. I let him keep coming and as he got in an area with a bunch of cover between us I got myself ready. A few more steps and he was into the open and the hunt was over. The pressure was also off for me and I could focus on just having fun the rest of the weekend because I certainly wasn’t going to lose my desire to kill a turkey.

The rest of the crew ended up only getting close to hens that morning and then lost their motivation to make something happen on Sunday. One interesting thing I found on my bird were 2 pellets lodged in its breast from someone else. I lost a little meat because of this but I have to wonder what the story on that was. We had decided if someone got a bird that we would try the heart and liver because one of the guys was a huge chicken liver fan. The heart was excellent and the liver, well it tasted like liver. The exact taste as if someone cooked a mallard way too long. However it wasn’t that bad and I’d probably do it again. The rest of the bird went home with me and we already got going on one of my favorites this week. Turkey nuggets! I do a recipe that is kind of a blend between the Meateater version and the Hank Shaw version. I also throw a few of my own twists on it but the star of the show is the bird and also the pickle juice brine. Wild turkey is really a treat for me and I’m confused at how I’ve heard some people say it is no good.

I’ve got to wonder if some of those birds that are “no good” are already starting to spoil. It’s generally getting pretty warm during turkey season and field care is so important with any sort of animal. You’ve also match parts of the bird with certain cooking techniques and that really goes for any kind of meat. The breast is versatile although it never makes it past nuggets in my house. The legs thighs and wings are suited for a slow cooker although they have excellent flavor when smoked, they are going to be tough. I’ve got no problem tearing into smoked wild turkey thigh/leg but for someone a little less savage it might be too much work.

Anyway that is my story this year and while it took a little longer to get a bird this year. It allowed me to learn more about turkeys and become a better turkey hunter. I’ll be looking forward to next spring!