TreesuitSC
5 year old buck +
How is everyone's turkey season going?
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Turkey Season
- Thread starter TreesuitSC
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
You're a bit ahead of us. We had youth weekend last weekend but I didn't get a chance to take out a kid this year. Our season starts this coming Saturday. I've got a buddy who is working his way north. He killed 1 or 2 (can't remember which) in Florida but heard nothing but rain in GA.
Thanks,
Jack
Thanks,
Jack
nchunter1989
5 year old buck +
Youth week opened last week here in NC as well & regular season starts Saturday, it'll be my first year actually turkey hunting. I'm fired up,last several mornings as I drive to my jobs I'm seeing flocks & toms struttin'. Excited about our property, I think I posted the pic last yr, but had around 20 birds in Dec.First time we have had that many on the property in the 5-6 yrs I've managed it. Not sure how much of that was due to the flooding from the hurricanes last yr pushing them outta the swamps, also saw some bobcats up in the foodplots, thinking they were following the birds.
Did get permission today to hunt a property 10-15 mins away from ours, land owner told me he has 30/50 birds out in the fields last few weeks.. Yeah I'm ready lol.
Did get permission today to hunt a property 10-15 mins away from ours, land owner told me he has 30/50 birds out in the fields last few weeks.. Yeah I'm ready lol.
TreesuitSC
5 year old buck +
So thankful! Got #2 this morning. The birds were on fire.
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Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
Nice bird! I'm still a few weeks away from opening morning.
TreesuitSC
5 year old buck +
Thank you!
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
No luck for me yet. There were too many guests hunting our farm opening day so I went elsewhere. They killed two longbeards off the farm. Little gobbling for me hunting the farm the last few days. We have at least 3 longbeards left using the farm. They seem to be roosting close to hens and are well occupied.
Thanks,
Jack
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Finally closed the deal today:
Interesting experience. I was hunting from a blind. Heard one faint gobble very early from the roost from a long way off. After fly-down time, I started making soft feeding calls. I did this off and on for about 45 minutes. Finally a hen came walking up the road and passed my blind within 5 yards just feeding along. I started making some soft feeding calls to try to hold her, but eventually she fed on by and out of sight. With nothing going, I decided to do about a minute of aggressive calling and then shut up. About 15 minutes later I saw a longbeard and jake walking down the same logging road toward my blind that the hen did. The gobbler was on an intentional pace. The jake lagged behind feeding along the way.
When the gobbler hit 50 yards it was like he ran into an invisible wall. He came to a dead stop and went into strut. When no hen appeared, after a few minutes, he made one soft gobble and continued strutting. I stayed quiet. About a minute later he started gobbling his head off and strutting. He did this for the next half hour and never moved more than 3 yards from that original spot. Meanwhile the jake fed up to me and presented a 20 yard shot. After a bit, he turned and fed back toward the gobbler. Eventually, I lost sight of the jake. He must have fed into the pines. Finally, the gobbler came out of strut and began feeding in my direction. He was at 30 yards when I shot him. He ended up being a 3 year old with spurs slightly over 1".
Only in a blind could have I remained unseen without moving for that long. I don't know how many times in the past, when I've been hunting without a blind I've called in gobblers that stopped at 50 yards and gobbled their heads off and then never appeared.
I've got pictures of 5 different longbeards using our farm and this was the third one to bite the dust and the season isn't a week old yet.
Thanks,
Jack
Interesting experience. I was hunting from a blind. Heard one faint gobble very early from the roost from a long way off. After fly-down time, I started making soft feeding calls. I did this off and on for about 45 minutes. Finally a hen came walking up the road and passed my blind within 5 yards just feeding along. I started making some soft feeding calls to try to hold her, but eventually she fed on by and out of sight. With nothing going, I decided to do about a minute of aggressive calling and then shut up. About 15 minutes later I saw a longbeard and jake walking down the same logging road toward my blind that the hen did. The gobbler was on an intentional pace. The jake lagged behind feeding along the way.
When the gobbler hit 50 yards it was like he ran into an invisible wall. He came to a dead stop and went into strut. When no hen appeared, after a few minutes, he made one soft gobble and continued strutting. I stayed quiet. About a minute later he started gobbling his head off and strutting. He did this for the next half hour and never moved more than 3 yards from that original spot. Meanwhile the jake fed up to me and presented a 20 yard shot. After a bit, he turned and fed back toward the gobbler. Eventually, I lost sight of the jake. He must have fed into the pines. Finally, the gobbler came out of strut and began feeding in my direction. He was at 30 yards when I shot him. He ended up being a 3 year old with spurs slightly over 1".
Only in a blind could have I remained unseen without moving for that long. I don't know how many times in the past, when I've been hunting without a blind I've called in gobblers that stopped at 50 yards and gobbled their heads off and then never appeared.
I've got pictures of 5 different longbeards using our farm and this was the third one to bite the dust and the season isn't a week old yet.
Thanks,
Jack
ksgobbler
5 year old buck +
I called in 2 hens about 1030 yesterday that got as close as 8 ft. I was trying to be stealthy so my pics arent the best. They hung around for 45 min. Ive got a gobbler just NE of the house I will be chasing here shortly.
Oh and one Arkansas hunter thinking about tresspassing yesterday.
Oh and one Arkansas hunter thinking about tresspassing yesterday.
