My 2011 Turkey

[jwcarlson]

Bagged this guy this morning... been a long time coming!
21.5 pounds, 9.5" beard, 7/8" spurs...
Not a monster but I'll take it! :thumbup:


Even put my slippers on for the picture... :lol:
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/9514/dsc0631d.jpg

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4559/20110418070103.jpg

[LarryAndro]

Where I come from, you don't just show off your turkey. It is fully expected that you will describe the hunt, how you called them in, the odd cock of their head as they walked up the draw. Something like that.

"It paused on the edge of the clearing. I couldn't get a shot because of the hickory saplings in front of the bird. But, when it moved past that last tree, I knew it was mine!"

So...

[buddydog]

Nice....:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[jwcarlson]

Where I come from, you don't just show off your turkey. It is fully expected that you will describe the hunt, how you called them in, the odd cock of their head as they walked up the draw. Something like that.

"It paused on the edge of the clearing. I couldn't get a shot because of the hickory saplings in front of the bird. But, when it moved past that last tree, I knew it was mine!"

So...


How about this for starters...
"My boss called me 30 seconds after I fired the shot and told me I needed to come into work."

Long story short... I'll get to the story later. :)

[flcrx]

Nice hunt (I presume)...but here they would say...
#Lucky for you, this turkey's brother isn't carry a gun... #.

;o))

[Navig8tor]

Very nice. I am jealous. We have two more weeks until the season starts here in PA. So far the scouting has been going great. Hopefully I will be able to talk one in to range once the season starts.

[azmark]

Nice harvest.

[mretzloff]

Nice job. Any plans on how you will be preparing the bird (roast, fry, etc.)?

[jwcarlson]

Alright, here's the scoop.

Last night I called my boss to see if he'd give me a vacation day. He said not a problem, just call it a comp day since I was in an airport for 19 hours on Friday/Saturday. Excellent! Had to run to Walmart to get some shells.

So I set the alarm for 3:30 and hop outta bed... I probably overdressed but couldn't imagine going out in the wet without something waterproof. I haven't been down to scout at all but decided to go back to where I'd hunted quite a bit last year. I was set up by 5:15 or so with the decoy out... now I just had to wait for the gobbling to begin. It didn't. Same story as last year, never hear a single gobble... Great.

So sunrise rolls in and nothing much is happening... I hooted a little, nothing. Yelped a little, nothing. Finally at about 6:30 I see a turkey fly down about 120 yards or so north of me. Sweet... finally something. But I can't see the darn thing. I call some, no response nothing coming. So I get on my hands and knees and move towards them a little and see that there's two birds, no clue if they're hens or what. I call some, no response. I peak again to see them slipping away to the east into the woods. Damn.

Well, I didn't come out to hunt to watch turkeys run away.

So I sneak around the backside of the woods, didn't see or scare anything. I settle down up near where I saw the bird fly down and wait a few mintues to let things settle. I yelped 6-8 times and it sounds like a deer is coming through the woods towards me over my left shoulder (I left my decoy where it was and I was facing it). Then it stops and nothing. What the hell?! So I'm scanning with my eyes right to left and when I get all the way left I see two toms in 3/4 strut jumping in front of each other on the way to the corner of the woods I'm sitting in. Excellent!

So they keep up the puffing and passing each other towards the corner... luckily three fairly large trees lined up and they were close enough together I can move when they're behind them. So I'm ready to pop the first one that comes out and they come out set up perfectly for me to kill one and poach the other. They proceed that way for another eight yards or so... I can't believe those stinkin' things are going to line up and run to my decoy by the looks of it... Finally one breaks free by several feet and puts his head up to look for the hen that was yelping. And that was the end.

Killed him at 6:59 and my boss called me at 7 and told me he needed me to come in. Never a gobble or anything.

[Crixus]

Killed him at 6:59 and my boss called me at 7 and told me he needed me to come in.That's how I remember my comp days usually endng up too.:laugh:

[jwcarlson]

Nice job. Any plans on how you will be preparing the bird (roast, fry, etc.)?

I'm going to do some poking around. My dad claims the legs/thighs are inedible... so I'm thinking maybe a soup or something slow cooked for them. The breasts I'm going to probably cut into strips, bread, and fry. I've heard that's a good way to prepare it.

[Chevyguy]

I'm going to do some poking around. My dad claims the legs/thighs are inedible... so I'm thinking maybe a soup or something slow cooked for them. The breasts I'm going to probably cut into strips, bread, and fry. I've heard that's a good way to prepare it.

congrat's on the turkey. I find that a pressure cooker works well when tenderizing wild game.

Clayton