I had a plucking good morning

[kyturkey]

If all day hunting is allowed, you can get a turkey about any time of day. The two I got this year were both killed in the afternoon/evening. One about 4:00 and the other around 6:00 (hunting is from 1/2hr before sunrise to 1/2hr after sunset) Since you know where he likes to roost, try catching him of an evening going there.

As for cooking, I usually cut out the breast and slice them like chicken fingers/nuggets cover in seasoned flour and then fry. Tasty, even the wife and kids like it. Dad will take the legs and BBQ them, they have flat cartilage or something in them that makes it a little hard to get all the meat off the bone.

If you want to keep the fan it's real easy to do that yourself. You can find tutorials on the web. Short directions, cut the fan off the bird, cut out the tailbone at the base, clean all fat and meat off, coat what's left with borax, then spread it out how you want it to dry on a piece of cardboard and pin it in place. I usually leave it in the garage or my storage building for a month or so to dry, then you can mount it on a plaque and hang it up. Some people encase the base of the fan in epoxy or bondo to prevent bugs from getting to it. I haven't done that and have a fan that's been done 12 years without any issues.

Good luck on your next bird, hope your hooked. After I went the first time, I was.

 

[plowboy87]

well, better late than never. i finally got my videos put together from the 2013 spring hunt. pardon the recoil, i should have it fixed by next year

[video=youtube_share;nyMBY_8Clg8]http://youtu.be/nyMBY_8Clg8[/video]

 

[Codger_64]

thats a nice set of gobblers. i don't think i could ever get my girlfriend to shoot a gun let along a living thing. she still dose not know i took that bird and a doe last fall. she told me not to tell her so it's all good lol

i was out in the same spot this morning but there was nothing but a single gobble almost out of ear shot and a shotgun blast from a couple farms over. at least somebody had a good morning. i'm going to try another bush t/m morning. turkeys are one smart bird to say the least

Back last century my old Mentor, D.L. Lemley and I decided to break our families of wild game shyness. He cooked up a veritable feast from the critters I brought in with Granpa's shotgun and D.L.'s Nylon 66. Coon, possum, rabbit, squirrel, duck, goose, wild goat and pig and deer. We didn't tell anyone at the table until the meal was finished and we were eating D.L.'s home made donuts. A couple almost got sick and a few more got a green palor, but all had to admit that every bit of it was good. D.L. was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in WWII. An Aussie mate taught him how to make the sinkers (donuts) before they were overrun and captured.

A very nice bird and it will be good eating cooked right. Old turkeys/deer/coons are not the best eating.