Turkeys on my brain as we are getting closer to the best time of the year. What are some of the more out of the box things you have done while turkey hunting?
Showing a wing to a gobbler. Tried to make it look like a hen stretching her wing...He came... :fud:
Quote from: sixbird on January 21, 2019, 04:22:28 PM
Showing a wing to a gobbler. Tried to make it look like a hen stretching her wing...He came... :fud:
Have actually done that a number of times...
Busted up birds and called them back in....in the spring.
This past season I got to play puppet master. Was on a bald hill and the bird was gobbling on the other side of it. Poked my head over the top and seen him strutting just below. He hadn't moved for a hour or so. Took my hen decoy and held it above my head so he could see it and he started gobbling but wouldn't come. Then took my Jake and mounted him on the hen all above my head the whole time. His head turned red and he came running. Backed down on my knees real quick and the boy 12 year old boy I had with me shot him at about 10 yards. All we seen was his head like over the top and he let him have it.
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Used a plastic grocery bag to simulate the sound of leaf scratching.
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I have a "Wing Thing" I bought back in the late 90's and will beat it against my leg while doing a fly down cackle and then will scratch at the leaves to simulate landing and let out a couple of soft yelps. Have had decent luck doing that.
Not sure if it's out of the box or out of the mind, but...........
Was calling a bird for my buddy who was in from outta state. The bird just wanted to hang up down in a creek bottom. So I left my buddy's side and crawled about 75 yards up the hill on my belly and lips...............the whole 75 yards was a POISON IVY PATCH............to call from behind.
Long story short.............it worked and my buddy slammed him as he came looking for me.
Staying in the box. Ground blind I mean. Now I know some of you guys are gonna give me grief, hunting in a blind with decoys, oh my! I hunt only small pieces of river bottom public land and when it gets tuff, I have sat in my blind from before sunup and finally shot a bird 14 hours later. It is not my favorite way to hunt, but it can work.
And to make people feel better, I have found more land I'll be able to run and gun without decoys and I can't wait.
I will sometimes use a goose call to shock gobble birds. One private piece I hunt years ago a pair of low flying geese at daybreak flew by honking like crazy. Birds gobbled their buts off.
I once called one in and killed it. That's pretty abnormal.
Quote from: Happy on January 21, 2019, 08:10:38 PM
I once called one in and killed it. That's pretty abnormal.
:TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Quote from: Yoder409 on January 21, 2019, 07:31:09 PM
Not sure if it's out of the box or out of the mind, but...........
Was calling a bird for my buddy who was in from outta state. The bird just wanted to hang up down in a creek bottom. So I left my buddy's side and crawled about 75 yards up the hill on my belly and lips...............the whole 75 yards was a POISON IVY PATCH............to call from behind.
Long story short.............it worked and my buddy slammed him as he came looking for me.
I crawled through some a few years ago but thought I was ok because I didn't have any exposed skin......it soaked through my clothes and I got the worst case of poison ivy that I've ever had. I was covered from my chin to my ankles. I didn't even kill the bird so it was no where near worth it.
Encountered a bird that liked to strut in the middle of a fields each day, if you called he would gobble like crazy while promptly walking the opposite direction. Finally a buddy and split up and he went on one side and called and called while I used a ditch the sounds of his gobbles to get into position on the other side of the field I didn't pop up until his gobbles were inside 40yds. We called it a turkey drive
Quote from: fmf on January 22, 2019, 08:37:45 AM
Quote from: Yoder409 on January 21, 2019, 07:31:09 PM
Not sure if it's out of the box or out of the mind, but...........
Was calling a bird for my buddy who was in from outta state. The bird just wanted to hang up down in a creek bottom. So I left my buddy's side and crawled about 75 yards up the hill on my belly and lips...............the whole 75 yards was a POISON IVY PATCH............to call from behind.
Long story short.............it worked and my buddy slammed him as he came looking for me.
With poison Ivy you do not need expoised skin, its the oil from the plant that gets on something and then if you later on touch the oil you can get it. I am severely allergic to the stuff. Living in MN with snow on the ground, I had it one winter, figure some oil was on the fire wood when I brought it in.
Out of the box, one time calling for my brother had a flock hung up in valley. Tryed calling as crawled away didn't work, came back went out in front of him held out hen decoy and called. Then took decoy back down and crawled away and they came running. Next time it may not work.
I crawled through some a few years ago but thought I was ok because I didn't have any exposed skin......it soaked through my clothes and I got the worst case of poison ivy that I've ever had. I was covered from my chin to my ankles. I didn't even kill the bird so it was no where near worth it.
Quote from: Happy on January 21, 2019, 08:10:38 PM
I once called one in and killed it. That's pretty abnormal.
Ha ha thats good stuff.
I once called an eastern across a wide deep gorge, well after fly down time.It would have took me close to an hour to cross. I made my mind up I was going to him no matter what , but before I did, I went to the edge where it dropped off, called continuously while walking back and forth. Stopped calling and walked a few steps uphill and sat against a white pine. About 3 minutes later he flew across and practically in my lap.
