# Awesome hunting opportunity.... Turkey !



## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

There's a turkey farm near a property i own. the property is 4 square kilometers and its right next to the turkey farm. there was a run away, or someone left it open but anyway about 60 turkeys had run away. in a couple of days i will go clear my land from them. i saw a couple and they are very scared of people. if i would get something i will be sure to post pics. but i have a question, what setup is good for turkey ? i know chest shots are no good. so i need a setup that will send 10mm lead with the flattest trajectory ? i saw them on high trees so i believe a jackel wouldn't be able to kill all of them before me


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## RUBEN_CO (Sep 1, 2013)

Can't give you any tips but sounds exciting

Best of luck on the hunt

Wish i was there :banghead:


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

Yea we are going probably tuesday to get them. they are very scared of humans.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

If they are from the farm, they are probably not used to foraging for themselves, so they are probably pretty hungry. Set up a feeding station and build a simple camouflaged blind close to it. Spread feed for a few days or a week to get them used to coming to the station. Then get into the blind very early one morning and wait.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

Charles said:


> If they are from the farm, they are probably not used to foraging for themselves, so they are probably pretty hungry. Set up a feeding station and build a simple camouflaged blind close to it. Spread feed for a few days or a week to get them used to coming to the station. Then get into the blind very early one morning and wait.
> 
> Cheers ..... Charles


Thanks !


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## NKlamerus (Jan 17, 2015)

Blind is definetly the way too go.

Head shots as well if you plant to eat them.

Seem many a headless turkey in my lifetime


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

NKlamerus said:


> Blind is definetly the way too go.
> 
> Head shots as well if you plant to eat them.
> 
> Seem many a headless turkey in my lifetime


Of course i would eat them ! and i said that im going for head in the post.


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

i got some old deer feeders from the time it was legal to use feeders for deer here.. i will set those up. corn will do ? or something else ?


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## NKlamerus (Jan 17, 2015)

Corn should do, any grain really. Depending on what's cheaper you could probably buy some bird feed by the 50# sack


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

NKlamerus said:


> Corn should do, any grain really. Depending on what's cheaper you could probably buy some bird feed by the 50# sack


I get dried corn for free.. my family owns a couple of working silos.... 

im his nephew btw


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

All I can say is i wish I was there with you ... and practice those head shots at 10-15 meters and use heavy ammo !

I would use 185gr ammo at the very, very minimum, something more like 200gr + for sure, maybe 300gr is I could get it !

I would do some serious practicing before I went out, turkey are BIG birds, and you don't want to would one, that is not cool at all !

Good luck ;-)

wll


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

NKlamerus said:


> Corn should do, any grain really. Depending on what's cheaper you could probably buy some bird feed by the 50# sack


thanks, i hope they wont starve to death until i get there


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

wll said:


> All I can say is i wish I was there with you ... and practice those head shots at 10-15 meters and use heavy ammo !
> 
> I would use 185gr ammo at the very, very minimum, something more like 200gr + for sure, maybe 300gr is I could get it !
> 
> ...


Thanks man, so what you are saying is that a headshot with a 10mm lead wont kill it ? that i have to use heavier ammo even with a headshot ? i very doubt that.. i got some 14mm lead and some 290 grain conical ammo but i really dont think its needed.


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

im sorry for not knowing anything about turkey hunting but as i said its a unique oppurtunity for us, we dont got these birds here is the wild


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Guys, you know your equipment and skill level, so all I can say is good luck and hit them solid ;- )

wll


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

wll said:


> Guys, you know your equipment and skill level, so all I can say is good luck and hit them solid ;- )
> 
> wll


I will just treet this bird as any othet bird and not as the god of birds  from my target practice i beleive i will get a headshot. either headahot or no shot.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

As for feed, try to get some of what they were being fed on the farm. They are familiar with that, so it will probably be more attractive than something new to them.

Oh, yes .... I want to emphasize ... Set up the blind before you start feeding them. You want them to be used to the blind right from the get go.

Cheers ... Charles


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

Charles said:


> As for feed, try to get some of what they were being fed on the farm. They are familiar with that, so it will probably be more attractive than something new to them.
> 
> Oh, yes .... I want to emphasize ... Set up the blind before you start feeding them. You want them to be used to the blind right from the get go.
> 
> Cheers ... Charles


Thanks again, i will setup a blind first thing tomorrow.


