Last Monday, I saw this flock of wild turkeys out the bedroom window of my underground bunker in Idaho:
Turkeys are not native, but they have become quite common at the lower elevations and now at my elevation. These turkeys are about 3,130 feet above sea level.
I thought this was going to be about Congress.
Me, too. Or some other political entity. The United Nations and all those organized crime thugs from the Third World?
Yeah. That was deliberate deception on my part.
I thought of it as funny.
That’s insulting to the intelligence of turkeys.
No, really. Turkeys don’t worry about an island tipping over because too many creatures reside on one side of it. At least one congress-critter publicly did.
If you have windows, I am not sure you managed the “underground” part of underground bunker.
The window is at the end of what amounts to a short tunnel. There is a minimum of three feet of dirt overhead at this location.
We see flocks that size, if not bigger, at least once a week in our back yard. That’s in NH, I think they are native though the numbers have increased a great deal in the 40+ years I lived here. If I were a hunter I’d likely have plenty of good meat to eat.
Ya, the problem is that most states charge $18–20 dollars for a tag.
Use to be one could buy a turkey and a ham for that price.
Their good meat, sometimes. But they ain’t never going to live up to the “Butterball” grandma puts on the thanksgiving table.
That’s for sure.
Nice to have a flock patrolling your area. They are circuit birds in that they go in large general circles.
If they find food. They will make you part of their regular patrol grid. As long as you don’t shoot them in their nesting trees. Killing one now and again will not detour them for very long.
Find their general path through a wooded part of their circuit
A good suppressed 22 is the perfect tool for that job.
A little savage bolt action is custom for that kind of work.
With the proper camo, patience, Thanksgiving gets cheaper. Then again, I never pegged you for a shotgunner, Joe! A headshot on a turkey with a .308 would be more your style. I know you can do it.
With what I have seen of these turkeys, no camo is needed. With a sturdy rest, a head shot with a suppressed .22 rifle looks like a winner. A suppressed AR would work if they are more skittish during hunting season.
I do have a Saiga 12 gauge, so that is an option, too.