I have hunted them on State land by walking and riding mountain bicycles, to cover ground to locate them. In the most recent years, I've hunted them in the woods behind my house. I sometimes will put them to bed at dusk and set up for them at dawn. At this point, I prefer to call for other hunters including young hunters rather than shoot them myself. However, in the past couple years the turkeys by me have all disappeared. My game cameras have picked up Eastern Coyotes, Red Fox, Fisher, & Raccoons. We also have Barred and Great Horned Owls. What our woods no longer have are turkeys. Just 3 years ago I could go out and hear 6 or more Toms sounding off at first light. Now the woods are quiet. Other hunters in my area report the same lack of birds. Depressing.

 

It was always run, and gun like Lerrab does mostly. Not opposed to blinds or decoys. Blinds can be a pain to carry, and set up. Me and my dad would cover a lot of ground chasing an old tom. We had fun. He was my hunting buddy, and passed 3 years ago. I haven’t bought a license this year. I just lost interest. I do however go out in my backyard early mornings, and call a little to see if I can fire one up.

 

Am not a turkey hunter but have had a lot of dealings with turkey hunters while I was on patrol.

I think as a whole, you turkey hunters are a most patience lot.

A large part of my job was game and fish enforcement. I do miss that part of the job greatly since my recent retirement.

Some years ago I had a very much disliked fella tell me of a huge turkey he was hunting and where he was hunting. I sent a pal there to hunt and he killed that tom.

A year later while on patrol, I heard a shot fired some distance from me. It was during turkey season so I proceeded towards the sound of the shot and found one of my fellow officers with a hunter on the side of the gravel road. The tom turkey was still flopping in the roadside ditch. The hunter shot it from his vehicle. It was the same fella I put onto that big tom the year before. Yeah, he was busted.

A pal of mine was turkey hunting and called one to his decoys. He killed it and a coyote popped out of the brush and grabbed the bird. My pal then killed the coyote.

Not far from where the fella shot the bird from his vehicle used to be a coyote sitting close to the road in the field and seemed not afraid. That coyote seemed to be teasing drivers. During turkey season I found that rascal dead where he used to sit in the field. just short of him was a 12GA power piston and an empty 12GA 3 1/2" hull on the shoulder of the road.

 

2500X, I still hunt three states for turkey But not every year. The turkey numbers around here are definitely down and my friends in other states tell me the same. The heydays of the late 90's and early 2000's are gone for now. I remember their low numbers in the 70's and how if one was able to locate two huntable birds before season he felt pretty good about that. Numbers are not nearly that low but as you say they are dropping. Even in years of good weather and good hatches the numbers continue to fall.

Jive, grownups are fine to hunt with but there are kids out there waiting for you, I often take their dads. Sometimes it creates a problem for three to hide but we work it out. There is nothing better than moving along the ridges listening for that first bird and then setting up on it. A lost part of the art of turkey hunting is setting up. Picking the exact spot and putting on the grand illusion. Hiding in plain sight is truly an art and I teach it constantly to the yutes on slow days. For instance, I will tell them to pretend a gobbler just gobbled in the hollow, now pick your tree. They get it wrong constantly, at first. It keeps them entertained on a slow period and helps them be better hunters at the same time. They eventually get good at it and I know they are then on their way. Sometimes I purposely pick a spot to where they have to back off 75-100 yards. That generally stumps them as they don't want to get further away so they pick the best of the worse trees to use. Bad idea!

Pitching a blind at a field they use everyday removes the calling, the art of setting up, and all of the hunt. Making a couple yelps in the blind is not turkey hunting to me. I have neighbors that shoot a lot of turkeys. They hunt the fields with blinds and when I ask them why a 85 year old woman or a 10 year old kid ( actually 10 year old kids do it all the time) couldn't kill every bird that they kill they don't have an answer. Personally, I think it a poor thing to do to a 10 year old trying to learn to hunt. But some just like it that way. It will get the birds if that is all one is after. Teach the art of turkey hunting and then let them decide, I say.

Taking a kid in the woods is a great thing. Put an orange hat on them it will not hurt your chances of killing a bird as long as you switch to camo when set up.

