Finally it was my turn

[deadeye]

It seems like months ago (it actually was) that I started prepping for this years turkey hunt.  After 11 hunts over 9 days and using 6 different blind locations, yesterday I finally was in the right place at the right time. I saw turkeys every time I hunted but some were hens and all the toms stayed out of range. Trail camera pictures often showed toms strutting in from of one blind location while I was sitting in another. Also, several times I could actually see them in front of an unoccupied blind. Quite frustrating. After watching toms ignore my decoys and calls, I switched things up a bit and for the last three hunts I did not use any decoys or attempt to call in the turkeys. Yesterday I hit the jackpot when a flock consisting of two jakes and three toms came out of the woods about 150 yards away. I simply watched them feed, lay in the dirt and tussle with each other for over half an hour until they made their way to me. The one I shot was 22 pounds with a 9.5 inch beard and 1 inch spurs. Great end to a great season. Prior to this, friends of mine and their kids had taken three other toms on my property.

This was the end of a long but great season.


My friends son.


And, my friends son's son. (his second turkey. He shot his first on my property last year)


Another friend was hunting alone in the rain and mud. After flopping in the mud this is the best
picture he could get. I gave him crap about needing to improve his photography skills.

[Dotch]

Congrats deadeye! Been bumbling across lots of turkeys when running across fields. Looks like a nice section of Kovar quack digger BTW. Millions of those manufactured in Owatonna back in the day.

[Jerkbiat]

That is cool as heck. Congrats to all of you DE!!

[KEN W]

22 lbs......that's a dandy

[mike89]

some times simple is the answer!!  nice bird!!!

[LPS]

Very nice DE.  Wondered if you were turkey hunting?

[deadeye]

Thanks guys, it was a fun turkey season for sure. Trail cameras don't lie, the turkey's were having a big party whenever we weren't there. lol.

Dotch, leave it to you to recognize the quack digger. lol. I actually have all three sections at my land.

Mike89, I usually use two decoys a hen and semi-strut jake but for some reason the turkeys didn't want anything to do with them. Actually avoided coming close so I just sat in the blind(s) without decoys and did not use a call. Just waited for an unsuspecting turkey to walk by.

LPS, due to deep snow, we go a late start putting out the blinds. The weather was brutal for the A and B seasons and nobody hunted. My friend and his kids hunted the C season. I donated a turkey hunt for the silent auction at our MDHA banquet and the guys who bought it went on season D.  I went on season E but needed to hunt well into season F before I was able to bag a bird.

[Dotch]

That looks/sounds like a blast deadeye. It's one of the things I'm considering in retirement. My BIL and nephew turkey hunt a lot in SE MN. There are tons of turkeys locally and I'd have plenty of opportunity to hunt many farmers' land nearby I've been gawking at for ~40 years. Judging by the explosion in turkey numbers, not a lot of predator or hunting pressure keeping them in check. More harvested by automobiles than hunters here I think. Just curious, what do you do with all the meat on these older birds? Jerky? Sausage? Soup?

When the DNR first started releasing turkeys here they had some strains they didn't allow to be turned loose. Were too tame & hung around building sites as I recall. I got one of those younger birds to eat and it was awesome, grilled on the Weber indirect. 

Think I have 5 sections of Kovar quack digger, some of which are organ donors for the two main sections. Another BIL ran over a couple sections with his tractor. I finally got the square tubing evener tho I wanted when we divided up the equipment from Mom's. My wife was real impressed at all the rusty old junk I brought home...lol   

[deadeye]

I usually just save the breast meat. Legs and thighs are nothing but strings and bones. My wife cuts the meat in small 1/2 inch chunks and using a crock pot makes the best Wild Turkey/Wild Rice soup in the country. If I do say so myself. Nothing like getting out to the land after the first signs of spring. Turkey hunting isn't a lot of work, at least not the way I do it. The hardest part is getting up at 4-4:30 so I can be situated in a blind before 5:00 AM. Of course, once you are all settled, there's nothing like a morning nap. lol.

[Pulleye16]

Nice work!  It’s awesome when it all comes together.