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Been a rough start, I haven't heard anything the last few days. Heck, I haven't even seen any sign that turkeys still exist in the last few days. After a quiet start this morning in strong winds, I decided to spend the rest of the day scouting/hunting spots that I've never walked in before, and looking for ones that looked to have less vehicles pulling in. If nothing else I would find a pretty spot for lunch. The first spot that I tried was in a general area that I had hunted before, but never this particular spot and it didn't look like every truck that drove down the road stopped there. It climbed up on a ridge that had younger pines on the right and a steep drop down into a pretty hardwood creek bottom on the left, so it looked promising. I just slipped along that ridge real slow while listening until I got to a draw where the ridge curved around. I was standing there contemplating sitting there or rounding the ridge because I was only about 500 yards in when I thought I heard faint drumming, so I just sat down there an listened for a bit. The wind was blowing pretty hard so after 15 minutes or so of not hearing any drumming I had just about convinced myself that I was hearing things when a jake gobbled across the draw but up on top of the same ridge that I was on, he was at about my 2 oclock. I hadn't called any so I gave a few pretty loud yelps on a glass call and almost immediately I can hear that drumming again. Several minutes pass by and that jake gobbled a terrible sounding 2 note gobble (it barely sounded turkey like), out in the bottom in front of me, but I couldn't see anything. Several more minutes pass and I can hear drumming again that sounds like it is now to my 10 o'clock, then distinctly hear a turkey cluck to my 9, but again never see anything or hear anything else for about 20 minutes. Then that jake gobbles again right back up on top of that ridge where he was first, so I call again and he tries to answer me. I figured he'd come back into that bottom and if nothing else I could fool around with him to pass the time. I kind of thought he would be alone the way he was trying to carry on, but I wasn't completely convinced he was doing all that drumming. It was only a couple minutes later and I saw him easing down the other side of the draw and into the bottom about 100 yards away. Well trailing not far behind him was this longbeard. They make it straight out in front of me at about 70 yards and the jake gobbles and when he did the longbeard blew up for a few seconds. A few steps later they were both behind separate trees so I got my gun up and they just walked straight up the hill to me without a care in the world. Just a dumb 2 year old that never acted the least bit wary or even took the time to stop and look, but I will sure take it! Shot him at 10:40.
Congrat's looks like a nice bird.
Congrats!! you broke the ice!! Great story
Congrats! Nice job.
Congrats! We're on the board!
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Took my sister on her first turkey hunt this morning. Heard a bird gobble way off at daylight. We setup in the edge of a green field in a low area. The wind was high and it was misting rain. After an hour of working the bird and getting him to ease closer and closer, he finally decided to give in and come show himself. He eased in the field in full strut and put on a 5 minute show before I told her to let him have it. Her first turkey was a pretty good one. 11 inch beard, 1 inch sharp spurs, 17 lbs. A nice 3 year old that gave us a memory of a lifetime.
Way to get us on the board!
Good looking bird and awesome story to go with it! We on the board now!
Quote from: fmf on March 18, 2021, 03:51:17 PM
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Been a rough start, I haven't heard anything the last few days. Heck, I haven't even seen any sign that turkeys still exist in the last few days. After a quiet start this morning in strong winds, I decided to spend the rest of the day scouting/hunting spots that I've never walked in before, and looking for ones that looked to have less vehicles pulling in. If nothing else I would find a pretty spot for lunch. The first spot that I tried was in a general area that I had hunted before, but never this particular spot and it didn't look like every truck that drove down the road stopped there. It climbed up on a ridge that had younger pines on the right and a steep drop down into a pretty hardwood creek bottom on the left, so it looked promising. I just slipped along that ridge real slow while listening until I got to a draw where the ridge curved around. I was standing there contemplating sitting there or rounding the ridge because I was only about 500 yards in when I thought I heard faint drumming, so I just sat down there an listened for a bit. The wind was blowing pretty hard so after 15 minutes or so of not hearing any drumming I had just about convinced myself that I was hearing things when a jake gobbled across the draw but up on top of the same ridge that I was on, he was at about my 2 oclock. I hadn't called any so I gave a few pretty loud yelps on a glass call and almost immediately I can hear that drumming again. Several minutes pass by and that jake gobbled a terrible sounding 2 note gobble (it barely sounded turkey like), out in the bottom in front of me, but I couldn't see anything. Several more minutes pass and I can hear drumming again that sounds like it is now to my 10 o'clock, then distinctly hear a turkey cluck to my 9, but again never see anything or hear anything else for about 20 minutes. Then that jake gobbles again right back up on top of that ridge where he was first, so I call again and he tries to answer me. I figured he'd come back into that bottom and if nothing else I could fool around with him to pass the time. I kind of thought he would be alone the way he was trying to carry on, but I wasn't completely convinced he was doing all that drumming. It was only a couple minutes later and I saw him easing down the other side of the draw and into the bottom about 100 yards away. Well trailing not far behind him was this longbeard. They make it straight out in front of me at about 70 yards and the jake gobbles and when he did the longbeard blew up for a few seconds. A few steps later they were both behind separate trees so I got my gun up and they just walked straight up the hill to me without a care in the world. Just a dumb 2 year old that never acted the least bit wary or even took the time to stop and look, but I will sure take it! Shot him at 10:40.
. Hmmm very interesting. I was in a similar situation as you described on the same day you killed this bird around the same time . I had messed with a gobbling bird the day before .... I got him in shotgun range one time , but I was on the edge of a thicket and couldn't see him. I roosted him that evening . The next morning he pitched my way , full strong gobble , stayed in the bottom below me . Would only gobble at random things but wouldn't answer a call directly . The next time he gobbled he appeared to be going away from me. I made a small maneuver and got on the neck hill top. No sooner than I sat down.... a strutting jake comes up on the hill with a hen , and another super young jake . They went right on by. I was very convinced it was the jake doing the gobbling and actually there was. Jake gobble as well, but there was also a second jake not strutting . I left that area and haven't been back . But folks have hunted the piss out of it. I wonder if there was a gobbler there the whole time , but I'm positive the bird gobbling and strutting in the bottom was the jake . Interesting. I've called up 9 different jakes this year. In different Forrest gates or at my camp. Covid was not nice to this area. Other than that bird .... I've yet to hear a gobble anywhere .
Quote from: birdman67 on March 19, 2021, 08:25:47 PM
Took my sister on her first turkey hunt this morning. Heard a bird gobble way off at daylight. We setup in the edge of a green field in a low area. The wind was high and it was misting rain. After an hour of working the bird and getting him to ease closer and closer, he finally decided to give in and come show himself. He eased in the field in full strut and put on a 5 minute show before I told her to let him have it. Her first turkey was a pretty good one. 11 inch beard, 1 inch sharp spurs, 17 lbs. A nice 3 year old that gave us a memory of a lifetime.
Congrats on her first bird!!
