whiskey

Every year there are similar stories of hunters shooting someone because they don't have visual confirmation. It's ridiculousness. I can't understand it. I never crosses my mind to shoot a moving bush.

That Wild Turkey is to be consumed on the side.

Nice Bird!

You know that old saying... "I thought you went to crap and the hogs ate you." Well I was hunting hogs in south Florida and got the urge. You know the kind of urge that a weekend of beer drinking, potted meat and slim jims can put on you? I slipped off into some secluded palmettos, dropped trousers, including my belt holster and got to relieving myself. I am not sure if was impeccable timing or if the smell brought them running in, but I quickly found myself surrounded by a sounder of pigs. As soon as I heard them I started working to get my Super Blackhawk out of it's holster. So if you can imagine... squatted in the woods, pants at ankles, right hand holding a scrub oak, left hand holding a .44mag revolver, me steady praying that the hogs move on cause if I have to shoot, I just know I am going to fall backwards and I really didn't want to fall backwards... One little boar hog finally popped up about 20 yards in front of me, looked at me cross-eyed and split the scene.

If you don't like it, just call and I'll come get it...

Chicken White Chili is a standing favorite recipe in our house. I have made it for years using chicken and have dabbled with the recipe until I have it just about perfect. I decided to try it with a wild turkey breast this weekend. I have altered the recipe for all my fellow turkey hunters to enjoy. If WD-40 ever tries a bowl of this, he is very likely to change his view point on turkey hunting and those vial birds. Wild Turkey White Chili 1 Side of a large wild turkey breast (equivalent of a whole chicken) (I also used 4 chicken thighs because I had them thawed) 4 Quarts water 1 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon of Everglade's Seasoning or poultry season 1 stick of butter (optional smoked ham hock added to the stock for flavor) 1/2 cup oil (or bacon grease) 3/4 cup flour 2 med onions finely diced 4 stalks celery finely diced 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like it hot, less if your heat intolerant) 3 Tablespoons chili powder 1/2 Tablespoon of Cumin powder 1/2 Tablespoon of Garlic Powder 1/2 Tablespoon Creole Seasoning 1/2 Tablespoon of Black Pepper 3 cans Bush's navy beans Clean and rinse wild turkey breast. Put turkey breast, water, salt, Everglade's seasoning and butter in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Slow boil for about 20 minutes, or until turkey is fully cooked. Remove turkey to a plate to cool and save the broth. Once turkey is cool, cut into small bite size chunks. Put oil in skillet on Medium-Low Heat, add flour to hot oil, stir constantly for 20 minutes (don't let it stick and burn) then add onions and celery cook for 8 more minutes. Add a couple of cups of broth to the mixture to thin and release rue. You want to roast the flour before adding the onions and celery, get the rue to a nice golden brown before going on. Pour rue into a large crock pot and add turkey, stir well, add spices, slowly add broth (as much as needed) to reach the desired thickness. Cover and cook on high setting for 2-3-4 hours. Cook it until the turkey meat starts to get tender. If the meat isn't tender, keep cooking... Once the meat starts to get tender, add beans and cook on low setting for an hour or more until the turkey meat is fully tender. Options: Cook a pound of bacon and use the bacon grease in place of the oil for the rue. Chop the bacon into small pieces and use as a topping for the chili. If you use bacon grease for the rue, omit the teaspoon of salt in the soup stock. If you make this with chicken, the cook times are much shorter to get the meat tender. Don't rush the chili, no one wants tough turkey and I promise it will get tender if you let it cook long enough. Enjoy.

I believe the season is a little out of wack with the early spring and green-up. My daughter took her youth hunt bird on a WMA and I have hunted it a couple times since. The birds I have heard are very call shy and have gone away when I got aggressive. We hunted a private farm this morning and birds gobbled like mad, but were on the wrong side of the creek. Once the hens hit the ground the birds shut up and not another sound. Hens have been very quite this year. I have heard zero yelps and few clucks. I got one hen fired up opening day, but nothing since.

You ain't holdin' your mouth right.

Very cool videos. My girl was 11 when she started turkey hunting, nothing but fun times.

Y'all work too much... I work, but only recently have I been over worked. I am correcting that though. I have a good job with a fairly flexible schedule, so I hunt before work some mornings. Fish after work some evenings. My kid is old enough to keep herself, or hunt or fish with me. My wife doesn't complain about me hunting or fishing anymore, she realized that was useless, I just stayed gone more.

I take it you weren't in the city limits of a city that prohibits shooting, right? Likely if the police did contact you, they would do little more than warn you. To be safe, I'd recommend you contact your local fish and game officer and run your future plans past him.

Nice bird! Did you weigh him?

Hog hunting ain't easy. It is possible to kill hog if the state allows feeders. Spot and stalk for hogs is hard. I have done it lots and killed very few. Keep in mind I was hunting in south Florida with a well established population and still had a tough time getting on pigs without the aid of corn feeder. It's not impossible, just tough. The key is finding the pigs in daylight. IMO, the best approach is to go out in the dark and listen. You can hear hogs rooting and breeding if they are in an area. Public hunted hogs are the toughest to hunt. They are mostly nocturnal and weary as hell. You might could make up a batch of sour mash corn, dip your clothes in the sweet rotting corn broth then go take up a stand on a hill top. That smell will draw them to you if you can keep from vomiting.

