Turkey and Turkey Hunting http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com Comprehensive Information for Wild Turkey Hunters Fri, 17 May 2013 21:07:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Calling All Turkeys South Dakota Merriam's Turkey Hunthttp://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/calling-all-turkeys-south-dakota-merriams-turkey-hunt http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/calling-all-turkeys-south-dakota-merriams-turkey-hunt#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 15:05:11 +0000 Brian Lovett http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/?p=17916 Read]]> ]]> http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/calling-all-turkeys-south-dakota-merriams-turkey-hunt/feed 0 Can Turkey Hunting Make You Go Insane?http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/can-turkey-hunting-make-you-go-insane http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/can-turkey-hunting-make-you-go-insane#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 15:02:53 +0000 Brian Lovett http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/?p=17906

Can Turkey Hunting Make You Go Insane?

One hunt, two versions. Evidence suggests that Turkey & Turkey Hunting Editor Brian Lovett has finally lost it. Read]]>

Can Turkey Hunting Make You Go Insane?

Oops

I like Randy (Ticklishtompro) from the Turkey & Turkey Hunting forums. Nice guy. Went hunting with him this past weekend.Thing is, I wish we'd have heard or seen some turkeys. Beautiful woods, sure, but it was deathly quiet that morning, and we couldn't get anything going. Finally, we just gave up and went home.I'm not sure what the deal was. Maybe we just couldn't get close to any. Could we have spooked them on the limb? I suppose. And it was bad weather. That must be it. Rain and wind will shut them up like nothing else. Ah, whatever it was, the day was just unmemorable.Editor's note: This is the T&TH medical staff. Regretfully, we must inform readers that Mr. Lovett is suffering from a combination of sleep deprivation and post-traumatic stress disorder, which has caused temporary amnesia and severe delusions. A source close to Saturday's events has informed us that Mr. Lovett and Mr. Ticklishtompro were within spitting distance of a pepper-hot gobbler that morning. The source further informs us the longbeard gobbled more than 100 times on the limb, continued gobbling well on the ground and strutted his way to within 40 yards, putting on a show worthy of any television program. The source then said that Mr. Lovett deftly flowed his gun with the gobbler and, at the opportune moment, centered 2 ounces of Hevi-13 shot directly in a small maple tree, sending the turkey running and flying somewhere ... probably over Lake Michigan. And, according to the source, Mr. Ticklishtompro recorded these sad events on video, which he might be willing to sell for the right price. Because of the sensitive nature of Mr. Lovett's illness, we have decided to let him continue believing that Saturday was just another uneventful day in the woods. At some point, his feeble brain will right itself, and Mr. Lovett will come to the horrific realization that he probably screwed up the best hunt of spring. Until that time, please bear with Mr. Lovett's hallucinations.At any rate, Randy said we can go again next year. I'll probably take him up on it. Hey, what's the worst that could happen?]]> http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/can-turkey-hunting-make-you-go-insane/feed 1 Turkey & Turkey Hunting's Decision Time With Shane Simpson: Episode 5http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/turkey-turkey-huntings-decision-time-with-shane-simpson-episode-5-2 http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/turkey-turkey-huntings-decision-time-with-shane-simpson-episode-5-2#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 18:16:17 +0000 Brian Lovett http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/?p=17903 Read]]> fourth episode's challenge was Michael Walker, who claims a Nebraska hunt with Shane Simpson!

How To Play

Watch each episode of Calling All Turkeys. At some point in the episode, the "Decision Time" logo will appear and viewes will be presented with a few possible decisions to make about the hunt (A, B and/or C). Decide on the one that you think we will also choose or the one you think will provide the best outcome then follow the link on the home page of CallingAllTurkeys.com Viewers will then be redirected to the Turkey & Turkey Hunting website where you will register and make your official decision for the current episode (only one decision allowed per episode and your first decision is your final decision). On the next episode, the "correct" decision be will revealed and no further entries will be accepted for that particular "Decision Time" segment. All correct answers will go into a "virtual hat" from which we will draw a winner. We will draw a new winner each episode. Since there is no way to predict what may have happened if a different decision had been explored, employees with Turkey & Turkey Hunting magazine and CallingAllTurkeys.com will choose which decision is the "correct" decision based on outcome and other factors. Each episode will reveal the previous episode's conclusion and "correct" decision and a new hunt with a new segment of "Decision Time" will be presented until the end of the 2013 spring season (around the end of May). This contest is based on the web based, interactive text version of Turkey & Turkey Hunting's "Decision Time" with Brian Lovett. By participating in this contest, you agree to waive all rights for CallingAllTukeys.com to use your name and likeness in any promotion or advertisment of this contest or any other aspect of CallingAllTurkeys.com web based programming. All decisions, pertaining to the contest, made by the staff of CallingAllTurkeys.com and Turkey & Turkey Hunting magazine, are FINAL.

