Wow, I just noticed this week is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means cooked turkey, and I plan to eat my share and much more. I like turkey!
While I have seen many turkeys while hunting, this past spring I got a close-up look at a wild turkey. Mike took me on his turkey hunting trip, and he got a turkey (surprised me). Then I hopped out of the truck and closely inspected my first wild turkey. Those things are huge. Lots of feathers and lots of meat. I am now drooling for some cooked wild turkey.
Oh, along with my turkey, some gravy, biscuits, bacon and other trimmings would be nice. No need to separate those in the dog bowl, I will eat them so fast you will be amazed. Skip the bones per my veterinary’s advice but pile up the cooked turkey breast. More drool is happening.
I did want to say job well done for the dogs that go turkey hunting. Yes, some states permit the use of dogs while hunting turkeys. This is mostly a fall event and the dog is supposed to bust up the turkey flock, then return to the hunter’s side and quietly wait while the hunter calls and the turkeys meander back to the site. I love a good bird chase, so expect to hunt any turkeys I chase over in the next state because I will keep running and those birds will be flying across the nearest state line.
Whether your hunting dog can hunt turkeys or not, Thanksgiving means cooked turkey so don’t be a Grinch and share some with your hunting dog. My holiday plans are to head to the kitchen, smell the aroma of turkey cooking and begin drooling. After I eat a heaped mound of turkey breast, I will join the hoomans and take an afternoon nap. After eating turkey, a nap is the next best thing!
Happy Thanksgiving! —Cameron
During the first half of the twentieth century, Archibald Rutledge hunted wild turkeys in the woodlands surrounding his ancestral South Carolina plantation. He became wise in the ways of the wary creature and wrote prolifically about the sport. In this collection, noted outdoor writer Jim Casada gathers thirty-four of Rutledge’s finest turkey-hunting yarns. Buy Now
