angelobiondo.com

By Ang Biondo

 

Hunting wild turkey is one of the more challenging and rewarding sports.  Mastering the turkey call and patients is the key to a successful hunt.  My early years of turkey hunting was quite frustrating.  My calling techniques turkey hunting skills were far from perfect.  I swear I must have been telling them “Hey I’m over here with a loaded gun, go the other way.”  I saw more wild turkey at the zoo or a leisurely strolls through Letchworth State Park on a Sunday afternoon.  I never saw anything when calling them. 

However, I was determined and eventually did learn some calls and tricks along the way.  I assume you are at this page because you have harvested a bird and are looking for a good recipe to use to prepare it, so we’ll leave the stories and tips for later.

One thing we need to get out of the way before hand is the cleaning.  How you clean the bird will determine how you cook it.  If you pluck it leaving the skin intact, you can use any recipe, but if you choose or have already skinned it you are limited to its preparation.  In other words, I wouldn’t fry a skinned bird.  So here are some of the recipe’s I think you might like:

 

Barbecued Wild Turkey

(A good recipe to use if you skin the turkey) 

Ingredients:

• ½ c butter (one stick)
• ½ c chopped green onions
• 2 cloves garlic – chopped or crushed - 1 tbsp garlic powder – optional
• fresh lemon juice - juice from 2 lemons
• 3 Tbsp. parsley
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tbsp savory
• 1 tbsp sage
• 1 can chicken broth (12 oz.)
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper

Instructions:

• Cut the turkey into portion size pieces
• Sauté onions and garlic in butter at low heat until tender
• Add the chicken broth and other spices and bring to a full boil.
• Dip pieces of turkey in mixture and place on grill at medium heat to start.
• Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side and reset flame to low.
• Baste often while on the grill.

Cook 35 to 45 minutes or until done. Cut into the meat with a sharp knife, if the juices are a yellowish clear the turkey is done.  If there are still signs of blood, let it cook a little longer.

Before attempting to fry a turkey or anything for that matter certain precautions must be taken to insure your safety and the safety of others in the area.  Needless to say you must use good common sense and follow the rules of DO’s and DONT’s:

• Do: Select a clear low to no traffic area out-of-doors to setup the fryer.
• Do: Select a LEVEL firm surface. A level surface built with four 18” patio blocks placed together, from your local Garden Center works great.
• Do: wear proper clothing and footwear to protect you from hot splattering oil
• Do: Have a level work surface like a picnic table close by and a clean flat suitable pan such as a cookie sheet available to set the bird or roast on to check if its done.
• Do Not:  EVER USE A TURKEY FRYER IN-DOORS.
• Do Not: Ever fry a frozen turkey, make sure turkey is thoroughly thawed, washed, and dried.
• Do Not: Use cardboard, or cloth/ plastic tarps under the burner.
• Do Not: Wear short sleeves, open sandals etc. 

 

Cajun Deep Fried Turkey

Ingredients:

For best results you will need a marinate injector (syringe) available at most super-market chains

• 1 10 to 15-pound wild turkey (12 to 14 lbs. is ideal weight for frying)
• 5 gallons peanut oil (very important to use a high smoke frying oil like peanut, safflower, or canola. These oils will take the high temperatures required for frying with little or no smoke. Peanut is the most desirable but also the most expensive.
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 stick butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ c kosher salt (any coarse salt will work)

Instructions:

• Rub the entire turkey inside and out with kosher salt.
• In a saucepan, melt butter with garlic and cayenne, using a marinate injector, to inject marinate into the breast, thighs and drumsticks.  Insert the tube of the syringe (which is about 4” to 6” long) fully into the flesh, then slowly remove while pushing plunger distributing the marinate as you pull the injector out.
• If you do not have a marinate injector then skip and wait until end.
• Place the bird in the 10 gal fryer pot and cover with water so the highest point of the turkey is about ½” to ¾” below the surface.  Mark the level on the out side of the pot with a crayon or pencil mark which can easily be removed later.  This will indicate the oil level to fill the pot to.
• Remove turkey from pot and thoroughly rinse and dry the turkey inside and out. Set aside and cover with a clean cloth.
• Empty water from pot, rinse, dry and fill with oil to the level indicator you placed on the side of the pot.  Once oil is in the pot if you used a crayon you can now remove that mark.
• Place pot on burner and bring temperature up to 400^o
• Place turkey on the rack or in the basket that came with your fryer and slowly submerge into hot oil.
• Once bird is fully submerged, maintain oil temperature at 375^o F, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per pound.

