Tagging, Reporting, & Processing Your Turkey

…the bird drops but flops around, quickly go after him and place the heel of your boot on its neck to finish the job. Make sure that when you do this you keep your gun pointed in a safe direction and lean outward from the turkey to avoid getting spurred. If a bird flies away or runs outside of your shooting range, avoid the temptation of taking any follow-up shots. Doing so will only risk wounding the bird. Instead, pay close attention to how the bird reacts and the direction it takes off before disappearing. If he is struggling when attempting to fly or runs away, then he has been hit. However, if it runs away and continues to stay in an upright position he is likely okay, but probably won’t come back. Either way, an effort should be made to check the area and look for signs that it is wounded.

Darin Potter

Resist the temptation to run after the wounded bird…This will only push it farther away and decrease your chances of recovering it…Keeping up with a bird can be nearly impossible. Your best bet is to give it an hour or so before tracking it. In the meantime, hold your position and listen for any noises the turkey might make. These include leaves rustling, wings flapping or the bird “crash-landing.” After giving the bird some time to settle down, walk to the spot where you first shot the bird and look for any blood, feathers and your arrow, if it passed through. This will help give you clues as to how badly the turkey is hit.

Darin Potter

Our photos of harvested game are a display of hunting ethics and, in this case, folks are watching more than ever when we post images on social media. Being a responsible and ethical hunter is of such critical importance that an entire chapter is devoted to it in hunter safety education courses where we are taught as new hunters not to share graphic photos, vividly describe the kill to non-hunters, or parade around town with a deer strapped to a vehicle. Nationally, about 5 percent of the population hunts and roughly the same percentage actively opposes hunting. The rest of the population is predominately neutral. Hunters need to work to maintain a good relationship with the non-hunting public. We should not provoke more people to become anti-hunters and create more challenges for the rest of us to protect hunting as a tradition and critically important instrument of conservation. Hunting annually provides millions of dollars to fund wildlife conservation through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. We have a lot to lose!

Nathan Grider