My First Spring Turkey Season: things I learned

[rkm456]

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Hey Folks, I've lurked on this site, for a little while, and used it as an info source several times since taking up the hobby, and it seems like a really great site you guys have here.

First a little about myself. I've taken up the sport at the ripe young age of 30. Turkey hunting is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid and I'd watch the Sunday morning hunting shows on what was then TNN, and last year, this year, I decided to finally get my ducks (turkeys?) in a row and get down to it.

Before beginning, I also need to take a minute to thank my fiancee for being amazingly understanding, patient, and supportive of me in this endeavor. It's more than I think any man could ever ask for from his future wife, and she doesn't bat an eye at any of my stupidity.

Opening day I set out. A little later than I'd like to have been out, but I work until 2 in the morning so being in the bush at 4 isn't always the most realistic option. Nevertheless, I was out and I was hunting. Unfortunately, I don't have private land to hunt, so I'm just in sucky publicly used timber, but at least I know there are turkey in there, and being out Friday morning meant I had the woods all to myself. The farther into the bush I trekked, the more I realized how heavy my Mossberg felt with it's 28 inch barrel.

Finally I found a nice little clearing and figured this spot is as good as any. Set up my lonely single hen decoy and found a nice large tree to sit in front of. I called, and I waited. I called, and I waited. I called, and I waited. After a little while something amazing happened. The woods came alive. Squirrels gathering and collecting, birds foraging and moving tree to tree. It was a very cool feeling to be in the woods with nature entirely going on around you, just being an observer. Nevertheless, opening day came and went without me filling a tag.

A few days later I was able to get back out for a few hours mid morning. As I crossed the road and entered onto the path I normally traveled, I quickly noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was about 150 yards away, and from there I couldn't see if it had a beard, but it was turkey, of that I'm 100% sure. I froze as to not scare it away. I stood motionless until it slowly sauntered into the brush. From there I decided to head around the area where I saw it go into the brush in an attempt to head it off rather than go direct and scare the daylights out of him. Once into the brush, I found a nice little clearing, and could swear I felt a set of eyes on me. So that was where I set up. After a few hours I had to be going if I were going to make it to work on time, and as I came out of the brush from approximately where he'd gone in when I first saw him. There he was. Standing where I was when I'd first seen him that morning. It took us 2 hours, but we'd switched places. Another day Mr turkey, another day.

3 days to season close: Another mid morning hunt. Today I decided to follow the trail in even farther than usual, something just gave me the feeling I was headed in the right direction. After about 15 minutes of walking I found a plethora of turkey tracks. Couldn't be anymore than a few hours old because it had rained the night before. I quickly let out a few clucks and yelps with my mouth call, and I heard a gobble come back. Excited and terrified all at the same time, I quickly knelt down in hope the bird would come my way to investigate. Another call, then another gobble. Then a lot of brush rustling and a horse whinnying. What the hell?

Turns out he was on his way to me, but came across some people riding their horses on his way (public land at its best) they scared the crap out of him, and he was long gone.

Last day of turkey season: Got into place about 9, set up a decoy and just relaxed. The weather was beautiful, my thermacell was doing it's job keeping the ferocious mosquitoes away, and I was able to just sit and reflect, something that occurred to me while sitting there isn't something we take time to do anymore. I realized that all the time I'd spent in the woods by myself this spring had helped me to improve many facets of my day to day life, if for no other reason than it really gave me time to dissect the mundane details that make up life and let me reflect on what was really important, and what wasn't. To say I had frustrating days would be an understatement, and I might not have filled my tag, but I think at the end of the day, the other things I was able to take away from the experience will prove more valuable than a turkey on the smoker (although that's still my ultimate goal)

Other things I learned:

Decoys: The cheap foam roll up ones don't work. The lucky duck feeding hen doesn't work. The better foam ones with the nicely painted rubber heads also don't work. The lucky duck did however draw in 4 dirtbikers. One of whom drove over the decoys jerk string ripping it in half.

Camo: Whichever one you use, it doesn't work. Mossy Oak infinity. Realtree AP, Max 1, Max 4. None of it. The turkeys didn't even care if it the camo was Under Armour.

