doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Spring Gobblers 2025

Wicked spur in that last picture

That is a heck of a bird, Gil. He may be only 20# but those spurs are pretty impressive.

No luck here yet. Close but after 2 mornings, just a lot of wind - nothing less than 20 mph and often above 30 mph. That seems to be keeping turkeys away from the fields and even field edges, for the most part. It will calm down for the last two days of the first season, however.

I read all the turkey research that I can and I've read a lot over the years. The Turkeys for Tomorrow organization also has some excellent videos on YouTube with biologists discussing the latest research - I would summarize it by saying that any population decline in turkeys is primarily due to an increase in predators. Many places have more nest predators than ever, and there's also a big increase in many avian predators, and the big problem with them is that they are protected by federal law.

I haven't read anything that documented coyotes as a net positive. If that research is available I'd certainly like to read it if anyone has a link. I have read that coyotes are the biggest predators of fawns and they get a high % of them in some places that don't have a lot of ground cover.

Anecdotal evidence I have is that I have called up 7 or 8 coyotes over the years while turkey hunting, including one last week. I don't think they would waste their energy coming to a turkey call unless they had some hope of a turkey dinner. I've never seen a coyote catch a turkey, but a friend of mine saw one catch a hen a while back, and she managed to escape leaving a leg behind.

All this to say that predator control is an important part of turkey management, and I will continue to include coyotes in that group absent research proving they are a net positive. All that I have read says bobcats are worse. One study had gps on 4 adult gobblers and bobcats got all 4 of them. Great horned owls are also capable of taking mature gobblers, but they are protected by law.

Unless he has changed his mind since I put him on ignore Brent Daniels and I are on the same page about not shooting coyotes, but for very different reasons. I know what a significant impact they have on deer populations, and I’m overrun with deer destroying my crops. So, no one gets to shoot a coyote on my land, or they don’t come back to hunt again.

But really, y’all should show the professor a little more respect regarding coyotes. You know, he did see the first one that ever set foot on Savannah River Site, and it’s only 310 square miles in size. 😉😂😂😂. Never mind that they had been on my land only a couple miles from SRS for three years before he claimed to have seen the first one.

But, he must be right about that because he is the resident professor. 😉

No coyotes were harmed in the taking of this Mendocino County tom today. But a pack serenaded us as we cleaned him, and we left them his innards for their dinner.

This morning in Mendocino County. My friend's CZ Sharptail on the left, my 10 bore Smallwood hammergun on the right.

The coyotes will dine well tonight again.

I'm fixing up another batch of wild turkey soup.



There will be other seasons, however. So things may improve.

Whatcha’ got growing out of the ends of those tubes there, mate?

I was running late for church one day when the Missus pointed out I had a green sock and a black sock on. I fixed it the way any red blooded guy running late does, by wearing tall dress boots. One of them thingies appears to be a bunch longer than the other.

Best,
Ted

To next season:



Best,
Ted

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Jive turkey season in Detroit.

Weird, huh? I've been telling him for years that an elderly gentleman requires an elderly hammer gun but he insists that turkeys must be killed with a Turkish gun. Next year I'll offer him my Hammer Classic.