TO FIRE A WILD TURKEY-INFUSED ST. PATTY’S DAY CLASSIC

By Tiffany Haugen

While March celebrations traditionally bring corned beef to mind, corning wild game of any kind is a wonderful year-round addition to the table.

Corned venison and corned waterfowl may be recipes you’ve tried, and if you haven’t, you should. With spring season starting soon, try corning that wild turkey and you will not be disappointed. Corning game not only adds to the flavor and textures of meat, it offers a break from making any cooking decisions for three to 10 days.

Due to the preservatives in Morton’s Tender Quick seasoning or a pink salt cure, meat can brine for an extended period of time. This means you can cook up a bit of your quarry, toss some in the brine for the following week and freeze the rest. Use the breasts or the legs, wings and thighs for this recipe that offers a wild game twist on a St. Patrick’s Day staple.

Two wild turkey breasts or the legs, wings and thighs from one turkey

¼ cup boiling water

6 cups ice-cold water

3 tablespoons Morton’s Tender Quick seasoning

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons pickling spices

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon granulated onion

1 tablespoon black pepper

In a large brining container, mix dry ingredients with boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add ice-cold water and stir well. Add either two turkey breasts or the wings, legs and thighs of one turkey to the brine. Be sure all meat is submerged in the brine. Refrigerate three to 10 days.

Corned turkey breast can be smoked, grilled, sliced and pan fried, pressure cooked (high pressure 30 minutes) or slow cooked (three to five hours or until tender). Wild turkey wings, legs and thighs should be pressure cooked (high pressure 50 minutes) or slow cooked (five to six hours) until meat can be removed from bones easily.

Shred or slice corned wild turkey and serve in a traditional Reuben sandwich, fried into hash or served beside eggs (any style) for breakfast.

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany Haugen's popular book, Cooking Game Birds, send visit scotthaugen. com for this and other titles.

With so much predator pressure, toms stuck to the timber for safety. Here, not only could they live in the shadows of towering trees, but the underbrush offered ideal cover, and the labyrinth of deer and elk trails made for easy travel.

Once you know toms are there, patterning their movement is the next step. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years of turkey hunting throughout the West, it’s that toms travel much more in the timber compared to toms that stick to their strutting grounds, gobbling and waiting for hens to come to them.

Stealthy Birds

Timber toms not only cover more ground, they’re quieter – not gobbling at every sound you throw out – and they’re leery. One mistake in a setup or calling can cost you, which is why patterning their movement is important so there’s no doubt as to where to start.

Timber toms cover a lot of ground. They’ll move to avoid predators, be it through the air or on the ground. Also, food sources aren’t as localized inside the timber, meaning they have to cover ground to get more nutrients. Finally, toms cover a lot of ground checking openings and timbered fringes for hens they can potentially breed.

Take Your Time

In order to find consistent success when hunting turkeys inside the timber, be mobile, but also be patient. Once toms are patterned working a specific ridge or draw, commit to setting up in an area where multiple game trails intersect or along trails they commonly travel. Setting up along timbered edges with a few nearby openings is also a good decision.

Timber-dwelling toms can be hunted all day, as shade offers concealment and cool temperatures, which encourages movement. If dry, the forest floor also provides prime dust bathing, something toms routinely do to cool off, clean themselves and delouse their plumage. Setting up along trails connecting dust bathing locales to roosting sites and openings on the forest fringe can pay off.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

Since toms can cover a lot of ground inside the timber, decide if you want to stay put and wait for them to come to you, or go on the move in search of birds. If scouting reveals toms moving along specific trails throughout the day, stay put, occasionally calling, letting the decoy do the work.

Once you know toms are in an area, search for hens. Regardless of predator numbers and forest cover, the goal of toms this time of year is to seek hens. Much of your scouting should be dedicated to locating as many hens as possible, for where there are hens, toms won’t be far away.

Making The Call

When calling timber toms, keep it simple and minimal. While toms can be vocal in the timber, early in the season they’re often tight-lipped.

Once you get a gobble, be quiet for up to 15 minutes, then call again. If one call is working, say, a slate, stick with it and try to close the deal with that one call so as not to overstimulate these already edgy toms.

While aggressive calling can bring in eager jakes at any time, it can also put wise toms on alert, often to the point where they won’t approach. Hen yelps and purrs are sounds of choice in the timber; think subtle and calm chatter to lure alert toms.

If your early-season hunting area has a solid number of hens but high predator activity, head to the timber in search of toms. In early spring, wherever hens are, toms won’t be far off. You just might have to dive into the forest to find them. CS

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s popular book, Turkey Hunting The West: Strategies For All Levels, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.