doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - 2024 Spring Gobbler Season

SE Ga. Swamp bird from this morning (4/10/2024. 20 steps with Yildiz TK12 with Sumtoy Choke, Burris Fast Fire III shooting my handload of 1 3/8 oz. #9 TSS. Gun weighs 4.25 lbs. and is nice to carry while running and gunning aka stumbling and bumbling. Gil

Keith, 67galaxy, shot this nice South Georgia bird with his Clabrough and Bros 8 ga. The gun was made in the 1870s, has 38" barrels, F&F, and weighs almost 15 lbs. He shoots 3 1/4" shells made by Milton Starr, 2 1/4 oz. of #6. Three mature birds attacked his decoy and he shot the bird at 25 yards.

Our season in AL ends today. We get 4 tags now, and I managed to fill 3 of them early in the season and then never really got close to another turkey. There was a time when I would have gone to most any length to avoid eating a tag, but in my old age it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore.

Nearly all the turkeys I've killed in the past decade have been with the little Yildiz 20 gauge SxS. It was a $486 shotgun so I didn't mind chopping off both ends and doing a lot of customizing to it. This was gobbler #3:

pichost

I did get a gate picture from another one, but he was about to board a Greyhound bus and leave the state. I was there the next morning, but he was long gone and never returned.

I hunt turkeys in northern California but missed this season because my partner (and landowner) hurt his knee. I use a Damascus barreled Smallwood hammer ten choked full and full, brass shells, black powder, and 1.5 oz. of bismuth #4's. Perhaps next year I'll emulate galaxie and carry my Smallwood 8, 4" chambers, 2.75 oz. and 8 drams BP.

Last year we called in two and fired simultaneously. That's my friend's CZ SxS behind me:

That's me! I use them on field birds. I do not in the woods. Different strokes I guess.

Why shouldn't there be a tom here right now?

There was one from 2- 6 pm on Wednesday. But not since. In honor of John, I put out a decoy, but I have never killed a bird with one. Maybe this afternoon.

My first Minnesota turkey, at last.  



45 minutes before sunrise, today, and they are gobbling hard.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ixrIAE6.jpg[/img

As he lay.  He took a long time to cover the last 25 yds or so.  I could not see him until he was 24 paced yards away, but I was ready with gun up.  I let him step into my fist-sized window, exactly as planned, and then took him down with a 1.25 oz of #5s and 26.7 grs of Longshot.  My basic pheasant load.  


Grandpa's and his brother's 1897 Winchester does it again from 1917 to today.  

I do.
Here in MI, We get 1 spring bearded only tag. Designated hunts are only 1 week long for most areas.
Except where I live.
Here, I have from next Saturday until June 7th.
Plenty of turkeys to shoot at my place. They roost here most days. Gobbling every morning. In the yard, or the fields surrounding the house every day year round.
I'm not part of turkey culture, I just like to eat some every now and again.
Spring is a busy time for me, so I make it as easy as possible.
12, 1 1/4oz # 6's, xtra full, and go set behind the barn waiting for the fly down.

Again, we only get one tag, so, when you shoot, you are probably done until next year.

I hunt them a lot, including 5 minutes from now. I'm just not killing them. In other words, I seem to suck as a turkey hunter.

I live for turkey leg carnitas, but it's been so long, I have forgotten what they taste like.

As much as a busy schedule will allow I have been trying to get these guys in front of the kids...

I'd love to get that recipe, I always use the legs, usually mexican style, I look for new techniques.

One of my cell cams was very close by and this bird and his buddy managed to get themselves photoed. The bird in the foreground was about 3 minutes and 15 ft from where I shot him, but invisible to me at the moment of the photo. The bird in the back, I never saw. I'd spent maybe 25-30 minutes talking to them as they made their way from way off the property.

That's got to be delicious!
What amazes me is how much rich, tender meat is yielded by just one wild turkey leg and thigh, about a double handful. Also how easy it is, after boiling to fall-off-the-bone tenderness, to separate the good tender meat from not only the bones but also the calcified tendons and gristle.

I’m excited to read and try the tips in the recipes above. Simply crockpot in the leg and thighs in Cerveza gives a good base to pan sear into fajita.

We probably all know the breasts can be stuffed individually with white wines, mushroom Swiss and rice to great success, as well as ham, onions, and blue cheese.
Or the breast cut into strips in a buttermilk pickle brine will beat the pants off a Chick-fil-A!!!!

As my uncle always put it, “I need to go find a gobbler that wants to take a ride in my truck”

The recipe I use is a little different and involves are more spices, beer, etc. I think it has the same origin, however.

These are the ingredients. The technique is about what is described in playing hooky's link.


Personally, I do not think you can add too much Cinnamon, so I throw in 3 sticks. And I make it a heaping teaspoon of cloves and cumin. Basically, I go a bit overboard on all the spices.
Also, you need at least three bottles of mexican beer - make that four. Two to put in the pot, one to drink while cooking, and another to drink while eating. I use both turkey legs and thighs at the same time. I have used antelope shanks, and that is also good, but not as good as turkeys.

Put the honey in at the last minute while crisping up the meat before serving.



Ingredients:
2-3 lbs big game shoulder, neck roast, shanks, wild turkey legs and wings, rabbit, or squirrel
2 bottles Mexican beer
2 small oranges
1 lime
1 tablespoon cumin
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 coarsely chopped small onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
Olive oil
Salt, pepper to taste
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
Queso fresco
Chopped white onion
Chopped cilantro
Chopped tomato
Lime wedges
Small corn or flour street taco tortillas