5 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Nice - so it was a Blast for a Blast then ? 

A-Jay

Haha! They called it a cast and blast since they also caught a couple crappie but yours is funnier 

8 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

They called it a cast and blast

North and South Dakota use that marketing scheme in the fall. They advertise their walleye fishing and pheasant hunting which can be done the same day in October and November.

11 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

 We have RioGrande birds here in CA.  I heard there is a small group of Merriams in the sierras but I’ve never laid eyes on them.  You have Easterns?

Yup easterns.
 

A little back story on Michigan's turkey population, 30-40 years ago you could only find them in southern Michigan and to hunt them you entered a lottery. I guess it was very rare to see them even here in central Michigan. After a lot of work with the DNR and NWTF you can buy licenses over the counter, private land seasons range from two weeks to a month and a half. 

2 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

A little back story on Michigan's turkey population, 30-40 years ago you could only find them in southern Michigan and to hunt them you entered a lottery. I guess it was very rare to see them even here in central Michigan. After a lot of work with the DNR and NWTF you can buy licenses over the counter, private land seasons range from two weeks to a month and a half. 

That is almost the exact same story of the eastern wild turkey here in MN too.  In 1976, the MN Dept of Natural Resources traded wild turkeys with ruffed grouse to the state of Missouri.  They wild turkeys were released in southeastern MN.  The population slowly expanded from that point forward and the reproducing population here has moved north exponentially.  They now reside in almost every portion of the state here other than the northeast section of heavy timber and there is no more lottery to hunt them.  Its an amazing conservation story.  They are an extremely adaptable bird.

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

They are an extremely adaptable bird

And it was almost our National bird. Could you imagine every Memorial Day or Independence Day people posting pictures of a turkey with an American flag flying in the background? They’re fun to hunt and a beautiful bird fanned out from a distance but they sure are ugly up close! ?