Thread: When to harvest turkeys?

The cocky who's place we duck shoot on has asked us to deal to the turkey population. He said that the numbers were getting a little our of hand due to the maze harvest. When we went for a walk for some ducks on the drainage canals, we rounded his maze silage heap and about 50-60 turkeys sprinted off! The majority of them were young 3/4 grown birds. I was thinking 'tasty'.

I was trying to remember the 'rules' around when to and when not to harvest turkeys? Something to do with months of the year that start with certain letters and never when they are eating crickets (or something like that)?

I have never eaten roasted wild turkey. I've only ever used the breast meat in my wild game salami, but these younger birds look very attractive for the cast iron camp oven in the new pizza oven I am currently building.

So, when the best time of the year to harvest turkeys, and what's the favorite recipe and cooking method?

Every month with out an "R" in it .Same as pretty much every thing else if its for your own freezer.

If there is crickets still around leave it another month.

I've also heard, any month without an R so May, June, July, August.

Shoot one. Cook it. Taste it. Decide. Shoot more. Cook more. Eat more.

Ive eaten them at anytime of year. Some do taste like arse in the summer though. I think once its been cold enough to kill the crickets and they have had a month to loose the cricket taste they are good.
We do our ones in an oven bag, they don't dry out that way, slow roast them at 150 C for 2 1/2 hrs.

You could do one of those yankee things turducken or what ever it is they are called (not sure of the spelling but turd ucken dosnt sound that good). So you start with a mutton bird or a Quail or something, jamb it up the ducks arse, then you jamb the duck up the turkeys arse, drop it in a cray pot filled with boiling cooking oil and deep fry it.

The r thing comes from the northern hemisphere, should probably be turned round for here. Best month's seem to be late oct, thru jan also possibly feb but depends on when cricket nos start to climb. Then may june but after that they start getting a bit scrawny. Crickets which the seem to love make them stink and taste rancid. If you can get the bastards after theyve been in a orchard premo!

I reckon now. Go get them. This big bugger and his mates skedaddled over the neighbours fence as I came home this afternoon.

There are shed loads on the inlaws place, ive been meaning to go and tip one over for quite some time, I think I'll pay them a visit soon... I dont have a shot gun but I do have a .22lr - head shots are the way to go I assume?

Nah mate, at night with a fence batton or similar. Find their roosting place, put a light on them. Heads go up, wack, one turkey. Don't do what I did and use a slasher. Not much resistance in a turkeys neck. Got several with one swing.

Do what Stug said

Find the night roosts.

Turkeys are as Dumb as a Dumb thing when the spotlight is on them while they are Roosting at night.

We would staple a 12" piece of #8 wire to the end of the baton, one whack with the wire across their Neck will kill them clean as a clean thing ....... quite too!

Cheers
Pete

haha cheers guys, I wonder if aliens say the same shit about us?

Alien 1: I'm after a human, got any ideas? I only have a stage 3 lazer
Alien 2: nah mate show up at night, flick your high beams on full on the Saucer, they just stand there staring at you like a dumb thing, then suck em up with your beam.
Alien 1: got it, Thanks.

I like those estwing claw hammers for turkeys. If you miss with the head the beveled shaft works wonders.

And Marty Henry it's definitely not a northern hemisphere thing, look at our game bird season

i usually take ours in August, look for the young tom birds hanging around the back of the flock. I head shoot mine and prep them for the freezer, bring out for Xmas dinner. Very tasty, lots of meat and good flavor.

Found when they roosted on a gate I just shine my torch a meter out ,when the stuck their heads out a wack my old wheel brass round the neck sorted them .
If I had a mate along to hold the torch could smack 1/2 a dozen no problem.