When the turkey has finished frying, remove from fryer and remove from rack or basket.

Dust with Cajun seasoning and brush the bird both inside and out with the marinate mixture you made earlier before serving.  The bird should be a mouth watering deep golden brown with a smell that will drive the neighbors mad. Don’t forget to save the leftovers from carving the turkey for the next dish.

 

 

Deep Dish Turkey Pie

 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (or there about) Turkey, cooked and chopped 
• 6 medium Potatoes, diced to bite size  
• 6 medium Carrots, diced  
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic – minced    2 Celery ribs – finely cut    1 medium Onion, chopped   
• ½ lb. fresh mushrooms – cleaned and quartered
• ¼ cup Green Pepper, chopped  
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• 2 - 3 Tablespoons Butter 
• 1 can Cream of Chicken soup  
• ½ cup Milk  
• ½ of your favorite pie crust recipe for the top.  If you prefer, use the pie crest recipe included below

Instructions:

• In a saucepan, cover the potatoes, celery and carrots with water, and cook until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain, saving 1 cup of the liquid.
• In a skillet sauté the onion, garlic, mushrooms and green pepper in 2 -3 tbsp of butter until tender.
• Blend the soup and saved liquid in a bowl.
• Place the soup mixture, turkey and cooked vegetables in a 2-quart casserole.
• Roll out your favorite pie crust recipe and cover the casserole
• Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6

 

Note: This pie crust recipe is sufficient to make 2 open or one covered pie

 

Pie Crust Recipe 

 

Ingredients:                                                 ½ Recipe

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour                 1 ¼ c
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter            ½ c (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon salt                                    ½ tsp
• 1 teaspoon sugar                                 ½ tsp
• 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water                           2 to 3 Tbsp ice water

Instructions:

Using unsalted butter is the key to a good pie crust.  If you don’t have unsalted butter in the house use a good grade or high quality chilled shortening.  

• Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch or smaller sections and place in the freezer for 15 - 20 minutes
• Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix with fork
• Add butter and continue to mix in with fork, until thoroughlymixed
• Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, mixing with fork until it begins to clump together.
• Pinch some of the crumbly dough to see if it holds together, if it does its ready. If it doesn’t add a little more water and mix some more, repeat until the dough holds together.  The dryer the mixture the flakier it will turn out.
• Remove dough from bowl and place in a mound on a clean floured surface.
• If you made the full recipe, cut in half and shape each into a flattened disk, gently kneading the dough into 1 or 2 disks – be careful not to over-knead. If you have followed the instructions you should be able to see tiny bits of butter in the dough. These tiny bits of butter will insure a light flaky crust. Dust the disk/s with a little flour, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour
• Remove a crust disk from the refrigerator leaving the other until you are ready for it.
• Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften just enough for ease of rolling out.
• Roll out with your favorite rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8” thick.
• While rolling out the dough, check to make sure  it is not sticking to the surface beneath it. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to prevent sticking.
• Lift with rolling pin and carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate.
• Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
• Using a sharp knife or e a pair of kitchen shears, trim dough to within ½ “ of the edge of the pie dish
• If you were making a pie, here is where you would add your filling.  In the case of the casserole you would cover the casserole and place it in the oven. Don’t forget to score the top of the pie with several  2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie or casserole can escape. 

If you are new to hunting turkey, maybe I can help with a few tips, which I learned the hard way.  I was never one to sit still in the woods.  If I sat down, I usually got so relaxed I fell asleep, so I liked to walk.  I did learn to take slow short steps and stop often.  In the distance the sound resembled an animal rather than a man walking through the woods.  Animals have exceptional hearing and can hear a man coming from miles, and turkey are no exception. 

 

My friends and I would always scout our hunting areas out before the hunting season to become familiar with the area and determine if it was suitable.  For instance, if you are hunting small game and you run across a fox den or a number of owls hooting overhead, it’s probably not conducive rabbit or squirrel hunting.  On the other hand, Deer and Turkey like the same foods, so you will usually find one where you find the other. 

 

Turkey can hear and communicate with each other for exceptional distances and to top it off they have the vision of an eagle.  Even an amateur or novice turkey hunter can turn this knowledge to his/her advantage.  For instance, if you have scouted out an area where you have seen deer scrapings, beds or trails, or turkey scratching, you would assume that the flocks are gathered before first light and roosting in the trees.  Knowing this, you would rather they didn’t know your presents and would like to get situated without being spotted by a turkey, which is sure to warn the others.  