Quote from: dzsmith on March 21, 2021, 11:52:07 PM
Quote from: fmf on March 18, 2021, 03:51:17 PM
(https://i.ibb.co/gtp47Db/resized1.jpg)
Been a rough start, I haven't heard anything the last few days. Heck, I haven't even seen any sign that turkeys still exist in the last few days. After a quiet start this morning in strong winds, I decided to spend the rest of the day scouting/hunting spots that I've never walked in before, and looking for ones that looked to have less vehicles pulling in. If nothing else I would find a pretty spot for lunch. The first spot that I tried was in a general area that I had hunted before, but never this particular spot and it didn't look like every truck that drove down the road stopped there. It climbed up on a ridge that had younger pines on the right and a steep drop down into a pretty hardwood creek bottom on the left, so it looked promising. I just slipped along that ridge real slow while listening until I got to a draw where the ridge curved around. I was standing there contemplating sitting there or rounding the ridge because I was only about 500 yards in when I thought I heard faint drumming, so I just sat down there an listened for a bit. The wind was blowing pretty hard so after 15 minutes or so of not hearing any drumming I had just about convinced myself that I was hearing things when a jake gobbled across the draw but up on top of the same ridge that I was on, he was at about my 2 oclock. I hadn't called any so I gave a few pretty loud yelps on a glass call and almost immediately I can hear that drumming again. Several minutes pass by and that jake gobbled a terrible sounding 2 note gobble (it barely sounded turkey like), out in the bottom in front of me, but I couldn't see anything. Several more minutes pass and I can hear drumming again that sounds like it is now to my 10 o'clock, then distinctly hear a turkey cluck to my 9, but again never see anything or hear anything else for about 20 minutes. Then that jake gobbles again right back up on top of that ridge where he was first, so I call again and he tries to answer me. I figured he'd come back into that bottom and if nothing else I could fool around with him to pass the time. I kind of thought he would be alone the way he was trying to carry on, but I wasn't completely convinced he was doing all that drumming. It was only a couple minutes later and I saw him easing down the other side of the draw and into the bottom about 100 yards away. Well trailing not far behind him was this longbeard. They make it straight out in front of me at about 70 yards and the jake gobbles and when he did the longbeard blew up for a few seconds. A few steps later they were both behind separate trees so I got my gun up and they just walked straight up the hill to me without a care in the world. Just a dumb 2 year old that never acted the least bit wary or even took the time to stop and look, but I will sure take it! Shot him at 10:40.
. Hmmm very interesting. I was in a similar situation as you described on the same day you killed this bird around the same time . I had messed with a gobbling bird the day before .... I got him in shotgun range one time , but I was on the edge of a thicket and couldn't see him. I roosted him that evening . The next morning he pitched my way , full strong gobble , stayed in the bottom below me . Would only gobble at random things but wouldn't answer a call directly . The next time he gobbled he appeared to be going away from me. I made a small maneuver and got on the neck hill top. No sooner than I sat down.... a strutting jake comes up on the hill with a hen , and another super young jake . They went right on by. I was very convinced it was the jake doing the gobbling and actually there was. Jake gobble as well, but there was also a second jake not strutting . I left that area and haven't been back . But folks have hunted the piss out of it. I wonder if there was a gobbler there the whole time , but I'm positive the bird gobbling and strutting in the bottom was the jake . Interesting. I've called up 9 different jakes this year. In different Forrest gates or at my camp. Covid was not nice to this area. Other than that bird .... I've yet to hear a gobble anywhere .
What makes it even more interesting is I killed that bird more up your way than mine. Other than that jake, I never heard a bird gobble all week until Sunday morning and I heard 6 or 7, but 4 or 5 of those were almost certainly jakes.
Heard one this morning. Well after daylight. He answered so I set up on him. No sooner than I sat down a pack of beagles came through and hung around for 20 minutes . That was the end of that.....drove back to that other gate , never even got out the truck and that same Jake I assume was standing there on the side of the road . That's the only gobbling Jake I got on. The rest of the jakes came in silent . Called one up in a burn 2 days ago . Totally silent . I really got to get it done this week. This isn't "normal" for me lol. But it is what is , some years are like this
Quote from: dzsmith on March 22, 2021, 11:17:01 PM
Heard one this morning. Well after daylight. He answered so I set up on him. No sooner than I sat down a pack of beagles came through and hung around for 20 minutes . That was the end of that.....drove back to that other gate , never even got out the truck and that same Jake I assume was standing there on the side of the road . That's the only gobbling Jake I got on. The rest of the jakes came in silent . Called one up in a burn 2 days ago . Totally silent . I really got to get it done this week. This isn't "normal" for me lol. But it is what is , some years are like this
yep, some years are just like that. Keep after em and you'll be stackin em
Congrats birdman to you and your sister. Its great when it all comes together.
Found me a hot one. Drug him across a black top road . From gobble to shot was maybe 15 minutes . Gobbled all the way to the gun. Broke the ice finally.
Quote from: dzsmith on March 25, 2021, 06:25:13 PM
Found me a hot one. Drug him across a black top road . From gobble to shot was maybe 15 minutes . Gobbled all the way to the gun. Broke the ice finally.
Congrats! looks like a good bird!
Great bird, congrats
Well I have a story. It's called, I'm an idiot for listening to the weatherman on opening day. The forecast called for 90% rain and thunderstorms all morning so I decided to skip. I'm having to be picky with my days so I didn't go. Hasn't rained hardly a drop all morning but from what I've heard I didn't miss much. I'll be heading to the woods Monday morning though. I haven't heard a gobble yet on my scouting trips but I think they're just not talking much in my neck of the woods. Congrats to y'all who have already knocked one in the dirt. I can't wait to be toting my shotgun with calls in hand.
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Quote from: dzsmith on March 25, 2021, 06:25:13 PM
Found me a hot one. Drug him across a black top road . From gobble to shot was maybe 15 minutes . Gobbled all the way to the gun. Broke the ice finally.
Nice, got to love those 2 year old birds.
I made my first trip to the woods on March 29th. This was one of those rare mornings where everything just went so smoothly that you just had a good feeling about it. I woke up about 3:30 before my alarm went off, slipped out of bed without waking my wife, got dressed quickly, and I was on my way. It's a good thing because I would have been beaten to the gate. I had one guy slow down and to pull in then went on down the road. I was appreciative for this as this type of courtesy seems less and less common these days. I've got almost a mile bicycle ride to where I get off and start walking. I haven't heard or seen a gobbler in all my scouting trips so I'm going in based on the amount of turkey poop I had found in this area. It's a full moon and it's bright outside. I was surprised to hear the first gobble at 5:30. After he gobbled again I start making my trek through the woods and get to a spot to sit down. He started gobbling more often so I consult the map and move closer. The property line started to become a factor. It's amazing with thousands and thousands of acres how the turkeys seem to always be just across the line. I'm sitting with a transition of pines to my rear and a big hardwood hillside with a stream down in the bottom in front of me. The gobbler is roosted across the bottom and on the point of a ridge coming down to the bottom. And he's on private. I did a few soft calls, and he answers me right away. He's probably 150 yards away. He flies down at 6:22 and continues to gobble, but he's not answering my calls anymore. After 15 minutes or so I decide he's not going to cross and come my way so I sneak back into the pines, and I start making a circle to get down into the bottom to his south. After looking at the map I realized the line cuts across the bottom not too far from the gobbler so this is my destination goal. In the process of getting over there I cross a different bottom, and spooked three turkeys off the roost. This is at 6:53 so they've stayed up about 30 minutes past the gobbler. This must have been why he was continuing to gobble. Scattering the hens played in my favor, and I made my descent into the bottom. The gobbler continued to gobble during this whole process so I knew I hadn't spooked him. Once I got into the bottom and set up I realized I was in a really good position. He wasn't very far away. I made a few more soft series of calls. He still didn't answer me, but he continued to gobble on his on. He was getting super close. I finally catch a glimpse of him, and my heart is starting to beat fast at this point. He works in behind some thick privet looking stuff, and I'm struggling to get a clear shot. I cluck a few times at him but he stops behind a big tree. Now I'm getting nervous because I can tell he is looking hard for me. I finally take a shot and this is where it gets real western. At my shot he jumps into the air and flies across me. I jumped up and took another shot. He flies on across and I feel like I'm about to throw up. Everything has went so perfectly and now I have screwed it up. Then I noticed he has landed behind me on the hillside I came down. I can tell he is hurt so I take a longer shot at this point to try to finish the job and this shot essentially anchors him, but he is still holding his head up. I'm feeling terrible about the situation. Realizing I'm out of shells I run back across the muddy bottom to my vest and retrieve more shells. I quickly run up to 30 yards or so and take one final shot to finish him off. I've never been the guy to carry ten shells with me, but after taking four shots on this gobbler I may need to carry a couple more extras. Now I'm super relieved and excited to have gotten this gobbler. He played the game beautifully and I was able to take him home. If I hadn't moved on him I would have never gotten him. 2021 is kicking 2020's turkey season in the teeth already. I, my brother, and two of our friends have gotten birds. Before the season I was feeling discouraged with the lack of gobbling and sighting but things are looking up. Good luck to all of you this season.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210331/baf4f437d2ff3f90d3d3f1e27155e8cf.jpg)
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That did get western real quick lol. Awesome story and congrats on a great hunt.
