Anyone in cali plan on hunting turkey this spring? I'm gonna give it a shot this season an see how my luck is. Lots of scouting an planning to do to get ready.
California turkey hunting
- Thread starter 209airgunner
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Where I.m at much planning involved to avoid private lands...it all is mixed private and Nat'l forest...
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I do every year. Got all mine with my airgun last yr. It felt like I was cheating as the range of lethality increases way more than a normal shotgun. However, with the cost of ammo, upwards of 65 to 90 bucks a box of 5, I have no hard feelings. Depending on where you are located, turkeys can be plentiful to scarce. I don't do much planning anymore either. I hunt a mix of private and public through out the season.
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Are you in norcal, central, or socal? I'd be all over the turkey hunting if I was still in CA, some of the best airgun laws for what you can hunt.
Keep an eye out for quail spots for fall while you're scouting. Some of the good turkey habitat will hold cubbies - the drainage cuts in the hills that feed into the creeks along the oaks. You'll get turkey below and quail above as long as it's thick grass in and around the area.
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I'm in socal and would love to hunt turkey. Even willing to pay in $$ or airgun/machining work.
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Where in Cali are you (I'm in Oceanside/San Diego). Might be going in March, about an hour & a half Southeast of here. PM me, we can exchange info & connect sometime if you want.
Gerry
Gerry
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Make I recommend getting the OnX hunt app! You can see who owns what where you are going. Game cameras w a cellular connection can tell you when and where turkeys are traveling. California is a big state, but your access to land is limited. Knowing where the birds are going and returning is invaluable (!!!) I use 'interdiction"- I set up where the birds are going.
I have a blind, decoys, calls- the works. If I relied on calling a bird to me everytime, my percentages would be tiny. Springtime especially! When the males start displaying, they'll be oblivious to outside calls if they've 20 competitors surrounding them where they are at.
They will travel to their display areas from their roosts- being where that daily travel walk goes gives you the ability to setup covertly and select the bird you want to take.
Big recommendation: if you do connect and you've a moderated gun, don't leave your hide until the birds have moved away from your downed bird. You can use that same area to continue to bring home that delicous meat until you've your seasons limit. Good luck, hope you get that king sized trophy!
I have a blind, decoys, calls- the works. If I relied on calling a bird to me everytime, my percentages would be tiny. Springtime especially! When the males start displaying, they'll be oblivious to outside calls if they've 20 competitors surrounding them where they are at.
They will travel to their display areas from their roosts- being where that daily travel walk goes gives you the ability to setup covertly and select the bird you want to take.
Big recommendation: if you do connect and you've a moderated gun, don't leave your hide until the birds have moved away from your downed bird. You can use that same area to continue to bring home that delicous meat until you've your seasons limit. Good luck, hope you get that king sized trophy!
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I scouted for Turkey a couple of times. On my way over I drove pass flocks of them, even had to wait for a huge flock to clear the street but as soon as I get on public land/huntable areas NOTHING! 
Once a while I get one in the yard.
Then this guy was was hanging in front of the lobby of our office building.
Even the bike path has soooo many of them! Way too frustrating so I gave up.
Edit: Found this picture, I was definitely tempted……….
Once a while I get one in the yard.
Then this guy was was hanging in front of the lobby of our office building.
Even the bike path has soooo many of them! Way too frustrating so I gave up.
Edit: Found this picture, I was definitely tempted……….
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I bet your deer hunting results are the same?
I took some friends out dove hunting many years ago, tried myriad places. Lots of walking, no birds. Finally, one of them grabbed me by the elbow and whispered into my ear: "We've done plenty of dove hunting- take us dove killing".
Sigh.... @qball, you do live in great turkey country, but it's great for the turkeys, not for turkey hunting. Luck is Opportunity x Effort
I took some friends out dove hunting many years ago, tried myriad places. Lots of walking, no birds. Finally, one of them grabbed me by the elbow and whispered into my ear: "We've done plenty of dove hunting- take us dove killing".
Sigh.... @qball, you do live in great turkey country, but it's great for the turkeys, not for turkey hunting. Luck is Opportunity x Effort
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@0akhonor Loved that slide show!! What was the green stuff in the crop? Could you identify what sort of vegetation it had been eating?
Had to stop and wait for this guy to cross the bike path just a few weeks ago……Had a herd of 40+ crossing the street, I had to wait for a while and was shocked by the sheer number of the herd!
Plenty of deer poop in the front yard too! LOL
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Thanks for asking! The green items are primarily grasses- the seeds are from a rooster rescue next door. I've heard other hunters say that their birds taste terrible, and maybe they do. The NorCal birds in my AO get alot of poultry food from the small ranches with chickens that suround Mt. Diablo state park
Springtime, the top males will have empty crops. By the end of strutting season, those warriors didn't have time to eat, driving off the competition. They can take a little brining to get their meat juicier- all turkey bones, regardless of fat content, make great soup.
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Correct! 1 per day with 3 possession/total limit for spring season(Male only) and 1 per day and 2 possession/total limit for fall season(male or female).
To OP: best of luck on your hunt! It’s MUCH harder on public land in CA….at least for unskilled and unmotivated hunters like me!
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Good point- we were in the middle of a drought, so those grasses were very helpful. Long grass is very rare, helped me calculate their routes
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