I have never brought anyone's kid back from the woods empty handed. They don't always get a bird but they bring something out of there with them. Brook trout, morels, and ramps are fine but that is just part of the knowledge they should get back into the truck with! I like to put the guns up after a kill or we are timed out and spend the rest of the day in the woods with them. If a good trout stream nearby, we break out the poles. ( not going to call them rods) ( Bring several lunches per kid) I have several little packs and they carry stuff. They will know what spring beauties, dutchman's britches, trout lilies, and such are. Lady slippers are not common around here, but I know a few places so I take them where I know some are. And on their next trip they can identify all of this stuff for me. It keeps them entertained and wanting to come back for more on top of teaching them things a woodsman should know!

Hickory, some simply don't like to hunt but they want to kill turkeys. That is why they do what they do. Shooting from the road is just another example of not wanting to hunt. They want to kill turkeys. You know, stories, picture taking, short videos, and all of that! Attention seeking runs deep in their soul! They feel the same way about other game and that hunting thing does not appeal to them. I think it makes them tired!

We need to teach kids how to hunt, and the woodsmanship that goes along with it, Sitting in a blind scrolling thru a phone while deer killing or turkey killing teaches nothing . Sitting around field edges on side x sides sniping squirrels, deer , turkey, etc teaches one nothing.

No, better time to teach a kid some woodsmanship then the spring. Don't forget his/her orange hat.

 

I’m in the mountains, no decoys, no blinds. Lots of walking hoping to strike a bird. I use an 870 youth 20 gauge with old Federal Heavyweight #7’s and a Burris FF3 on a Meadow Creek mount.


Lots of different ways to get after them and as long as someone is doing it the legal way I say have at it.

 

I never was much on turkey hunting with a shotgun. We use to hunt eastern WVa mountains and rifle was legal. Lot of guys used shotguns anyway. I used 32/20 rifle and never lost a bird. I did loose one down on Short Mountain when I decided to use my then new Savage 24 in 22/20g-3”. I bored a turkey with the 20g and it took off running over the hill.
Less than 5 minutes later another hunter nailed it. That was last time I tried to use 20g on Turkey.
Here in Ohio we are only allowed shotguns. I only go to be sociable with old buddies. I have Turkeys come up in backyard and flail wife’s bird feeders to knock the seed out of them. If I wanted one I’m sure I could pop one with a 22
pistol. I eat what I shoot and turkey is low on list.

 

HeavyLifter, you sound like a Turkey Hunter! And I agree as long as it is legal and one wants to kill a turkey they do not have to hunt if they don't want to. You see the same stuff I see while in the woods and I think not actually hunting deprives kids of a lot of things they seem to appreciate. They are not my kids but I think we are losing a generation of hunters. Baited deer blinds and sitting in a field are just some of the things that are replacing hunting.

It is my experience that kids enjoy learning about what is out there if presented in a good way. I have taken 12-13 year old kids that have never been on a native brook stream. Never seen a morel, couldn't tell a lady slipper from a trout lily, a couple-three now work as foresters and biologists. Several became hunters. I won't be able to do it too much longer and it seems few are willing. It does require effort, ( most fail there) a good sense of humor and a realization that when the kid moves at the wrong time and spooks the bird or misses, it is far more than killing a bird that is being taught. Don't ever base whether one had a successful day depending on if there is game to be paraded around as many do.

I have had kids telling adults about all they had seen and done and the adults thinking they didn't do very well as there wasn't game harvested and have heard them say as much. What a downer. That is teaching kids also, and it is not good!

I may not be much of a teacher but I am sure I am better than nothing. Every state should have a teach a kid to hunt program where actual hunting is taught and if the kid doesn't take to it that is fine but I think they should at least be shown what it is all about! I think they need to be able to tell a spring beauty from a Toothwort and to be able to set up and pull the grand illusion on a 4 year old gobbler.

It takes a hunter to make a hunter. If all one knows is deer are brown and eat corn then that person will be a very poor teacher! Parking a side x side along fencerows loaded with hickory, walnut and oaks and hunting the fencerows will get squirrels killed but makes for a very poor teacher! Enlist a hunter to help your kids if need be!

Spring is where it is at. Take a kid hunting! They already know how to set in a chair, drink hot chocolate and play on their phones while looking out a window!

 

In my opinion most people screw up getting kids into hunting by starting on deer and turkey. Woods walks, looking for arrowhead, identifying stuff in the woods and squirrel hunts should come way before deer and turkey.

A guy I shoot with is getting his grandson into turkey hunting. The kid has never been in the woods, rarely leaves the house, his grandpa is lazy as F so decoys and blinds it is. The answer isn’t how they hunt it‘s how much non hunting woods time do they have before they start. For most it’s somewhere between zero and none.