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

sorry for this, im posting from my new account and from my uncles account.. so there are mixups..


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

Charles, you are one smart man. A #4 fox trap would also work if there are no other animals afoot you wouldn't want to trap. Anchor it very very well. Use a very very sharp machete to strongly lop off their heads with them standing in the trap in front of you, in one swing, quick and easy. I assume fire arms would make too much noise and be bad politics for the turkey guy who rents your land. So my choice is archery. Bow/arrow or sling bow, and as Chas suggested, a prebuilt blind and after that's done, a feeding station

might be the best op if you've got such, I saw a vid on youtube of archery vs wild turkeys, turkeys lost, broad heads same as deer, heart/lung shots. Sometimes bird producers clip wing feathers so they can't fly...you might ask carefully and casually the employee(s). Happy Thanks Giving X 60. Don't bag more than you can pluck/clean in a few hours, they'll start to rot and smell horrible..but cold weather may be a natural refrigerator somewhat. You would have to do a head shot, on a target area the size of a big grape, no bill shots, spot on, or a center line neck shot to make putty out of its spinal cord to bag a turkey with a SS other than wound it or make it yet more wary after a hit. That means 10 meters or less depending on your "first shot" skill. I find that first shots of the day are usually off zero and January temperatures will make your bands less elastic/powerful as well. Turkey feathers as in wing feathers do offer some protection to the body too...and wing bone too. Practice with a sling bow before the hunt? Turkeys can run fast or even fly a short ways into brush even with an arrow in them if not placed in a critical zone.


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

Links archery vs turkeys can be found in youtube.com, put bow turkey hunt in the search field. The advantage of a bow is the kill power and the quiet shot that does not spook the other birds (so much as a fire arm).


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Susi said:


> Charles, you are one smart man. A #4 fox trap would also work if there are no other animals afoot you wouldn't want to trap. Anchor it very very well. Use a very very sharp machete to strongly lop off their heads with them standing in the trap in front of you, in one swing, quick and easy. I assume fire arms would make too much noise and be bad politics for the turkey guy who rents your land. So my choice is archery. Bow/arrow or sling bow, and as Chas suggested, a prebuilt blind and after that's done, a feeding station
> 
> might be the best op if you've got such, I saw a vid on youtube of archery vs wild turkeys, turkeys lost, broad heads same as deer, heart/lung shots. Sometimes bird producers clip wing feathers so they can't fly...you might ask carefully and casually the employee(s). Happy Thanks Giving X 60. *Don't bag more than you can pluck/clean in a few hours, they'll start to rot and smell horrible*..but cold weather may be a natural refrigerator somewhat. You would have to do a head shot, on a target area the size of a big grape, no bill shots, spot on, or a center line neck shot to make putty out of its spinal cord to bag a turkey with a SS other than wound it or make it yet more wary after a hit. That means 10 meters or less depending on your "first shot" skill. I find that first shots of the day are usually off zero and January temperatures will make your bands less elastic/powerful as well. Turkey feathers as in wing feathers do offer some protection to the body too...and wing bone too. Practice with a sling bow before the hunt? Turkeys can run fast or even fly a short ways into brush even with an arrow in them if not placed in a critical zone.


Susi, I was out pheasant hunting a few years ago and by the end of the day it was cleaning time .. it was quite a site to see five grown men, myself included, up chucking all over the place. It is a smell that will live in infamy !

wll

Ya, don't shoot more than you can clean right away, The smell will knock you to your knees !


