Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles

All the bucks are growing this year’s antlers, now. Jeff Sturgis with Whitetail Habitat Solutions shows you his top Tips for what you can do this June that will produce big benefits in your deer hunting area this year.

 

FIRST: Pound out your wild turkey breast to an even thickness. This step is very important as it breaks down the connective tissue as well as tenderizes the wild turkey breast meat. Thicker sections of meat will take more time to pound flat than thinner sections.

Then divide the wild turkey breast into sandwich-sized portions. Then coat each cutlet in a well-seasoned flour, dredged in eggs and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. The wild turkey is topped with rich marinara sauce, melty mozzarella and fresh basil on hearty Italian roll.

INGREDIENTS

1 wild turkey breast

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

They call it the “moment” of truth, not “minute” or “seconds” because a gobbler or mature buck won’t stand still very long.  If you hesitate, in the blink of an eye, your shot opportunity evaporates and you may have to watch your long-awaited quarry walk away.  Last fall, I took a great Pennsylvania buck while hunting from the ground.  I grunted the buck within 20 yards where it instantly saw my partially concealed image.  Too late!  Thanks to a red dot scope I launched the instant I could see its chest and the mature 9-point went down in seconds.

Benefits of a Reflex Sight

The beauty of a red dot sight is what you don’t have to do.  You shoot with both eyes open and you don’t have to choose a reticle or pin.  A zero magnification means that the dot is in front of you like a TV screen with your target clearly visible.  There is no squinting or having to “find it in the scope.”  As the deer or turkey moves from place to place you can plan your shot and see the animal and your best shooting lane.  Best of all, the point-and-shoot setup is fast and accurate.

MeoSight IV

Just like 2.0 shows tech advancement, the fact that the MeoSight is in its fourth generation indicates how advanced it is.  Battery life is amazing with a single CR 1632 “penny-size” battery that will last 30,000 hours (about three years).  The device is equipped with a motion sensor such that the dot goes into sleep mode after five minutes of inactivity.  When the device is moved, it instantly turns back on to its previous brightness.

Ideal for Wild Turkeys

Most kill-shots on wild turkeys are under 20 yards so there’s no need for range estimation.  The Meopta MeoSight IV has a 3 MOA (minute of angle) dot which makes it large enough for quick target acquisition, yet small enough for accurate shot placement.  In the above picture, put the red dot just above the beard of the bird on the left and launch.  In hunting situations like this, you won’t have seconds to shoot, you will have fractions of a second.  The red dot will contrast and stand out against the body of a whitetail deer or the feathers of a wild turkey.

Both Eyes Open

Most of us practice shooting on stationary targets that are still as a stone and remain that way for as long as needed.  You can squeeze and squeeze the trigger and the paper target or 3-D animal doesn’t move.  Hunting is rarely like that.  The key to a successful shot is not only where you aim but when you shoot and squinting through a scope at a moving target does not allow you to anticipate trees, limbs, and other obstructions the animal can walk behind.  Aiming with both eyes open will dramatically improve your shot success.  Since the Meopta has zero magnification, you will see the full animal and its surroundings.

Here are some steps you can follow to learn about archery:

The cornerstone of my style of wild turkey bowhunting for wild turkey gobblers is setting up in a well scouted, known traffic area for gobblers and waiting patiently for something to happen. That does not mean that every day is a wild turkey festival because as you know there are days when you see nothing. Yesterday was one of those days, things were slow in our 20 yard circle of bow range possibilities.

Today had began just the same, but today was gonna be different.

The fence post in the middle of this picture shows you where the gate opening is. The paths you see are tire tracks as well as game trails. Our Double Bull blind is on the left side of the road. The picked corn field is next and a stand of woods is on the far side.

Directly in front of the blind we have 4 decoys set up. They are all within easy bow range.

Today we are using 4 decoys. In the back is my Dave Constantine jake and the Dave Smith standing hen. In front are a Dave Smith breading hen and the Dave Smith jake.

The First Action: A group of yakety yack Jakes showed up on the opposite side of the fence in front of us. They saw our decoys and walked back and forth but never noticed the new hole in the fence that Terry had made earlier in the week.

Behind the Jakes we saw a Longbeard’s red head.

We have all watched the exploits of The Slockmaster, Tim Wells, the host of Relentless Pursuit. But on this adventure, it was Tim’s wife Kerrie Wells who stole the show.

