Greenhorn gets his first gobbler

[Greenhorn]

So I was getting antsy hearing about all the turkeys being shot on here and I had never gone turkey hunting before and it made me want to go.  What really got my blood pumping was I took a break from spraying in our wheat fields to check and see if there were any deer in the canyon one afternoon at the start of turkey season.  Well I came across two hens and two toms that were all wound up about their girlfriends.  I just made a gobble sound with my mouth and they gobbled right back at me.  Once they found out that I wasn't a turkey they folded up the show and left.  I decided right there I was going to try and get a turkey this year.  I went out and bought a pot call and tried it a few evenings to locate some gobblers.  I had a good general area that I could hear a few in.  I went out last week one morning for the first time and road my 4 wheeler over to the general location and right when I came up out of the canyon there was one in front of me at full strut.  I loved seeing him but he got away and that was it that morning.  I went out that evening and thought that I would sit under the trees where I found some turkey poop piled up and tried a little bit of calling but got nothing so when it was getting dark I walked back to my 4wheeler and a red head went running in front of me but I didn't shoot at him.  So the third time I decided to get up there before light and wait for that guy.  It all worked out perfect and I watched him come out of the woods and get all puffed up about 100yds away.  So I thought I would try the pot call to watch how he reacts.  Well he just folded up the show and took off into the woods.  A couple mornings later I had a chance to go out and I decided that I had better not make any noise since I clearly didn't know what I was doing and just spot and stalk the guy.  I waited for about an hour after sunrise but never saw him until I moved to get out of the wind and I saw him just walking across the open area toward me with his feathers down.  I just waited until he was within range and gave him the what for and that was it.  Got my first gobbler.  Obviously I have a lot to learn about turkey hunting, but now I am just worried about how to cook the breast meat.  I had a great time chasing this guy and am looking forward to going out again some time.  Later on that afternoon I came across a young badger out in the field and he just cruised about 5mph as I drove on the road for about 1/2 mile until he found his culvert and disappeared into it.

[baldopepper]

  Nice write up and great pic's.  Be carful, you might get hooked on turkey hunting now. 

[rtspring]

Great job! I have fell in love with this whole turkey hunting thing! Its a blast..

[Deer slayer]

Good job Greenhorn. I would have to know you being from Bickleton and all.

[buglebuster]

Congrats! That bird looks to have some very unique wing feathers

[Greenhorn]

Thanks guys, it was a lot of fun!
 

Congrats! That bird looks to have some very unique wing feathers

I can't speak to that since I don't know much about them but they are beautiful birds and the feathers are amazing!

[elkhunter1977]

Can't really tell because I can't see the whole bird but it almost looks like what they call a "red bronze". Which is just a recessive color variation.

[Gobble Doc]

Great job.  Congrats on your fist bird. 

[Jester052]

You've been hooked!

[carpsniperg2]

Congrats

[jackmaster]

awesome, were you able to clip that badger to? wouldnt mind whackn one of those little devils

[mossy8352]

And so it begins a life of turkey hunting. Nice bird, like the badger pictures also!

[Greenhorn]

awesome, were you able to clip that badger to? wouldnt mind whackn one of those little devils

Just shot him with the camera!

[Hangfire]

You referred to cooking the breast meat. If I am going to kill a animal the whole thing gets eaten. I have a couple ways of taking care of turkeys. I skin them out and take off legs, lower back, wings and neck. These are made into two equal packages  and frozen to be made into turkey soup. The breast is flayed out and each side frozen or the whole piece including bone frozen. The frozen breast when cooked is put in a crock pot which has been sprayed with Pam and cooked on high for 3 hours. IT is by this time thawed but not fully cooked. My wife who does the cooking lifts the breast out of the pot and puts in stove top dressing with cranberries. She ads a small hand full of crazens. The turkey goes back into the crock pot after being rubbed with herbs. She also takes half a can of  either cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and dilutes with a little water and pours over turkey. She is watching to see that there is enough moisture but not so much that it is soupy. She then cooks about 3 more hours or until done by temperature. Very good, as good or better than a domestic turkey. If I get a old bird I take all the meat off and grind it. By all I mean legs, wings and breast. This is used in stir fries, tacos etc. I hate to see people just breast a bird out, there is so much good that goes to waste that way. The wing bones make very good calls.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Good job ..looks like some cool colors on that bird .. copper colored ....Take and rub some olive oil on those breasts ...salt pepper garlic parsley flakes and sage ...let cook for about 40 minutes on 350 ...then melt some butter and honey and mix together and brush on the breast ...cook until its done !

[Greenhorn]

Thanks for the cooking ideas guys.  Next time I will make better use of the whole bird.   This time I ended up fileting the breast in half about 1/2" thick and then marinating it in a honey mustard type mix and grilling it.  It turned out great but the marinade might have overpowered the turkey flavor.   Everyone I shared it with loved it.

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