Where I hunt a kid or a new hunter might make it one trip and like a lot of guys that’s all the area they have to hunt now.


99% of kids ain’t going to climb 6-8 of these every day chasing a bird or a buck.

 

Heavy, looks like everywhere I hunt. I agree start them out in the woods doing various things. Ramp digging, brook trout fishing and such will put some grit in them. Start them out sitting in a chair they just drove up to in a side x side and you are going to turn them right into their teachers!

 

Just on my own property anymore.

 

Just on my own property anymore.
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Only way I hunt is with a camera, got so many turkeys that it's no sport to hunt with a firearm.
How's this for flare.

 

How do I hunt turkeys here? Before my neighbors moved in behind me I would just sit on my back porch with a 10/22 and a turkey call and call them in to my back porch then take a head shot. If I don’t want the challenge then I sit with a 12ga on my porch rail.


Once you eat a free range wild turkey you will never eat store bought turkey again. They are worlds apart in flavor. The wild turkey tastes so much better.

 

I start off with a shopping cart ... I work my way through the meat department until I bag a nice one. I get them home and finish them off with a knife and fork. Not much sport in shooting turkeys around here ... they come right up into my backyard. I could shoot them from my back porch with a slingshot.

 

And I'm wasn't kidding about how close they come to my house ... pics from my kitchen door....>>>>

 

I don't have a specific way to hunt. Some days I run and gun. No decoys, no blind (actually, I never use a blind). Other days I'm content to setup a couple of decoys and not move for the entire morning. Might even take a nap. My son loves to hunt with me but he's been away at college for the past 3 years and again this year. Ohio is shotgun only, but if it were legal, I'd take my Browning A Bolt Medallion in 22 Hornet.

 

Used to hunt turkeys - when we had some. The flocks have long thinned out, disappearing in some areas that held good numbers.

I use decoys and calls. Never used a blind, used whatever cover to my advantage.

My first turkey I called from a group of hens and he is still my biggest. Talk about a rush and instant addiction!

The best calling lessons I ever had was from roosted hens. Somehow I could manage to get in underneath or within mere yards of their roost tree while still dark. And then as they started calling, I would try to mimic them.

 

I always get to my spot very early. There used to be a generally accepted sportsman's agreement that if someone was at a spot you moved on. I still practice it but few do. I Think I told the story of parking at a spot one morning and when I was ready to leave couldn't because other vehicles had me blocked, real sportsmen!

Anyhow in the dark like that it one can often see well enough to get where you are going without spooking roosting birds. If one goes often they will end up under them at times. I have ended up under gobblers on a few occasions and sitting there relaxed it is surprising to hear one over your head.

On public hunting areas I rarely call until I hear a Gobbler. Some mornings I may move thru the woods some but don't call for 3-4 hours. Sometimes Gobblers stay up well after daylight and about 3 years ago I was snuggled against the base of a huge maple that the top had fell down in front of. ( I have sat there countless times over the years.) I was hunting an old bird there and as it got daylight, I hadn't heard anything and as I sat there about 45 minutes after flydown time he gobbled just about right over my head. I kept still and never looked up. After a few minutes he flew down and never said anything else for about an hour and when he did he was on the trail headed out the ridge. I ran down into the hollow and tried to get on the ridge in front of him and set up about what I thought was probably a quarter mile in front of him. The ridge he was on made a T into the one I was headed to . As a couple hours passed I never heard a word out of him and then a lone gobble about a hundred yards out on the ridge. I was sitting on a little raised area with another knob about 100 yards out and below where his ridge connected. He was either going to go left to my knob or right to the other one. I saw him shortly and he was just moving slowly picking his way along and stopped often to call hens without gobbling. He would half strut so he could call but would not go into full strut to make himself more visible to predators like you and me.
Eventually he started to go to the right! I made one cluck and he turned his head to me to look and listen. He never moved for twenty minutes. He started on out to the other knob and I resisted the urge to make another call. I could see him standing around and half strutting out on the knob for over an hour. He finally gobbled again which was what I was waiting for and I followed it up with another slightly louder cluck. He took notice. He stood there looking in my direction for another long period. He started his strut again and after a little bit took a couple steps my way, he is about a hundred yards out but when an old gobbler breaks your way he is coming especially if he had just came from that direction, if you don't do something foolish such as picking a bad hiding spot to start with. He is going to come slow and he will stop and look for several minutes at a time. He will never be in a hurry.
I bet the best made decoy in existence will spook him everytime! I know he won't come one step closer after a direct line of sight is made between a real hen and himself. She will walk to him, or he will let her walk off!

