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Turkey Hunting
2025 Turkey Seasons
Kids, Mobility Impaired: March 22-23
Private-Land: March 29 – May 15
Public-Land: April 5 – May 15
* Two gobbler per season limit; one-gobbler-per-day restriction.
I could probably be well on my way to a sizable retirement account right now if I had just one dime for every time an old gobbler flew off the roost, gobbled a few times at my yelping and cutting, headed straight for a flock of real-life hens and left my camouflaged tail sitting in…
There had to be a grin under Ricky Joe Bishop’s camo face mask. The big gobbler was committed, and Ricky’s calling was sounding sweet. The bird was sounding off each time the slate call put out those tantalizing clucks, yelps and purrs. This old bird was convinced a sultry hen was calling his name. Ricky has…
The worst day in DNR Law Enforcement Ranger Leon Tucker’s life started out as an ordinary day. On March 24, 2001, opening day of Georgia’s turkey season, Leon and rangers Darrell Watson, Patrick Dupree, George Tharpe and Greg Moody met around 5:30 a.m. near a church in Echols County near the Lanier County line. At…
For the past seven years, the senior division of the Realtree Grand America Turkey Calling Contest has been a turkey calling duel between Georgia’s two premiere callers — Joe Drake, of Fortson, and Ricky Joe Bishop, of Warm Springs. During that span, either Joe or Ricky Joe has taken first place SIX times (Joe four…
Jack Scott, of Cochran, remembers clearly the first time he ever took Bubba Browning turkey hunting, and he remembers the gobbler Bubba killed that morning in the mid 1980s on Ogeechee WMA. He also remembers the last gobbler he ever called in for Bubba. Those stories, along with the hunt for every gobbler Bubba killed…
When that first break of orange appears on the horizon early on the morning of March 23, I’ll be standing in a riverbottom somewhere, covered from head to toe in camouflage, with a Remington in one hand and a wooden barred owl call in the other. I’ll be on full alert — waiting for my…
It’s amazing how much an effect mental attitude has on my willingness to hunt turkeys. I suppose it’s human nature, actually. Charged up and inspired at daylight by the mystery of what adventures a new spring day will bring sends my senses into overdrive as I wait, eagerly anticipating the first gobble of the morning.…
By Mike Erb Dear GON, Iʼm writing to tell you about an experience I had while turkey hunting this season. My dad, brother and myself hunt a small lease in Columbia County. We usually get one or two good birds a year, however, over the past three to four years, the birds have gotten to…
For the third consecutive year GON has given away a Realtree turkey-hunting dream trip to a kid in an effort to encourage more youth involvement in hunting and other outdoor activities. Realtree has been gracious enough to host these dream hunts and put our winning kids on some of the finest turkey-hunting land in the…
Never before have so many grown men cried. I’m not the least bit ashamed to admit I was one of them. By the time the networks broke the news that Dale Earnhardt didn’t make it this time, we already knew. The celebration for Michael Waltrip had just begun in Daytona’s Victory Lane, and Mike Rhodes,…
Turkey Recipes
Peanut Butter Wild Turkey I must admit that I was apprehensive when a friend asked me to try his newly discovered dish. Once he showed me the ingredients, I realized it was a take on a popular Oriental chicken dish. And it is wonderful! 1 turkey breast 2 tbsp salt 2 tbsp white sugar 2…
Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers 6 bell peppers 1/2- to 3/4-lb. dark-meat turkey 1 diced onion 3 cloves minced garlic 15-oz. can diced tomatoes 1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn 1 cup cooked white rice Shredded Pepper Jack cheese 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbsp salt 1 Tbsp black pepper Choose bell peppers that will stand up…
It can be downright chilly at the start of the turkey season, and that’s when most turkeys are taken. Why then not whip up a turkey stew that the whole family will enjoy on a chilly evening? 1/2 wild turkey, shredded 4 red potatoes, quartered 1/4 stick butter 1 large onion, diced 4 tbsp. garlic…