turkey release

Boyle243

hi all there was a person on here who had pictures up of a turkey he released and shot could be in the hunting pics i have'nt gone through them all yet!!
But could that person give some advice or tell us how he went about rearing and releasing them..
Thanks....

Dusty87

That was mallards.
Its in the killing turkey thread i think.

mallards

Sorry Boyle243 I hadn't time to reply to your post. I basically found a good breeder of ebay back in the late spring. Hatched the eggs and raised and released them the same as you would a pheasant poult. I fed them on redmills Turkey/Game starter then grower which I was feeding the pheasants anyway. I bought this book which was a great read, provided by the Wild Turkey Federation of America. Great birds and hope to do it again this year.

Mallards

jap gt

what did they weigh in the finish mallards, i would imagine a good bit less than the regular turkeys you would get, and probally a different taste, its a very good idea, i could see a lot of people interested in it

mallards

Five and a half pounds after dressing it.








The damage to the front of the skin on the breast was caused by the beak and head when it thumped into the ground from a height. There were three pellets that went through the gizzard and the breasts were intact.
It had a couple of rashers put on the breast and half an orange up its backside. Juciest and tastiest turkey I ever had. It was demolished on Christmas day between the dinner, picking at it that evening and a few sambo's late that night.


Mallards.

johngalway

Good idea that

Boyle243

Thanks Dusty:)

Thanks Mallards i think im going to give it a go i have a bit of land to let them loose on. it's well protected and no foxes really. Its the same as raising phesents but i think they will be more fun to hunt!! One other question Mallards how many did you release? And did u release males and females?
Thanks

mallards

Just six, four jakes and two hens. In the Autumn they split into the different sexes. Then merge into one flock again in the spring.

Mallards

locum-motion

mallards wrote: »

Just six, four jakes and two hens. In the Autumn they split into the different sexes. Then merge into one flock again in the spring.

Mallards

And was it a jake that you shot?
(I'm sorry if you mentioned already, I'm too lazy to look back through your posts)

And have you seen any sign of the other 5 about?

mallards

That was a hen. We seen the other hen on Saturday but she gave us the slip. The Jakes were spotted just before Christmas but I haven't come across them the last couple of times out. For a big bird they can fairly make themselves scarce!

Mallards

dicky82

please excuse my giddy tone in this reply but this is probably one of the coolist ideas iv heard in a long time. . i have plans to bulid a large chicken pen over the next few weeks and was considdering using parts of it to try to rear some pheasants for myself and my mate to release near his place. but now after reading this i quite fancy the idea of trying to hunt and shoot the xmas turkey. .
if you dont mind me asking, was this project expencive? and would you say it was worth the time you commited to it? thanks;)

mallards

Around sixty bucks, that was for the incubator and eggs. I had the heat lamp, shelter, release pen and the food already. I think it was well worth it. Next season it will just cost me the eggs and they are a fantastic bird to hunt.

Mallards

Feidhlim Dignan

do you think that regular domestic bronze turkeys would be the same?
and what kind of land did you release them on ?

jap gt

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

do you think that regular domestic bronze turkeys would be the same?
and what kind of land did you release them on ?

i think it was american wild turkeys he released, they can fly quite well, domestic breeds cant, so couldnt get into trees for safety, i wonder if you cross bred domestic and wild would it work

mallards

jap gt wrote: »

i think it was american wild turkeys he released, they can fly quite well, domestic breeds cant, so couldnt get into trees for safety, i wonder if you cross bred domestic and wild would it work

I agree. Broadbreasted turkeys will not work. They can't fly and have no survival sense. From what I read it has to be the wild version or nothing. Otherwise it would be like releasing chickens to shoot like pheasants.
As for the ground, mine is rough pasture kind of hilly sheep ground with bits of bogs and some trees, rushy ground. the sort of stuff you see all over Ireland.

Mallards.

Grizzly 45

Careful now!! That you dont get done for releasing another invasive species into pure Ireland.All we'd need another haedline "Hunters release wild killer turkeys on Irish public.":rolleyes:

mallards

Ah, sure they're only a few 'free range' turkeys for Christmas your honour. :rolleyes:

Dusty87

I think the government tried to release these years back in the 60's or 70's and it failed.

dicky82

just from the tone of the feed back here i think you could be on to a nice little earner, if you had the facility to breed a hundred or so of these, i think it would really be something lads would be interested in hunting, obviously once it was all leagle and above board. . . :rolleyes:

but of course lads if any of you do take on the task of such a venture i will have to apply my 15% patent fee for coming up with the idea, 5%
of which il have to pass on to mallards for for getting the brain in motion. hahaha:D:D:D