I've killed a lot with the plastic bag trick mentioned earlier. Killed one while under a bath tub in Florida years ago. Almost killed one from an old army tank one time which was also in Florida, I needed him to take about 5 more steps, wish I could have pulled that off. Killed several by spitting and drumming with natural voice when nothing else would break them. Killed them by spooking hens off several times. I kill about a third of mine while I'm standing or on one knee. One of my favorites is when I put a GW buddy from Ohio under a big oak tree 80 yards out in a field where an old logging road entered a field. I told him I'd go another 100 yards or so on down the edge of the field on the logging road and watch. The bird entered the field and knew it should be able to see the hen in the field that had just been calling. After about 10 minutes of surveying the field and strutting he walked straight down the logging road to me and I killed him at about 15 steps while my buddy was doing everything he could to get the bird to turn around :TooFunny: I didn't feel bad about doing it either because he had killed a good one the previous morning while I watched. Come to think of it, I'm rarely in the box.
One year there was a bunch of hens with a gobbler in the middle of a pipeline in NY and no matter what I did, he naturally wouldn't leave them. I decided to try a fall tactic and just run towards them waving my arms and yelling. No BS and it must have been a heck of a sight. They flew in multiple directions. I quickly ran down the pipeline to where he flew into the woods and then moved about 100 yards further. After about 1 hour I started calling and he gobbled. With light yelping and patience, he came back in after about 20 mins and I killed him (assuming it was the same one). Very unique and won't be trying it again but I at least realized that anything is possible in the turkey woods
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eating oatmeal cookies ad crumbling up the wrapper loudly
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e328/reflex264/turkey%20hunting/turkey%20oatmeal_zps9xglvtf4.jpg)
Place I used to hunt had a huge wide open hillside pasture with just two pine trees near the ridge. A gobbler would go spend time in the shade of the shorter tree mid morning and hang out and strut in the open for most of the rest of the day. There was no way to get close because he'd see you coming quarter of a mile away. I noticed there was a slight depression between the two trees, just below the rise, but not deep enough to hide in. One night, after he'd left to go roost, I took an old burlap tobacco sheet, stretched it across the depression, and staked it down with pine sticks, then propped up the middle with a few green tree branches, making it right close to level. I covered the sheet with pine straw I'd raked up by the grove of tall pines on the far side of the pasture. About 2 hours before daylight the next morning, I crawled under that sheet and waited. I heard him gobble in the scrub woods by the creek and called to him. He got there earlier than usual and I busted him at 22 yards (thank god, I was already getting tired of holding my head straight out and my clothes were damp & cold from ground moisture) and he never knew what hit him. I still remember how bad the top of my collarbone hurt from shooting as I was flat on my belly, but I got him & it was totally worth the effort.
Jim
Very interesting thread!
I use the key key run in the early season to get a hen in with the gobbler usually fallowing behind. I have had that work a few times. Also I will kee kee to help locate a bird when nothing else will.
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Quote from: Drycreek on January 23, 2019, 03:24:58 PM
Very interesting thread!
Always nice picking up an idea here and there never know when it may come in handy.
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I took my daughter hunting when she was 3. Got to the woods late due to the 3 year old. She was still sitting in her car seat in the back, playing with the push button call all the way there, and while I was getting camo on, I hear multiple gobbles not far off, and coming in hot. Shot a bird that day while my 3 year old was calling, and standing in the middle of the 2 track road yelling at me to let me know there was birds right in front of me. That was a fun day, never forget it.
Quote from: Tattoo Dave on January 24, 2019, 03:44:58 PM
I took my daughter hunting when she was 3. Got to the woods late due to the 3 year old. She was still sitting in her car seat in the back, playing with the push button call all the way there, and while I was getting camo on, I hear multiple gobbles not far off, and coming in hot. Shot a bird that day while my 3 year old was calling, and standing in the middle of the 2 track road yelling at me to let me know there was birds right in front of me. That was a fun day, never forget it.
Priceless. Like hearing stuff like this
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Quote from: tomstopper on January 24, 2019, 04:28:28 PM
Quote from: Tattoo Dave on January 24, 2019, 03:44:58 PM
I took my daughter hunting when she was 3. Got to the woods late due to the 3 year old. She was still sitting in her car seat in the back, playing with the push button call all the way there, and while I was getting camo on, I hear multiple gobbles not far off, and coming in hot. Shot a bird that day while my 3 year old was calling, and standing in the middle of the 2 track road yelling at me to let me know there was birds right in front of me. That was a fun day, never forget it.
Priceless. Like hearing stuff like this
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Yes that is priceless. A memory you'll never forget.
Was hunting the Daniel Boone NF in Kentucky and heard multiple birds across a river two mornings in a row. Went to Wal-Mart and bought an inflatable raft and a paddle. The next morning I carried the raft in a mile and crossed the river. You can see the result below.
(https://i.imgur.com/NWmzXhp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4qYcwRM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZosrbE2.jpg)