JG is the expert limb line fisherman. Give him a call. He likes to fish moving water for flatheads. He and I talked about setting some limb lines on the Red River, but never got to it. One of the certified, card totin' rednecks at work catches skipjacks and uses just their guts for cat fishing. I know flatheads want live bait, that's about all I know about them. I grew up fishing for channel cats in the Coosa River and on TIms Ford and Woods Reservoir. We used chicken livers more than anything else and fished jugs alot, We used empty 2 Liter coke bottles with twine and stout hooks. Every now and then we would catch shad and use cut bait.

A couple more tips... Get some gift wrapping paper at the Dollar Tree and use the white side to pattern your gun. Don't just shoot at 40 yards. Shoot at 15, 25, 40 and 50 to know what you have. My gun has a softball sized pattern at 20 yards. I have to be careful to aim carefully when they are close. The beauty of a double is using one barrel for close shots and one for long shots.

If all I had was a over/under 12ga I would get 1 extra full choke and use my full choke in the other barrel. I would buy Hevi Shot #7s and pattern my gun to know how high/low, left/right I was hitting with my bead sights. Use the barrel with the full choke under 25 yards, use the extra full out to 40 (maybe 50) depending on my patterns. Most turkey hunters use a 10" circle and count the pellets within the circle to gauge how well their guns are performing. I have seen pellet counts as high as 200 #7 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards. 100 to 150 at 40 yards is more realistic for a decent turkey gun shooting Hevi #7's. You asked if the expensive Hevi shot is worth it. For me, only if you buy #7s. The Hevi shot is heavier than lead and you can down size your shot size and increase your pellets per shot. I wouldn't use lead #7's on turkeys, I would stick with #5's or maybe #6's. However, I have killed a couple birds with the #7's now and I am a believer in the Hevi shot now. I killed one last year right at 50 yards with them. My daughter killed one this year at 40 yards with Hevi 7's out of a 20ga. They are killing shells and help marginal guns get denser patterns. Lead will kill them just as dead though, you just may have to work a little harder to make sure your find the right shell/choke combo.

I don't know what permethrin is made from, but I have heard all my life that planting marigolds would keep skeeters away. There are lots of plants that have natural bug repelling properties. There are some commercially sold "all natural" bug sprays that are based on plant oils.

For example, I have a short barrel Mossberg Tactical Turkey shotgun. With an extra full turkey choke I am getting exceptional patterns for turkey hunting well past 40 yards. Now that is great for turkey hunting, but it would be awful for dove hunting. I also wouldn't want to rabbit hunt with it. From my studies, I have learned that you can expect tighter patterns on a slightly longer barrel, but the gains are marginal and usually not considered to be worth the extra weight and length when it comes to turkey guns. Longer shotgun barrels are popular for wing shooting because they swing better, not because they pattern better. Modern guns with changeable chokes are generally capable of producing similar patterns for a given choke, despite the length of the barrel. So a modified choke in a 28" barrel throws a similar pattern to the same choke/shell combo from a 20" barrel.

This weather makes we want to be on a river bank too. I've heard the fish were biting well at Cross Creeks. Congrats.

This cold snap on Friday morning really shut down the birds where I hunt. They were a little more talkative this morning. Congrats on the birds.

This one fell victim to my sweet little, "Scott Wilper Pocket Rocket" box call. http://www.wilpercustomcalls.com/default.html Here's my daughter's bird and the pocket rocket

H-101, cool video. I would have had waaayyyy too much cussing in my video to be able to post it. Way to finish it up. Not bad for a big guy in crocs! Congrats Bad_Bowtie. We went this morning, but didn't hear a peep.

Did you chew them up first?

The dipping lasts a lot longer than spraying, unless you completely soak the fabric with spray. I still keep a couple cans of spray in the truck incase I need to do some scouting in my blue jeans. If you are extra worried about ticks, you can carry a can or spray bottle to the woods and spray the area you plan to sit before setting up. I have one hunting buddy that has had lyme disease and he sprays a 10' area before he sits down.

I am lucky enough to say that I have crossed a few off my list. Note below that for the ones I have marked off, I am not saying that I caught or killed, just that I was able to experience the trip. Some trips were successful and some weren't, but in the end it was the trip I enjoyed. I have tarpon fished Boca Grande Pass. I have King/Silver/Sockeye salmon fished all over Alaska. I have fished the Florida flats for Redfish. I have hunted black bear, moose and Dall Sheep in Alaska. I have hog hunted in South Florida with a rifle/pistol/bow. I have halibut fished in Alaska. I have deep sea fished both coasts of Florida. I have bass fished Lake Okeechobee. I have trout fished wild rainbows in Alaska streams. I have deer hunted Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee. I have turkey hunted Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. Here is what's left on my list: Complete a grand slam for turkey. See my daughter catch her first salmon in Alaska. Elk Hunt out west. Deer hunt in Saskatchewan. Fish out of Costa Rica. I was lucky to get the opportunity to live in Alaska and south Florida. I was also fortunate to find friends in both areas to teach me and mentor me through my adventures. Had it not been for more experienced sportsmen taking the time to pass their knowledge down to me, I would never had been able to do as much as I have. In many cases I was slightly strong armed into some of my adventures. I appreciate now that those guys coaxed me into going. That's what it takes to keep our sports alive.