Hunting in South Dakota with Melissa Bachman, Kerrie was able to close the deal on her first ever Merriam’s Gobbler. Watch as they call the big fella across an expansive wheat field. When the big Tom comes running into a decoy at 25 yards and Kerrie is able to put a 2” Grim Reaper Whitetail Special just above the wing butt, dropping the Gobbler in his tracks.

Tim Wells stated, “The gobbler jumped in the air and when he hit the ground, he was dead.”

Tim and Kerrie like big broadheads for wild turkeys as it knocks them flat.  Tim related the video footage is awesome and will be out on Relentless Pursuit Tv and YouTube in about 4 weeks. Congratulations to Kerrie Wells on a great hunt and memorable harvest!

Relentless Pursuit TV

FAQs

Do Wild Turkeys abandon their nests?

Wild turkeys only abandon their nest when necessary. If a predator approaches, female turkeys will flush in an attempt to draw the danger away from the nest site.

Do Wild Turkeys nest on the ground?

Female wild turkeys nest on the ground during incubation and until their young can fly (typically 1 to 2 weeks after hatching). During this time, the hen and her poults are extremely vulnerable to predation. As soon as the chicks can take flight, the family begins roosting in trees.

Where do Wild Turkeys nest at night?

Wild turkeys roost in trees at night. They generally have a few roosting trees within their territory that they reuse.

Not only is Cally Morris of Hazel Creek Taxidermy the best wild turkey taxidermist around, Cally is a top gobbler Bowhunter.

Cally Morris uses his own Strutting Tom decoy with a Hazel Creek Hen and the real gobblers come in.

Cally takes down two big Nebraska Toms on video.

Hazel Creek Taxidermists

Let’s go up in a custom designed wildlife Surveillance Airplane and with Wildlife Biologists from Pennsylvania Game Commission and see what they do on an Aerial Survey of their 1-million strong Pennsylvania Elk Herd. I think you will agree, this is a very interesting and informative video.

This is the custom made airplane used by Pennsylvania’s and many other states for Wild Game Surveys and other information.

Below is the area that Elk populate in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has an Elk herd of close to One Million in number.

TO: Pennsylvania Game Commission

They’re Perfect for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks Too. And Miss Allies Kitchen Knows How To Do Them Right.

 

As a hunter I am often asked the question – “why do you hunt?.” The most popular answer I hear people give is “for food” or “to know where my food comes from.” As a hunter and a farmer, I don’t believe this answer truly captures the reasons why I personally hunt. (By Nikki Boxler)

Nikki Boxler is the Co-Host of Winchester Life. She grew up hunting and fishing and lived on a Dairy Farm. Here is an article she wrote on her blog on Winchester Life. Enjoy. ….Robert Hoague

There are nearly unlimited places we get food from. However, people can rarely say exactly where their food has come from. This makes me think most of us do not put as much thought into knowing where our food comes from as we probably should.

Don’t get me wrong, I eat what I harvest and I love getting more meat for the freezer. But I believe that hunting is not just “getting meat for the freezer”, it is about so much more than that – so why do I hunt?

Lessons

Hunting teaches me about the circle of life, and the reality of life and death. In order to consume meat, an animal has to lose its life. This is something that a package of meat at the grocery store doesn’t fully convey. It also teaches me to be patient, persistent and to never give up. As in life, there are many variables to take into consideration when hunting and things don’t always go according to plan. There are both “highs” and “lows” that hunting teaches – in my opinion, the lows are where the most learning takes place

Troy Ruez From PRIMOS Shows Us How To Pluck A Wild Turkey His Way: He Does It Right And Quick.

PRIMOS HUNTING

https://youtube.com/@PrimosHuntingVideo

RIMOS HUNTINGPRIMOS HUNTING

YouTube video from Grim Reaper Broadhead pro staffer Ryan Boyd! It’s all about bowhunting wild hogs. Boyd makes a perfect shot on a red colored wild hog and it drops quickly.

Then Ryan Boyd cleans and butcher the hog and showers us how he cooks his favorite Spicey Asian Pork recipe and enjoys the tasty mail.

Think of spring turkey season as a baseball line-up.  By the late innings, the top of the order has scored, while the bottom of the order has struck out and feels pretty discouraged.  You are in the heart of the batting order, the hens are nesting, and every call you make is like a fastball in the middle of the plate.  The game has changed in the late season, but you still can score by making these adjustments.

