Gobbler Getters: Big Turkeys from the 2023 Season-UPDATE

Game & Fish users shared their hunting successes as part of the Primos Hunting Giveaway.

June 12, 2023 By Game & Fish Staff

Congratulations go out to all the hunters who received turkey calls as part of the Primos Hunting Giveaway, held in conjunction with the weekly Regional Strut Update this spring. By sharing photos of their successful turkey hunts, submitters were entered in the giveaway, with the best selected to receive a Primos turkey call.

Updated June 12

Akhil Patel, Tennessee

Akhil Patel turkey — Akhil Patel shot this big gobbler on May 2 in Tennessee.

Hank Garvey, Massachusetts

Hunter with wild turkey — Massachusetts hunter Hank Garvey with a May gobbler. (Photo courtesy of Hank Garvey)

Andy Miller, Alabama

father and son with wild turkeys — Andy Miller and son Jackson doubled on their turkey hunt in Alabama. (Photo courtesy of Andy Miller)

Logan Schneider, Tennessee

Akhil Patel with turkey — Photo courtesy of Logan Schneider

Troy Thompson, Ohio

Troy Thompson with wild turkey — Photo courtesy of Troy Thompson

Zach Fahey, Minnesota

Zack Fahey with tagged turkey — Photo courtesy of Zack Fahey

Larry Bachman, South Carolina

Larry Bachman turkey — Bachman killed the bird of a lifetime on April Fool's Day in South Carolina. The big tom weighed 20 pounds, and had 1-1/4 inch spurs and a double-beard of 13-plus and 10 inches. Bachman, a past chapter chairman of the Central Carolina Chapter in Columbia S.C., has killed more than 250 turkeys in his 45 years of hunting turkeys. "My longest beards before this were two birds that had 11 3/4-inch beards. I have killed approximately 25 double-beards, 3 triple-beards and one quadruple-bearded turkey." (Photos courtesy of Larry Bachman)

Lindsay Anselmo, Texas

Lindsay Anselmo with turkey — Lindsay Anselmo, of Cuero, Texas, shot her first turkey after many weeks of practicing the box call. She called in this tom and waited 10 minutes for a clean head shot. (Photo courtesy of Lindsay Anselmo)

David Sapletal, Minnesota

David Sapletal with turkey — Sapletal, 82, says turkey hunting is his favorite hunt every year, and "I will continue to do it until my old body won't allow it," he adds. He has been hunting gobblers for more than 40 years. Here’s the story of his hunt: "I shot the tom at 11 a.m. I was eating a sandwich when I heard a gobble a long ways off. I put my sandwich down and picked up my slate and gave a few yelps and clucks," he says. "No gobble in return so after 5 minutes I picked up my sandwich and continued to eat. I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye and looked out the side window of my blind to see two toms running full speed towards my decoys. They ran right up to the decoys and went into full strut. I killed the tom at 12 yards. My decoys were a laydown hen, a half-strut jake 10 feet behind the laydown hen and a feeding hen. The toms were ready to beat up the jake decoy. Pretty exciting."

Roy Davis, Georgia

Roy Davis with turkey — Davis killed this big turkey on an April Fool's Day hunt near Lookout Mountain, Ga. (Photo courtesy of Roy Davis)

Chayce Luangrath, Wisconsin

Chayce Luangrath turkey — Chayce Luangrath with his first turkey, killed in May in western Wisconsin.

Daniel Sims, Alabama

Daniel Sims with turkey — Alabama hunter Daniel Sims, with son Fisher (right) in tow, killed this big gobbler after tracking it for three days. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Sims)

Dan Rainey, Illinois

Dan Rainey and son with turkeys — Dan Rainey and his son Cameron (right) celebrated their first double last week on a hunt in Illinois. Rainey says he killed his first gobbler 40 years ago. (Photo courtesy of Dan Rainey)

Austin Newell, Mississippi

Austin Newell with turkey — Newell killed this turkey on a cold day in Mississippi. The gobbler had a 9 1/2-inch beard, 1-inch spurs, and weighed 20.8 pounds. Here’s his hunt description: "As my truck thermometer read 25 degrees before daylight, I was uncertain as to what kind of gobbling action to expect, having never hunted with it being that cold. To my great surprise, I heard more gobbles ring through the woods that morning than any other all year, at least four or five different birds. Thankfully, I was able to get pretty close to one on the roost, and work my way into the conversation between him and his many hens. After a brief moment spent of him drumming and gobbling at everything that thought about making a sound, a different turkey gobbled, maybe 100 yards away a couple times, indicating that he was headed my way. However, before I ever saw that turkey, the original one left his post with the hens. I soon saw him appear at about 75 yards atop a hill, quick stepping his way across the hardwood hillside. At the last moment before he was going to hit a good opening around 40 yards, I shifted my gun ever so slightly to prep for the shot. He noticed the movement and turned to walk away. BOOM! Thankfully he didn't take too many steps before I was able to take a successful shot. It may not happen for a while, but next time it's sunny and 25 degrees in March, I’ll definitely be going into the woods with much more optimism!"

Caleb Kushner, Virginia

Caleb Kushner with turkey — Kushner, of Craig County, Va., killed this big gobbler while hunting with Pott's Creek Outfitters. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Kushner)

John P. Graves, Florida

John P. Graves with turkey — Florida hunter John P. Graves with an April gobbler. (Photo courtesy of John P. Graves)

Anderson Kelly, Arkansas

Anderson Kelly with turkey — Anderson Kelly took this turkey, his first ever, while hunting with his uncle at Cut-Off Creek WMA in Arkansas during the state's youth season. Kelly's uncle, Elliott Berkemeyer, called this bird and another gobbler up a dirt road adjacent to a recently burned area where the hunters were set up. Kelly coolly dropped it at 30 yards. The big gobbler sports an impressive 10-inch beard. (Photo courtesy of Anderson Kelly)

Adran Pearson

adrianpearsondoublekilledwithhisbrother — Adrian Pearson and friend doubled up this season.

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