Damn you guys are killing me with these stories. I still have 3 weeks before I can go
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Awesome! Congrats guys! Nice looking birds! I'm finally going to be able to go a couple times this weekend. Looking forward to it!
Congrats on the bird. My next hunt is not until the 12th, hopefully gonna sneak out to a romp and stomp and see if I can get on anything.
Awesome story! And congrats on a great hunt
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Great story! Congrats!!
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My best scoring public bird. Story later
Quote from: dzsmith on April 03, 2021, 03:15:05 PM
My best scoring public bird. Story later
is that 2 beards that I see? Either way, great bird! Definitely a heck of a rope for around here!
This one is several days late and not a contest bird since it is smaller than my first. Unfortunately there isn't much story. No gobbling, dead quiet morning, silent bird that just seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Very small bird, 8.75" beard, 5/8" spurs (both), 15.5 pounds.
trying hard for number 3, but these birds are flat wearing me out!
(https://i.ibb.co/g4TcN7F/19817244-53-CC-47-C3-9-FFC-3681-BB299-B89.png) (https://ibb.co/g4TcN7F)
Quote from: aclawrence on March 31, 2021, 09:18:39 AM
This was one of those rare mornings where everything just went so smoothly that you just had a good feeling about it.
Great bird and story, congrats! I love that "one is gonna die today" feeling driving in!
Quote from: fmf on April 04, 2021, 05:14:24 PM
Quote from: dzsmith on April 03, 2021, 03:15:05 PM
My best scoring public bird. Story later
is that 2 beards that I see? Either way, great bird! Definitely a heck of a rope for around here!
yes 2 beards 10" and 8". The bird actually had one spur that was 1,3/8" and the other was chipped on the tip making it 1,5/16". Couldn't hold the tape around the curve with one hand and take a pic with the other so I just entered it as both spurs as 1,5/16". Yeah it was a good bird. Spent 8 days trying to kill him. Had a couple opportunities when he was over the property line .... but the point in hunting public to begin with is to kill the bird on the public. He roosted back and forth on and off the property so it took some time to catch him in the right spot on a morning I was able to get in front of him. Killed him right off the limb 7am. Tree yelped on my trumpet ... he answered me twice . He gobbled one more time on the limb and his next gobble he was on the ridge with me. He stayed in the thick stuff for a while strutting. Sun wasn't up enough where I could see him. After about 15 minutes of the same thing , when he broke to leave I caught a glimpse of him, and soft called and he started strutting again behind a tree. Long enough for me to get turned about 90 degrees and be ready when he finally stepped out from the tree. Of course he , only stuck his head out over and over . So I could see tail fan and head. Pretty smart dude , he had definitely played this game before. However he did finally take one more step and I let him have it. I typically do not devote tHat kind of time to a bird .... I simply hunt the hot ones , but I figured I actually had the time this year, and I had seen the bird before and knew he was a good bearded bird none the less . It was definitely worth the 8 day it took to seal the deal. I would not breathe life back into this one lol.
Congrats dzsmith. That's extra sweet to get one you've been chasing like that and then for it to be a stud turkey.
Congrats fmf. I'd prefer calling in a gobbling bird to but I'd be happy to get another one just about anyway that's legal lol. They're all trophies and tasty!
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Nice job everyone. Keep it up.
My best hunt is coming up next week, so hopefully I can get it done.
Great job guys. Youth season is this weekend. Hopefully my nephew can smack one.
Hey team I have missed this whole week of hunting. All of my family got the stomach virus except for my wife. She has a phobia of throwing up and goes into serious cleaning mode. Anyway I haven't really been sick since earlier this week but it is still kicking my butt. I've never been so drained of energy from being sick before. I've spent a lot of time laying in bed. In the meantime my brother has been out and so far this season seems worse than last year as far as hunting pressure. He's been out a couple mornings in the middle of the week with bad rainy weather and there are still multiple trucks at most of the gates. Lots of these trucks are out of state. Well I'm just really getting my self worked into a real pity party over here now. Anyway I'm hoping to preserve and make my way back to the woods this coming Monday. I've only been out twice in about 12 or 13 days of the season but I'm batting 50% so I can't complain about that. I'm grateful it was just the stomach virus, and that I'm about to reenergized and hunting again. Hope you all get to punch a tag soon!
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Took my nephew and the neighbors daughter hunting yesterday for last day of Mo youth season. Things were looking grim because the birds were not talking. Started field hopping found some. 3 adults and 2 kids tryin to hide on a spur of the moment is tough lol. Put out a full strutter decoy and dropped back to call. Birds seen the kids getting ready and started running out of the field. I got loud and proud on the calling and the girls dad said they're running back to us! I was laying on my belly and finally seen them coming. A pair of jakes came to investigate the decoy and after a 1 2 3, both birds went to flopping. Grayson, my nephew, got his first bird and Reese got her second bird!! Absolute great day in the turkey woods
That's awesome!
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Congrats guys on some great birds and great stories!
After not being able to hunt much with the wife being down, the Lord blessed me this morning.
Not much action at daylight. One bird way off was it. I sit and waited. About 630 I finally heard one gobble on the land I was hunting. I made my way down a road and closed the distance. I hit him with a few calls and he refused to answer. He actually shut down gobbling after I called. This let me know that he had probably already been educated. I sat for about 30 min and then eased back and gave him some space. After resetting a couple hundred yards further down the ridge, I waited on him to make the next move. A little after 8, he finally gobbled again. Since I figured he was pretty smart, I hit the box one time and he answered. I laid the call down and got ready. 15 minutes later I heard a putt to my left, as he walked around me looking for the hen, I was waiting. Finally the first of the season.
10.25 beard
15/16 Spurs
19.6 lbs
congrats on that double for those youngns TH! sounds like a fun hunt
congrats on the bird birdman, thats the way to play the game right there
Quote from: turkey harvester on April 12, 2021, 09:14:38 AM
Took my nephew and the neighbors daughter hunting yesterday for last day of Mo youth season. Things were looking grim because the birds were not talking. Started field hopping found some. 3 adults and 2 kids tryin to hide on a spur of the moment is tough lol. Put out a full strutter decoy and dropped back to call. Birds seen the kids getting ready and started running out of the field. I got loud and proud on the calling and the girls dad said they're running back to us! I was laying on my belly and finally seen them coming. A pair of jakes came to investigate the decoy and after a 1 2 3, both birds went to flopping. Grayson, my nephew, got his first bird and Reese got her second bird!! Absolute great day in the turkey woods
That sounds like a blast!
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Quote from: birdman67 on April 12, 2021, 01:21:25 PM
After not being able to hunt much with the wife being down, the Lord blessed me this morning.
Not much action at daylight. One bird way off was it. I sit and waited. About 630 I finally heard one gobble on the land I was hunting. I made my way down a road and closed the distance. I hit him with a few calls and he refused to answer. He actually shut down gobbling after I called. This let me know that he had probably already been educated. I sat for about 30 min and then eased back and gave him some space. After resetting a couple hundred yards further down the ridge, I waited on him to make the next move. A little after 8, he finally gobbled again. Since I figured he was pretty smart, I hit the box one time and he answered. I laid the call down and got ready. 15 minutes later I heard a putt to my left, as he walked around me looking for the hen, I was waiting. Finally the first of the season.
