Last week for Spring turkey in Oregon

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daveheffner110

SWOregon
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I have been watching the hens working their way around the house for weeks. No little ones yet, but this spring has been pretty gentle, weather wise, so it shouldn't be long.

A friend of mine has a muzzleloader double barrel shotgun that he has let me shoot a couple times. I decided to invest in one for myself.

I purchased an old H&R 12 ga. online and a shotgun adapter to make it a muzzleloader shotgun. The adapter slips into the break action single barrel and it has an insert for a 209 shotgun primer. Now the problem was how to fix the gun to shoot loose powder and pellets. This 12 ga. has a 3 inch chamber, so I had to figure out how to get the components in and packed for the shot.

The answer came by loading 65 gr. of Swiss 2F, one large cleaning patch, follow with two more folded cleaning patches, one dipper (1 1/4 oz.) of number 5 shot. The best test results came when the loose pellets were only in the tube, past the 3 inch shotshell chamber.

Today I got my bird. The target shows the pattern at 10 yards. The large hole in the center was the patch over the powder. The other patches created a trail to the bird. The beard was 9 10/16 inches which is more than an inch over the minimum for the Oregon State Record Book minimum. A close shot is necessary with this set up.
 

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Here’s a Late Congrats on your Turkey Dave! I have another Tag but I didn’t even Try for a 2nd Spring Gobbler, I have to Wait til Fall Hunt now
 
Thanks guys. Today I came across a single hen turkey and she was a baby sitter for probably two other birds, out feeding I guess, cause she had 20 little turkey chicks running through the grass behind her. We had a good spring hatch this year.

I recently measured a bird for an archer that got a 10 2/16 inch beard, but this was an old bird with 2" spurs. That bird may have been 4 or 5 years old.

I have not had great luck with turkey meat preparation. How about some techniques fellas?

Dave Heffner
Roseburg, OR
 
For me wild turkey meat is best if deep fried or smoked. I've had it deep fried with a beer batter that was good. Tends to sear in what moisture it has.
For smoking them I prefer to cut the meat into strips just like I would when making venison jerky. It dries out faster than venison, in my smoker venison or beef takes about 10 hours while turkey is about 7.5 to 8 hours. I always use cure salt when doing turkey.
I've done a couple with a liquid smoke version that isn't bad either.
Recipe for that is:
1 gallon of water
1 cup of meat tenderizer
1/2 cup of salt (up to 1 cup if you prefer more salty)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
8 oz of Wrights concentrated liquid hickory smoke
Inject into the meat for better flavor throughout, but not bad if you don't.
Marinade turkey for 24 hours.
Put about 1/4" of brine in the bottom of a baking pan and cook in the oven at 200°F for 10 to 14 hours (depending on size of breast) uncovered.
Not a true smoke, so it will need refrigerated. Freeze what you won't eat within about 5 days.
*edit*
I should mention that a low rack or something to keep the legs or other meat from being directly in the brine is a good idea, otherwise the meat that sat directly in the brine will be a bit mushy. I cook it breast up if no rack to sit it on, but breast down if you can keep the meat out of the brine.
 
I bone them out, Grind the Meat up with a Breakfast Sausage Seasoning :lewis: I’ve never had a Turkey to tough to go through my Grinder, But i sure have had some that were near impossible to Chew apart until i started Sending them through my Meat Grinder with fine 1/8” Plate :)
 

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