Another Turkey knife thread

[Joe Houser]

Ok, so I really just started this thread so I could show a picture of the turkey I got friday. It was my last trip of the season. Butchered the bird with my trusty 475 Mini Mentor with stag handles.


Anyone else get one? Please share your story.

 

[Larry Oden]

Joe,
What is that fuzzy stuff on your face?!

 

[Joe Houser]

I fell in the mud while trying to climb onto that rock for the pictures.

 

[Messersmith]

Congrats Joe! I was out on Saturday but had no luck finding a gobbler. I did flush a woodcock while moving between calling sites which I thought was pretty cool. That was my last hurrah before hanging up the shotgun for the season. Time to start practicing with the bow... archery season is only 4 months away!

 

[straitshot]

Turkey hunting may just be my favorite. I've been busted from behind so many times I now decide which is the best direction to face then turn 180 degrees. I took one this month in the Zuni Mountains of New Mexico. Coincidentally, I also carried a Mini Mentor! It's a favorite because it goes unnoticed on my belt until needed and is just the right size when traveling light.

By the way: a close-up of your box call would be very cool if you ever get the time.

Thanks for sharing the photo. Congratulations and regards, ss.

 

[Buckaholic]

Nice pic Joe.
But in seeing that, I realize that Chuck should give you a well deserved raise. Ya hve to hunt for your own grub and your clothes are all in tatters. Poor Buck Brother

The only thing I've ever done with a Buck and a turkey was at Thanksgiving and with my 120 Pro-Line. I think the bird's name was "Tom" and not "Jake" though.

Sirus though...
Thanks to all you hunters for posting these pics. I find them quite interesting. And thanks to Pack Rat for translating huntspeak to this city dude.

 

[wh4f]

Nice one Joe!
Are there any turkeys left in Idaho? Seems you have them running scared!

 

[Joe Houser]

Pak rat once said the Remmington 870 is the 110 of shotguns, which I have to agree with. Well in my most humble opinion, the 870 Lohmans box call, shown in the picture, is the 110 of box calls. It has had a part in every bird I have taken.
Since this bird, and his buddy, caught me flat footed out in the open, I had only one free hand to operate the call. Got some nice soft clucks from it and that sealed the deal.
Hey BUCKA, when we lived in San Diego, I used to wear that outfit, with matching head net and glooves, when I took the kids out trick or treating. Folks thought it was a costume, called me the swamp thing!
Before we moved up north, my buddy and I made a trip to Ruidoso New Mexico every year to hunt turkeys. What an awesome place that is! Dont know if it is close to the Zuni Mountains though.
Sorry you did not get one Messer but that will give you all the more time to practice with your bow. Do you hunt deer with the bow?

 

[Hawkeye5]

Nice one Joe. I am glad somebody go a turkey this late.:thumbup:

Thanks for shairing.
Jeff

 

[chickentrax]

...What the...???...

There's a fence and a concrete slab on one side of the pic...and a teeter-totter on the other side...You're hunting turkeys in a kids playground???

...Bag me a 16 year old!...

 

[straitshot]

OK, lets start a debate about the better pump: Remington 870 vs. Ithaca 37! Seriously though, the Zuni Mountains are about 35 miles southeast of Gallup and about the same habitat as the vicinity of Ruidoso. I hunt right on the Continental Divide at about 9000'. It snowed lightly each of the five days I was there with winds at 35-40 mph the first three days- I used the loudest call I had and still couldn't hear it from arm's length.

The fourth day was nice but I was busted once at daylight. That evening I was sitting in the truck about sundown, reading a book, and noticed movement in the rear view mirror. Two toms walked past not 20 feet from the tailgate. The next morning they didn't answer the call, so I hoofed it to another section of the ridge and found one that did. I wasn't busted...

I really enjoy the calling and the suspense when Tom is sneaking in. I've yet to bring one in strutting and drumming like in the videos, so I still have a real treat to look forward to the next time. So far, mine have been very sneaky or following curious hens.

Not to ramble, but you mentioned sharing the story. The second day I was sitting and fruitlessly calling from the base of a 36" Douglas Fir, then there were noisy steps from behind. A herd of elk filtered past my tree upwind on the left then a cow stopped, within reach, on my right. Because I was below her belly she didn't get my scent so I reached out and scratched her belly!
She looked down at me like I was was the Swamp Thing (just regular camo though) then bolted. As far as I know she's still running. A priceless moment for both her and I. Good hunting and regards, ss.

Again by the way: you didn't tell us much about your hunt (if you get the time). Thanks.

 

[DarrylS]

Pak rat once said the Remmington 870 is the 110 of shotguns, which I have to agree with.

