Turkey hunting and BS welcome!

Congrats lynyrd on a great bird it is really nice when they are that easy. Congrats bucktales to your retirement.

 

Yes congrats lynrd. It's always great when a plan works out.

dklehman,
It's easterns here in SC. 40+ years hunting them so am opinionated as would be expected. Green up drives things IMO. Early green up, hens start leaving sooner in morn to visit nest. Generally speaking, 3rd week of season and can find toms alone and more willing. Plenty of exceptions, roaming 2yr olds or "satellite" "subordinate" toms. Who really knows but the king usually makes his presence know. Easterns here are notorious for 3 gobbles from roost and then go quiet. Some think that has to do with hunting pressure etc. but I say it's more to do with hens. They don't need to holler when they can drum with honeys already at arms reach. I filmed a tom here at the farm a few years back which performed exactly as described. After he breed the hen roosted with him (a courtship performance which lasted 20 minutes with about 3 seconds in the actual sex act) he returned to gobbling. This was in May a couple weeks after the season.
https://youtu.be/KNHQpTgp2mA

I will say this, you put shot in ones rump and run at him and it can make a tom that thinks every bush in the woods is a camo clad hunter and act like a crack head with binos strapped to his head.

 

30 years ago when I started hunting turkey the second year we had a otc season. We had a distinct separation of Merriam and Rio birds. That is no longer the way it is they are mostly hybrids. If you watch birds in a field here most will be what we call honey colors and one or two will be pure white. The bad thing is the birds took on more of the Merriam characteristics, in that off the roost they gobble once or twice to get any local hens gathered and then start running when i say running they will put half to a full mile from the roost in the first hour after flydown and it is rare to hear another gobble till mid to late morning. As for greening up it snowed here last week only about a half of an inch but still. Oh yeah and it was 80 on Thursday. So it is difficult to say one thing drives there breeding cycle. By the way the city birds here of which they estimate to be in the 20000 birds in the city limits were breeding in December on snow banks they also have double clutches on occasion. It is definitely a weird area to hunt that I don't believe is like any where else in the country.

 

Thanks ,good luck when you get out there !

 

Thank you !

 

Couple friends of mine had birds gobbling but couldn’t get them to come in. I went and called for them ,had Tom coming but a red fox ran 10 yards in front of me then straight towards the gobbler and that was the end of that hunt .

 

Nice!! Congrats!!

 

dklehman,
I don't have experience with rios or merriams but easterns have one clutch provided it's successful and the hen will raise those poults out the rest of the year. Biologists say older hens in a given year will attempt renest if the first, or second even, is unsuccessful. Say young hens are more prone to give up if the first attempt fails, predator or whatever. I've personally seen poults here still with egg tooth (falls off a few days after hatching) as late as early August. Simple math back figuring means those were from conception as late as the end of June/early July. Explains why I have seen poults the size of a bantam chicken in mid November on the rare occasion. Those may or may not have survived the winter. Not to argue but I've never seen, read or heard of a wild turkey raising two clutches in a given year. Have seen hens with varying size poults but those proved to be multiple hens with their clutches from the year and grouped together, usually seen during early deer season.

Am sure visibility of the terrain and turkeys makes hunting them different there. Easterns can be ghosts here in wooded terrain and green up plays a part with that too making them more difficult to hear at times, swallows them up especially with ridges and valleys. We've seen a dip in recruitment in recent years while hunter numbers have increased so it can take some hunting to find them here. Not complaining, glad to get one when I can and will drive all across the state with and without a gun to hunt them for myself and others. Have seen it cycle over the years. Wet cold spring snaps do the most damage, right about now and for the next couple weeks is the most critical.

 

I got a glumps of a group of 6 from last year still together.

 

@lynyrd3

Congrats! I was looking forward to your hunt updates since we are both local to MA/NY. Beautiful bird for sure

 

The city birds here are a very different group almost becoming a sub species the way they act. It isn't unusual to see 30 to 60 birds roosted in a 4 foot vinyl fence. With tons of great roost trees all around. In August every so often you will see one mature hen with 4 or 5 medium to large poults and a hand full of quail size poults. Also huge groups of bearded hens pretty sure there is no connection but it's ẁeird to see 30 hens in a group with beards

 

Thanks Chris

 

Right now the weather sucks for nesting turkeys here

 

Thanks Will

 

So this was my first turkey with the new gun and a red dot . I hit him a little low . Pulled a few pellets from the breast meat ,also noticed a lot of beard broken off . His beard was thicker until this morning

 

Congratulations Bill!!

 

Thanks Harry

 

lynrd did ya shoot him strutting or mean walking? I always cluck to get them to straighten up and offer a good still shot. Not uncommon to put pellets in breast or even hips on a strutting/stooped bird.

 

He was straight on just walking that probably why

 

My son been hunting the mountains here. gobblers are still henned up out there, but here in the valley hens starting to nest. told my son im hearing gobblers on the hill behind the house. to call Brian and see if you can go in there a morning or 2 before work. he went in this morning busted one. called in 3. proud poppa here. love to see the boys have sucess