So, How do you cook turkey tags?

[Cut N Run]

I shouldn't have made tags plural as I only have one left. I ended the season with one notched tag on opening day and several close encounters including a questionable shot that I held off on that likely would have been too far. I'd rather have them get away clean than make a bad shot.
 
 I could have shot Jakes every trip to the woods this year (all less than 20 yards), but that would have been counter-productive since I hunt on private land and I would rather see those birds as adult Longbeards. Some don't see it that way, but "No Jakes" are the lease rules and they are not hard to live by.
 
Today, I started up near the top of the ridge, but there was nothing going on there. After it got good & light, I moved half-way between there and the newly burnt area to a slight rise where I have seen plenty of sign in the past. My stake blind was set and I was in position just west of a bend in an old roadbed where we heard gobbling in years past and have seen dust bowls earlier. It seems like it might be a good place to have one strut. About 8:30, I saw a movement to the north, got the Benelli ready and switched the safety off when I could make out the red head of a Gobbler. There was also a smaller Tom behind him. I thought this might be the pair I saw a couple of weeks ago and my buddy also saw last Saturday not far from that same area. Ween he stepped out from behind a tree I could only see about 3 inches of whiskers coming out of his breast and his little buddy had less.  They were about 18 yards away and oblivious to my presence.  I watched them chase bugs and drift down the crest of the knoll into thicker woods toward the creek bottom.  I stayed until just before noon, then I packed up and on the way out I saw 3 hens just below the burnt area.  They appeared to have been working toward my location.  No matter.  I headed to the truck to get a bite to eat and was going to re-position for the afternoon.
 
On my way out the logging road, I met the forest manager who was perparing to start burning more underbrush where I intened to hunt...good thing he saw me before he torched the place, huh?  My hunting day was ended for me.
 
I had a good season and learned more about the greatest game bird in the World.  I hate it is going to be such a long time until next year.  I got a line on a new place to hunt, hopefully it will turn into something good. I look forward to reading about those who still have season left. Good Luck to you all.
 
Jim

[allaboutshooting]

Hey Jim,

It sounds like you had a great season regardless of birds killed or not killed. The fun really is in the hunt, seeing and hearing the birds and all the other wildlife.

I don't know if you've ever tried fall turkey hunting but if not, you may want to consider that. It sure helps that long time between spring hunts go by much more quickly. It's also a great time to see birds in big flocks and hear all the vocalizations.

Fall hunting is great and I think you'd really enjoy it.

Thanks,
Clark

[Cut N Run]

Hey Clark,
 
Our Fall season is in the middle of January and I may be tempted to give it a go then. I prefer to hunt the Spring season when I am better at getting Gobblers to respond to calls. I'm not a fan of freezing my backside off, but would gamble for another chance to turkey hunt. This year we had sleet & freezing rain during the Fall Turkey season, I was not real motivated to go.  I'd whole lot rather notch both tags than end up keeping one like I did this year.  I usually don't have any trouble tagging out, we had some strange circumstances with the logging activity on our lease and the property beside ours last summer & in the fall (oh, and burning in the Spring).  Once everything stabilizes and the timbered area starts re-growing, things should get better.
 
I had a grand time this hunting season and learned a lot. I just hate I missed all those days in the middle of the week when I had to work and the weather was perfect.  Today was the only Saturday in our entire Turkey season that it did not rain...So I get run out of the woods by fire!  Go figure.
 
I sure do hope they don't destroy any turkey nests in that underbrush burning going on.  Again, it seems like that could have waited until later in the year.  I guess that's the problem with not owning the property you hunt, you have little control of what goes on when. 
 
Jim

[turk2di]

ORIGINAL: allaboutshooting

Hey Jim,

It sounds like you had a great season regardless of birds killed or not killed. The fun really is in the hunt, seeing and hearing the birds and all the other wildlife.

I don't know if you've ever tried fall turkey hunting but if not, you may want to consider that. It sure helps that long time between spring hunts go by much more quickly. It's also a great time to see birds in big flocks and hear all the vocalizations.

Fall hunting is great and I think you'd really enjoy it.

Thanks,
Clark

 Yep, having a fall season sure helps fill in the gap between seasons!
As for cooking tag soup:
1 cup of effort
2 cups gave my best
3 cups of persistant hunting
Use anything less will leave a sour taste in your mouth for months. If you stuck with the directions however, the taste ain't so bad[;)]

[mark hay]

COOKING UNFILLED TAGS TAKES GREAT EFFORT . ONE MUST HAVE A LOT OF GOOD FRIENDS THAT TURKEY HUNT AND AT LEAST A FEW OF THEM MUST FILL THIER TAGS . THOSE THAT FILL TAGS MUST SAVE THE SNOOD FROM THE BIRD THEY KILL AND FREEZE. ONCE SEASON IS OVER ALL UNFILLED TAGS  ARE GATHERED IN A POT AND THE TAGS ARE SEASONED WITH SNOOD MEAT . IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TAGS TO MAKE A GOOD SIZED BATCH , CONTACT ME ON THIS SIGHT , I HAVE SEVERAL.

[allaboutshooting]

Hey Mark,

When I first started hunting turkeys, tags were very easy to get but turkeys were not. I used to save all the unfilled tags.

I still remember one day when I decided to get them all together. As I was doing that my wife Doris happened into the room and asked what I was doing. When I told her I'd been saving all the unfilled tags that I had, she looked at me, as only she can and simply asked, "Why?"

I thought about her question for a few seconds and then responded, with the best answer I could come up with. "I don't know."

So, I tossed them. I figured I didn't need any more reminders of all those birds that got away!

Thanks,
Clark

[mark hay]

HEY  CLARK, good idea !  I ain't got enough to paper the outhouse but Ihave too many. Killed a bied now and then ,early on , on private property , but what I wanted was to outwit one of those public land birds . Took me 5 years before I put a tag on one of those spooky , high pressured birds. gotta tell this one on myself,,,,, first year on public land , one mid morning I heard what I guessed was a jake gobble. I moved toward the sound and got into a foolproof set by accident. I made a couple yelps and was cut off by 3 jakes at 100 tards. Well where I had set up was in the edge of dense cedars on ditch banks . From the outside looking in it was like looking into a cave,,,PERFECT ,,,so I thought . When they stuck thier heads up to look over a rise in the field , well , I lost all control. I began breathing hard and fast . The faster the breathing the faster and harder I worked that mouth call. I started sweating and so did the jakes. Everytime they would stop moving or stop gobbling I would blast them with the loudest hen they ever heard . They made it to the half way point and stopped . I had to stop as well ,I was getting faint from not taking in any air . In this brief pause someone up high on the near ridge said,,,THATS ENOUGH! ! !  At first thought I , well , Igave it no thought . so I resumed calling and the birds came a little more , still gobbling , and turned into the timber just out of reach for my shotgun. Then it hit me right between the eyes . After that embarrassing scolding from some knowledgable hunter , Ikept my face net pulled up the rest of the morning. I'll never forget that day , but I , like you , can do without the reminder of failure by keeping unfilled tags ..              LATER                   ''OLD SCHOOL TURKEY TACTICS''

[Singin]

If you don't have enough snoods, you can always use some shingles from an old house. That's what I use to cook Carp with.