10.25 beard
15/16 Spurs
19.6 lbs
Well played. Congrats!
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Awesome! Love reading these stories. WV opens up this weekend for youth. Hope to have a story soon
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Congrats to all you guys...here I am itching and waiting for May 1.
Went to bama for 2 days last week. Public. Never heard a gobble. Saw one set of gobbler tracks. This was a very large track. What i did see .... was hogs.... in daylight. Hog sign absolutely anywhere I went. The highest mountains or the swamps had rooting and hog poop. The freaking mountain has rooting.... like what the crap. The very first spot I pulled into , within my first 10 minutes in the woods I was standing there watching 10 pigs rooting at 20-30 yards from me. Only other public land I've seen it that bad on was Louisiana where pigs arent afraid at the sight of a human. Anyway, weather wasn't good , but I at least thought I'd find some turkey sign.... no. There was little to no evidence turkeys existed there . It didn't help that they absolutely burned the entire place . Every square inch of the wma was burned . I thought burns were typically rotated .... well not here. Anyway , I'll just go somewhere differing on the next trip. Very few hunters , but I did see a few. This was one of the rare occasions where seeing hunters is actually encouraging lol. So.... fast forward a week. I went to Texas. This was an outfit. Booked way in advance. We booked for the beginning of the third week of their season. South Texas. I exclusively asked , are your birds mostly shot out in the first 2 weeks because if that's the case or even close to the case I'm not interested . Of course he said no.... we manage the bird numbers well. Yeah well bull#^>€. Not a gobbling bird on the place . Few hens , few Jakes . Tons of evidence of where turkeys were shot all along the fence on the property line . Did hear a couple birds .... that's it literally 2 and they were way off the property. I did manage to get one one time to come to the fence and I shot a freaking limb right in front of the barrel .... as soon as he rested the hill the fence was and could see down to me he was getting out of town , and I had to attempt to shoot through a hole because he hadn't really came down the fence enough for a shot. It was foolish to take the shot but you know how it is .... especially when you arrive and ask how many have yal shot . And the outfit says 30.... I was like uh what .... 30 birds on 1200 acres . And he's like yeah is that bad .... well it ain't good for me lol. I went with a friend . And in 3 mornings and 2 evenings we never technically worked a single bird . And the only birds we heard which was 3 between the 2 of us weren't even on his property. This was not a cheap hunt either . We researched and read reviews and got recommendations..... and it was exactly what we were afraid of . It was shot out in 2 weeks. The guide never talked , the only words he spoke was ok, alright, and have a safe trip when we left . He wasn't even sorry . What a freaking train wreck . Also this guy never changed clothes in 3 days lol.
Dang that sucks!! They wouldn't tell ya there was no turkeys but will take that cash. Seems the stories about outfitters is getting worse than better.
The hogs are all over here in southern Mo too. Bout every week or so we see a big group crossing the highway out where I live. They're not helping the population any but our fine MDC don't want anyone to hunt them on state land or you'll get a fine. Pretty freaking stupid.
Man that's a bummer about your Texas trip. Next time you come to Alabama shoot me a message and maybe I could help point you towards some action. You know the hogs have to be tough on hen nest.
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Congrats on the birds and Great stories. I just finished a 4 day hunt, and did not get on a bird until the last day. I am gonna try and make it out a couple more times, but we only have 1 week left.
Dzsmith that is awful. People will tell you anything these days for a dollar. Sad sad....And hogs are awful. 10 years ago we didn't have any. Now it seems everywhere you go, there they are.
Good luck on your last week bornagain! I hope you are able to get one, but if not, enjoy your last few hunts of the year. It's a long wait until next spring
Quote from: aclawrence on April 16, 2021, 09:52:14 PM
Man that's a bummer about your Texas trip. Next time you come to Alabama shoot me a message and maybe I could help point you towards some action. You know the hogs have to be tough on hen nest.
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10-4. It wasn't my first choice but I only had 2 days and I wanted to try and roost a bird before night fall so before driving an additional 2.5 hours to my plan "a" I decided to pull in to plan "b" which was where I was driving through. It's ok , part of it. But after the first 10 minutes , I should have got in the truck and drove the 2.5 hours
Quote from: birdman67 on April 17, 2021, 06:52:12 AM
Dzsmith that is awful. People will tell you anything these days for a dollar. Sad sad....And hogs are awful. 10 years ago we didn't have any. Now it seems everywhere you go, there they are.
Good luck on your last week bornagain! I hope you are able to get one, but if not, enjoy your last few hunts of the year. It's a long wait until next spring
like I said we did our research. We may have been the only people to go there an not kill.... or they just delete all the bad reviews and lack of success but I can't lie . The 15 before us killed their birds. The lack of concern from the owner leads me to believe we may not know the whole truth. This was my first time to hunt south Texas it was my buddies 2nd time. He got skunked both times with the same crap. In Texas defense the first time he went he literally went the last week.... so without sacrificing the opening of our state we went the beginning of Texas 3rd week. 1/2 way point of the season. Not early enough ....
Well My youngest son almost got it done on WV youth season. Birds gobbled well on the limb but were tight lipped on the ground until 9:45. We struck a bird and set up off a field edge with my DSD breeding pair. Ol gobbler didn't follow the script. Instead, he decided to enter the field 5 steps to my left. Nick moved ever so slightly and....gone! Always next time! Good luck everyone!!
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Finally got it done today. Got on birds in the morning but couldn't get them to cross the creek that is the property line. Hunted all day covering lots of ground and finally found a bird around 4:30. He gobbled at pretty much every call I made but skirted me at about 80 yards on my first set up. I let him work off and was able to reposition and get in front of him. Made a couple series of soft calls and he came gobbling all the way to the call. It was in thick woods so I was just standing behind a tree about as big around as my body. At 25 yards I gave him a couple soft yelps and shot him when he raised his head. Score will come tonight or tomorrow when I can get to a scale. Felt great to get the monkey off my back after a really tough start to my season
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Quote from: wvhoyt19 on April 17, 2021, 12:46:11 PM
Well My youngest son almost got it done on WV youth season. Birds gobbled well on the limb but were tight lipped on the ground until 9:45. We struck a bird and set up off a field edge with my DSD breeding pair. Ol gobbler didn't follow the script. Instead, he decided to enter the field 5 steps to my left. Nick moved ever so slightly and....gone! Always next time! Good luck everyone!!
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I've taken my 7 yr old on a couple trips and it's tough. If we ever do get one to come in it's going to take a miracle for the bird to stand still and let him get the gun on it lol. Oh well we're having fun either way.
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Quote from: Kygobblergetter on April 17, 2021, 07:25:34 PM
Finally got it done today. Got on birds in the morning but couldn't get them to cross the creek that is the property line. Hunted all day covering lots of ground and finally found a bird around 4:30. He gobbled at pretty much every call I made but skirted me at about 80 yards on my first set up. I let him work off and was able to reposition and get in front of him. Made a couple series of soft calls and he came gobbling all the way to the call. It was in thick woods so I was just standing behind a tree about as big around as my body. At 25 yards I gave him a couple soft yelps and shot him when he raised his head. Score will come tonight or tomorrow when I can get to a scale. Felt great to get the monkey off my back after a really tough start to my season
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Nice one! Congrats on a good day of hunting.
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Congrats. Nice beard on that bird. Stay after it guys, it can all change in an instant.
Keep at it with the younger hunters: they are learning some hard lessons, but they will be better hunters for it. And it will be more rewarding when it does finally happen.
good job ky! way to get it done
Thanks guys. The season started really rough but I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing again after calling 4 birds to their death in 4 days of hunting. Of course the one I shot was the smallest of the 4. Not that I'm complaining by any means. I have just as much fun calling for friends as I do pulling the trigger myself
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Congrats KY on a nice bird!
