Multi Bearded Trophy Tom

© By Othmar Vohringer

It has been somewhat of an ambition of mien for several years now to shot a gobbler with two or more beards. While I still keep looking for such an unusual tom Jerrell Keehle of Mississippi has shot a tom with not one, not two, but seven beards.

Jerrell Keele knew his turkey had a pretty good beard on him when he shot him last month. He could see the black hairs hanging from the gobbler's neck when he shot him from 37 yards away.

But the 67-year-old Burnsville resident didn't realize that the 17.28-pound turkey actually had seven beards and scored enough points to make it a state record in the nontypical division.

There were so many beards that the registration form had to be altered.

"The form only has room to write in six beards for each turkey," said Keele, whose turkey scored 151.155 points. "Jerry Hazlewood (the Northeast Region wildlife biologist) wrote in the seventh beard on the side of the form."

Maybe I have been looking in all the wrong places in my quest for a multiple bearded tom because Keehle reports.

"No, I hadn't seen him before, but I knew there had been some up in there" in the hunting club property, he said. "I had seen one with three beards, and another one had four beards. Really, it's just something that's handed down from one generation to the next."

Congratulations Jerrell to the once in a lifetime trophy tom.

Read the full story here.

Tags: Trophy Tukey, Seven Bearded Turkey, Jerrel Keehle, Mississippi, Turkey Hunting

Turkey Hunting in the News

© By Othmar Vohringer


Mankato Free Press

Turkey hunting perfect excuse to enjoy spring

As in Minnesota, spring remains a work in progress in northeast Nebraska.
Oh, by virtue of being 250 miles to the southwest of Mankato, there already is a bit more greenery on the steep hillsides that fall away to the Missouri River flatland.

But otherwise, the terrain remains mainly a study in browns as spring continues to arrive all too slowly.

Usually by the last half of April, a foray into the Nebraska turkey woods is accompanied by the heady fragrance of plum blossoms; alas, such pleasantries this year are still a week away.

But that meteorological spring is on the slow track matters very little to the turkeys.

Here and in Minnesota, the birds are engaged in their biological spring flings, and there is more to it than nice weather; it is the lengthening period of daylight that stirs the ardor of a gobbler.
Read full article here.


Heartland News

Some Public Lands are Closed to Turkey Hunting

Spring turkey hunting season begins Monday, but Missouri Department of Conservation land will be closed to hunting for most of this season, because of high water.

According to Conservation Department District Supervisor Trent Lane, this is the first time in his 18 years with the department he can remember such drastic action.

"We have a law that says you can't pursue or take wildlife around flooded waters," Lane said. "This is for the safety of the hunters and the animals."
Read full article here.


All Headline News

Dad's Hunting Mistake Kills 8-Year-Old Son

What was meant to be a father-son bonding experience turned into a disaster Saturday, as 8-year-old Hunter Klaseus was shot and killed by his father, who mistook him for a turkey.

Anthony Klaseus had told his son to stay put while he hunted a game bird. However, his son's curiosity overcame the request, and he snuck up on his father the wrong way. Mistaking him for the prey he hunted, and failing the properly identify his target, he shot his son in the chest with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The child was pronounced dead at the scene. It was the first turkey hunting fatality in the 30 years it has been considered a state season.

"That's just the important thing: Everybody needs to be able to identify what they're shooting at," Sibley County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Pat Nienaber told the Pioneer Press.He was one of the first to arrive at the shooting scene.

The difficulty with turkey hunting is that turkeys, unlike other game, can see colors - therefore the orange parkas that are common wardrobe for most hunters actually hinder the turkey hunting effort. Camouflage is preferred, which young Hunter was wearing when he was shot.
Read full article here.

Tags: Turkey Hunting, Turkey Hunting News

Kidney Disease Patient Enjoys Dream Turkey Hunt

© By Othmar Vohringer

Today I came across a particular heartwarming article about a young boy suffering from kidney disease. With termination and persuasion Jake Ostermyer of Kansas managed to convince his doctor and family to let him go on his dream hunt for wild gobblers.

Below please read an extract from the article written by Brent Frazee for the Kansas City Star

Just a few weeks ago, it appeared that Jake Ostermeyer was going to miss this spring’s Kansas turkey season.

When his kidney disease worsened, Jake, 15, was hospitalized for 10 days in early March. Then doctors told him he would have to go on dialysis every other day while he awaited an organ donor.

A long day of climbing hills and scrambling down creek banks? That seemed out of the question. To everyone except Jake.

“I kept begging the doctors to let me go,” said Ostermeyer, who lives in Tonganoxie. “Hunting turkeys with my dad each spring is something I always look forward to, and I didn’t want to sit out this season.

“Finally, right before the youth season, the doctors said I could go, as long as I took it easy.”

Well, Jake didn’t exactly follow doctor’s orders.
He ended up spending a long day in the woods, hunting with his dad, Keith, on public land at Melvern Reservoir. But maybe that was the perfect therapy for a youngster who loves to hunt.

Read the full article here

Tags: Kansas, Spring Turkey Hunt, Jake Ostermeyer