Uragan .30 , Turkey at 72 yards

Job well Martin, it is quite an accomplishment to get three birds in one season with any firearm, doing it with an air rifle is special. Until you have gone after wild turkey, you have no idea how difficult it is to get one within range. They are not the same birds you see running around in peoples front yards .

Jim in Sacramento

For the state lands at Lake Sonoma, they are limited to Apprentice hunts.

https://wildlife.ca.gov/Regions/3/Hunts/Turkey

For all California seasons, it's good to check out the Apprentice hunt section and see if any interest you. They are for both youth and adults, and are a drawing/lottery event.

Usually the draw entry opens up a couple of months prior, so you have time to enter and make other plans if not drawn.

The regs call for non lead only for turkey during the Apprentice hunt, but if selected, asking the local DFG contact could clear up whether Airguns are eligilbe. 

I've pulled draws for pheasant & dove, and have had a great time. For one of the dove hunts, I called and received permission for my then 10 year old son to bring his 1077 CO2 air rifle out to the dove field. He got to practice safe gun handling and shot at birds, admittedly ineffective, but entertaining for him. Great memory...

Private land should be ok for Airguns, as I would think the state laws would apply.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info ! The Army Corps of Engineers built a airgun range at Lake Sonoma and after this COVID-19 blows over they will probably open up the range again. Have to take a couple of my break barrels up there one of these days.

Amen, and awwwww, shucks, as Gomer Pyle used to say. There is a ton of luck involved

Just seeing a bird is happenstance- getting them in range seems miraculous! 

Click to expand...

Don't forget...having them hold still long enough is another challenge. Especially when looking for that control tower shot.

 



"Having them hold still long enough"

Not so much during the spring season. Be ready, use mouth call to get there attention and it's a done deal. I don't advocate body shots, at least not with small caliber air rifles. inside 60 yards, behind the eyeball, further distance I take neck shots. 

Fall season turkey is a little different as it's not breeding season and tends to be more of spot and stalk method of hunting and yes at this time having them hold still long enough for a head/neck shot is more challenging. Often spot and stalk will lend itself to the turkey spotting you first and thus the reason I gave myself reason to purchase the Uragan 30. When walking away a shot placement between the upper should blades does quite nicely. In fact it's my preferred shot on quail. My favorite time to hunt quail is on frosty mornings or on a wintery day when they are covey up in a close group milling around. A head shot would be easy but would end up with the bird doing the death spin at which time the whole covey becomes alarmed and flies off. With a shot to the rear spine, high between the shoulder blades will result with the dead bird simply lying there, the other birds unsuspected and unalarmed for you to take your next bird. Take enough for your dinner, leave the rest for next years seed. Hunting upland game with an air rifle is fast becoming my favorite hunting sport.

Cheers

Well Martin inspired me and I finally quit cleaning and painting duck decoys for next season and hit the turkey fields, Today started out cool and grey but as the day progressed it turned into a beautiful spring day. With only two weeks left in the spring season I decided to do some scouting for a a hunt next week. I decided to take my FX 400 .22 cal one of the original smooth twist models that now spends its life in the safe but is probably my favorite hunting rifle. It has not lost a pound of pressure in the last 5 years waiting patiently to be used again. I got to my hunting property and spent about 30 minutes confirming my zero and getting my hold overs. I was a little concerned as I did not see a turkey on my drive in and several locator yelps yielded nothing. I decided to drive to an area where I had luck in the past.

While working my way across the property I spotted a black dot on a hillside about 350 yards away, a quick glassing indicated it was a turkey. I parked the Jeep put on my gear a final glassing revealed there were two birds. The birds were working their way up and over a hill then down to a small creek. I decided to try and intercept them by working around a second hill hoping to catch them as they approached the creek. To cut to the chase, I worked my way to the top of the opposing hill and as I peered over the top to the creek below I found myself staring at what looked like two coke bottles in the distance. I froze and a few seconds later the coke bottles turned into turkeys and started working back up the hill away from me, BUSTED! I stayed motionless as 5 turkeys went out of sight. I found a tree that I thought would make a good hide, settled in and let out a few yelps hoping to coax then back. Within a couple of minutes a Tom appeared on the hillside about 80 yds away from me. At that moment I realized that I could not get into a shooting position that would allow me to make a shot. The Tom eventually got suspicious and wandered off. I realized I needed to move about 40 yds closer to the open area the birds were frequenting and find a spot where I could make a good shoot. 

I got up, worked my way down to the creek at the bottom of the hill found a shaded area behind some trees were I could set up for a good shot and have a clear view of the field. As I was preparing to settle in I looked up the hill and saw the outline of a turkey staring at me. I froze, he froze and I waited. He moved first behind some trees which gave me the opportunity to move into an area that would give me about a 40 yd shot if continued on the same path. To my surprise he began running right at me! He broke into the clear at about 25 yds, but never slowed down and I couldn't get a clean shot. About this time I realized there were 4 more birds charging right at me on the run following the first bird. I kept waiting for one of the birds to give me a shot. Finally the last bird stopped long enough to give me a decent shot. The old FX did its job and dropped the bird in its tracks with a clean head shot. Of course it turned out the bird was a jake and to rub a little salt in the wound a nice Tom stopped about 40 yds from me after dropping my bird and stayed there for about 5 minutes before wandering off.

I couldn't be happier as a Turkey with an air rifle is quite a trophy and a young bird will be very good eating. I'm still two behind Martin but I did see a huge Tom as I was leaving the property, maybe it will stay nearby and give me a chance,

Thanks Martin for getting me off the couch,

Jim in Sacramento