Well amigos I've have been on the birds as close as you can get without pulling the trigger for the last three days. I've got this one gobbler pinned down almost to his roost tree but he meets up with his girlfriends before I can do anything about it. I think I'm going to go all in and see how close I can get in the dark in the morning and pray he's in the same spot. I called him in at 11:30 2 days ago but set up in the open too much and he wouldn't come all the way. Yesterday morning I had him just over the crest of the hill spitting and drumming at about 30yds but I couldn't move because of the hens. They finally worked off where I could watch him but he was too far then. This morning I had him about 75yds strutting with his hens and they drifted away. I thought they were coming my way today. I've been so close. I hope eventually they're going to work my direction and I'll be able to out my hands on him. I found some other birds but I'm getting attached to this one!
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I tagged out in Kentucky yesterday afternoon. I took my wife hunting to try and fill her first tag. Birds started answering the call but it was windy enough that I couldn't tell if they were far off or just down below the hill with their gobbles being muffled. Long story short they were just over the hill which resulted in an "oh crap" gobble at about 80 yards and a very quick, less than ideal setup. She kept her cool and made a last second move as the birds were swinging around to our hard left. 3 longbeards came in to 20 yards in the woods and she was able to kill one. I had no intention to shoot a bird but it was too cool of an opportunity to pass up our first double. After her shot she handed me the gun and I started very aggressive calling. The other 2 birds gobbled and came running back in and I was able to kill one of them. Unfortunately he wasn't an upgrade but mine was an awesome double beard. On to Indiana in the morning!
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Congrats again guys. My season is probably over, I have been feeling like crap
The last few days, so I went to the Dr and got tested. Good news is I do not have covid, but I do have Influenza/ Flu: so I am probably not gonna make it out for the last weekend of our season.
Everyone stay safe and keep at it, I am counting on many more success stories on here.
Congrats kygobblegetter! I'm sure that will be a hunt for the memories.
Sorry to hear that bornagain64. That's a bummer. I hope you get to feeling better. I missed a whole week due to the stomach virus. I've been making up for this week though.
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Congrats everyone! Great stories.
Praying for you Bornagain64!
I've only hunted first 2 days in WV and birds are henned up and tight lipped. I'll be back at a few days trying to pull off an archery kill then I'm off to try for a Merriams!
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Congrats on the bird!! Its been tough here in Mo. Windy, rain, snow, just plain crappy weather period. I've only got to hunt 1 day cause of school. Bad thing bout turkey season is its right in the middle of EOC testing time. Supposed to be a wash out tomorrow but gonna go anyway. Good luck guys
Hope you get to feeling better John
I came to Missouri earlier this week. Same as turkey harvested said. Rain , wind , cold weather , and snow. When it started snowing at lunch Tuesday I decided to leave . It's not even greened up where I am. I drove east to Kentucky to hunt public there for a few days hoping to escape the snow at least. Wrong ..... when I checked into my hotel that night after attempting to scout in 20mph winds it's snowed all night. I got up the next morning . Sick as a dog from being in the wind the last 2 days. I decided to go anyway. Picked a random gate to hunt. Crystal clear morning after the snow. Birds blew it out. I called one in right off the roost. Unfortunately with the bird being wet I could not see his beard and let him get into some thick stuff . He was very close but I didn't shoot him. I finally did catch a glimpse of the beard when he eased off , and mad did he have a rope. I wasn't able to strike any birds up the rest of the day, but this bird did come back to roost that's evening in the same area. He gobbled twice . Next morning , he was the only gobbling bird , and he gobbled very little. No idea why. I didn't really set up on him because he wasn't gobbling enough for me to know exactly where he was . Once again. I never struck up anything the rest of the day. I did however scout a different gate that evening and found a lot of turkey sign.... of course there was also a lot of human sign..... but that's part of it. I decided to hunt this gate the third and final morning before I was gonna drive back to Missouri. And the first gobble I heard wasn't even on my side of the road . I had walked several hundred yards down the road already . Anyway I did finally hear a bird behind the gate but he was further away than the birds across the road so I decided to cross the highway. I was really a little too late at this point. No matter how quickly I walked it seemed like the birds were the same distance away . When I finally
Caught up to them , I made a call and they did respond , but after 30 minutes or so they both gobbled again and they were further away again . So .... I decided to move . I chased a few random gobbles over the next hour with zero responses . Birds are henned up right now here . It was starting to rain so I decided to go back to truck maybe try the other side of the road. As I get near the highway I hear a bird back towards the last area I made a call......and I'm like dagnam, really we are gonna play this game . Well I said what the Hek it's my last day I have to try. What else am I here for . So I run back that direction , and I head another gobble but it sounds like he's already moved about as far as I could possibly hear one. No way right? Well it wasn't the same bird . But I had no way to know at this point . I decided I was gonna March all the way to the distant gobble simply because it kept gobbling . So I started scaling mountains , valleys , and creeks headed towards the gobble stopping occasionally to see if the birds was still gobbling. He was .... but once again it was as if I was gaining no ground . After 30 minutes of walking and climbing .... it appears that I may finally be in the game . Birds is across the valley over the next ridge . I decided to call... cut towards him and Yelp the other way. He responded. So I set up . He gobbles again and he's headed kinda up and away from me on his ridge. I make about a 20-30 yard adjustment on my setup . And call one more time . He responds again. Then goes silent for 45 minutes . His next gobbled his at the bottom of my ridge coming up towards me . I scratch the leaves on my left , and that's it. I can hear footsteps and he's coming to me . So he finally pops over . And he clucks , I can't see a beard .... any bearded bird is legal .... but I don't put in miles of my time for Jakes legal or not. Sorry ... I just don't. However ... last day, last chance .... he takes another step behind a tree and leans his head back to look my way . I can see top of beard and it's going down , but like he was barely crested enough to see anymore than that. Head was blood red . I decided when he passes free I'm shooting . As soon as his beak cleared the white oak . I pulled the trigger . This bird was very close 25 yards so he was about to be gone . Anyway. Turned out to be a nice bird. Had to earn him. Birds gobbled every day on limb and a little on the ground . I'm glad in decided to make that long trek towards him. Course it was a super long trek out , but it was with a sore elbow which is what we all want.
Sounds like an awesome hunt dz! If I kill my Indiana bird tomorrow I might head to Missouri or Ohio. Maybe we could try to knock one down together
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Unfortunately I've only been able to hunt a few days so far due to family issues. I did get to go out yesterday morning and the flocks have finally split up. I had one cutting off every call and getting close but a utility truck got lost and drove down into our area in the middle of nowhere and I didn't hear him anymore after that. Hoping to go out tomorrow morning. Congrats everyone who's made it happen so far
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Keep after em dmason it'll happen.
I should have pulled the trigger on an Indiana bird but had 2 coming and was trying to kill a double. Had no reason to think they wouldn't keep coming but they ended up getting behind some brush and doing what turkeys do. Oh well just more time to hunt!
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Congrats dzsmith! Sounds like you earned that one for sure. That's a pretty fan on that one. I've been tangling with a henned up gobbler. I'm going after him in the morning.
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Knocked down an upgrade this morning in Indiana! Started off chasing birds that wanted to run out of the country and could never catch up to them. After a long depressing walk back to the truck we lucked out and heard some birds gobbling about 300 yards away. They gobbled enough for us to close the distance to about 125 yards without ever making a call. After we got set up I called and they answered immediately but after that they seemed to wait 15-20 seconds after my call to gobble. I flipped the script on them and started making them gobble on their own and then waiting 20-30 seconds and answering them with a few yelps. After a few minutes of this game they stopped gobbling at all and I knew they were probably on their way. 10 minutes later I saw 2 big red heads coming down the deer path along the creek bank at about 70 yards. We let them come to about 30 yards and then started the 3 count and killed our public land double. Both of them solid birds, called down the creek bank 15 yards from the line between public and private (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210426/ce0320b3d8855b981c8773df54d11736.jpg)
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Nice, congrats on an Indiana gobbler.
