Turkey Hunting in Radium B.C?

[Danimal]

Hey guys. I heard of Turkey hunting in Radium and was wondering how many people go there and the chances of shooting one if a person were to go and never have done it before?

[huntwriter]

Hey guys. I heard of Turkey hunting in Radium and was wondering how many people go there and the chances of shooting one if a person were to go and never have done it before?

If you never hunted turkeys before it really doesn't matter how many turkey an area holds. Your success will based on sheer luck. Turkeys are some of the most challenging game animals to hunt.

Read this (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=43187) turkey hunting thread on this forum and if you still have questions I will be more than happy to answer you to the best of my knowledge.

[Ddog]

there is turkey in Radium just like most of the EK, if you have never done it before you are going to have to spend a little time finding them, once you have found them though i find that a box call works very well for the Toms, contrary to what some say.
the biggest part of the challenge is finding where they are and where they roost and of course their food preference, i have a spot that they travel from the roost to a field, through the field and then disappear into the far side of the fields and then return in the late afternoon and back through the field and then back to their evening roosts.
i also find that they are very easy to get to respond to your calling if it is in spring time when the Tom's are on the hunt for hens.
jmo---but i am not a professional like huntwriter is

[huntwriter]

You made very valuable points Ddog. The points you gave to Danimal are obvious conclusion from what you have learned through scouting. That was the point in my post. A novice hunter that just heads out then sits down somewhere and starts calling in the hope a turkey would walk by never will see them unless he/she gets lucky.
You on the other hand know what to look for, where to set up and how the birds travel throughout the day. The emphasis here is on knowledge like yours, which is nessersary to hunt turkeys, or any other animal for that matter.

[6616]

There are turkeys in and around Radium, but you're really better of going further south where there's more birds. The hunting will be pretty lean around Radium.

[Ddog]

the one spot that i have been able to hunt is probably the spot of spots, it seems to hold about 80 - 100 birds throughout the year, and yes i am lucky that i found the spot but it took a lot of scouting to find those birds. and when you find a spot like that all you do is smile when you get there.
i think in total it probably took somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 24 hrs plus of walking and hiking to find and thats a couple of hours here and a few hours there type of thing. When i want to hunt something i first find out as much as possible then i take all i have learned and put it to the test, and add my own observations to the equation along the way. What huntwriter tells in his read are all things you learn along the way and good for you to read
So if it is Radium that you want to try for turkey then i would spend a few days learning where they are that particular region. They are not as abundant as the deer and elk but they are there.
i would say your chances of getting one if you have never been there or done it before are pretty slim, but there is always hope.

[chevboy1978]

There are some really good spots once you find them. You will find that alot of the turkeys you see are on private land where you can't hunt them.

[sparky300winmag]

I saw some turkeys in Radium just the other day problem is they hang around a trailer park just off the highway, but i also spotted some off the highway in a field going towards cranbrook , and i think i can get close enough on crown land to try and hunt em in the spring.Never hunted them , but always wanted to try.

[haggis]

another newb to the sport, but hopeful. what 12 bore barrel and choke do you all recomend for a mossei 500 soerry for the hyj

[huntwriter]

another newb to the sport, but hopeful. what 12 bore barrel and choke do you all recomend for a mossei 500 soerry for the hyj

The Mossberg 500 is a fine turkey gun. As for what choke is best. You have to find that out at the range. Each gun/choke/load combination behaves differently. Try different loads, 3" inch is fine, and choke combination until you get a tight pattern that consistently performs out to 35 to 40 yards.

My turkey gun performs best with a full choke using Federal Premium Turkey special 3" shells loaded with #6 pellets.

Good luck and have fun.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

I go south of Radium and camp at "Turtle" lake rec site and move out from there ... I have had moderate success in that area

[GoatGuy]

Definitely more turkeys farther south.