Calls: I have a thing for wood working, so I'm a big fan of turkey calls. Pot call, box calls, doesn't matter, I love them. I haven't found a waterproof box call that I thought sounded very true to life, and my Turkey thugs lil' big time stopped working after about it's second day, but I've since purchased replacements. I'm also not so sure how much sound quality matters because from what I can tell, like decoys and camo, they don't work.

Seating: A cheap lightweight, tripod stool is one of man's greatest inventions. It lets you be up off the wet ground just enough to be comfortable for hours on end while waiting for your equipment that doesn't work.

Thermacell: This isn't just one of man's greatest inventions, it might be the greatest invention. I went from eaten alive, to not a single bite with the flip of a switch. I've heard some people say they don't work, but it definitely worked for me.

Shotgun barrel length: 20 inches carries a lot better than 28. If you aren't going to shoot it anyways, might as well make it easy to carry.

In conclusion, between now and next season, I will be buying more decoys, more calls, and more camo, because clearly what I have now is broken.

Thanks for having me on your site, thanks for reading, and be safe out there. Happy Hunting.

[rkm456]

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By the way guys, comments are welcome, and it's meant to tongue in cheek. It's ok to laugh at me, lol.

[FL-Boss]

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Camo is little overrated but helpful.  Turkeys don't really care... it's movement that catches their eye.  My advice...  make sure you are 100% comfortable when you are set up. traveling light will also help.  Most don't need the 10 calls and 20lbs of other gear hanging off us. Use decoys less than you think you should... same for calling. More..more...more... is not always better....   

Move S L O W.... take your time, there is no rush.  I killed just has many turkeys walking to and from my spot than sitting in my actual spot.

you will be hooked for life once that big tom shows up gobbling 20 yards from you..

[trkehunr93]

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Sounds like you have the right attitude!  FL-Boss is right about the camo, its the movement they see more than anything.  Knew of an old timer that wore a gray work coat and gray work pants when he spring hunted, this of course was before all the camo options we have nowadays.  He killed alot of turkeys too!  I was thinking this past spring about how heavy my vest has become in 20+ years of turkey hunting.  The first spring bird I killed I had a cushion to sit on, a couple of mouth calls that all I could do was yelp with, a lynch box, a glass call, two strikers, a trumpet call, 6-7 shells (4 were in my gun), a water bottle and some snacks.  I know now with everything I carry it has to way 15-20 lbs, RIDICULOUS!  I say go as light as you can and unless you want to become a call collector, keep it simple in the call dept.  If you pay attention to turkeys, they rarely call as much as we do as hunters. The cluck, IMO, is the deadliest call a hunter can use.  Most of the time when turkeys are close they let out a cluck to let you know there here.

[rkm456]

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Thanks for the info guys. I've definitely slogged through the brush enough to have learned the value of traveling light. When I go out, I'll carry a couple mouth call, 2 box calls (one good one, one waterproof) My rain suit that is extremely light, and packs up really small (the weatherman isn't known for his accurate forecasts) 1-3 decoys depending on what kind of spread I plan on running that day, a laser range finder and something to drink and maybe some snacks depending on how long I plan to be out.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a turkey vest (and retiring my carry on luggage hunting bag) but I think a good backpack would serve me better. Any thoughts on the real world advantages of a proper turkey vest over a good back pack?

[SCGobbler]

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Welcome to the obsession!
 

So, I was in the same boat your in several years ago... 1989 and I have been doing it ever since.  Self taught, self schooled, self broken, etc...

It was a learning experience that took me 6 years to kill my first, and that was 6 years of hard core schooling.

Hang in there and it will happen.  Resources like this were not around in 1989.

All I had was Field & Stream, a Ben Rogers Lee Tape, a Primos tape, and a Paul Butski tape.  ALl but the Ben Rogers Lee Tape have been damaged, Lost, etc...

[rkm456]

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Obsession is right...

