Turkeys - lets see em

[kansasdad]

The jake that came in will be delicious, but not worth showing. But the picture I will share is the crop:
View attachment 138499

Has anyone found anything surprising in a crop?

I once killed a young of the year bird in the fall. The flock had been feasting on recently planted/just germinating winter wheat. Opening the crop after harvesting the gizzard and heart and releasing the “turkey stink”, I was flabbergasted to find that the smell of the crop (reminiscent of the smell right after a spring thunderstorm has rolled through) completely neutralized the gut smell as if it was Nature’s Fabreeeze!

 

[FLMIKE]

SC lowcountry longbeard.

 

[Mossy-Back]

Got my friend his first bird last week and got my second on Friday.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Here's mine..

 

[Art Vandeley]

@Mossy-Back that bottom bird looks alive still. Never seen an open eye on a dead bird... Maybe I just haven't paid attention

 

[glennw89]

With the Ontario wild turkey season just over a week old, I wanted to recount how things have gone thus far.

Opening day found me traipsing in nearly an hour before legal shooting time to slide in near a time proven roost location I had seen birds move into the night before while scouting. A creek runs through the bottom of a steep ravine, both sides of which are forested for a few hundred meters in both directions. Surrounding this forest are large expanses of agricultural land.

The first gobble sounded at 5:15 AM and confirmed the birds had roosted where I thought they had. The next 30 minutes was a veritable symphony of gobbling with multiple birds (sounded like 6 - 8 longbeards) lighting up the creek over a stretch of a few hundred yards. It appeared there was a longbeard roosted directly in front of me at about 70 meters, a second group just beyond, and a third group about 250 meters away. Just inside the forest edge, I was facing a broad bench of large deciduous trees the birds frequently pitch down on to assemble before marching toward the fields to feed. As a Plan B I had put up a strutting tom decoy and breeding hen decoy about 20 meters behind me in the agricultural field.

First bird out of the trees was a jake, who had been entirely silent on the roost. He pitched down and quickly worked off into the forest, not to be seen again. Around 6:00 AM I could hear the birds had all pitched down, but not in my direction. They were still on my side of the creek though. I first saw the battleship body of a dominant tom who had been roosted closest to me as he worked off to the east, about 150 meters from my position. Close behind was a group of four longbeards and they were moving in my direction, intent on finding the source of my hen calls. Once they rounded the edge of the woods and spotted my decoy setup, they all raced at full speed to my setup. Problem One was that I had expected the birds to pitch in front of me and was now desperately trying to pivot around. A fallen cedar tree had been an outstanding backstop to set up against, but now screened my decoy setup. Problem Two was that the birds were moving so quickly that I didn't feel comfortable with the shot as they raced through my shooting lane at 20 meters. Over the next few moments the four longbeards gobbled, spurred, and generally wreaking havoc literally 20 meters behind me. Finally one of the longbeards took a few steps in my direction and just entered my shooting lane. Twisted into an awkward pretzel, I put the Aimpoint red dot on his head and pulled the trigger. Down he went at 11 meters (18.7 lb longbeard) - his buddies immediately raced over to spur him. Tag One filled at 6:38 AM opening morning.

My brother in law (my most frequent hunting partner) and his 9 year son were planning to join me around 8:00 AM. I kept still, hoping the birds would work off naturally and remain in the area when he and his son arrived. At 8:00 AM they arrived and began the several hundred meter approach to where I was sitting. They had noticed a group of birds hundreds of meters away in the field and had to take an alternative route to remain hidden. As they were moving, I saw the 3 remaining longbeards marching back down the field. It became apparent the birds were literally headed to where my brother in law and his son would emerge from the forest. I texted him that longbeards were "inbound imminently" and they scrambled to "army crawl" into position just inside the forest edge. As the birds closed, my 9 year old nephew used his Gobblestalker push call and the birds gobbled explosively. Watching from my hidden spot about 200 meters away, I knew a shot was imminent. Sure enough, the 3 birds kept moving directly toward their position. The shot roared and the lead bird hit the dirt (19.8 lb longbeard) - a double of sorts before 9:00 AM opening day!

This was my brother in law's first harvest with his son present - and a moment made even better given his son helped call the bird in.

I've been out four mornings since, focusing on trying to get a longbeard on the timber of public lands nearby. These are lower population density areas and I've struck out so far - but still four weeks to go.

 

[np307]

Finally punched a tag here in NC yesterday. Got the rest of the week to try for one more.

 

[Chad Gus]

Wisconsin river bottom turkey from this spring

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Northern MN Tom.

 

[JCS]

My montana bird

 

[Scott85]

2020 Virginia opening morning bird. Buddy and I doubled up.

 

[Foldem]

Co front range public bird

 

[Nicapopolis]

Co front range public bird

Quite the accomplishment. Did it come in with all that snow on the decoy?

 

[buffybr]

I haven't hunted turkeys in years, but if I wanted to I wouldn't have to go too far from home...

 

[brownbear932008]

I haven't hunted turkeys in years, but if I wanted to I wouldn't have to go too far from home...

If you need any population control I'm all ears. Looks like you have a few pets. LOL

 

[00BUCK]

Got another tom with my Girls here in nor cal.

 

[buffybr]

If you need any population control I'm all ears. Looks like you have a few pets. LOL

Yeah, great pets. And my dog really likes the deposits that they leave in my yard and on my decks.

 

[JM77]

Mother/daughter success in Wyoming, my oldest daughter and my oldest granddaughter.

 

[MT Bound]

Mother/daughter success in Wyoming, my oldest daughter and my oldest granddaughter.

that is AWESOME, way to go man love to see that!!

 

[GoatHntr]

Northern California