]]> http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/turkey-turkey-huntings-decision-time-with-shane-simpson-episode-5-2/feed 1 Can You Age a Gobbler By His Beard?http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/ask-an-expert/can-you-age-a-gobbler-by-his-beard http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/ask-an-expert/can-you-age-a-gobbler-by-his-beard#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 18:52:18 +0000 Brian Lovett http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/?p=17897

Can You Age a Gobbler By His Beard?

If someone says they can look at a turkey's beard from afar and guess his age, they are full of malarkey. Read]]>

Can You Age a Gobbler By His Beard?

I know some people who claim they can age gobblers by the length of their beards. This is contrary to most information I've heard. What's the truth? — Mike Ivy, Port St. Lucie, Fla.By viewing the beard of a live turkey, you can easily tell whether the bird is 1 (jake) or at least 2 (adult gobbler). And for a bird in hand, you can tell whether the bird is a jake, 2-year-old gobbler or an older gobbler. A jake, obviously, will have a short — typically 3- to 4-inch — beard. The beard of a 2-year-old gobbler will have substantial amber coloration at the tips. A beard gets its black color from melanin, a pigment that colors and strengthens feathers. The newly emerging beards of young turkeys contain little melanin, so the bristles are amber-colored. You can hold a beard up to a light or window to see amber tips. If the tips are more than about 70 percent amber colored, the bird is 2. If there's little or no amber coloration, the bird is likely 3 or older.Other than that, a beard doesn't tell you much about the age of a gobbler. If someone says they saw a 2-year-old based on the fact the beard was 7 or 8 inches, they are full of malarkey. Beards grow about 4 to 5 inches per year throughout a gobbler's life. Therefore, it's easy to see how a spring jake has a 3- to 4-inch beard, because he's been growing beard filaments for about 10 or 11 months. Likewise, simple math substantiates why most 2-year-olds can easily have beards that are roughly 9 inches, plus or minus a little.So why wouldn't a 3-year-old have a 13- to 15-inch beard? When a gobbler stoops to feed or for any other reason, his beard hits the ground, and the ends of beard filaments are slowly broken away. The bristles wear off at the tip at about the same rate as the beard grows. Thus, a 3-year-old gobbler might "only" have a 9- to 10-inch beard. Heck, a 4- or 5-year-old gobbler might "only" have a 9- to 10-inch beard. That same wear and tear is what slowly breaks off the amber tips on the beard of a 2-year-old.No matter what anyone says, the only good gauge of a gobbler's age past 3 is spur length.]]> http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/ask-an-expert/can-you-age-a-gobbler-by-his-beard/feed 0 Again With the Quicknesshttp://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/again-with-the-quickness http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/again-with-the-quickness#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 20:28:08 +0000 Brian Lovett http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/?p=17893

Again With the Quickness

Dawn was breaking, and the author was running late. Time to switch up plans to kill this turkey. Read]]>

Again With the Quickness

Quick

I wasn't feeling very quick this morning. Spilled some coffee. Seemed to lumber about the house while trying to get ready. When I finally left for the woods, I was running about 20 minutes later than I wanted to be. I kicked myself for it, too. At about 4:18 a.m., I realized it was getting light to the east."Crap," I thought. "No sneaking in this morning."Not unless I wanted to bust turkeys, at least. I had planned to use darkness to slip into an open flat near a steep ridge where turkeys often roost. But because I was late, I'd have to find a tree atop the ridge and settle in swiftly.As I did so, I realized that wasn't a bad play. In fact, every bird I'd killed at that property had come from below — the open flat — to my calling at or near the peak of the ridge, where I sat. Actually, I was feeling pretty smug about my situation.When a gobbler sounded off 75 yards to my left, I felt even better. Soon, he and some friends were hammering at everything, including a machine-gun-like salvo at some early-rising crows.When flydown finally arrived, most of the gobblers flew down with hens to the flat, but the bird to my left sailed down silently just below the lip of the ridge. He then answered every time I yelped and meticulously worked to within 39 yards. I know it was 39 yards because that's how many steps it took me to reach him after 2 ounces of Hevi 13 laid him out.I was back at my truck at 5:45 a.m., so I figured I must have killed the turkey at 5:30 a.m. (Don't get your undies in a bundle; legal shooting time where I was today was 5:14 a.m.) And honestly, I was at work by 7 a.m., with the bird photographed, cleaned and packaged.The entire hunt was almost too fast, but I wasn't going to gripe. I figure it makes up for some of the marathon sessions that leave us empty-handed. You can always count on those. Flash hunts? Not so much.]]> http://www.turkeyandturkeyhunting.com/turkey-scratchings/brian-lovett-blog/again-with-the-quickness/feed 0