Heavily hunted public land gobblers can get old. I have killed several that never gobbled on the day I killed them. But I had heard them previously. If I have one gobbling and acting like a two year old, that is exactly what he is. I look for something else unless I have a yute with me and then I am happy.

There is a world of things to learn about in the woods. I think most would like for their kids to have that knowledge.

 

The lack of courtesy on public is pretty amazing. It’s always seemed strange to me that a buck or a beard I’ll make a man break the law and be an absolute jerk to another hunter.

 

I blame much of that behavior on the YouTube hunting channel crowd. If it means being a jerk to other hunters, they only see it as a means to the end. They'll do anything for views or clicks or subscribers.

 

I never 'hunted' turkey. I may have shot a couple long ago. I though the special rules and gun restrictions were silly. It might have all made sense 20 years ago but we are now overrun with turkeys. I guess one could argue with me that this was a great conservation effort. I could, if i wanted, shoot out my back window. My wife would throw a fit, so I dont. Probably would not anyway. I dont mind the turds either because they are feeding on insect larvae and ticks. I will even keep the dog inside for the morning, which drivers her crazy. I did have a funny incident where my dog went after some chicks and the mother turkey turned and chased my dog back. A female Shepard. Darndest thing I ever saw.

 

heavy, you like to hunt and that is why you go into the woods. Just because someone goes into the woods does not mean they like to hunt. They will say they like to hunt but they don't realize what it is. They think killing is hunting, they can't separate the two. They never learned the difference. No teacher.
So when they say they like to hunt they are being truthful as far as they know. What they really mean is, they like to kill. That part is clear to us. This is why it is important to teach kids about hunting!

Killers think that killing animals makes them great in most people's minds. Actually, most people, hunters and non-hunters alike are on to them. Sadly, from what I see and I hope most areas are different than here the attention seekers outnumber hunters by a great margin. That is why I have spent a lot of time taking kids hunting and fishing and teaching them something about the woods and streams. If we don't do it they will follow the attention seekers!

They kill for attention. You killed the doe for food. They cannot understand one killing for any reason other than attention. To them it defeats the purpose of what they call the hunt. Killing something that won't bring them attention is a mindset they can't understand! They are just as confused about you!

I know guys that kill rabbits, squirrels and other small game in large quantities. They video and take pics , pretend they are giving them to people who want them but are actually making coyote bait piles they can watch from their kitchen tables. They skin one for the camera every now and then. They waste tons of game for a video and pics. It brings them the attention they so desperately seek. Too bad there isn't a law in most states on wasting small game. I know some folks who would get their pictures in the local paper. They are despicable!

I think kids and grandkids deserve a chance to learn about hunting and not turn them into attention seekers! If some can't do it find someone who can take them hunting.

I have thought for years that we have to get the Mom's involved. It is rare to see a female hunter that is an attention seeker. I think most of them actually like to hunt. Testosterone seems to gum the works up!

Everyone can find a kid or two to take hunting or fishing. Show them the little things in the woods. I know it may not interest some grown up tent hunters but most have no idea how interested kids can be in learning about and seeing something like lady slippers, ( not one in twenty killers have seen one around here) the killers think these things are foolish and serve no purpose! No attention to be brought upon themselves.

The public sees us all as hunters we damage our reputations by leasing up large tracts of land and keeping all others off of it. Many who simply have taken walks on it for years, enjoyed birdwatching there, or simply used it as a shortcut are denied. Kids who want to hunt are told to go home. We post videos of our supposed greatness. Parade the dead around and teach our kids nothing about wildlife other than deer are brown and eat corn. We are on the way out.

Nothing I do or don't do at this point is going to affect me. I am too old. But it was given to me freely and I think I should pass it on. I have always felt this way and have been passing it on all of my life. I suspect about one out of fifty in this area may understand why !

When you are gone so is your knowledge if you don't share it! I will post some pics of some yutes spring gobbler HUNTING in the WOODS , whether a kill is involved or not. Probably some native fishing and some sleeping on the way home! I do my sleeping right after I get home.

I know I turned this into a take a kid hunting thread . It is worth it!

 

I like to just set up behind some deadfall in the woods behind my house where I deer hunt and call. I use a Savage 24-V 30-30/20 ga. I've shot a few turkeys, but more coyotes that come to the call. A 125 gr. Nosler BT works great on coyotes.

