Turkey = Big game or Small game?
Contributors to this thread:Turkey
From: cnelk
12-Dec-16
Do you consider turkey big game or small game?
Or just turkey game?
From: oldgoat
12-Dec-16
I consider them big game in my mind mainly because you have to have a tag, but here in Colorado they are not considered big game by law, kids don't have to be 12 years old to hunt them etc.
From: Stickhead
12-Dec-16
Big game in the sense you can only get one in the spring, and one in the fall. You get a tag, and have to punch it and tag the turkey. Also some areas are a draw area. But realistically, I don't think they are large game.
From: trkyslr
12-Dec-16
fun game
From: Backpack Hunter
12-Dec-16
Big game, because that is how NC lists them. They are awful small for big game though.
From: t-roy
12-Dec-16
Head game sometimes!
From: LINK
12-Dec-16
Small game unless you're in Alabama.
From: EmbryOklahoma
12-Dec-16
Small game, big game, turkey game, fun game... whatever. But... according to the lead "beach boy", they have the toughest birds in the country. LOL!
From: Timbrhuntr
12-Dec-16
Only if u hunt them with your new crossbow. Lol.
From: drycreek
12-Dec-16
Easy game, hard game, dumb game, smart game, depending on what day and what turkey IMO. Sometimes it's so easy you're embarrassed to trigger the shot, sometimes so hard you want to swear off hunting them. But above all, it's an addiction that I find hard to forget. So I guess my opinion is, small game on the plate, but big game in the field.
From: r-man
12-Dec-16
Its not up to me , the state of South Carolina decides its big game and decided we have to use broadheads same as for deer. Makes for a messy bird.
From: wyobullshooter
12-Dec-16
Neither. Just a big bird that I love to hunt!
From: Ermine
12-Dec-16
I consider them big game! In Colorado they are just like elk hunting but smaller size. Crazy how a little thing like a turkey can work you up. I've gotten some serious buck fever hunting turkeys.
From: IdyllwildArcher
12-Dec-16
Neither. It's a bird. I would, though, classify Javelina as big game. Wolves as well.
From: planebow
12-Dec-16
The twenty to thirty that I try to keep out of my yard everyday are just a plain nuisance. They can sure make a mess.
From: TD
12-Dec-16
What P&Y minimum for turkey?
heheheheheh....
From: Bowfreak
12-Dec-16
I wish I knew 25% about elk as I do turkeys.
From: Coyote 65
12-Dec-16
AZ G&F says they are big game.
Terry
From: HDE
12-Dec-16
Frustrating Game.
Big Game in NM.
From: cnelk
12-Dec-16
I wish I knew 25% about turkeys as I do elk... :)
From: Bowfreak
12-Dec-16
Lol. I'd trade you knowledge if I could.
From: kota-man
12-Dec-16
Feathers = Bird = Small Game
From: orionsbrother
12-Dec-16
Cory - Just to share an idle train of thought that rolled through my head a couple of years ago while looking from my tree stand at some turkeys in a field.
I came to the same conclusion as you.
Then my brain said, "What about emus and ostriches?"
A coyote distracted me. I never resolved it.
From: cnelk
13-Dec-16
@ Orionsbrother
No matter what Im hunting, when I see a coyote, it turns into a coyote hunt
From: MichaelArnette
13-Dec-16
Yeah I think it has a lot to do with the fact that population levels are low enough that it's a one or two bird game. Also the fact that they are pretty good-sized critters, I would call predators of any type of big game as well. Also the fact that there is a trophy aspect to turkeys not present another small game. Beard size, age that is obvious, etc.
From: arctichill
13-Dec-16
Definitely a big game species by my definition. Love hunting turkeys!
From: elkstabber
13-Dec-16
Virginia considers them small game and so do I.
From: midwest
13-Dec-16
A blessing to have something so much fun to hunt in the Spring. You can take them as serious as you want to. Hunt all the different subspecies and travel all over the US or just the ones out your back door. I think they're a great critter to chase with a bow and I enjoy the pursuit every bit as much as whitetails so I consider them big game.
From: Drahthaar
13-Dec-16
N.C. classifies them as big game. Forrest
From: kota-man
13-Dec-16
"@ Orionsbrother No matter what Im hunting, when I see a coyote, it turns into a coyote hunt"
Yep, I concur...In fact I forgot about "emus and ostrich" when you said coyote. And since emu and ostrich are typically high fence, they don't count either.
From: APauls
13-Dec-16
I don't even consider them game. I consider them a bird.
To me, game has 4 legs.
From: Cheetah8799
13-Dec-16
Big game.
From: Franzen
13-Dec-16
Hybrid for me. You definitely hunt them like big game, and most states I know of manage them like big game, even if they don't specifically define them as such.
However, they are smallish, and they are a bird.
I'm not sure it really matters.
From: Brotsky
13-Dec-16
Big time fun!
Our state manages them like big game and issues tags so they are treated like a big game animal in our household. In fact my daughter might say they are the ONLY game!
From: orionsbrother
13-Dec-16
I was thinking emus and ostrich in Australia and Africa. Free range, Kota. I'm an elitist daydreamer.
Anyone ever eat emu or ostrich? Do they taste turkey-ish?
I have a Dr Seuss image in my head of a Thanksgiving table adorned by one of those instead of a turkey.
From: MNRazorhead
13-Dec-16
Big game. They have an exclusive license as opposed to the multiple-game small game license. Plus, there are hogs shot that are smaller than a turkey and hogs are big game (Ask my friend Tom, LOL).
In reality, they are just a butt-load of fun to hunt, no matter anything else.
From: Bake
13-Dec-16
I've always thought of them as small game. I'm not sure why. . .
I always considered bobcats small game too, but then I killed a Caracal this year, which I thought was big game. . . so then I rethought whether coyotes/bobcats are big game??
What's a lynx? Big game or small game? Wolverine?
I'm confused
From: NvaGvUp
13-Dec-16
Turkeys fly and they don't have four legs.
Upland game.
From: Paul@thefort
13-Dec-16
When this 25# tom charged the Heads Up decoy from 150 yards away, he looked as big as a "griz" as he closed into 15 yards. Self defense was my only option as my life was on the line for sure. A few seconds later, I filled my small game tag. No doubt, they are a neat bird to hunt.
my best, Paul
From: Genesis
13-Dec-16
Shucks....they have their very own score sheet.....gotta be BIG GAME doesn't it?
From: Lee
16-Dec-16
Never thought much about it but sure love to hunt them. I'd have to say big game as I ever took off work to hunt small game but i dang sure do during turkey season!
From: WV Mountaineer
17-Dec-16
I don't know. I just know I LOVE spring hunting them. It's my favorite kind of hunting to do. God Bless
From: ki-ke
17-Dec-16
I most of the areas I hunt in NJ, They are like land carp.....