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

Susi said:


> Charles, you are one smart man. A #4 fox trap would also work if there are no other animals afoot you wouldn't want to trap. Anchor it very very well. Use a very very sharp machete to strongly lop off their heads with them standing in the trap in front of you, in one swing, quick and easy. I assume fire arms would make too much noise and be bad politics for the turkey guy who rents your land. So my choice is archery. Bow/arrow or sling bow, and as Chas suggested, a prebuilt blind and after that's done, a feeding station
> 
> might be the best op if you've got such, I saw a vid on youtube of archery vs wild turkeys, turkeys lost, broad heads same as deer, heart/lung shots. Sometimes bird producers clip wing feathers so they can't fly...you might ask carefully and casually the employee(s). Happy Thanks Giving X 60. Don't bag more than you can pluck/clean in a few hours, they'll start to rot and smell horrible..but cold weather may be a natural refrigerator somewhat. You would have to do a head shot, on a target area the size of a big grape, no bill shots, spot on, or a center line neck shot to make putty out of its spinal cord to bag a turkey with a SS other than wound it or make it yet more wary after a hit. That means 10 meters or less depending on your "first shot" skill. I find that first shots of the day are usually off zero and January temperatures will make your bands less elastic/powerful as well. Turkey feathers as in wing feathers do offer some protection to the body too...and wing bone too. Practice with a sling bow before the hunt? Turkeys can run fast or even fly a short ways into brush even with an arrow in them if not placed in a critical zone.


There are mongoose, foxes, jackels and bobcats... and those are only the predators.. so i cant legally setup a trap without it being trapping season, because anything could get caught.


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

When I was a kid I used #4 double jaw steel traps to trap rabbits which constantly ate our vegetable garden at night when I was asleep and couldn't bag them with an SS or my pellet rifle. I padded the jaws with cloth wrapped around them and secured the cloth with twine wrapped around the cloth except for the very middle of one jaw which had to be kept bare for about 1/8th inch for the sear bar to hold it in place. The cloth padding made the sharpish trap jaws NOT cut through the leg of the rabbit, not even blood. Transferring this to turkey trapping, that would be important, the traps are strong when sprung and might crush the leg bone, and with the turkey tugging, flapping around wildly and pulling in random directions, may release the turkey sans foot...so padding would avoid that. Again, blind first, feeding station perhaps with a chicken feeder and waterer second, then silent shots with sling bow or your compound bow. Otherwise a silenced .22 rimfire (legal with appropriate ATF stamp in many states) or pellet rifle head shot. I've shot wild ducks in the water with heart/lung and head shots with a .22 pump up Crossman pellet air rifle to much success. If you figure the cost of an air rifle and 6x scope, it's much less than the value of say 25 turkeys at $35 each.

Chuck


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## zap (Nov 26, 2014)

Susi said:


> When I was a kid I used #4 double jaw steel traps to trap rabbits which constantly ate our vegetable garden at night when I was asleep and couldn't bag them with an SS or my pellet rifle. I padded the jaws with cloth wrapped around them and secured the cloth with twine wrapped around the cloth except for the very middle of one jaw which had to be kept bare for about 1/8th inch for the sear bar to hold it in place. The cloth padding made the sharpish trap jaws NOT cut through the leg of the rabbit, not even blood. Transferring this to turkey trapping, that would be important, the traps are strong when sprung and might crush the leg bone, and with the turkey tugging, flapping around wildly and pulling in random directions, may release the turkey sans foot...so padding would avoid that. Again, blind first, feeding station perhaps with a chicken feeder and waterer second, then silent shots with sling bow or your compound bow. Otherwise a silenced .22 rimfire (legal with appropriate ATF stamp in many states) or pellet rifle head shot. I've shot wild ducks in the water with heart/lung and head shots with a .22 pump up Crossman pellet air rifle to much success. If you figure the cost of an air rifle and 6x scope, it's much less than the value of say 25 turkeys at $35 each.
> Chuck


Turkeys are not native to israel, so i can even throw rocks at them to kill them and it would be legal. Im not in a rush to get rid of them, i saw them eating grasshoppers a couple days ago so they are good for food and theres a river going in the property so they got water, the will survive there and i can go shoot them when i would like to, as i said i cant legally put a trap in that property because there are bobcats, jackels and mongoose around there, and if you get caugt setting up a trap in area where you got predators you are going to jail, the only trap im allowrd to setup in this time of year (trapping off season) is a rabbit snare, and it will do no good for turkeys.if i really wanted to kill them all i would go there with a .22 revolver and i will go rambo on all of them. I dont get many chances to hunt large birds so i think i might even let a couple of them breed ao i will have more to shoot in the next years to come.


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## zippo (Jul 9, 2014)

Only got them with my trusty single shot 12 gauge, cant seem to get them with the catty im gonna keep trying.


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