I could just hunt in my backyard. This picture was from last spring.

Earlier last spring. There were 6 toms strutting around that day.

 

Very nice. The poult to hen ratio is very good for this stage of the poult's lives!

 

Since FuzeDude got us started on turkeys I thought I would follow up with how you hunt and I will go first. Of all hunting spring gobbler is my favorite. My first spring hunt was in '74. I have hunted them in several states.

I locate a turkey and go to him. Somedays I cover a lot of territory trying to find one. At one time I was a registered guide and was often hampered by folks that were extremely out of shape some of them wouldn't weigh 150 pounds!
I travel light and wouldn't dream of wearing a " turkey vest". I do carry a small day pack for calls and lunch. What I personally believe turkey hunting should be is likely to differ from what a lot of folks consider turkey hunting.

I would not buy or use a blind nor do I personally use a decoy. I would not watch a field for turkey activity and then set up at that field to ambush them as they came to the field. Many do this and I don't care but I do think they are depriving themselves of the hunt but since they are not taking anything from my enjoyment, go at it!

One will find it much, much more difficult to kill a 1- 1/2" or larger spurred gobbler my way than to set up on him at a field. Two year olds are juveniles, jakes are toddlers. I take kids every year and sometimes I walk them a little hard but they learn how to find the "right" tree and how important the right hiding spot is. Never just jump down , get in a half baked spot and hope for the best, ever. One is not in a blind so they learn when not to move and how to set up properly for a minimum of movement .

I like a nice 30-33 yard shot. I don't like them when they run right in on top of you and try to stop that. Generally, a two year old. Plenty of pattern at 30 and not likely that one will ever leave under his own power. I have no use for TSS but Kids I have guided put it to good use in their .410's. Not sure why anyone would feel it necessary in a 12 gauge.

I only hunt public land anymore and that has been the case for quite a few years regardless of the game. Public land gobblers can be tough. Tough is where one learns. A lot of folks think there are very few long spurred gobblers on heavily hunted public land but it is the opposite . There are many older gobblers on public land but they have seen and heard a bunch. Bagging a heavily hunted older gobbler on public land is the biggest challenge!
I have two yutes to take this year so far. I am not against having a couple un-educated two year olds running us over! We will catch a few natives after a morning of turkey hunting! Dig some ramps and even when they get a bird yutes will generally always fall asleep on the ride home!

I "hunt" them at the local grocery store. No cleaning involved and tastier.

 

The store manager doesn't like it when I set up a blind in the fresh produce section.

 

Does anybody flush wild turkey gobblers with a bird dog, even though it might be hard to see the beard when he takes off?

 

I've hunted turkeys a number of times, all on private land. I tried public land for squirrels and killed quite a few, but quit after a few encounters with idiots. I've hunted turkeys from my blind and without it. Have been successful with both. Unfortunately, my walking days are over and have been for the past 20-30 years. Thanks to a talented surgeon, I can walk with care far enough to set up and call in turkeys to decoys. For me, the best part of my hunt is getting there before daylight and listening to the woods waking up. It always starts with owls and coyotes. As daylight starts to emerge, roosting gobblers start answering the owls. I wait until a few hens emerge before calling. There is a myth out there that you can't call toms away from live hens. I've done it numerous times.
One of my most exciting hunts I was lucky enough to call in 4 large gobblers to my decoys. The toms were annoyed that my jake decoy had intruded in their territory. As they stuck out their gobbling heads toward the interloper, if I was greedy I could have killed maybe all 4 with one shot. They were perfectly aligned. I waited for one to emerge from the crowd and took him. What surprised me most was the reaction of the other three. They attacked their fallen comrade. Very weird. I had another tag and could have easily shot another one, but I had had enough fun, so I didn't.
BTW, shooting turkeys here in Kansas with a rifle is not permitted....shotguns only. I've had many opportunities to shoot turkeys with a rifle.. That's little too easy.
My wife loves wild turkey, her favorite wild game meat.