3 weeks out from the close of season, and those birds are still about all I ever think about. I'm already planning for next spring. Not sure if I'll bother with our fall season as it only goes 12 days, the tag is the same price as the much longer spring season, and if you don't fill one of your tags, it doesn't carry over to the next season even if in the same calendar year. But i digress, I'm already working on a new decoy spread, looking for a dedicated turkey gun, and researching turkey vests (or at least a good backpack)

[Gobblers_nightmare]

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Been there myself, so I'll offer my two cents.
There is nothing like time in the woods.  Even my wife is ready for me to go by the time season rolls around.  Actually, she's always been great about it, and I take the whole season.
I think camo is important, but the needs are vastly different between early and late season here in Ohio.  I don't put on the Obsession until the leave are coming out well.  And I ALWAYS try to put something between me and the bird, never out in the open against a tree unless I put out a short blind.  Even then I'll try to put some brush around it.  The more layers the bird has to look through, the less chance it has of picking you out.
I started with a backpack, and much prefer the vest.  Put everything you need in it, then take half back out and leave it.
I use a short foldout web seat, the HS Strut Seat, I prefer being closer to the ground than the tripod seat allows.
I agree on the short barrel, and it's much easier to get through the brush.  If you've just got a bead on the barrel do be careful to keep your head down.  It is all too easy to raise your head to get that better look, raise the bead to the bird, and shoot over it's head.  Think about rifle sights or a red dot.  I love the FastFire III mounted on the SpeedBead.
Try to master a diaphragm call.  Much easier for you if you need to make a soft cluck or purr while you've got your gun up.
I hunt a lot of public land, and try to roost birds.  But if I don't get the bird in off the roost I'll start to run and gun.
I've heard the thermacell works for some, glad to hear it works for you.  I may give it a try, maybe it'll keep the gnats and flies away. 
If you don't use permethrin on your clothes, you really should.  The availability of permethrin has made my time in the woods much more enjoyable.  I give ticks the briefest of thoughts anymore.
Good luck this season.

[rkm456]

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As an update for you fine folks, who may or may not still care (thanks for pretending that you do). Turkey season starts on the 27th of April here. I'm armed with some new equipment for this season. An Avian X strutter, and a breeder hen are going to be added to the roster along side the returning Lucky Duck feeder. A Patternmaster Anaconda choke tube was added to the Mossy's 20 inch barrel, and although I'm confident that a turkey on the business end of it will be a dead one; I'm still not as happy as I'd like to be with the pattern itself. So although I'm confident enough in it to take it into the woods with me, I'm still looking for the perfect setup. A few more shells to test out, and a little more time at the range is required for me to be happier with the setup. I was also able to add a turkey vest to the lineup, which I'm super excited about. I'd previously been hesitant about turkey vests simply because of what they cost compared to a good backpack, where a backpack typically has many more uses. However a trip to a local sporting goods store and I was able to find a Primos Strap vest for 40 bucks (about 30 bucks in USD) so I jumped on it.

I've been contemplating a Burris Fastfire for a while, only reason I haven't ordered one, or a ghost ring set for the 500, is that my financial resources are finite regarding hunting gear. So they need to be spaced out, and I need to try to prioritize where I think the money is best spent. I'm currently happy enough with my setup that I can confidently go into the turkey woods this spring, there are however a few things, like a new sight, I'd like to add. Small things here and there I can sneak by, but larger items and the wife notices,    Yes, my wonderful fiancee became my wonderful wife over the winter. Another reason resources haven't been 100% dedicated to turkey season preparation 

As always thanks for reading, any advice is welcome. Most importantly be safe out there, and happy hunting.

[rkm456]

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Well folks, after some preseason scouting it looks like my white whale is still in the neighborhood, and he's grown...

Can't wait for Monday.

[Sevenyearsandcounting]

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Hey stick to it. As a hunter that hasn't gotten a turkey in ten seasons and I'm still somehow going......You will never have to wait as long as me to get one trust me.

[Capt. Cane]

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thanks for sharing, enjoyed the read

[thunderbirder]

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Great story. I can relate as I am also 30 and about to go on my first turkey hunt, starting on the 25th. I already went scouting on my friend's property and spotted a flock of 15 hens, 5 big strutters and about 4 jakes, 175 yards from the farm road, out in the open field, surrounded by patches of trees.
I have been totally obsessed with the world of turkey hunting for the past couple of months. I got all my gear, practice my calls for 3 hours a day (that Crystal mistress is great), and I am on my 3rd Tom Kelly book.
 I will return in a couple of days for another scout. This time I will wait until nightfall to see where the turkeys fly to (the roost).
Have a great season,
Al

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[Jmbradt3873]

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Well, you definitely sound like you're addicted now. Be safe. Have fun and good luck.

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[tha bugman]

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Keep your Boss Hen happy and the rest will be gravy


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