# Region-Wide turkey...?



## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

So I noticed there are region wide turkey permits, and the odds are really good. Why? Is it just because there are a lot of tags and it's the latest hunt so they've already been picked over? I'm just curious if there is a catch or something, because it seems like a pretty good deal.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

It's the rifle hunt of the turkey hunting world.  

More vegetation, call shy, pressure etc...


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## elksign (Feb 2, 2008)

Good odds yes. Good hunt.....is yet to be seen? If the estimated population of Turkeys in Utah is 18,000 and they are issuing about 14,000 tags, there are going to be a lot of unfilled tags this year. There are not 14,000 Jakes and Toms in the state. The Southern unit alone will have almost 4,500 tags for the last hunt. In my opinion they might as well have the 3rd season be an over the counter tag without loosing your points. Don't think that by having a 3rd season tag that you will have the same kind of hunt during the first 2 seasons with the increase in permits this year.


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## ktowncamo (Aug 27, 2008)

^^I agree entirely

If we have a snow year like last, the northern unit hunts will be done by snowmobile and snowshoes :shock: which is why I put in for a southern unit.


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## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

Its all just to make more money for the big game program! :wink:


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

This whole system is just wrong. Instead of allowing more permits, or, heaven forbid, just sell unlimited numbers over the counter, what we need to do is close about half the state to you guys out there that would shoot any dang Tom that comes along. There are quite a few (maybe even a few hundred) of us elite turkey hunters out here that deserve a place where you lowly jake shooters won't bother us. It just doesn't make sense that we let just everybody that wants to go turkey hunting have free range of the best turkey hunting areas in the state! The very idea of families or groups of friends going out turkey hunting is childish and old fashion. Real turkey hunters go out by themselves or hire large groups of guides to help locate only the biggest birds and would never even consider shooting a birds with less than a 12 inch beard. I recommend that we locate those prime turkey habitats in Utah and set them aside for us elite turkey hunters in the state before the general population starts to think that turkey hunting might be for everyone.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

:?


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## InvaderZim (Sep 7, 2007)

BP, 

You need to use some sort of emoticon if yer gonna use sarcasm on here! :mrgreen: 

The Winky one is best in my opinion! :wink:


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## luv2fsh&hnt (Sep 22, 2007)

I disagree with your post there BP.I killed my turkey in '01 and I never measured the beard but it's probly 8-9 inches and in my mind that bird was a trophy.Maybe not for an elitist but a nice representative adult bird.The thing that makes it a trophy more than anything is the amount of effort and time that went into harvesting this bird and all the lessons that I learned in the process.If a twelve inch beard is what defines a trophy bird for you great but for many people who have not yet had the opportunity to hunt turkeys a jake might be their idea of a trophy.In my opinion a true "trophy hunter" does not need special areas with special regulations to harvest a "trophy".A true true "trophy" hunter can go into any area under any conditions and locate and harvest a trophy.If a family or any other group wants to try and hunt turkeys like that more power to them.I agree they are likely to come up emptyhanded but if they enjoy hunting like that great too.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Who's bein sarcastic? 

L2F & H....that makes no sense. Are you saying just let anybody hunt where ever they want??? And that there might be more to a trophy than mere size? You know, with that mentality, guides would go right out of business. People might start thinking hunting is recreation, not compatition...No L2F & H...I am right on base here. It's all about horn size...Oops, I mean beard size. 8) (Zim, I kind of like this guy best)


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Ol' BP... Always stirin the pot! :twisted: 

You left out spur size BP. I personally wont shoot a Tom unless he's packin' at least 1 1/2 inch hooks. I like to call them in close, look them over real good from all sides and then and ONLY then if the bird meets all my standards do I pull the trigger. Two years ago I killed a turkey with only a 10 inch beard but he was sportin 1 7/8 inch daggers on both legs. So, I thought hard and ended up shooting him even though his beard was short. :mrgreen:


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> Ol' BP... Always stirin the pot! :twisted:
> 
> You left out spur size BP. I personally wont shoot a Tom unless he's packin' at least 1 1/2 inch hooks. I like to call them in close, look them over real good from all sides and then and ONLY then if the bird meets all my standards do I pull the trigger. Two years ago I killed a turkey with only a 10 inch beard but he was sportin 1 7/8 inch daggers on both legs. So, I thought hard and ended up shooting him even though his beard was short. :mrgreen:


 -BaHa!-

I won't even think about shooting one that isn't tripping over his beard. :wink:


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## luv2fsh&hnt (Sep 22, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> Who's bein sarcastic?
> 
> *L2F & H....that makes no sense. Are you saying just let anybody hunt where ever they want??? And that there might be more to a trophy than mere size? You know, with that mentality, guides would go right out of business. People might start thinking hunting is recreation, not compatition...No L2F & H...I am right on base here. It's all about horn size...Oops, I mean beard size.* 8) (Zim, I kind of like this guy best)


Now I see you are pulling my chain and I walked right into into it.


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## SFWG (Sep 8, 2007)

BPturkeys said:


> This whole system is just wrong. Instead of allowing more permits, or, heaven forbid, just sell unlimited numbers over the counter, what we need to do is close about half the state to you guys out there that would shoot any dang Tom that comes along. There are quite a few (maybe even a few hundred) of us elite turkey hunters out here that deserve a place where you lowly jake shooters won't bother us. It just doesn't make sense that we let just everybody that wants to go turkey hunting have free range of the best turkey hunting areas in the state! The very idea of families or groups of friends going out turkey hunting is childish and old fashion. Real turkey hunters go out by themselves or hire large groups of guides to help locate only the biggest birds and would never even consider shooting a birds with less than a 12 inch beard. I recommend that we locate those prime turkey habitats in Utah and set them aside for us elite turkey hunters in the state before the general population starts to think that turkey hunting might be for everyone.


