Hunting Turkeys with Dogs?

Chuckles

Chuckles

New member
I was just reading a WI DNR flyer and I read:

Using Dogs During the Fall Season
This fall will mark the second fall season that hunters have been allowed to use dogs to hunt wild turkey statewide. This change is the result of a pilot program, initiated in 2007, that allowed the use of dogs to hunt turkeys in a limited 9-county area. Following review, the decision was made to extend this opportunity statewide and make it permanent. While recent hunter surveys suggest that relatively few hunters have used dogs to hunt turkeys in Wisconsin (about 2% of fall turkey hunters), this provides an exciting option for serious turkey hunters or dog enthusiasts to explore

Has anyone had experience with this? I have been hunting when a dog pointed a turkey, but I don't think that's a great strategy...

Chuck
 
Once you find a flock of fall turkeys, the dog is used to break up the flock. Once the flock is seperated, the dog is usually put up and the caller begins calling to mimick the flock getting back together.
 
I've never seen it done with a bird dog, but I'm sure it could happen. I know they breed special turkey dogs that are pretty darn good at busting up a flock. Imagine with a little work and training any dog would do just fine.
 
I've never had a dog that I've done it with, but I did go with a guy one time, just to see if he was telling the truth. He was telling the truth. We only found a lone bird in a draw, but his dog DID point (flash point) it and he killed the bird. That was my one and only experience, but it was enough I'll never call BS on it again:)
 
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When pheasant hunting my dog broke up a flock of turkeys in a dry creek. Some ran up into the high grass buffer along the creek. The dog would point and a turkey would flush just like a pheasant.
 
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Boykin spaniels were bred to be turkey/ waterfowl dogs.
 
CandysteadyonTurkey002.jpg


She was on point, the other Britt backed, she stayed, he took off on the flush- you can see him

quite exciting to have a Gobler held till you flush
 
I see to get at least one pointed turkey per season. took me years to realize with a permit it was a legal target in Nebraska and Kansas, but not in Missouri. Since then we have bagged a few. Pointed just like any other upland bird. They go down easy, but can truck a lot of lead.
 
Yep- I swung and thought about it but pulled off-

turned and said "did you get that" she was checking her camera-
thing looked like an airplane

I'd been told there were some wild turkeys on the NW side of Clinton Lake- gal wanted to know if mine would point one

heck- you want to come down here sometime- you're welcome
 
Shadow, GREAT photo!
 
Shadow said:
Yep- I swung and thought about it but pulled off-

turned and said "did you get that" she was checking her camera-
thing looked like an airplane

I'd been told there were some wild turkeys on the NW side of Clinton Lake- gal wanted to know if mine would point one

heck- you want to come down here sometime- you're welcome
Click to expand...

Turkeys all around Clinton.
 
My setter Ace is a turkey pointing fool. He as pointed turkey a lot of times.
But shooting a turkey over a pointing dog could be pretty dangerous for the dog IMO. If you broke a wing on a full grown turkey, and the dog got on the wounded bird, there is a good chance that they could take a pretty good beating.

This was from this past weekend. I got a beep on the Garmin. Ace was on the other side of this old hedge row. Turkeys started coming up as I got close.

Sept2011_180.jpg
 
My little old 30-40 pound britts handle them fine, crippled or not, only one cripple so far, others got pelts in the head, cripple was shot going away at 20 yards in the butt with a light 20, 2 1/2 ", 7/8ths ounce load of copper 6's twice by one of my twin girls. He ran a ways. Turkeys tend to give up rather than fight, not like a goose, more like a pheasant. the britts gang tackle them. Retrieving is an issue, but they hold them down so you can pick them up. We get the young ones mostly, old ones to smart to stick around in front of a dog. biggest weighed in at 12 pounds, from southeast Nebraska. Only real risk for the dogs, is they really like it and for a while at least they become charged up turkey specialists! I try to focus on the head, like it's a quail, if they get one good BB in the head, their down and done.
 
well said oldandnew- I've shot a few wild turkeys that mine have pointed- was durring quail season- I only had light 8 shot- turkey was pointed, was flushed, was shot at- it came to the ground- it didn't get away from a Britt-
wasn't a retrieve- things were big- but the Britt stood over the bird

I've yet to loose a turkey with 8 shot- but I do shoot pretty quick- and turkeys don't get going very quick- you can blow them apart if you're used to dropping 2 quail on a covey rise
 
Here is a pic from our hunt Wednesday, the dogs just think they are really big quail.:D

100MEDIA_IMAG0234.jpg
 
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