Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Steve Hickoff is Realtree.com's editorial director and turkey hunting editor. He’s been beaten by more birds than he can remember. Still he kills enough to eat well, and fool with beards, spurs and fans until the next season. Pennsylvania born and raised, Maine is his home base now. A full-time outdoor communicator with a couple university writing degrees, he chases spring gobblers and fall flocks around the country.

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Vermont Peacock Leaves Home to Run with Wild Turkeys

November 27, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

A Vermont woman's pet peacock has run away. For over six weeks now the bird has been in the company of wild turkeys. Last week, she even requested the help of Vermont Fish & Wildlife (VF&W). And VF&W in turn posted this on Facebook: As reported by WCAX3 this past...

5 Tips to Plan Your 2019 Spring Turkey Hunts

November 27, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

What you do now – especially the questions you ask – can help make next season's gobbler-chasing campaign successful. 1. Permit and Lottery Hunt Deadlines? Such details can easily be forgotten during your busy days deer and duck hunting. Spring's hunts are far from your mind but shouldn't be. Check...

3 Ways to Salvage Your Fall Turkey Hunting Season

November 20, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Maybe you're in a bit of a rut. Field sitting day after day can get pretty old as turkey hunting goes. Try these three tactics to put your tag on a fall bird. Locate by Cold Calling Fall turkeys before fly-down – or moving on the ground, even if silent...

Give Thanks

November 13, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Almost always after killing a wild turkey, I whisper: "Thanks." Sometimes I'm alone; sometimes I'm with a buddy. I'm moved. I'm grateful. My hands are almost always shaking, even after all these years. It never gets old. I'm forever amazed I got to do it one more time. And I'm...

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My Top 5 Favorite Turkey Recipes from Realtree's Timber 2 Table

November 8, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Cooking wild turkey you've hunted and tagged extends the experience by putting food on your family's table. It adds meaning to Thanksgiving Day . Realtree's Timber 2 Table blogger Michael Pendley is an avid wild turkey hunter, father of three hunters, and husband to another. He knows his way around...

5 Overlooked Fall Turkey Hunting States

November 6, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Over the last few decades, I've hunted wild turkeys east to west, north to south ( even in Mexico ). While fall turkey hunting is largely a tradition based in the midwestern and eastern half of the United States, there are plenty of opportunities out West. One eastern state, known...

3 Reasons Your Thanksgiving Day Turkey Should Be Wild

October 30, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

You woke early, made coffee, drove far, parked your truck, and climbed that ridge before daybreak. You listened to wild turkeys on the roost. You made your setup. And after another setup or two – been there? – eventually called the bird you wanted in, and closed the deal. After,...

How to Kill a Fall Turkey While Deer Hunting

October 30, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Turkeys and deer often like to share the same habitats, we all know that. And sometimes, both archery and firearms seasons coincide for both game species. Before you draw your bow or pull that trigger, are you hunting legally? Are you willing to take a wild turkey when deer are...

Video: Predator Hunter Calls in Two Fall Longbeards Using a Rabbit Distress Call

October 23, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Wild turkeys by nature are curious. And spooky. And likely the most paranoid bird on the planet. They occasionally do some unexpected things in the woods. Call a couple of wary adult gobblers into range with a dying rabbit distress call? Unlikely, right? Wrong. Predator calling sometimes consists of making...

3 Reasons to Shoot a Legal Fall Turkey Hen

October 23, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Fall turkey hunting is available in 42 states and a number of Canadian provinces. Often, either-sex birds are legal to shoot. Always check your regulations to be sure. That said, there are common points of discussion when it comes to killing legal fall hens, juvenile or adult. Check It Out...

How to Kill a Longbeard While Fall Turkey Hunting

October 9, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Pattern fall longbeards? Scatter them for the calling advantage? Either way, you wait. Check out these tips to get one by the feet. Big gobblers flush far. Sometimes they take their time regrouping, but other instances prove otherwise. Can’t call them in? Can’t wait that long? You can wait for...

3 Ways You Won't Kill a Fall Turkey

October 2, 2018  |  Turkey Blog with Steve Hickoff

Just ask any hardcore fall turkey hunter: finding and killing one of these birds takes time. Sure, but not always. If you're hunting human-habituated flocks on private land, well, it can be pretty easy. Take to the bigwoods of the Northeast or expansive properties out West, and success might come...

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