 

I've hunted turkeys a number of times, all on private land. I tried public land for squirrels and killed quite a few, but quit after a few encounters with idiots. I've hunted turkeys from my blind and without it. Have been successful with both. Unfortunately, my walking days are over and have been for the past 20-30 years. Thanks to a talented surgeon, I can walk with care far enough to set up and call in turkeys to decoys. For me, the best part of my hunt is getting there before daylight and listening to the woods waking up. It always starts with owls and coyotes. As daylight starts to emerge, roosting gobblers start answering the owls. I wait until a few hens emerge before calling. There is a myth out there that you can't call toms away from live hens. I've done it numerous times.
One of my most exciting hunts I was lucky enough to call in 4 large gobblers to my decoys. The toms were annoyed that my jake decoy had intruded in their territory. As they stuck out their gobbling heads toward the interloper, if I was greedy I could have killed maybe all 4 with one shot. They were perfectly aligned. I waited for one to emerge from the crowd and took him. What surprised me most was the reaction of the other three. They attacked their fallen comrade. Very weird. I had another tag and could have easily shot another one, but I had had enough fun, so I didn't.
BTW, shooting turkeys here in Kansas with a rifle is not permitted....shotguns only. I've had many opportunities to shoot turkeys with a rifle.. That's little too easy.
My wife loves wild turkey, her favorite wild game meat.

Have seen many a downed gobbler get kicked over the years. I had a yute with me a couple years ago that shot a big gobbler and his buddy ran a few steps and stopped . I knew when he stopped what was going to happen and I told the yute just to watch. The other came back and started in. The yute told that all over and still does.

Lot of talking in turkey hunting books and I know some folks who have written them. Got to fill pages. A lot of good info on set up and general stuff, all good. But if I was going to write a book on turkey hunting it would fill one page and would be the most valuable info an aspiring hunter could have in my opinion. It would simply say , " If a gobbler has hens you will probably not kill him and if he doesn't you probably will."
That advice should let one know when he needs to move to another gobbler if he has one. If not the gobbler will tie the hunter up all morning and he will leave empty handed. This is good general advice, most should consider it.
On the other hand experienced hunters can get in front of the turkeys and kill them. Sometimes this takes several attempts.

Something else that happens is, not all hens are going to breed. Some gobblers will see and go to these non-breeding hens and a lot of gobblers ( mostly two-year olds) will stay with those hens just like they were breeders, they just don't figure it out and consider themselves as having a breeding bird in hand, which they don't! Some gobblers will recognize this right away and this is normally the case when one sees a gobbler and hens and calls the gobbler away. He was going to leave them anyway.

The number one reason Gobblers are not killed is hens. I think the most often repeated story I hear is how a gobbler was coming and then just shut up and didn't come or the next time he gobbled he was headed away. Extremely likely a hen came to him as he was gobbling coming your way or he spotted one on his way to you. I think it highly unlikely that one will call a gobbler away from a breeding hen. There is one notable exception and that is when a lesser bird or birds in a small flock of other gobblers and hens is constantly cut off from contact from the hens by the more dominant Gobblers. Sometimes if they hear a call and if he is hanging out on the side or behind and doesn't have to move toward the others in the flock he will come toward the call. He will do this fairly quickly or won't do it at all. Don't let them hang you up all day. So, there are times a Gobbler will separate, and it will generally happen right away. if a gobbler has a single hen that can be a situation worth waiting on. She may slip off to the nest at some point. He will generally gobble when he doesn't see her and if she did slip off she of course won't call to him. Now, he is ready. Most times you hear this he simply lost track of her and she will give him a soft yelp and he will shut up! "If he has a hen"! And most importantly if he has a breeding hen, he is not going to be pulled away!

 

Wild turkeys also eat poison ivy berries, and I'll betcha that they eat snakes, too.

 

I understand they also eat ticks which is enough to leave them on my friend's list.

 

And I know when a tom or jake is orney --- 'while doing the mean walk' --- he'll probably want a piece of me, too.




Erno

 

People are not good cooks because they are from Russia, Ukraine, China, Italy or the US, ETC. Has nothing to do with what makes a good cook. I don't think there is any Wild Turkey in most countries to practice on either!

If any prepare and cook wild turkey like they would a domestic bird they are missing the boat by a mile.


Wild turkey for best eating cannot be prepared within 24 hours of killing it. If your wild turkey is stringy, chewy or as tough as KFC you are probably a good person but you don't know how to prepare wild turkey. I will post some pics of properly prepared wild turkey. It is the best tasting game in the woods. If you are rolling your squirrel in flour and salt and peppering it you are an average cook, at best. Same as cooking deer backstrap. Twenty folks in a row will make it all the same. Not the way to do it.

Anyhow, wild turkey done right is outstanding. Never met a man, woman or child that didn't find it to be a favorite.

You will notice a nice golden color when fried . If the golden crust is crispy you need more training. The crust should always be soft.

 

OK, Dr Know-It-All