 

If you haven’t already done so, purchase a turkey call and learn how to use it.  See the following note on the “National Wild Turkey Federation” site and organization following the next few paragraphs.  If you are new to turkey hunting, I suggest you purchase a diaphragm call, they are easier to learn to use and very affective.  Some will say “box” and “slate” calls are a truer to sound, but is the topic of much controversy among champion gold medal turkey callers.  At any rate they are much harder to master and maintain  proficiency.  Unless you are entering into competition and competing all year round I would stick with the diaphragm call.  There are several varieties and sizes designed for the size of the mouth of the person using them and single and double reed, to immolate the maturity and sex of the bird, but the double reed is harder to use and master.

 

What to do?  Assuming you have already scouted out the area and know where you want to base yourself, and have picked one or two alternates in case someone else has the same idea, beat them to the punch.  Wait until first light and use the “putting” call, to scatter the flock, the putt is used to alarm the flock of danger and will scatter them.  Remember Turkeys are flock birds and feel most secure when surrounded by other turkeys, so they will not stay scattered to long.  Get situated quickly and start calling them in, using the “Cluck” It’s generally used by one bird to get the attention of another. It’s a good call to reassure an approaching gobbler that a hen is waiting for him. Or the “Cutting” call, it can be heard by turkeys at a great distance and is often used by a single turkey looking for companionship.  Or the “PURR”, Purring is a soft, rolling call turkeys make when content. It can usually be heard by feeding birds. This is not a loud call, but is good for reassuring turkeys as they get in close to your position. 

 

I think you get the picture, now for some essentials – we mentioned turkeys have the vision of an eagle, so proper camouflage is important.  A little camo’ face grease or netting will give you a slight edge.  It also helps if you are using a shotgun that does not have a gun show finish on it.  They easily see shiny high gloss stocks and barrels and though they are curious and might tend to venture closer for a better look, their vision is exceptional an probably will not get them close enough for a clear shot. They are quick learner and very stealthy, so you might get lucky, but if you miss – I guarantee he won’t be back and he’s learned what to look for.  If you have a gun show weapon, tape the stock and metal parts with camouflage tape or dull it up a little with some camouflage grease or at least some un-buffed Simonize car wax.  It not only hides the gloss, but protects the finish from the elements as well.  And don’t forget to use camoflage gloves.  I for one could never stand wearing gloves in temperatures above freezing, so I got a couple pairs of light tight fitting cotton cloves and dyed them army green for use in warmer weather. 

 

In short, use a little common sense, oh! Did I mention – all animals have an extreme acute sense of smell, so the more animal like you smell, the less likely they are to pay attention to you.  A drop or two of skunk scent works wonders, and showering with a non-scented soap before starting out on your morning hunt and using baking soda in the rinse cycle of the washer when washing your hunting cloths will add up points in your favor.  And last, there are preferred and uniquely different calls to use for the spring vs. fall hunts. 

 

Remember, I told you earlier, I haven’t hunted in many years – since losing my depth perception to cataract surgery, so the rules and styles may have advanced and improved since I last hunted, but common sense is common sense and will never be replaced by technology.  No matter how “high tech” we get, common sense and good safety policies will never go out of style.  Some of those guys out there are easy to spot, while others will be camouflaged to the hilt and sound just like a real turkey.  CAUTION: MAKE SURE YOU SEE AND IDENTIFY YOUR PREY BEFORE SHOOTING!.  This problem is especially prevalent in the fall hunt when it is allowable to take either sex, and is usually made be novice hunters.

 

Some Facts To Know For the Novice:

These rules may vary from State to State, but I think you will find the basics to be the same.  Check your State’s Hunting Syllabus for your States rules.  There may be restrictions on the weapon used as well as the caliper or gauge size of the shot.  If using shotgun, most States if not all, have outlawed the use of lead shot when taking game.  

 

In New York State, for instance – use of rifle and handguns are illegal for use in hunting turkey.  Only the use of shotgun and bow and arrow is allowed.  When using shotgun, any gauge from #10 and under is allow and must be plugged to hold no more than 3 shotgun shells loaded with bird shot. Steel shot size from #8 to #2 can be used (#2 being the largest and #8 the smallest).  New York State recommends a shotguns with full choke be used when hunting turkeys.  A special permit is required in addition to a hunting license and the bag limit is one.

