Hello gentleman! I'm brand new to the site so forgive me if this has been answered already, I did search but didn't find what I was looking for. After thumping a fall bird how long can I wait before field dressing/gutting it? I'm going out today and don't want to gut it on the property owners place so I would have to beat feet back home to do the deed. That being said is it ok to wait an hour or two? Bird will be in a cooler on ice for that time, would I be good to go?
A couple of hours is nothing this time of year! It can take me a couple hours or more to get out of the woods and back home in the spring!
Gut it and skin it in a bag and take it out with you. IMO Throw the meat on some ice and get back to hunting. Good luck.
Thanks for the reply guys! Today was a bust. I was hiding behind a tree watching the flock come down the road waiting to get a clean shot when the property owner decided she would help by pushing them along with her car. This of course spooked the birds and had them running past me instead of slowly approaching a few decoys I had out. End result was I got a shot off but only from half draw and only glanced the jake I was going for. Bird wasn't really bad off, I waited around till just after dark to see if I could get another shot at him but that was a no go. He was able to fly and walk just fine so I don't think I wounded him too bad. All in all this was my first go at turkeys so hitting one at 15 yards on the run with a recurve isn't half bad IMO. Any thoughts or advice for next time would be appreciated.
wiley property owners, lmao. invision a little blue haired old lady peering through the steering wheel of a lincoln town car driving through a field! awesome.
