An afternoon on the wild Turkeys,in the company of one of my favorite bang sticks- HW60 17HMR.Attachment 199183Attachment 199183
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An afternoon on the wild Turkeys,in the company of one of my favorite bang sticks- HW60 17HMR.Attachment 199183Attachment 199183
Nice. Don't forget to show the finished product on the dinner plate ha ha.:thumbsup:
Yeah, I'd be interested to hear how they taste. After prepping a couple of summer turkeys, I wait until mid-winter now.
Quite a haul.
Isn't there some rule about when turkeys are good to eat?
Months without an "r" in them, i.e May, June. July, AugustQuote:
Originally Posted by Dama dama
I never plucked mine. Simply skinned breasts and legs before remains went down the hole.
.....cos the turkeys eat them all....Quote:
Originally Posted by muzza
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where the heck are there wild turkeys in NZ? (outside of wellington of course) was it public land?
I used to raise them for homekill when I had more room, absolutely loved the taste once they had sat in the old dutch oven for an afternoon
Heaps in Northland.
I've only ever seen them on private land. Hawkes Bay and Marlborough is where I have shot them.
All through central otago
Slow cooker is a must ......they make a curry to die for ;)
Private land (large farm, South of Rotorua) I usually only manage 3or 4 before they move out of range. on this occasion they couldn't navigate a height fence so I took no prisoners. Neck shots only with 17HMR, but now also have 17HH so I can reach out further.
Just took the breasts from the last mid-winter turkeys I shot. Indistinguishable from supermarket chicken.
Bloody stupid things probably forgot they could fly!Quote:
Originally Posted by SL600
Obviously turkeys are fairly common in New Zealand ? Whats the opinion on hunter / farmers on here about the real value of having them around on their property?
Eat grass and shit all over the place. Not popular with the farmers I know. As a sporting proposition, little interest, but fun for training new/young hunters and meat harvest can be good.
https://i.ibb.co/7YcWCBz/Hunting-Turkey1.jpg
Yep they are a pain. Fond memories of when me and the Mrs first got together, we'd go for a walk round the farm in Norsewood of an evening, her with the .22 and me with .303 and we'd deal to a lot of magpies turkeys rabbits and hares. Very romantic :pacman:
Turkey hunting in NZ is clearly very different from here in the states.
I personally LOVE turkey hunting, but we can only do so in a very short window and believe it or not, they get very wily and hard to bring into range (can only shoot them with shotguns or bows here). Agree with everyone about the flavour—absolutely splendid. If anyone needs recipes for cooking the legs, which taste great but can be tough as cordwood, PM me. As for the contention that they're no good for sport, you ought to try calling them in the spring. Damn good time. Really hope I get the chance to chase the big chickens when I'm out there.
Like anything it's about balance. They do eat crickets n bugs.....a lot of grass as well.....Quote:
Originally Posted by video hunter
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Your right...chase them a few times they cotton on to bipedal beings with a long pointy thing...,Quote:
Originally Posted by LostYank
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You don't need to call them, just walk up to them and shoot them or grab them out the tree when they are roosting :DQuote:
Originally Posted by LostYank
I think that goes for most animals. Even much derided goats can be spooky when under a lot of pressure.Quote:
Originally Posted by tiroahunta
Used to get a few with the wheel arch on the trailer, would avoid them with the ute but then they'd try and cut back in behind the ute and get collected by the solid steel wheel arch. It took no prisioners, the feathers would still be settling half an hour later. Not even much good for dog tucker - a bit too tenderised...
May not be PC these days....
To the older gentleman on this forum who may remember and confirm that at one stage in NZ, turkeys were actually issued with gumboots....
Believe it or not... enjoy?
https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/tow...-gumboots-1968
they eat bugs so they get a free pass till their numbers reach problem levels then they are knocked down a bitQuote:
Originally Posted by video hunter
they also eat all your Puha if that bothers you, Im pretty sure my crew wants them all gone for that reason alone
hahaha that's brilliant, got any more?Quote:
Originally Posted by video hunter
Pretty easy to tip over if they have been on the electric variety:ORLY::ORLY::ORLY:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill999
There was a Barry Crump book, might have been "hang on a minute mate" or "The adventures of Sam Cash", where two of his characters went collecting turkeys at night: One poked them with a stick when roosting on a fence, and the other used a pair of sharpened hedge trimmers to lop off their heads when they stuck them out to see what had woken them up:oQuote:
Originally Posted by MB
ahh yes the good old Fred Dagg jokesQuote:
Originally Posted by video hunter
I used to use my little Rem pump .22 - hold torch in one hand with fingers over lens so very little light - pick a paddock with nice fresh clover -sneak up to turkeys roosting on fence or gate - get a look at what they were - head shoot young gobblers point blank range - delicious -Quote:
Originally Posted by XR500