...Wow...Does the thought of the 870 bring back some memories for me...It was the first shotgun I bought when I got to the age to hunt alone in Wisconsin. I was 16 and the 870 helped me with the ducks and geese that flew over the Horicon Marsh area of central Wisconsin...In 1961 I bought a Wingmaster 870ADL 3" Magnum for $145...It was the hottest goose gun around except for the 10ga. 3 1/2 inch doubles...Ahhh...Memories...

 

[wh4f]

...Wow...Does the thought of the 870 bring back some memories for me...It was the first shotgun I bought when I got to the age to hunt alone in Wisconsin. I was 16 and the 870 helped me with the ducks and geese that flew over the Horicon Marsh area of central Wisconsin...In 1961 I bought a Wingmaster 870ADL 3" Magnum for $145...It was the hottest goose gun around except for the 10ga. 3 1/2 inch doubles...Ahhh...Memories...

Same memories here too Darryl!

Also my first shotgun... although the 870 "express" version wasnt very durable, still my first one.

Now the Benelli Nova 12GA. 3 1/2" is king for all game big and small...

Do you use a super full turkey choke tube in that 870 Joe???

 

[Guyon]

Nice bird, Joe. Too bad you didn't clean the mud off your face before you snapped the pic.

870s are my shotgun of choice for turkey. Started with a black matte 870 and now use a camo'ed 870. This camo version has Williams Fire Sights and an H.S. Strut Undertaker Hevi-Shot XF choke. Shoots 3" Remington HS #5's.

I only hunted about four or five times this season, but I got this bird back in April.

Didn't see anything early that morning and only heard a few hen yelps, so I moved to another part of the property and set up. Starting about 8:30, I heard a bird gobbling off and on down in a small strip of green field (grass) between two wooded hills. Heard some hen yelps down that way as well. So I got up and started slipping down the hill.

By about 9:20 or so, I had managed to get set up near the end of the green slip without getting totally busted by the turkeys. I was just tucked up in the woods. I yelped about three or four times with a mouth call and then shut up. It wasn't five minutes before I saw him slipping along the wood line to my left looking for "the hen." He motored on in at a pretty steady clip, moving from my left to my right, until I got him in my sights straight on at about 20 yards.

 

[Guyon]

I really enjoy the calling and the suspense when Tom is sneaking in. I've yet to bring one in strutting and drumming like in the videos, so I still have a real treat to look forward to the next time. So far, mine have been very sneaky or following curious hens.

I've been hunting turkey the past six years or so. I've only had the "textbook video hunt" once. My first season, I located a bird before dawn with an owl call. Got as close to him as I dared and put up a hen decoy, then backed off about 30 yards and set up. I heard him fly down and I yelped a couple of times on a slate. He came in all puffed up, strutting and drumming and durn near mounted my decoy. By 6:15 a.m., I was on my way out of the woods with a bird. That one had three beards. It was also the only bird I've bagged with a decoy.

Most of the birds I've shot, however, have come slipping in quietly.

One odd exception was a jake I shot my second season of hunting. I was easing into the woods on a gas pipeline road and heard him feeding in some hardwood leaves down a hill to my left. I spotted him, but he was so busy pecking around in the leaves that he didn't even know I was up there. I squatted down on the road to get out of his sight, but I wasn't sure what to do. There was no good place to set up on the road, and there was a steep bank to its right. I finally got up the nerve to take another peek and saw him cruising right up the hill.

Well, I squatted back down on one knee, guessed about where he would pop out on the road, and got my gun up. He came out of the woods about where I'd guessed, and I beaded down on him. About that time, he saw me, realized that I wasn't a bush, and flew. He got about ten yards in the air before I pulled the trigger and dropped him like a rock on the other side of the road. I sort of treated his head like a quail.

 

[Messersmith]

OK, lets start a debate about the better pump: Remington 870 vs. Ithaca 37!

You can't have a debate about pump shotguns without the Winchester Model 12

 

[Messersmith]

I've been hunting turkey the past six years or so. I've only had the "textbook video hunt" once.

Nice gobbler Guyon. The turkeys must not watch the same videos we do... I seldom see any in the field act like they do on tv

 

[Stump_250]

Well I got my first turkey this year and this is the first year I've ever been. I had a good friend calling for me. We had to come back for this one because he got up with a hen a little early on us. We knew where he was when we left and took a chance and came back. We snuck out of the woods setup the decoys and slipped back in. When my buddy called he answered in another nearby field ~100 yards away. He called just a few times to tease him and about 20 minutes later he came about half strut down the hill right to me. Busted him about 20 yards out! I was a happy, happy man. I think I'm still grinning.

I used my Rem 870 SPS 28" all camo 12ga. 3 1/2 super mag. I had my leatherman Wave on my side if that counts. I was mounting him so no messy work that day.

turkey photo

 

[Evil Eye Earl]

................

 

[Guyon]

Tried to get Stump's photo to load, but got the dreaded red X.