Dusty87

I dont think there would be much to look into legal wise. For instance he would be only breeding poultry, what people are doing after that is nothing to do with him.
Then again im no legal eagle so i could be wrong.

mallards

I looked into the legal side of things here in the North and I had to register them on the national poultry register, but your supposed to do that anyway, even the pheasants and partridges I release. It's a bird flu compensation thing.
The law up here makes no allowance for particular types of turkey and classes them all the same, so they are seen as farm animals rather than a foreign species. Lastly I looked into hunting them and specifically shooting them. It makes no reference prohibiting them from being shot as long as it is humane and as that is my goal when I shoot any animal, I believe I have acted fully within the law. The wild Turkey has been release here in Ireland before back in the 1800's and also around Limerick in the 60's I think according to the books I read. Flocks of these birds were then moved to Donegal but I could find no further records of them. There are extremely healthy populations of Wild turkey, that are hunted, in Germany and New Zealand, although it is thought the New Zealand birds are an early strain of domesticated turkeys that have gone feral.
If you are rearing turkeys be careful if they are around chickens or were on ground that chickens were kept as the are very susceptible to a disease that has no effect on chickens themselves but is passed easily to the turkeys. They are a hardy bird that live everywhere in America from the desert to the high snowy mountains and everywhere in between. With temperature these last few weeks, up in Tyrone of -13degrees C, it wasn't a bother to them!

Mallards.

Boyle243

thanks for all the help guys this turning into something which could be really interesting, might be worth the effort i think...:)

dicky82

do you think there would be any leagle backlash if someone shot dustin???
(twink wants to know):D

Boyle243

i for one would'nt be looking for who did it!!:D

johngalway

Boyle243 wrote: »

i for one would'nt be looking for who did it!!:D

Unless it was to give him a medal, let the feathers fly I say

locum-motion

dicky82 wrote: »

do you think there would be any leagle backlash if someone shot dustin???
(twink wants to know):D

Sure, that's got nuttin to do with turkeys.
Isn't Dustin a vulture?

(If I recall correctly, that was why Zig and Zag didn't kill and eat him, back that very first Christmas. They discovered he wasn't a turkey at all)

Dusty87

johngalway wrote: »

Unless it was to give him a medal, let the feathers fly I say

Dustin is a non edible turkey vulture!! Do yis not listen to Don Conroy lads!!!!

EPointer=Birdss

Turkey vulture in fact...:)

Dusty87

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Turkey vulture in fact...:)

Got there before ya Epointer:D:D

EPointer=Birdss

Dusty87 wrote: »

Got there before ya Epointer:D:D

Remind me never to duel you with pistols at dawn:D

driller

well mallard were would you get those wild turkey eggs.love to give it a go this year

johngalway

Dusty87 wrote: »

Dustin is a non edible turkey vulture!! Do yis not listen to Don Conroy lads!!!!

He;s on my list as well, then zig & zag, socky, zuppy might get let off though. Podge and Rodge would definitely be in for it. Long list, I'll need more ammo...

Grizzly 45

The law up here makes no allowance for particular types of turkey and classes them all the same, so they are seen as farm animals rather than a foreign species.

So you are in NI then??Going by the fuss and consternation about Muntjac,Roe deer and wild boar down here,God knows what would happen if we had another outbreak of invasive species hysteria on the boards and in the powers that be.:eek:

The wild Turkey has been release here in Ireland before back in the 1800's and also around Limerick in the 60's I think according to the books I read.

Think it was tried around the early 1980s as well,and there was a famous health clinic/adventure centre up on Lough Derg that advertised turkey hunting as well.Although no one ever seems to have got one or seen one up there..Maybe they were referring to their clients????:):eek:

There are extremely healthy populations of Wild turkey, that are hunted, in Germany

Not that many,it is only in a certain part of Germany[Think North Rhine/West Phalia].And are more a curiosity than anything.

They are a hardy bird that live everywhere in America from the desert to the high snowy mountains and everywhere in between. With temperature these last few weeks, up in Tyrone of -13degrees C, it wasn't a bother to them!

They are apprently better suited to Irish terrain and climate than pheasents,and are alot smarter and harder to hunt.Apprently piegon style camo wont work these lads,it is Ghille suits or nothing.:pac:

EPointer=Birdss

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

it is Ghille suits or nothing.:pac:

I'd go with the Ghillie suit. I think the birthday suit is a bit OTT in this weather :D:D

welsummer

did the eggs come in by post. i never had much success when eggs were posted. i think the xray damages the germ in the egg and stoppes it from developing.have you the name of the dealer

mallards

Yip, Tip is to let them settle for 24hrs before setting them. The biggest cause of failure is rough handling, the yolk becomes detached from the shell and then fails to grow. The seller was called genofact off ebay.

Mallards