So, turkey season has been slow for me, I’ve been out a fair amount but I haven't been able to make much happen, although there have been birds around.
Interesting story I watched unfold the past week…. before the opener I had been patterning a really nice gobbler that was hanging out with a couple jakes and a bunch of hens. The day before the opener a bratty band of four jakes displaced the gobbler and took over the flock. I tried to find the gobbler and he was tight lipped and I wasn’t interested in the jakes, so I kept an eye out for him and chased other birds. Well… the gobbler made it back into the group, but those jakes were just pestering the shit out of him when I saw them. So the other evening, Gus and I went to put the group to bed – they were roosting in a traditional roost area that I hate to hunt, but they are easy to roost there because it is a wooded ravine in amongst farm fields and they strut in the field before roosting. Anyway we were watching the jakes pester that poor old gobbler and the hens ignore them all, when 2 more nice looking gobblers hot foot it looking to fight. They all chased each other around until fly up time – we got quite the show (3 gobblers, 4 jakes and some number of hens).
Next morning I was set up well before light in the field they most often fly down to and gave them a few yelps on the roost. They flew down in range and resumed the fight. After enjoying the show a while and before they moved off, I shot the boss and they resumed the fight, so I picked one of the other mature birds and put him down too. I could have kept shooting, but I want to keep a tag unfilled so I can keep tormenting myself.
2 gobblers both 22# and change - one with 1” nice sharp spurs and the other had one solid 1.25” spur and the other side was broken.
Spurs.
Had to get the boys in there:
And the boy that helped me roost them:
Turkey steaks with sautéed wild Ramps and the first few Asparagus from the garden (R) and on the other plate the last of the Parsnips from the garden roasted with Shallots.
Interesting story I watched unfold the past week…. before the opener I had been patterning a really nice gobbler that was hanging out with a couple jakes and a bunch of hens. The day before the opener a bratty band of four jakes displaced the gobbler and took over the flock. I tried to find the gobbler and he was tight lipped and I wasn’t interested in the jakes, so I kept an eye out for him and chased other birds. Well… the gobbler made it back into the group, but those jakes were just pestering the shit out of him when I saw them. So the other evening, Gus and I went to put the group to bed – they were roosting in a traditional roost area that I hate to hunt, but they are easy to roost there because it is a wooded ravine in amongst farm fields and they strut in the field before roosting. Anyway we were watching the jakes pester that poor old gobbler and the hens ignore them all, when 2 more nice looking gobblers hot foot it looking to fight. They all chased each other around until fly up time – we got quite the show (3 gobblers, 4 jakes and some number of hens).
Next morning I was set up well before light in the field they most often fly down to and gave them a few yelps on the roost. They flew down in range and resumed the fight. After enjoying the show a while and before they moved off, I shot the boss and they resumed the fight, so I picked one of the other mature birds and put him down too. I could have kept shooting, but I want to keep a tag unfilled so I can keep tormenting myself.
2 gobblers both 22# and change - one with 1” nice sharp spurs and the other had one solid 1.25” spur and the other side was broken.
Spurs.
Had to get the boys in there:
And the boy that helped me roost them:
Turkey steaks with sautéed wild Ramps and the first few Asparagus from the garden (R) and on the other plate the last of the Parsnips from the garden roasted with Shallots.
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