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Possibly and upgrade . Let me run the calculator. Killed my Missouri bird this morning . He has been shot this season already. Appears somebody may have shot at him too far and while strutting. Lots of missing wing feathers, and some were bloody and crusty. Also had shot in his thigh that was green and a couple spots on the legs and feed. Regardless a fine gobbler. He never said a peep. Strutted only following a hen and a jake. 11" paintbrush . 1&3/8" spurs. I had to find somebody to ask for a scale , and a local had a scale they weighed goats on which said 20lbs. But I figure he's a little heavier than that . 22 maybe 23. Could be wrong. Reguardless a fine bird. It was my last day in Missouri before heading home , and it was very windy today. Don't know if I would have heard him if he did gobble . That's probably it for me this season. Was a tough year but a good one . Limited out in my home state and checked 2 more states off my list. I'd love to hunt with you KY, but I actually just got back to the house . Ohio is in my list one of these days maybe we can do it again one year.
Awesome DZ. I finally connected with one. Not the one I wanted but he'll do just fine for this old man. Went to my brothers area to hunt and we got on 4 right off the bat. They came running to the decoy right after fly down. 4 long gobbles, full fans, but ended up being some rather large jakes. I just seen full fan and heard him gobble and that's good enough for me, lol. Best part was I had my brother and Ole Huckleberry with me to experience it all. Still got a tag left for rest of the season. This year seems to be no different than last year with the amount of out of state hunters in our area. Bout the same crappy experiences as last year with em. Unreal the nonsense that some people will pull to kill a turkey.
Quote from: turkey harvester on April 27, 2021, 09:04:12 AM
Awesome DZ. I finally connected with one. Not the one I wanted but he'll do just fine for this old man. Went to my brothers area to hunt and we got on 4 right off the bat. They came running to the decoy right after fly down. 4 long gobbles, full fans, but ended up being some rather large jakes. I just seen full fan and heard him gobble and that's good enough for me, lol. Best part was I had my brother and Ole Huckleberry with me to experience it all. Still got a tag left for rest of the season. This year seems to be no different than last year with the amount of out of state hunters in our area. Bout the same crappy experiences as last year with em. Unreal the nonsense that some people will pull to kill a turkey.
yeah I saw a good amount of oos hunters in the area as well. Me being one of them, but there are guys that literally live up there. It's the same in ms. Personally I think most states should only allow 1 tag of non res . You can experience the state but you ain't gonna camp out here and keep killing. Selfish perhaps , but I know a couple years ago according to our states data there was actually more people who punched multiple tags as a non res than the res . Too me , that's a problem. To a impoverished state I guess that's money .
Quote from: dzsmith on April 27, 2021, 10:07:17 AM
Quote from: turkey harvester on April 27, 2021, 09:04:12 AM
Awesome DZ. I finally connected with one. Not the one I wanted but he'll do just fine for this old man. Went to my brothers area to hunt and we got on 4 right off the bat. They came running to the decoy right after fly down. 4 long gobbles, full fans, but ended up being some rather large jakes. I just seen full fan and heard him gobble and that's good enough for me, lol. Best part was I had my brother and Ole Huckleberry with me to experience it all. Still got a tag left for rest of the season. This year seems to be no different than last year with the amount of out of state hunters in our area. Bout the same crappy experiences as last year with em. Unreal the nonsense that some people will pull to kill a turkey.
yeah I saw a good amount of oos hunters in the area as well. Me being one of them, but there are guys that literally live up there. It's the same in ms. Personally I think most states should only allow 1 tag of non res . You can experience the state but you ain't gonna camp out here and keep killing. Selfish perhaps , but I know a couple years ago according to our states data there was actually more people who punched multiple tags as a non res than the res . Too me , that's a problem. To a impoverished state I guess that's money .
Its so bad where I hunt I had 2 guys run around my truck Saturday, with me and huck in it, and bout too my mirror off. Jumped over the gate we were parked at and took off running. I let them know they were a piece of crap and went to another spot. Seen them with my wife later in the day as we were just out riding dirt roads and they wanted to start crap with me. I wasn't about to stop with her in there but really a dick move. All because I beat them there.
Congrats dz and th!
After killing my Indiana bird and having a few more days off work I decided to buy an Ohio license and go see what I could find. Tuesday I hunted from daylight to dark except for an hour or so lunch break. Didn't have any action until around 7 pm when I finally got a bird to answer a crow call in an area where I had found some fresh scratching earlier in the day. After gobbling at the crow call I got him to answer me 2 more times but then nothing. It was at least an hour before fly up time so I was a little bit worried I wouldn't be able to find them this morning. After sleeping in my car at a Walmart parking lot until 2:30 and then at the gate until 5:30 I got up and headed back in there to the ridge top I had heard him from yesterday evening. Luckily they were roosted right where they had been when they gobbled at me last night. The birds were roosted across a small creek from me about half way up the other hillside, so I decided to go past them and get down off the ridge I was on and over on that side with them where they probably hadn't been hunted from yet. There were at least a couple longbeards, a couple jakes, and several hens and they were very vocal this morning. I decided with a big flock like that I would call pretty aggressive and try to get a bird to break off or piss off one of the hens. Neither of which happened. They started off answering every call I made but were getting harder and harder to make gobble. Being that it was a group of gobblers like that I decided to gobble at them which they answered immediately and then shut up for several minutes. The next time they gobbled they were down in the creek bottom closer to me. I made a few soft yelps and gobbled at them again. At this point I got my gun ready just to be safe. 10 minutes go by and they haven't made a peep. I figure if they're coming I need to know so I yelped a couple times and they gobble a lot closer and straight down my barrel. I'm expecting to see a them any second but a couple minutes go by and I haven't seen anything. I can't call at this point because the woods are pretty open and I don't want them walking in there knowing exactly where to look for me. Luckily they gobble on their own and they're about 40 yards away just over a slight roll. The gobble allowed me to get my gun pointed at the right spot seconds before I saw the tip of a fan coming over the hill. As soon as I saw the fan a bird stuck his head up right beside it, knowing there were jakes in the group I wasn't about to shoot unless I saw a beard or a full fan. Seconds later, the bird strutting ran the jake that stuck his head up about 10 yards. Giving me a clear shot but making me have to move my gun fairly far to the right. I made my move and he saw me just enough to come out of strut and seal his fate. He was basically identical to my Indiana bird in every category. Sorry for the long story
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Nice going man. I've got to get up to that part of the country one of these years. I'm still off work, just trying to catch up around the house before going back to work next week indefinitely. Well done .
Thank ya. Unfortunately I'm back to work tomorrow night. My next 3 days off I might try to take a swing at West Virginia but I'm not sure about that
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Wat to go bud!! stacking em up like cord wood.
Nice job everyone that's killed a bird. I am feeling a lot better and finally
Went back to work. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Sad day Monday, I had to was all my hunting close and put my calls away
For another long off season. You guys that are hitting multiple states are lucky, enjoy it.
I am down in Central Fl, so it is a lot further of a drive to hit another state: and I can only go North to do it.
Sucks about the other hunters that will do whatever it takes to try and kill a bird, we have more than our share down here too. You did the right thing Turkeyharvester, its just not worth it dealing with knuckle heads.
Keep at it guys, I will be living thru your stories on here.
On the board...I'll update when I can sit down and have time
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Awesome Dmason3!!! Get it posted and I'll get it up. I'm goin be out of town this weekend hunting but I'll get it posted when I get service or Monday at work. Congrats!!
