Everybody knows what the barnyard turkey looks like, since he is the traditional bird of the Thanksgiving and Christmas table. The early explorers of our country depended upon him for many a main course at the family table.
Yet, this bird in the wild state is perhaps the most tricky and hardest to stalk of any of the game birds of America (due to its shy and alert nature) even though it is a large bird, our largest. He is a recluse of the dense forests, hardly ever ranging in the open country particularly when men with guns are abroad. In the early days the wild turkey roamed over almost all the land, but the inroads of civilization caused him to retreat until today he is found only in the remotest woods and swamps.
Conservation departments of the various states where he formerly lived in peace are trying to stage a comeback for him by restocking and protecting him from over hunting and predators. It is a long hard pull against heavy odds. In New York State, for instance, stocking the woods of the state forests has gradually re-established the bird in several very small areas.
Working from farmer stock bred with captured wild birds, a strain has been developed which seems to be holding on. The southland states of Florida, Georgia and their neighbors have many areas where the wild turkey is still found in great abundance.
This is the only game bird which can also be shot legally with a rifle as well as a shotgun. Dogs are no help in turkey hunting. The hunter uses a small call to attract the bird, or attempts to hold his attention until he can be seen or approached. The turkey will run every time rather than flush into the air. It is a rare and beautiful sight to see one streaking through the pines in full flight with its powerful wings biting the air and its magnificent tail spread.
The male grows to a length of forty-eight inches, the female, usually about thirty-seven inches. Both have a wing-spread of about five feet, and weigh between fifteen and twenty pounds.
Gobblers live where they can feed on acorns, nuts, berries, plants, seeds, and insects. They lay between nine and eighteen eggs each spring and grow to a ripe old age of twelve years.
Their tail feathers were used by the Indians for tribal costumes, especially when eagle feathers were not obtainable. Today their feathers are of value to trout fly tiers and are also for other decorative purposes. As for their use as food, they are much superior in flavor to their farm-raised brothers, but of course, the flabby farm stock is much more tender.
If you live in an area where the turkey was once a "native," try to get the local gun club boys to cooperate with the state conservation department to attempt reintroducing the turkey to your woodlands. You can probably enlist the help of an owner of private posted land, or use an Audubon sanctuary for your initial stocking.
Good luck with hunting the turkey!
The placement of the trap is crucial so think wisely before choosing the right spot. The trap must be installed in an area where you have found a wild boar sign. For the first week of installment it is advisable to remove the spring and tie the door open. Now spread a lot of corn inside the trap so that the wild boar will find that area very attractive. These very greedy animals will pack themselves into trap and it will get them used to entering the trap by having to push through the crowd.
If you want to pre-bait on a regular basis, it is recommended to set a deer feeder up at the hog trap. After these animals have become familiar to the feeding near the trap area and in the trap it is now time to actually trap these animals. If you however set the trap without pre-baiting it and you don’t catch anything on your first try it is advisable not to give up, try it again for two or three times.
Many experienced hunters sour their corn first; you too can do so by filling a bucket of corn with water and let it sit out for a couple of days. You will afterwards know when it is sour. As far as swing door settings is concerned, if you are using this style, set the trap by first filling your clean bucket with a lot of corn. Now, you should place the bucket on top of the block in the rear of the trap. Tie one end of the rope to your bucket and pass the rope through the top of the trap.
It is now time to run the rope up to the front and open the trap door. Afterwards, place the prop between the jamb and the edge of the door. Make sure that the prop is long enough to open the door wide. It is now time to attach the rope to the prop so there won’t be any slack. If you have done as mentioned, the wild boar will knock the bucket from the block which will result in pulling the rope tight and also pulling the prop from the door which will lead to closing the door.
The trap should be checked every morning and you must be very attentive when you approach it as these animals have the tendency to become very aggressive. If you plan on shooting the animal in the trap, watch out for ricochets. If however you don’t catch a hog you must tighten up that spring so they won’t escape the next time. If the food is gone but the animal escaped, you should put the bucket on top of a taller block inside the hog trap giving the bucket farther to fall and should trip the trigger easier. The last possible situation is: the corn is there, the trap tripped but there is no sign of hogs; it is most likely that the animals were too wide to get into the trap without knocking out the trap. If you find yourself in such a position you should use a larger prop.
All things considered, trapping wild boar isn’t very hard to do but certain aspects should be seriously taken into consideration before using this method.
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