I think you need to pull your elite head out of your holy rear end!!!!! :lol:


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> Ol' BP... Always stirin the pot! :twisted:
> 
> You left out spur size BP. I personally wont shoot a Tom unless he's packin' at least 1 1/2 inch hooks. I like to call them in close, look them over real good from all sides and then and ONLY then if the bird meets all my standards do I pull the trigger. Two years ago I killed a turkey with only a 10 inch beard but he was sportin 1 7/8 inch daggers on both legs. So, I thought hard and ended up shooting him even though his beard was short. :mrgreen:


Not bad Tex, not too bad, but I once shot a bird, his spurs were so long they had moss a-growin on the north side, I wouldn't call him a "branch hanger" more like a "limb hanger". I hung him on a 6" drain pipe in the basement by his spurs letting him age. Another bird I shot had spurs so long they curled up on themselves formin about a 3 inch circle...my wife still uses one as a key ring. But alas...it is all about the beard. My sister-in-law, a great quilt maker in her own right, once dismantled an exceptionally large beard from a nice Tom I took up in Northern Idaho and fashioned a very attractive throw rug that was used for years at the entrance to my back door, the woman had talent. I could go on and on, but Tex, don't get too carried way with spurs, that's something best left to those want-a-be Southern boys. :roll:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

I'm hearin ya BP.

But, along with short spurs, I'm done with "single" bearded birds too. From now on if he's not got a 12-14 inch main broom swingin in the wind along with at least two more beards I'm lettin him walk. 8) Jeez, I might have to hunt a whole week to get a bird like that killed! :shock:


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Well Tex, I'll tell ya, for three straight years I chased just such a phantom double bearded bird down in the Oklahoma panhandle region. The locals had been complaining of small dogs and cats coming up missing and they new this bird had to be taken down. Now I am not one to get down and start scratchin in the dirt with my toe just to make a point, but seriously, nobody in this part of the country had ever seen a bird like this before, and frankly, neither had I. It was reported that both his beards measured well into the teens in length and so bushy and thick he would push small stones right out of his way as he walked. Talk about your boss Tom, man this boy would kick your a**. I finally cought up with him swimming across a creek one morning, just his big red head bobbin along in between those two huge bushy beards, paddlin like a puppy. When I reach down and picked him up, the creek level dropped about 4 inches due to how much water those beards had sponged up during his swim. Yes sir, he was quite a bird, quite a bird indeed. :|


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## SleepyG (Dec 23, 2008)

Funny stuff :lol:


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## scottl67 (Nov 29, 2007)

I like the creative stories on this thread - very entertaining!

I've seen plenty of turkeys when I've been out and about in the woods, but this is the first year I will actually hunt them. My two sons and I have drawn the third season southern region. I have had people tell me it will be a tough hunt, but for me it is more about the experience. Would I like to get a big bird? - absolutely! But if I don't, it will be good enough to spend time in the hills with my boys. This is the first year we have put in, so we don't have any points to lose, and the cost of the permits are cheap enough, that we can enjoy the experience with very little to lose. I'm looking forward to it.


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## ram2h2o (Sep 11, 2007)

Yep BP, you are right, real turkey hunting is a one man game. I get a kick out of the newbies going Turkey hunting with their kids and some of their friends. Walking thru the woods like they were Deer hunting or setting up on a field and ambush hunt. To me, the challenge of Turkey hunting is the calling/and when not to call, skill it takes to call in a shy old Gobbler.


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## WasatchOutdoors (Sep 26, 2007)

Personally I think you guys are all missing the boat. The thing that you're missing out on with this new regionwide hunt is how having us all out there on opening day will keep the birds moving. You know just like the waterfowl opener. I'm planning on just pass shooting the birds as they fly over my position 20 feet from the rest lake boundary :lol: 

And as far as this whole beard length debate, I personally won't shoot a bird that doesn't have a beard long enough to be able to reach from the ground while he's still on the roost. That way you can walk up to him at 4 am, pull him down and inspect him for good spurs. personally I'm holding out for at least 5 inch spurs.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

OK, I'll go along with the 5 inch spurs, I've settled for a bird or two like that myself, but no turkeys going to roost in such a low tree that his beard will reach the ground. Not going to happen. I seen plenty of birds with beards that long but when forced to bed down in a short tree they invariably wrap the beard around their neck like a scarf with the end neatly tucked under one wing. One wise old tom I hunted one time took to using his extensive beard like a comb over. He'd meticulously wrap the long strands around and around over the top of his big red head leaving a short pony tale hangin down the back, actually looked pretty cool, sort of like a Davy Crockett coonskin cap. But he finally met his demise one morning while beating a hasty retreat. Raising his head to quickly, the cap slipped down over his eyes temporarily blinding him and he flew right into the midst of line of dike shooting turkey hunters...kind of a shame...he was one of the more colorful Toms I known.


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## WasatchOutdoors (Sep 26, 2007)

that's some funny sh*T right there...


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## ktowncamo (Aug 27, 2008)

Either it's late or that is some classic comedy. Either way, thanks for the laugh. Especially the ground length beard from the roost - the visual has me laughing...:lol:


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