Month: May 2022

Every time I hear someone laboring to try and make wild turkey meat palatable, it blows a fuse in mind. While turkey is delicious! On this episode I share secrets, that shouldn’t be secrets, for how to make wild turkey taste great.

Take Always

• Here is the meat thermometer I mentioned in the episode.
• Unfortunately, most hunters are not great cooks and most people’s approach to cooking game lacks some basic principles for preparing it well. 
• Just because someone else says they like it and it tastes good does not mean they have any idea how to cook well. But that also doesn’t mean the meat cannot be cooked well.
• Wild turkey is not chicken, don’t try to cook it like chicken!
• Wild turkey is not store-bought turkey, don’t try to cook them the same!
• Most people have no experience whatsoever cooking any turkey outside of thanksgiving style. There is a big knowledge gap!
• Wild turkeys are lean well exercised birds. They MUST NOT be overcooked and dry out quickly.
• Listen to the episode to hear the wild turkey cooking secrets. 

It is more exciting to hunt turkeys early when they are most vocal, but you can have just as much success later in the day. On this episode I talk both about the reasons and strategies to never give up on a turkey hunt.

Take Aways

• A turkey’s morning tends to be cyclical, and if you understand the cycle, you can kill them even later on even if they don’t gobble.
• You have turkey hunters, and you have turkey killers. The biggest difference is not experience or skill, it is mindset. 
• If you hunt with other people, you want them to match your goals and level of enthusiasm. 
• Turkeys can be completely silent and still come in. You need to always be alert.
• Your odds are better when hunting around sign than with the unknown. Don’t be quick to abandon a good spot.
• If you are in the woods you always have a chance, if you are hunting near sign you have a better chance, and if you are stealthy and still, you have the best chance.
• Listen to the episode to hear the reasons and strategies for hunting after the birds quiet down. 

This is an often asked and misunderstood question when it comes to turkey hunting. Calling is a critical part of almost all turkey hunts, often it is overdone, and there are times when it should be completely avoided, at least temporarily. In this episode I share principles and common scenarios to help equip you for the many kinds of situations you may encounter in the turkey woods. 

Take Aways

• There is no such thing as a call shy turkey. Turkeys are calling to each other all the time. There are human shy turkeys though.
• You do not want to be perceived as an overly eager hen, because gobblers expect those hens to come to them.
• If a gobbler can see you, and you call, he will expect to see a hen there and will expect that hen to see and come to him.
• The worse you are at calling, the less you should call. Stick to the calls you are best with.
• Do not stress over how good you sound, often turkeys don’t call well. The amount and intensity of calling are easy for even a novice to control.
• Nothing works every time in turkey hunting, these are wild animals. 
• Listen to episode to learn about when you should call or not call.

The first thing most people learn about turkey hunting is you have to shoot the birds in the head. But is that the whole story? On this episode I kick the tires on that assumption with some historical information and common sense to reveal the bigger picture.

Yes, of course, a head shot with modern turkey ammo and a good, tested choke is the best way to kill a gobbler. But it is not the only way, nor the only ethical way to do the job.

Since shotguns were invented, up until about the 1970s, shooting turkeys in the head was only practical at very close range. Hunters relied on big shotguns with high powered loads to deliver body shots. And of course, rifles were more commonly uses as well.

There are situations where body shots with the right shells can be very effective. But body shots should never be taken over a head shot, for 5 reasons I list in the episode. However, sometimes a body shot is the only shot presented.

Listen to the episode to hear the case for and against ONLY shooting turkeys in the head.