Turkeys will begin feeding in fields.

Re-Scout your Hunting Area

As insects begin to multiply, turkeys will increasingly feed in fields.  Since most hens should be on their nests, you will likely see multiple gobblers.  Once you learn where turkeys are feeding and on what, you can set up and wait them out.  Set up a blind or just sit comfortably in the grown vegetation.  Either way, let the turkeys come to you.

Consider changing the striker or use a different call than in early season.

Adjust Your Calling

By now, turkeys have heard about every call out there and can be alarmed by a loud series of yelps.  Clucks and purrs are best at this time of year and if you can prompt a tom to gobbler, it will likely approach, especially if it’s a location it knows well.  Switch your diaphragm calls and consider using an alternate striker for slate calls.  Greg Wilson scored on the last day of the Kentucky season by using a Hempwood Call made by Gene Dunn of Murray, KY.

Taking a gobbler with a bow or crossbow requires pin-point accuracy.

Sleep In

What? no 4:00am alarm?  Turkeys aren’t deer and move throughout the day so it’s not like they are in their bedding area.  Gobblers will have a core area they will navigate while looking for hens.  In the late season, this also includes feeding so you can look for fresh scratchings in leaves.  Gobbler droppings are large and shaped like the letter, “J”.  If you find a few of these calling cards, you have a prime location to ambush an old tom.

A gobbler decoy with a natural fan is a tremendous allure.

Switch Decoys

Despite the late season, your best bet of bagging a gobbler with a bow is by ambush.  Just like becoming call-shy, gobblers may be decoy-shy as well, so change your usual set-up.  A gobbler with a natural fan is a tremendous draw, just use extra caution where you place it.  Make sure a hunter cannot sneak within range of you and fire at the decoy.  Since vegetation is higher than in the early season, station your hen decoy in weeds where it looks natural.

After a long winter and too many hours sitting on my backside, spring is a welcome change. It is also the same for whitetail deer as a chance to change their diet from winter long browse to succulent new growth.

This change in the diet to everything green also greatly increases their need for salt and minerals. To make this even more relevant it coincides with new antler growth for males, and females ready to birth a new year crop of fawns. These almost deer moms will soon be lactating to feed their newly born fawns.

I look forward to this time of year and getting back out in the deer woods to start my mineral sites.

I begin by freshening last year’s mineral sites by using a garden hoe to dig up some fresh soil and mixing into this fresh soil a pale of Lucky Buck Minerals

Over the years I have found Lucky Buck to be most productive in having deer utilize my mineral licks. The right mix of minerals and salt is particularly important to make your licks palatable for your deer herd.

Friday afternoon I picked up my buddy Champ after his school let out. We went to my house and pulled together the blinds, chairs and other stuff we were going to need. We were wild turkey hunting this weekend.

Unfortunately, both of us slept completely through our iPhone’s alarms and we totally missed the gobbling and yelping happenings after daybreak.

My hunting buddy and grandson Champ and I maintain our vigil Saturday afternoon as Gobblers sound off from the west and south along the river where I live.

But we still had turkey hunting work to do on two stand sites and got right on that. Afterward, we went to a place where I park to hunt a curve in the river where I’ve hunted successfully in years past. Champ set out  two decoys, an erect hen and my Dave Constantine Jake.

I like to hunt this area late season because the hens have been sitting on their eggs and some of the eggs are hatching. That causes the gobblers to split away from other gobblers and they wander a fair sized area and gobble fairly regularly in hope of locating the last minute responsive hens.

Ofer the years I’ve had very good result at calling in these solo gobblers and put my turkey tags on several longbeards in the general area of where Champ and I are hunting. We heard several gobbles further out along the nearby river. All of them were quite a distance from us and my calling got some response gobbles but didn’t bring them into our immediate area.

During March, around here, the bucks shed their antlers.

And just for grins, below is a picture of a young Longhorn steer that is wandering around the deer woods property. This bull is a youngster but he definitely has some weight on him.

 

You can shoot Wild Turkeys from several different positions, beginning with Strutting and Not-Strutting. And both of those positions offer shooting opportunities that are from the angles of: Facing Away, Broadside as well as from the Front.

However, this video adds the Head Shot. Personally, I shy away from head shots. Their heads are moving most of the time and that greatly increases the chance that your arrow will nick the gobbler’s head instead of it making a killing hit.