Turkey Dog?

[Rik]

Went hunting for grouse in the Idaho panhandle yesterday. Cooler and more moisture than last week but still saw no birds. If Jack, English Setter, can't find 'em they ain't there, so we headed back to the truck to try another location at much lower elevation.

At the new spot we ran into a guy with a Boykin Spaniel getting ready for an evening turkey hunt. I did not know that you could hunt turkey with dogs, so after a barrage of curious questions from me, he invited me to come with him and see how it's done.
I left Jack in the care of the turkey hunter's wife at the truck and we took off.

After about 20 minutes of hard casting, the Boykin, Willy, began lining, and then stopped. Right in front of his nose was Jack, on point still attached to his leash. He had escaped while being out for a pee and had found us, Willy and the turkey flock all at the same time. Willy went on, barking loudly and I told Jack to go on. Jack followed, silently of course, he's always quiet when hunting, they busted the flock and both came back after a brief chase.

With both dogs we sat in some deep cover and Bob the turkey hunter started calling the turkey back into us. Willy was sitting stone still and quiet. Jack was trying to whine and pace and I thought he'd ruin the whole effort. But then I whoa'd him and he was still and silent but standing. Then as he scented the approaching Turkeys, he pointed. Bob, I forgot to mention he's a bow hunter, took his shot and a big gobbler went down. We turned the dogs loose and they both retrieved the bird.

Don't know if I want to or even could turn Jack into a flushing dog, but this sure a fun way to hunt Turkey. The Boykin was sure fun to watch and since he doesn't leave your sight, unlike my setter who could easily be 500 yards away at any time, you get to watch him work up close.

[Mountaineer]

A dog is a traditional turkey hunting endeavor for Virginia and there near folks....mostly Fall turkeys.

More fun than calling 'em in?
Nah!
Plus, I like to keep pups off trash game like turkey and deer.....so many turkeys are around, pups do not need a permission slip to play around willy-nilly.

[Rik]

Oh Yeah, I agree completely.......... I was just joking about converting my steady to wing and shot pointy dog into a flusher.
Apparently I'm one of the people who didn't know you could ever use dogs on Turkey.......

We went down into the Valley today and let Jack do his thing on Valley Quail, he was brilliant as usual. I had forgotten how fast these quail are, and missed the first 4 shots. I think Jack like me to miss, I think he knows it means we get to keep hunting........Chasing one turkey apparently didn't cause him to think it was ok to abandon his previous 10 years of being steady............

I did a little research and found that my State of Washington (the Turkey is considered a big game animal in WA) is one the few states that don't allow Turkey hunting with Dogs. Also thought it interesting that the State Dog of South Carolina is Boykin Spaniel, bred in that state to hunt turkey, it is illegal to use dogs on turkey in SC. Also Alabama which doesn't allow dogs on Turkeys is home to over a dozen Boykin breeders all advertising them as turkey dogs............

[mnaj_springer]

Whether you can use a dog or not for turkeys depends on the state. Here in MN it is illegal. In Wisconsin it's legal (I'm 85% sure). There was a feature on this in one of the last few issues of GunDog Magazine. I guess the mechanics of it involve the fact that a scattered flock or family group will try to meet back where they were scattered from. It's definitely interesting though! I have never turkey hunted, but I may try my hand at it this fall. If I do I might try this technique (without a dog). I have a springer who I might be able to use for this (if ever legalized here) but I worry it might ruin her pattern.

Great story though!

[JONOV]

Turkey is one of the traditional uses for the Boykin.