Steve Hitkoff - Fall & Winter Turkey Hunters Handbook

APPENDIX

RECOMMENDED READING

Most modern wild turkey books emphasize the spring hunt over a fall/winter focus, which is why you have this title in your hands right now. Ive read and enjoyed many.

On downtime, you can read such titlesincluding the abbreviated list I share herefor vicarious pleasure, learning about particular strategies, experiences, and even technical information shared by specific writers. Even seemingly unrelated material might help shape your sense of fall and winter turkey hunting. As history, practical know-how, and even cooking wild turkeys goes, here are some places to look:

Bland, Dwain. Turkey Hunters Digest. Northbrook, IL: DBI Books, Inc., 1986. Bland reflects an enthusiasm for wild turkeys that involves fall, winter, and spring hunting.

Casada, Jim. Americas Greatest Game Bird: Archibald Rutledges Turkey-Hunting Tales. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. Edited and selected by Dr. Casada, this satisfying collection captures a bygone time period and represents Rutledges turkey writing, including autumn and winter stories. If you want to know what it was like to turkey hunt in the first half of the twentieth century, get your hands on this compilation.

Davis, Henry E. The American Wild Turkey. Georgetown, SC: Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company, 1949. An exact photographic reproduction of this vital work was reprinted in 1984 by Old Masters Publishers of Medon, Tennessee. Daviss work is a heavy dose of how-to writing and is full of strategies that are still applicable today, while others seem antiquated in these modern times.

Dickson, James G. The Wild Turkey: Biology & Management. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1992. Edited by Dickson, theres no better collected text on wild turkey background, history, biology, habitat, and management through the early 1990s. Much of this scientific data is useful to the well-schooled turkey hunter.

Henderson, David R. The Ultimate Guide to Shotgunning. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003. This comprehensive guide on shotguns also provides a chapter on turkey hunting.

Hutto, Joe. Illumination in the Flatwoods. New York: The Lyons Press, 1995. No book better reflects an understanding of the wild turkeys flock behavior from egg toward adulthood than this one. Here, naturalist Hutto establishes his human imprint on egg-incubated turkey poults, then records their relationship in journal-entry style.

Irmscher, Christoph. John James Audubon: Writings & Drawings. New York, NY: The Library of America, 1999. Selected by Irmscher, Audubons wild turkey writing presented here provides a historical glimpse into the nineteenth century world of the wild turkey, including hunting strategies prevalent at the time.

Livingston, A. D. Wild Turkey Cookbook. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1995. This useful collection of recipes offers plenty of ways to extend your hunt to the kitchen.

McIlhenny, Edward A. The Wild Turkey and Its Hunting. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1914. As with the Davis book, Old Masters Publishers reprinted this title in 1984 as well. While McIlhennys name is installed as the author, Charles L. Jordan (shot by a poacher in 1909) is responsible for much of the writing and all of the photographs included in this book. The chapter on dogging turkeys is a must-read for modern canine enthusiasts.

Turkey Call. Various issues. Early 1970s-present. TC is the National Wild Turkey Federations print magazine (six issues annually). Inclusive Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec. offerings from 2000 to the present have placed a particular emphasis on autumn and winter hunting as wild turkey populations continue to grow nationwide and opportunities increase.

Turkey & Turkey Hunting. Various issues. Early 1990s-present. The fall issue of T&TH focuses on the autumn tradition, while other material serves to inform and entertain the year-round turkey hunter. Biologist Lovett E. Williams, Jr., and Editor-at-Large Jim Casada, among others, routinely contribute to this publication.

Williams, Ben O. Bird Dog: The Instinctive Training Method. Minocqua, WI: Willow Creek Press, 2002. While the book contains nothing on fall and winter turkey hunting, I honestly believe this is one of the best titles on training bird dogs (and Ive read many). Applying Williamss information in the field will help both neophyte and veteran turkey doggers build an essential bond with their canine hunting partners.

Williams, Lovett E. Wild Turkey Country. Gary Griffen, contributing photographer. Minocqua, WI: Willow Creek Press, 1991. Griffens superb color images along with biologist Williamss accompanying text make this an instructive and enjoyable coffee table book that illustrates the year-round life of the wild turkey.