 

Turkey are hard to bring down, and you may be tempted to use smaller shot for maximum spread, but their heavy feathered body and fleshy torso leaves the hunter with few vital area’s to bring them down.  The smaller the shot the less penetrating power it has and the effective distance diminishes faster.  Their large body tends to present a larger target and in the excitement of the hunt you are more likely to target body rather than the head and neck area which is most vulnerable and if hit is certainly to bring them down.  I liked to use #4 shot with a full choke to tighten the pattern.  If you shoot with both eyes open, this makes it much easier to follow through and hit your target.  Always aim for the head and neck.  Unfortunately those of you that shoot right handed and your left eye is your master eye, or vise versa – you are doomed to shoot with one eye only, making it more difficult to follow through.  (for more information, see shooting note at end of article)  

 

If you are new to turkey hunting you might want to check out the “National Wild Turkey Federation” WEB site at : http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/sounds_of_turkeys.html .  There, you can read and hear the description of the various calls and warnings turkey’s use to communicate with each other. 

 

From the “National Wild Turkey Federation” (NWTF) organization WEB site: 

 

Wild Turkeys are surprisingly agile fliers and very cunning, unlike their domestic counterparts. Turkeys are very cautious birds and will fly or run at the first sign of danger. In flight they can reach a speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h). They usually fly close to the ground for no more than a quarter mile (400 m). Turkeys have many vocalizations: “gobbles,” “clucks,” “putts,” “purrs,” “yelps,” “cutts,” “whines,” “cackles,” and “kee-kees.” In early spring, male turkeys, also called gobblers or toms, gobble to announce their presence to females and competing males. The gobble can carry for up to a mile. Males also emit a low-pitched drumming sound. Hens “yelp” to let gobblers know their location. Gobblers often yelp in the manner of females, and hens can gobble, though they rarely do so. Immature males, called jakes, yelp often. Wild Turkey hunting in the United States and Mexico is a multi-million dollar industry. Hunting in the spring consists of calling a tom “male turkey” using hen calls because turkeys mate in the spring depending upon the area and subspecies. Fall turkey hunting consists of breaking up a flock and calling them back together using “clucks” or “kee kee” vocalizations that the Wild Turkey makes. The most common weapon used for hunting turkeys is a semiautomatic or pump 16-12 gauge shotgun but some use a muzzeloader or even a compound bow for the ultimate challenge. Turkeys have amazing eyesight and are very stealthy so they are a hard animal to hunt especially in heavily hunted areas as the birds “wise up” extremely fast 

 

Notes:

 On turkey calls:  Box vs. Diaphrame

 

Earlier I stated the “Diaphragm Call as easier to learn and use than the “Swinging lid Box call”.  To clarify as to why I say this is because you must use both hands when using the box call.  Turkey have extremely sharp vision compared to that of an eagle, and can spot hand movements at long distances, this puts the hunter at a great disadvantage and even though he may have mastered the box call – his hand movement may spook his prey before he even sees it.  

 

In my opinion, even though the diaphragm call is harder to master, it is easier to use in the field as it leaves both hands free to hold the shotgun in readiness, and the mouth or throat movement of the hunter is hidden under the by the camouflage cream or netting over the face.  The minor movements used with the diaphragm call are more likely to be seen as leaf movement by the keen eyed fowl. 

 

Shooting with one eye open vs. both eyes open:

I learned to shoot with both eyes open when hunting partridge.  My kill rate increased immensely.  It took a lot of practice but paid off.  In order to shoot with both eyes open you must first learn which eye is your master eye.  Hopefully, the eye you are now using to target with is your master eye.  If it is not, I suggest you forget about it and continue to keep shooting with one eye.  

 

To determine which is your master eye, take a piece of paper (the size is irrelevant) and tear a hole about ¼” in diameter or about the size of the diameter of a pencil.  Holding the paper at arm’s length.  Looking through the hole with both eyes open, select an object on a distant wall and focus on it.  Now close one eye and see if you still see it, if you do – close that eye and open the other.  Do you still see it?  The eye that you are able to see the object that you selected is the your master eye.  If you are fortunate enough for your master eye to be the eye you use to focus on a target, you can take advantage of shooting with both eyes open.  By the way shooting with both eyes open even works when shooting with a scope mounted on your shotgun.  

 

I think the biggest advantage to shooting with both eyes open is it naturally aids the follow through motion required to hit a moving target.  It’s natural to stop the follow through motion at the point of discharge of the firearm because the shooter momentarily loses sight of the target.  When keeping both eyes open the slave eye keeps sight of the moving target and you naturally follow through with the brushing motion even after the firearm has discharged.  BOY DO I MISS HUNTING!

 

Good luck!