Congrats to all who have taken a bird! Way to get it done guys! I can't stand the way that some people have no respect for other hunters. It eats at me. Around where I hunt, I deal with that stuff all the time. It is frustrating to say the least. The only thing that makes it better is those days that I walk out with a turkey that they have been trying to steal away. The look on their face is priceless when they see one over your shoulder. ????
It's the last day here in MS for me. I plan on going all in and trying to close on a good note. Gobbling has been tailing off so I just hope for a good hunt. Good luck to everyone out this weekend!
Congrats guys. Yesterday was my last day in Alabama and I killed a bird with about 30 minutes left until closing time. To make a long story short I saw two birds 500yds away on a ridgetop in a cutover. I looked through the binos and saw a red head with a beard hanging down and a hen. I think they saw me as I was walking across the opposite ridge and they eased over the hill. I made a steep descent down my hill and a steep climb up their hill. I got set up in the edge of the woods and clear cut and made a few soft calls. I thought I was hearing drumming but wasn't sure. I decided I needed to get up and sneak through the edge of the woods down the hill. I came to the edge and saw a turkey stepping into the firebreak. It had a red head so I raised my gun and smoked him. I obviously thought he was the gobbler I had seen with the hen since he had a red head, but once I got to him I realized it was a Jake. I was grateful to get a last minute turkey but I would have given him a pass if I had known. I'm not sure what happened. It must have been a gobbler and a Jake I saw because I was confident I saw a beard through the binos. I also didn't see any other turkeys run or fly off when I shot this bird. Oh well, he'll be good eating and make a good wing bone call. 2021 was a great season for me. I had so many close encounters. I killed two birds and several other gobblers don't know how close they came to getting shot. They will keep me fired up until next season. I have my Tennessee license also so I'm hoping to do one or two hunts there also.
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Oh and I found this during my hunt! (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210502/6114726fb7b21096449efaee55778b76.jpg)
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Been a weird year for me this year. Haven't been able to go out but a handful of times and being limited on those times due to having young kids and having to leave the field early for various reasons. Finally found this guy one evening and due to where he was I knew where he was roosting.
There must have been a nest nearby because the next morning there was a hen in the field before it was even very light out. Sure enough the tom flew down and came out in our field. He was acting funny, not really strutting much but gobbling his head off.
Finally got him worked up a bit and heading my way and sure enough that other hen cut him off and lead him away then went back towards her nest. For the next 2 hours he was within 100 yards in my shooting lane just half strutting, gobbling, and watching. I ended up sliding down to lay down because my back and my butt were going numb from leaning against a small tree.
I could get him worked up and he would cut me off with gobbles but he never would break and come into my hen. He finally inched in closer to just around 40 yards and I talked myself into crawling to the edge of the woods and shooting him. As soon as I got halfway to the big tree blocking his view from me he decided to break and come into my hen.
He walked past me at about 10 feet while he was strutting and spitting while I was on my hands and knees with the gun beside me and on safe. I had to wait for him to circle the decoy and for his fan to be blocking his view before I could raise up and shoot him. Was a fun hunt, I really need to start recording my hunts. Not my biggest but with season winding down I'll take it! (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210502/68f0bd41b7e457be52e2aa01c0d8236a.jpg)
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Congrats! That sounds exciting! I pulled something similar a week ago. I left my gun propped against the tree and when it started getting light I had a gobbler roosted in a tree 40yds in front of me. It took me forever to inch my gun into place. I could have shot him eight off the limb. Of course when he pitched down he flew around the corner where I couldn't see.
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Awesome hunt. Congrats on the bird! I'm afraid my season is starting to wind down. It looks like my out west trip has been screwed up due to the wife's vacation not getting approved but I might run north somewhere. I can't stand not hunting when there's somewhere I could go
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Wow!! sounds like it got wild for a minute. We have 1 more week. Season goes out sunday. I have found a couple of birds that haven't been swarmed by a gaggle of people but getting time off from school is almost impossible at this point. Maybe the last weekend will produce.
The hunting has been hard and gobbling scarce here in the Ozark mountains. Opening morn I had a stare down 2 different times with a 2-3 yr old bird, he put the slip on me. I hunted him the rest of opening week until I got over ran by OOS. We're roughly 4,000 birds short of our worst season in 20 years. Almost everyday in the woods I've seen atleast one to two coyotes. Predation is out of control. I've got 2 days left to get it done, let's hope I can scratch one out.
I'm headed back to Ohio to hunting Monday morning. Then it'll be wv for the last weekend of season and that will probably be it for me. Hopefully I can get on another bird
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I making a run to Tennessee tomorrow to hunt some private land. I'd love to knock out a couple more gobblers before the season ends.
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im done for the year.came back to work on the 3rd. Had a good season. tough birds , but a good season. It does appear that many folks have had good seasons but I promise you....from what ive seen. harvest numbers are down in many states, at least from last season. I knew it was gonna be a tough year. and at first...it didn't seem like the woods were too overrun....but its like as the season progressed the amount of people anywhere I went kept compounding. This actually scares me for next year.....at least in OOS hunts. Good luck to the few who are still going. Looks like im saving my vacation for deer season, or maybe ill finally draw a moose tag that ive been putting in for a decade......oh and congrats DMASON. kids make it tough to get away...im just now getting to experience that......
Quote from: dzsmith on May 09, 2021, 10:52:38 AM
im done for the year.came back to work on the 3rd. Had a good season. tough birds , but a good season. It does appear that many folks have had good seasons but I promise you....from what ive seen. harvest numbers are down in many states, at least from last season. I knew it was gonna be a tough year. and at first...it didn't seem like the woods were too overrun....but its like as the season progressed the amount of people anywhere I went kept compounding. This actually scares me for next year.....at least in OOS hunts. Good luck to the few who are still going. Looks like im saving my vacation for deer season, or maybe ill finally draw a moose tag that ive been putting in for a decade......oh and congrats DMASON. kids make it tough to get away...im just now getting to experience that......
Your experience was a little bit the opposite of mine in North Alabama. The first two weeks the pressure was terrible! After that I don't know what happened but all of a sudden there were empty gates and birds were gobbling. The last half of the last week I started seeing a good bit of truck traffic again. Starting out we had a lot of hunters from Mississippi and Arkansas.
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Well Huck and myself are officially done. Worst numbers in Mo in 20 years. We got close Saturday between the storms but ended up bumping 9 deer that ruined that for us. Last day... well 50 mph winds and thunderstorms all morning. Not a peep. With very few birds and tremendous hunting pressure I'm not surprised. Good luck to all that's still after em.
Congrats everyone on the harvests!! Been a tough year for me. I hunted WV early and faced henned up gobblers. My focus was on Nebraska though as I've been planning that trip for some time. Well, I got back last Friday and the turkey population was a huge disappointment! We seen very lil birds and put on a lot of miles on public ground. The number of hunters far weighed out the number of birds. My 1st experience was a bad experience. We roosted a bird the first evening and was setup on him before daybreak. He hammered on the limb and flew down with a hen about 100 yds away. Every time we called he would cut us off. Then, a few other hunters started calling 40 yds behind us slightly over a rise. We got the hen to come to 42 yds and I had him at 65 but waited for him to clear to where she was at. Unfortunately the guys behind us got busted and the birds went back near the roost tree. Another hunter had worked his way up there and shot him. Right after he pulled the trigger, pellets rained down on the pine we were sitting at! Too close for this ol WV boy who hunts primarily private land!! I soon figured out that public land was not for me. Very few people were successful and most everyone we talked to seen/heard very few birds.
2 weeks left in WV so I'm going keep after em. Good luck ever!
