Ontario Canada Turkey Dogs

Kemp's Toronto turkey dog Marvin the Martian

Marvin the Toronto Turkey Dog: My children named our Springer Spaniel 'Marvin', after the old bugs bunny cartoon "Marvin the Martian". What a great family dog and an excellent turkey hunter! Marvin got a total of 6 turkeys for the whole 2013 fall season for me and my friends.
It is great to watch him in action. He picks up the scent, and then takes off on the hunt. It only takes him a few minutes to find the flock and bust them up. He follows his scent back and his tail is going wild with wagging.
Here's a story about Marvin's last hunt of the 2013 season (turkey #6. And my favorite hunt so far):
I was out in the fall with Marvin, with only a crossbow. It was cold out. When we entered into a section of the forest from the fields, Marvin took off running. The next thing I saw was turkeys flying and running in all

Kemps Ontario Spring Spaniel Marvin - turkey hunting dog

Canadian Springer Spaniel Turkey Dog Marvin

directions. Marvin had crossed a small stream. He never barks unless the birds are treed. I could hear him barking and when I got to the river, I saw a turkey about 35 to 40 yards away in a tree. He was barking at it from below. I took a shot with my crossbow at the turkey. I must have just ticked the bird, as it flew away from me and followed the stream path, but was flying below the tree line. Marvin was running after it.
I got across the stream without falling in and headed in the direction where the turkey and Marvin went. I went about 150 yards and Marvin came back to me, all wagging his tail and happy. I looked down at him and said: "Marvin, where is the turkey?" He turned and started to walk back from where he came. He led me about 100 yards and at the base of the tree was a dead 13 lb. turkey. I must have ticked it and when it went to the ground Marvin grabbed it by the neck and killed it. The turkey was plucked

Tricolor turkey dog purebred Springer Spaniel

and eaten that night by my family and our neighbors.

Canada wild turkey found by turkey dog Marvin

Bill Kemp harvests wild turkey in Canada with his dog Marvin

I would have never gotten the turkey if it was not for Marvin. It is by far, the best hunt I have ever had. I am really looking forward to this years hunting season. It was the last turkey that Marvin took for the 2013 Fall season. He got a total of 6 birds in the Fall Turkey season in both Ontario and New York. I am very proud of him as he was only 7 months old when the season ended and he bagged 6 turkeys.
Pictures above with the kids and Marvin, the day we got him. Marvin on the way home in the truck the day we got him. The picture of me in camo with Marvin (and a turkey) was Marvin's first turkey ever. It was with my good friend Mike Soltis who is an excellent turkey hunter, in the Adirondacks in New York. Picture of turkey at the base of the tree where Marvin killed him and led me to it. Crossbow and Turkey. Marvin in the winter by Lake Ontario. I can't keep him out of the water, even in January and February up here in Toronto Canada. He loves water. Bill Kemp Toronto, Ontario, Canada 9/3/14

David R. and Turk: "The word I got last weekend from this Ontario Fall season was that if this season passes, dogs will be allowed in the fall turkey season. I guess there is a section all ready that states that dogs can be used on any game unless otherwise stated. The ER has no mention of dogs in the fall season, so this issue would fall into place." A. H. 1/25/08
Update May 30, 2008: Dogs will be allowed, opening season dates are October 14-26 in Wildlife Management Units 64, 67, 68, 73, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 84, 89, 90, 92, and 93. A. H.
Update August 8, 2012, per our newest member from Ontario, dogs have always been allowed in both Spring and Fall seasons. "I have a 5 year old black English Cocker Spaniel that hunts turkey with me spring and fall." Dave R. - Ontario, Canada 8/8/12.
For a dog coming into Canada from the United States, you must have a certificate, signed by a veterinarian licensed in Canada or in the United States, stating that the dog has been vaccinated against rabies during the preceding 36 months. The certificate must have a reasonably complete and legible description of the dog and the date of the vaccination. For more information, check with Canada Customs. Dogs may be brought into Ontario without security if you list them as part of the Tourist Outfitter s and/or Sportsmen s equipment when completing the necessary customs forms.
Regulations in regards to bringing your turkey hunting dog into the United States, click here.

Ontario woman and her turkey hunting dog

Megs and Lady: "Sorry to hear about the coyote attack on the turkey dog That is something I always fear when hunting with my English Cocker Spaniel, as he is only 35 lbs and the coyotes we have around these parts are much larger Apparently a cross between the western coyote and the eastern wolf according to experts in the Ontario MNR Because I hunt mainly in Ontario and that means an agricultural landscape with small woodlots, I have purposely not trained my dog "Turk" to roam widely as per usual fall turkey dog hunti

