[commanderjjones]

Had a good Saturday morning and pulled the trigger on this big guy at 7:00am (less than 30 minutes after sitting down) and was back home eating pancakes by 9:00am.
Although he isn't the heaviest, he has the largest beard and spurs of any that I've ever shot. He has an 11" beard, 1 1/8" spurs, and weighed a little under 25#.
I put him on the smoker as soon as I got him cleaned. He was tasty, but a little tough and that was probably due to his age.......I think that's where the term "tough old bird" comes from. I fried the heart and liver, and the kids helped me eat those for lunch yesterday.

 

[alloutdoors]

Looks great. Do you inject or put bacon on the turkey while smoking?

 

[commanderjjones]

Looks great. Do you inject or put bacon on the turkey while smoking?

Sometimes I do both, but I just seasoned this one and put bacon over top. I always use bacon to prevent it from drying out too much. I tried another members recommendation of rubbing it down with mayo', but it didn't work as good as bacon.

 

[alloutdoors]

Suggest putting some in the body cavity as well.

 

[Rdfish1]

That is a very nice bird, congrats. I have cooked many birds over the years and none will taste quite as good as a grain fed pen raised bird other than the added benefit associated with having gotten it yourself.

With that said, i think fried wild turkey fingers are outstanding. Not sure there is a better way to prepare although other methods are pretty good

 

[FUSE]

Nice Bird!!!
A friend and I went out yesterday as well. Buddy pumped 3 shots into a big ol' Tom at about mid morning and still didn't take it down. That's where (for us) the term "tough old bird" came from LOL. We tracked/look for it for about 2 hours and never did find it. Sucked. But that evening he shot a nice Jake which was quite tasty.

 

[Decbowhunter]

Nice bird nice to get one so early

 

[rowdy*rodney]

Man what a limb hanger!!
Good shooting!

 

[revrnd]

Saw a few on my ride yesterday. The season hasn't opened up here yet (I don't hunt them).

 

[Mossy700]

Nice bird, definitely a limb hanger. Looks like the birds up your way are a little heavier than ours. Most of our mature birds down here weigh in the low 20lb range.

 

[commanderjjones]

Shot another small one (jake) Saturday morning. There were a couple of good sized gobblers in the bunch, but they were with hens and weren't leaving them. The 3 jakes weren't quite as smart.