Bowguy 1

You guys are correct. Weight is greater than 35. My younger daughter barely made 35 lbs last year at 12 n only hunted NJ w bow. This year she is stronger

Think the minimum archery poundage is actually 40 not over 35 lbs, could be wrong but don't think so. Kids are the future of the sport, they can archery hunt deer and bear at 12 so why not use a gun if they can handle it? My kids have me right next to them as a mentor should be. I don't think many guys are just gonna cut 12 year olds loose. Any dads or moms live near NJ n wanna start off kids at 10 n need help pm me. I can help you with hunter Ed which is transferable in NY and elsewhere and give you ideas of where to look closest to you. Nj is a youth hunter friendly state as I hope all states are

You can eat lion meat n it's not bad

We've had a pretty fair season but have have days of no gobbling or sightings. Than it breaks loose same as always. When time is limited its harder to get on good birds on the right days. Seen some of your posts so I know you know that. Hope it all changes for you next time out

Pygmy that is true but you said it in a very funny way!

Guys I often hear similar stories about bears. Wonder if you just have rough recipes or just don't have taste buds for the animal but most I know prefer wild turkey to domestic. The legs can be a great soup or cooked in used in a pot pie. The rest can be made a lot of other tasty ways very easily. You want to soften it (for me this makes it too soft) marinate it in ginger ale, than make cutlets. Another very easy way is red wine vinegrette basted on each time very thin slices are turned on a grill. Very thin so it cooks quick remember that. Too much it'll dry out. If you don't want to eat em don't waste them. Find someone who wants them or just take pics

Gman gave good advice

Age and the child do determine when they should start n it can very child to child. I will say toy guns, the ones that shoot foam balls can start your teaching. Kids don't even need to know that.

That's a valid point

They were taught well

On another thread there were guys mentioning picking up their heads while shooting. Made me think, to many keeping their head down is mandatory/normal/habitual. To some it isn't. Sure practice helps but we gotta practice good habits. It's now getting warmer n many parents may be ready to let their child shoot for the first time, this is where habits start. Imo they should be dominant eye tested and taught to shoot dominant eye not dominant hand. They should learn proper mechanics, stance, head position and each time made sure gun is mounted properly. . So the gun needs to fit them. Also many keep their face up for fear of getting hit w gun. Two things may help alleviate that. One is using a very small gun, say a bb gun or .22, you can progress from there. Body posture effects felt recoil so make sure stance is good and keep things fun. Consideration of a shotgun come time is key, that too must fit, light loads shot and inner and outer hearing protection worn. Less noise seems to equate to a softer kick to kids In many circumstances. I personally use a loaded down 28 ga as opposed to a .410, easier to hit with n the difference in recoil is minimal. Remember too much stock drop will cause stock to bump kids face. Archery has similar does n donts that carry on through life it seems. Teach proper grip, anchor and follow through. You can practice with a string bow. Proper grip alleviates torquing bow n string slap. No punching a release n follow through taught by having child aim back on target as the final step before checking where arrow hit. Good luck w kids

Shooting over the top is a problem, especially when someone doesn't shoot a bunch. Sighting a shotgun requires sighting properly n practice both in shooting n just mounting/looking can help if that's an issue. Another reason aiming for the wattles is good, sends shot above n below aim point if done correctly n gives a little lee way if you pick up your head. The forgiving patterns go a long way though you may have to give up some distance.

Uncle Nicky I can respect the fact you have a life, we all do. And yes all shots aren't slam dunks, some in fact are much harder n imo should prob be passed. If we're fairly often missing than the shots are too tough. We owe the game our best shot. Hope we can agree on that. My point in saying it's hard to miss is it is when good shots are taken and to make anxious folks less so. It's only a shot, we need to be so confident in our abilities we know we can't miss or the shot is passed., The assumptions people make on this site are asinine, this goes to no one in particular btw. When I grew up no one offered any help or advice. Everyone's experiences is different n hence the difference types of advice given. I've been at this game a long time n do not mind helping, especially newer folks. You guys need to stop assuming the worst in people. No one knows someone else's intent.

Kinda hard to miss if you have a good, even, forgiveable pattern n shoot within the guns effective range. No dis to anyone. I understand nerves. All guns cannot shoot the magical 40 yards as is. Sometimes we need a different choke, different load or sights. Many turkey load/choke set ups, especially with tight loads shoot off to side. We should never assume the gun is on, chances are good it's not. Flyers are also common, so to say we missed we could, perhaps, put a few in the bird in non vital areas even when we thought we missed

Guys seems lots of you need to learn the difference. Jakes n hens by the spring time look nothing alike. If they do to you please study them. Beards do nothing to the bird except adding a plume. Caruncles are in many species of birds n are commonly used for breeding purposes, from changing colors to swelling up n becoming brighter. Hens cannot do so. If however you chose to use a beard to determine where the bird is a shooter or not that's your prerogative as long as it's perfectly legal which it is in NY. Splitting hairs on points is pointless good luck all with the season.

Growot with all due respect if jakes look like hens it's mid summer late fall. After that there is an obvious difference

They don't have big puffy bag wattles

They don't have big puffy bag wattles

Another thing you can look for is the head on a hen has feathers going up back. There's much less mostly naked neck showing (there are hairs) n no wattles on a hen. And they're normally smaller n browner. Good luck rest of season

Zues the head was grayish. Look at some pics now n hopefully you see the difference

You guys are arguementive. You're piecing parts together n a way I hadn't. I never said the man made an unsafe shot. I said he misidentified. An answer to his post was it could happen to anyonr since it was raining/foggy. Than the shot shouldn't be taken imo because if it's too unclear to be sure what it is its too unclear to shoot. Certainly not what happened to the op. However one of the primary rules of firearm safety is know your target n beyond. The op certainly didn't know his target n he said that. It's ok, it is legal so no harm no foul. But since he stated hed not have shot a hen, bearded or not, he needs to learn to be sure what he's aiming at

You're advice was only bad excusing a mistake as anyone could do it cause of the weather. Shot should not be taken than that's all

How many times has someone been shot because the shooter thought they saw a turkey? I realize that's not the op but we need to be sure at all times.