Miss Ontario turkey hunting with her dog Lady

ng, but instead have trained him to hunt on heel until we locate some birds after which he helps to bust them up This also works well in the spring turkey hunt here, but then I don't try for a bust up rather, he sits beside me while I work the bird in and is there to help should I not make a nice clean kill. I find Turk also helps with locating direction of birds approaching as he will often see or hear them before me and I know that he recognizes the various turkey calls - e.g. At my retirement celebration last October, I had a continuous PowerPoint showcasing my career, concluding with a strutting tom which I have often used at the "tail end" of my presentations and this is accompanied with a gobble recording from the NWTF website While setting up before the celebration started we played the PowerPoint and when the gobble at the end was heard, Turk went running out of the pack barn (our venue) into the adjacent woods obviously looking for the gobbler! I have had a great year hunting having Turk beside me for a nice long beard killed in the spring and a relatively large jenny (10 lb) ambushed in the fall As well I hunted with my daughter Meagan on our annual spring and thence fall turkey hunts (Megs lives in Calgary Alberta) with her English Cocker "Lady" We're training Lady to be a turkey dog You will note in attached photo she has the colouring of the hen turkey which should help when sitting to birds in both the spring and fall." Dave R. - Ontario, Canada 12/19/12

Proof that turkey dogs should be allowed in the spring everywhere:

Dave, Megs, Ben, Lady & Turk: "We had a great spring turkey hunt here in southwestern Ontario. I was in on 9 kills after hunting 25 days all with a

spring turkey hunting with a dog in Ontario Canada

turkey dog sitting beside me. Turk was in on 8 of them while Lady was with us when Megs shot her jake. I learned I have to tell Turk to stay and steady him when a shot is about to happen otherwise he will break for the downed turkey. That likely cost me a double with a farmer friend on our opening day, May 25, 2013. Larry shot a nice long beard and there were 2 other long beards in the same field about 80 yards away who might have been attracted to the

Canadian spring turkey dog with girl and boy

downed and flopping tom but Turk broke on the shot and was out in the field before I knew it. He tackled the shot tom but spooked the other two away! Later in the season on May 27, Larry, Turk and I snuck two big long beards that were not gobbling nor responding to any of my calls. We used a wooded ravine for concealment and got ahead of the toms which fed right into us and we planned a double but when Larry shot I could not see the second bird.

a girl and her dog with a spring wild turkey

And to my dismay Turk broke upon the shot and chased the remaining tom down into the ravine. Turk made things right that evening. We can only hunt until 7pm during the spring season. It was supposed to rain the next day so I decided to hunt the last 1.5 hours and then unload, encase and wait to roost that evening. Suddenly I noticed Turk focused out in the corn field besides the woods I was set up along and when I peeked out around the foliage there was a big long beard feeding about 60 yards away. I checked

my watch and I only had a couple of minutes of legal shooting time, so I grabbed my gun and turned the scope on and gave several clucks and purrs on the glass call which turned the tom towards me. I shot at 7pm on the dot and the tom went down at 55 steps. Turk broke again upon the shot and was on the tom in a jiffy but he was down for the count. He was a nice 21.5 lb with a 9.5" beard and 1.5" broken spurs. If it wasn't for Turk drawing my attention to something in the field, I wouldn't have noticed the tom until well after legal shooting time and would have missed him that evening. Maybe had a chance the next morning but the weather forecast was bang on and it poured hard the next morning." Dave R. - Ontario, Canada 6/7/13

"Attached photo shows the pack.
Left to right Turk, me, Midas (golden coloured cocker pup), Drake (son Garrett's waterfowl dog, Springer x Lab), two female cocker pups my daughter kept (Mombo & Bella), Meagan and Lady.
Lady had 5 pups. Megs kept two, I kept one and we sold two.
That won't be happening again as Meagan had Lady fixed a couple of weeks ago.
Midas is showing signs he could become a great turkey dog."
Dave R. - Ontario, Canada 2/2/15

Yesterday I had one of my most satisfying hunts ever. I am sharing this because I am so proud of my dog Turk He is steady when staring down wild turkeys and I knew he attracted them likely due to his size and blackness, but the hunt yesterday proved that he can truly decoy (or toll) long beards. (Tolling comes from the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and their ability to lure waterfowl within gunshot range).

I was set up in a creek bottom on public land by 5:10 am No gobbling until I crow called at 5:45 am, then a long beard and two jakes sounded off 100 yards right above me on the valley brim. They gobbled a couple of more times to the crows. I waited until I heard them fly down at 5:55 am and then Turk and I crept up towards the roost, sneaking from tree to tree, first me and then upon hand signal came Turk. I saw a big black cherry tree near the roost and I was determined to get there and take stock. Standing behind the cherry I slowly peeked around the right side and saw the long beard ~ 80 yards away. Then I noticed Turk sitting wide open to the left of the cherry tree and I tried to signal him to me, but he was already focused on the long beard That likely meant he was coming in. I kneeled down and got my gun up and slowly inched around the right side of the tree again and saw the tom at 25 yards He was walking from my left to right likely suspicious about Turk when he walked right into my sight line. I shot at 6:05 am at 25 yards and he went down. Checked him in at Stillwells 22 lb 10 oz, one spur broken in recent fight and the other was 1 3/8", 10" beard A nice trophy tom Wholesome local food! My 72nd wild turkey harvest.

I've included a photo of Turk with the baby deer we almost stepped on. And the strutting hen who first came and looked at Turk in the blind and then hung around our hen decoy. The jake I shot earlier also walked up and stared at Turk in our ground blind from ~8' He turned and left but I called him back I was working a long beard at the time and decided just to see if I could get my gun up on the jake I did and then I was thinking should I or shouldn't I I decided to shoot, when I thought of our annual Turkey Lua, wanting to ensure I could contribute! Cheers, Dave R. - Ontario, Canada 5/24/15

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