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Seems to be problem all over. Too many hunters and not enough birds. Our MDC needs to pull their head out of their butts and start focusing on our turkey population instead of the stupid elk and bear hunts they've been planning on for a few years. When this years harvest is at a 24 year low its time to do something. We need to follow other states and drop out season to 2 weeks and 1 bird, close fall season, and people need to start killing predators again. They are trying to say that there wasnt as many tags sold this year as opposed to last year but I'm calling BS on that. I seen more hunters in my neck of the woods than I did last year!!
turkey harvester...I'm thinking in many areas nationwide it's time to institute trap and transfer again. If we wait for Mother Nature to take her course with natural propagation Lord knows how many years that may take. That could be incorporated with minimal, or no, fall seasons until the resource recoups.
Quote from: turkey harvester on May 12, 2021, 10:09:53 AM
Seems to be problem all over. Too many hunters and not enough birds. Our MDC needs to pull their head out of their butts and start focusing on our turkey population instead of the stupid elk and bear hunts they've been planning on for a few years. When this years harvest is at a 24 year low its time to do something. We need to follow other states and drop out season to 2 weeks and 1 bird, close fall season, and people need to start killing predators again. They are trying to say that there wasnt as many tags sold this year as opposed to last year but I'm calling BS on that. I seen more hunters in my neck of the woods than I did last year!!
my biggest question period to any state in the nation is "why do we still have fall seasons....why....In my state it has virtually zero participation and its kind of a difficult process to even apply and hunt the fall....so why not just do away with it. the states that do have fall seasons...do people actually "fall hunt" flush a flock, set up ...call them back and shoot one, because I imagine most are just simply shot while deer hunting
I'd say here in Kentucky probably 90% or better of the fall harvest is killed while deer hunting. Which sucks. I'd really like to see them get rid of the fall season or at least make it gobbler only
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I got an upgrade gobbler this morning on my last hunt of the year. I'll type up the story later. What a way to end my season!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/2f8785db5d2981714df7bb5bc6d6ed42.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/30492150a32caff7fee372e631377af2.jpg)
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Quote from: Kygobblergetter on May 14, 2021, 03:57:53 PM
I'd say here in Kentucky probably 90% or better of the fall harvest is killed while deer hunting. Which sucks. I'd really like to see them get rid of the fall season or at least make it gobbler only
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I have no doubt in most places with a fall season...its nothing more than just deer hunters with a turkey tag in there pocket. If you have a population issue to the point animals are causing damage, sure a fall season could be necessary. However there actually is a method, purpose, and style to fall turkey hunting and there is very few people doing that that I see. Im sure if I put this on the general forum people would be up I arms about why im wrong and howo they should be able to shoot whatever they want whenever they want. you couldn't pay me to shoot a turkey in the fall. Pure butchery.
Quote from: aclawrence on May 15, 2021, 04:23:48 PM
I got an upgrade gobbler this morning on my last hunt of the year. I'll type up the story later. What a way to end my season!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/2f8785db5d2981714df7bb5bc6d6ed42.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/30492150a32caff7fee372e631377af2.jpg)
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way to pick it up in the rear AC nice bird dude. great finish and addition to the team score.
Awesome ac congrats!
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As for the fall season it's an absolute joke. I hate it. No chance I'm shouting a hen and no chance I'm shooting a non gobbling Tom...
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Quote from: aclawrence on May 15, 2021, 04:23:48 PM
I got an upgrade gobbler this morning on my last hunt of the year. I'll type up the story later. What a way to end my season!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/2f8785db5d2981714df7bb5bc6d6ed42.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210515/30492150a32caff7fee372e631377af2.jpg)
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Congrats, nice bird!
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Awesome ending to your season!!
Nice job guys and congrats.
Sounds like a lot of the same for most of us, to much pressure and not enough birds.
As tuff as it has been 10 out of the 12 members took a bird. Nice team effort.
Sorry , I could not contribute this year, but congrats to those that did.
Anyone still hunting? Man it seems like so long ago, season in Florida as been over for almost 1 month.
We are getting ready to put in for deer hunts.
I'm going to be in wv for the last weekend of season and hope to scratch out a bird. That will most likely be the end of my season but the wife does have to work a few days that I'm off so I'm trying to figure something else out up north somewhere. We will see what happens
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Somehow managed to scratch one out in wv! My wife and I got to their family cabin at about 2:30 am Friday morning. Took a quick nap and overslept by about an hour. I woke up at 5:55 in a complete panic and quickly ran out on the porch in just a pair of shorts. After about 30 seconds I heard a bird gobble and quickly ran back inside to get my stuff together and get the wife up. We got ready and got back outside. The bird was clearly on the ground and not too far from the gobble I had heard. I tried to locate him with an owl hoot but he refused to gobble so I decided to Yelp at him. He responded right away with one of those "oh " gobbles and we realized he was in the field right over the hill. We dove down and got to the fence where we stayed for the rest of the hunt. Long story short I called him up and probably should have shot him but he was on the outskirts of range and I didn't want to take a bad shot and screw it up so he ended up gobbling up a couple hens and drifting off. The next morning my buddy was with us and we actually woke up on time. We made the first owl hoot from the porch and the bird gobbled but on top of the next mountain. We took off his direction but by the time we got there he had been on the ground for a while and had moved up the ridge. Luckily he was gobbling steadily on his own and we were able to slip to about 100 yards before we ever made a call. We tried every trick in the books on this bird but he wouldn't budge. Finally I told my buddy to keep him gobbling and I was going to drop over the hill and try to slip in real tight. It worked like a charm and when I finally raised up behind a tree I could see him strutting with a hen at about 75 yards. Every time he strutted facing away or got behind a tree I would let out some soft yelps and scratch the leaves with my foot. He gobbled almost every time but just kept strutting in circles. After about 10 minutes of this I completely stopped calling and he finally just broke and started walking my way. Once he got to about 30 yards I gave him a couple yelps to get him to stop and put his head up and shot him. To put the icing on the cake he was an upgrade! I just can't stand the thought of it being over so I'm going to make a run at Wisconsin for their last season and hopefully at least get to see my dad shoot a bird
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(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210525/a1fb27c8752d2bcbb6d275b3d93c2c54.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210525/2d36910ac732b411a2817700c6723e09.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210525/7b4dd04438fa9b76904cc7dd5ce4bc28.jpg)
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Congrats!!
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Congrats on the birds guys!
Killed a good bird Saturday...pics in the Contest Entries thread.
I had a misfire...first ever...on this bird Friday. I pretty much knew where they were roosting so got in there early Saturday morning. At gobbling time one was gobbling back behind me regulartly. This one never gobbled...just continual drumming. He was in front of me about 75 yards. Several hens started talking then flew down in his direction. He pitched down to them. They started to wander to my left so I ran a quiet string of yelps at them. The hens swung my direction...and he followed. He was in full strut...and drumming...as he was passing by. I putted him but he wouldn't break strut. The clear shot I had was now or never at 35 yards. He went down stone dead but, due to him in full strut with tucked head, I blew off a significant part of his beard. It's been a very frustrating year to say the least with toms stuck to hens like glue.
Congrats man. Looks like you put us in the 500 club for the first time since I've been a member of this team. Way to go. If a few of you northern hunters could pull in another bird or 2 we would actually be in a very competitive spot . Not that it matters , but this would be the first time I can remember even in being in the ball park .
Congrats nice bird.
Great bird! I've been at my summer job and hadn't been on in a few day. Great job
Great bird! Congratulations!
Way to go turkey man. Just realized I forgot to type up my story. I still have to do that.
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Well as bad as I hate to say it I guess the aping fun is over and on to the heat lol. Guys it's been a great year for us and we've shared some good stories. Congratulations to everyone. I was a little late on some birds but I eventually got em, lol. Guys let's keep in touch, be safe, have fun and god bless.
I enjoy the stories and such as well, plus viewing the pics of team members' birds. Rooting for team members is fun! I had a very enjoyable season albeit somewhat limited due to no out-of-state hunts. Hopefully I'll rectify that next spring. Everyone have a safe and enjoyable summer.