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Nice bird!! congrats! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
How big do those grow we dont have turkeys here in sweden so im a bit curious?
Do you use shotgun or rifle when hunting turkeys?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif /Fredrik
Fredrik, I didn't see anyone answer your questions so I'll take a stab at answering them from my perspective and locality. Some of you turkey experts correct me if I'm off, please!
There are 6 subspecies of turkeys here on the North American continent. They are:
Eastern
Osceola
Rio Grande
Merriam's
Gould's
Ocellated
Plus there are a few pockets of hybridized turkeys scattered around the country.
We have the Rio Grande subspecies here in Texas. Mature weights of females (hens) are somewhere in the 10-15 lb range and males (gobblers) will go from 20-24 or 25 lbs. Of course it depends on the area and on the quality of the food supply. Males can stand around 4 ft tall to the top of their head when standing erect. Most folks who hunt them will measure the length of the gobblers beard and measure the length of his spurs and sometimes take their weight for bragging rights. I don't have any idea of what measurements are taken to determine trophy status. Locally a beard 10 1/2-11 inches long and spurs 1 1/4 - 1 3/8 inches are considered A pretty good trophy gobbler.
Generally there are two turkey hunting seasons here in Texas. The fall season corresponds closely with the deer season and the spring season which corresponds with the mating season. During the mating season the gobblers will readly respond to hen vocalizations. Folks usually hunt with a shotgun during the spring hunts but some use bows and arrows. Since they are using shotguns or bows the gobblers have to be called in fairly close which requires good camouflage and skillful calling. Personally when I want to kill one I use my rifle, either I hit them in the head or they get to live to meet another hen. Don't take that as me thinking I'm a good shot it's just that I have farm and I manage another place close by so I'm out in the midst of them every day and on many days I could kill 3 or 4 nice sized gobblers if I cared to AND if I could hit em. As you can probably tell I'm not much of a turkey hunter but I do like to eat them so occasionally I'll take one. Hope this satisfies a little of your curiosity about our turkeys. There are several good web sites you could look at you desire more information. Just google for "turkey species" or "turkey subspecies" and you'll probably find more than you ever wanted to know.
LD
