Turkey Hunting.....Tips/Techniques/Stories

I love it! So true!

 

here's a good story for all those subbed to this thread>>> http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/guns-hunting/149763-bowhunters-i-choked.html#post2982714

 

Illinois seasons are so jacked up. Taking the boy out this Sunday. Weather looks to be right if the T-Storms don't roll in. I can't wait to see how he reacts to a big old Tom at 20 yards all strutted up! Gets my heart pounding just remembering all of my close encounters.

I don't get to chase mine until 5th season...END OF APRIL! YECH!

 

How old is your boy Oz? Make sure you tell us the story of his heart pounding and post a pic of him if he gets his bird. Just awesome to get the youngens out hunting!!

 

One more week boys and its time for us Washington boys to get after them!

Cant wait, went scouting last week and there was 40+ toms strutting

 

^^Yep, I'm getting pumped myself...........oh, and happy birthday kid!!

 

He's 12. Will do on the pics. He may not have to run Saturday for track, so we may get 2 days to close the deal!

 

Thanks ben! I'm getting old

 

Awesome!! I look forward to the pics. My twins are going to be 12 in May. Totally fun age!!

nah, ya still just a 'kid'.

 

Damn, maybe I need to hunt in Washington! I'll be lucky just to hear a bird or two most days out around here.

 

My annual trip is coming up in 9 days- I'm stoked.

Here's my first ever bird, last years trip.
21lb Merriam, 9.5" beard, 7/8" spurs. 20ga Mossberg bolt action Shotgun
The call that worked the best: HS Strut Squealing Hen.

Dad and I set up camp, and as we were eating dinner, I heard a bird about 200 yards away gobble from his roost.
"Dad, you hear that?"
"No, what?"
"Just heard a gobble on top of that knob... I swear I heard one..."
10 minutes go by... another faint gobble. Dad and I look at eachother, and went right to bed. That was the last gobble of the evening. Two, and that was it.

Next AM we set up about 250 yards below where we heard the gobble, with the sun rising behind the bird. Perfect, we thought.
Blind is set up, decoys are out, and we start calling. Immediate gobblefest response from where we figured the bird roosted. There was more than one bird- sounded like 3.
Called a bit more, and they would gobble back right away. DAMN THIS IS SWEET!
About 20 minutes go by, and the birds enter a landing just below our blind, out of range and with our decoys in clear view. They weren't coming in.. just held up about 50 yards away, strutting around, gobbling like crazy.
Dad continues to call, and these birds are going insane. Another bird joins, and we've got 4 toms, full strut in this landing. Amazing sight.
More calling and we hear another gobble off in the distance. We look at eachother, "FIVE birds?!" More calling brings this bird in a dead sprint towards the gobblefest. He's massive. At least half again bigger than these other toms. He makes it obvious that this is his territory and starts whoopin' ass. He is beating the hell out of these other toms, jumping on them, clawing the heck out of em.
They weren't coming into our decoys, so I slipped out the back of the blind, and scooted on my butt through the bushes towards them, 20ga in hand. They were too active to know that there little party was about to get interrupted. I slip in to about 25 yards, get on my knees, safety off, pop up over the 3 foot tall firs, admire the birds for a little bit then dusted the big tom. Off he went, running towards a small rocky cliff- I was sure he was gone. Quickly threw another round in (bolt action) and drew a bead, as he disappeared off the edge.
SON OF A!
The other birds are wondering what the hell just happened as they start to slowly scatter. I hear my dad yell "OH BABY!" and I stand up to go high five him, birds finally realize if they stick around, dad's going to drop one too. They disappear. Dad and I went to investigate, and we look and look and look for about 15 minutes and can't find him... We eventually found him at the base of a small fir tree, covered up by the branches and only visible from below.

There were several scotches on the rocks that night, as well as a couple cigars. Successful trip.

This year I'm taking the GoPro.

Here are the pictures.


With my dad

Beard

Spurs. 20ga shell.

 

Good lookin bird!

Fellas i gots a problem. Turkey season comes in saturday morning and I went out this morning to scout. I did not see or hear a single gobble. I even climbed all the way to the top of the ridge about 10 minutes after full light and sat for half an hour without hearing a single gobble. I think it is too cold for them to be gobbling still.

I met an older feller out there and he said that he didnt hear a thing on the other side of the mountain but he thinks they are still doin their thing, just not being vocal because of the cold.

So here is the question. Should I go out saturday and call like crazy and try to stir one up or should I just sit still and hope one walks by me? I know the places are good because I have seen them in the same spot the last 3 years and there were scratches on the ground.

 

^^2 Turkey huntin' Tanner's...haha


Awesome story and even more awesome pics Tanner!! Thanks so much for sharing. Never stop hunting with pops, I hope my kids continue to hunt with me long after adulthood.

The 'hope one walks by me' thinking can only be helped by some calling. But I would tend to only blind call quietly, and at less frequent intrevals if there are no birds vocalizing. Match what the birds are doing is usually the best motto.

You can shock a gobbler later in the afternoon with agressive calls, but if their not hammering right off the roost, I would do some fly down calls and quiet yelps along with some scratching in the leaves to see if one will sound off. If not, still be ready, birds are still there and will come quiet. Hope you do well and look forward to the stories!!

 

Yes... yes they will. When you're thinking about getting up and moving, sit for another hour. When that hour is up, sit for another hour. I don't know how many times, I've been sitting and waiting for something to happen (with different species) and right as I decide to move, I realize that if I would have sat for another 20 minutes, I would have had an animal within shooting distance.

 

Ill try the fly down and small yelps only for the first day. i have never encountered this problem before during turkey season so I was thinkin maybe I could entice a lowly tom hurtin for some lovin by making a lot of hen noises. Ill give the silent treatment a shot though

 

when the toms are quiet, the best that could happen would be for a hen to talk back to you. If you get fortunate enough for a hen to call back, then call aggresively towards her and ger her mad. With the toms being quiet, there could be too many hens around and they are all running together.

 

here is another question for you experts. One of my buddies, who is a much better turkey hunter than I, said that using a pair of swimming trunks to make the fly down sequence works better than using a fake wing. just pull them real fast so it makes the wing noise he claims. Has anyone tried or heard of this before?

 

Since you are asking for an experts opinion, that leaves me out, but I'll give you my .02 anyway.

Simple, I use a real wing from a previous years harvest. Can't beat it.

My wife did buy me some camo swim trunks from Bass Pro 2 years ago, but those things ain't going to the woods.

If you know a chicken farmer, a chicken wing would be fine too. I just wouldn't want a white one.

Whatever you get, just lay it out wide open and allow it to dry. Borax on any meat or tendons at the open area will help it dry out without too many bugs. Then just shove it in your vest and your set.

 

Can't figure out why sometimes these show up as the video, and sometimes as just a link...anyway, I thought this was funny....B-52 grouse..(at 1:35)..too funny...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYEmTschjRg&feature=player_detailpage

well...it showed, strange, wouldn't show on the preview.

 

Hey fellas, I just thought I would share. My buddy and I went this past Friday to Calhoun County, IL and got these two Toms. They both had right around 9.5" beards and 3/4" spurs.

To make the hunt a little better, the pic below is where we were sitting. The tree on the right in the pic. This was a fence row, and behind us was someone else's property (deer stand on their side of the fence). Both turkey's came through the fence row between that stand and the tree -- no more than 5' foot from me. I couldnt see them coming, my partner could. I didnt know they were there until out of the corner of my eye, here they come. Talk about a rush!!!! Still got one more tag left for early May. I cant wait!