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
Walking in at 5:45 this morn I unfortunately walked underneath 3 hens and a tom. Got right up on them before making them out. The 3 hens (I think they were) were eager to fly out but the 4th wanted to sit it out. I didn't know what to do at that point. Took a few more steps and he hopped down 6' to a lower limb where he then flew out. Could make out a nice long beard in the faint light. IL allows shooting at roosted birds after 7:00 am. Sat 3 more spots in the wind. Couldn't hear any calling and nothing probably heard me.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
When I flush hens from the roost, I immediately sit down. I've killed lots of gobblers that way over the years. Quite often gobblers will roost in a well protected spot where their gobbles can be heard for a long distance but hens will often roost close by. Gobblers remember where those hens roosted from the evening before as they fly up. They are expecting them to be there. When entering well before light, the gobblers don't know exactly what you are, deer, coyote, whatever until you get very close. While they heard hens fly, they don't know why or how many. They will sometimes delay gobbling from the roost. I don't call to them in a case like this. I simply wait until about sun rise and scratch in the leaves. They usually elicits a gobble. Once I know where the gobbler is, I can decide if I need to rotate around the tree I'm sitting against or if I need to and can move a few yards for a better setup. I do very little if any calling at that point. More often than not, the gobble will come within shooting distance to strut.
I've never been able to plan and execute this, but when I flush hens by accident, I have high confidence that even if I don't hear a single gobble, I'll eventually have a gobbler in range.
The strategy often works when I flush a gobbler accidently too. I'll just sit down there. Often, there are hens nearby that I have not flushed. Sometimes they will go to him immediately when he gobbles from his landing location after he settles down, but sometimes they will just feed around their normal area and he will come back looking for them without gobbling. While even with my hearing aids, I can't hear a spit and drum from more than 20 yards away, hens can hear it from a much longer distance. Gobblers that have been flushed can be unsettled and reluctant to gobble, but they will still spit and drum as they strut to attract hens.
Again, it doesn't always work (nothing does), but I've had good success with it over the years.
Thanks,
Jack
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
I had opening day success! I heard a lot of gobbles from the get go. I saw 3 toms and 8 hens right off the bat. I called and I chased some around with no luck early on. I ended up resorting to aggressive tactics to get one mid-day. It was one of the most exciting turkey hunts I've been on and was able to film it too. I was excited about this one!
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Congrats on the bird. I don't mean to be critical, but no turkey is worth that level of danger to me. I know scoot-n-shoot is fits in with the extreme sports of today's generation, but it is a risk we strongly advise against in our hunter safety classes. Just the other day I talked to a guy who missed a turkey at 175 yards with a .270. While hunting spring gobbler is not illegal in my state, it is not my kind of turkey hunting, but that is just my preference. Whether hunting with a rifle is legal in your state or not and even if you are hunting private land, there are plenty of poachers who are not above trespass and using a rifle.
While I know it is popular with some, hiding behind a turkey fan is like carrying a buck through the woods over your shoulders.
I have no ethical issues with that style, of turkey hunting but I certainly have great safety concerns. My purpose here is not to criticize you. I don't know all the factors involved. It is simply to warn others of the danger.
Best of luck,
Jack
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
Jack, I appreciate your concerns. No, hunting turkeys with a rifle is not legal. I was hunting on private land. I saw my target. I was in the wide open with the nearest trees 100 or more yards away (well outside of shotgun range). The grass is 2 inches tall. There was no place for any other hunter (I was alone) or a poacher to hide. Besides all that, I walked with a fan in my vest, until I got to the top of the hill. I assure you the risk level was very low. I don't always reap/fan/scoot & shoot. However, I see absolutely nothing wrong ethically, morally, or otherwise when done in certain safe circumstances. It's no different than hunting next to a decoy or walking with a harvested turkey. There's an inherent level of risk getting out of bed, driving a vehicle, taking medicine, climbing a tree stand, loading a gun, using a decoy, fanning or doing any number of things. I felt well within the acceptable level of risk in this hunt. I can understand why you might not choose to fan a turkey though. It's not everyone's cup of tea. That said, I think it can be done and I did do it in a safe manner. I do appreciate your concern though. I know it wasn't meant to be ill intended.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Sounds like to did that style of hunting as safe as it can be done. But you never know when a poacher is sitting in the woods 100 plus yards away with a .270. There is inherent risk in all we do. And as I said, my intent was to warn others that this is significantly risker as a general turkey hunting strategy. The class we teach includes a section on decoy placement safety. For hunting in the woods, he hunter chooses a tree wider than his back if possible. He wraps blaze orange around the tree he is sitting against. The decoy is place near another tree so that it can not be seen by an approaching hunter because the view is blocked by a tree if the approaching hunter comes in straight. If he comes in at an angle and shoots at the decoy, the hunter is not in a direct line. For field hunting, if a blind is not sitting out in an open field very obvious to a human, we recommend placing blaze orange material on it. Blaze orange does not bother turkeys at all but if a hunter is wearing it, it makes his movement more obvious and the movement of a hunter is what will end a turkey hunt. Placing the blaze orange around the tree above you or on your blind does not give you away to a turkey but makes you much more visible to a hunter.
And like most folks, on occasion I do things I would not recommend to others. Usually I get away with it unharmed, but on occasion I pay for my arrogance with time recovering rather than hunting.
By the way, that was and amazing job of self-video. I find it challenging to self-video a turkey hunt even from a fixed position!
Thanks,
jack
blueKYstream
5 year old buck +
I don't think I've seen anyone use hunter orange on a turkey hunt, except for a flap on their vest after a bird has been tagged or perhaps on the backside of a blind. That's interesting! I'll consider that for sure when my daughter is old enough to hunt if nothing else. I've hunted my farm for going almost 20 years. I have not even heard a shot during turkey season outside of me or a friend I've brought. It doesn't seem to interest most people around me for whatever reason. Deer and perhaps raccoons are another ballgame though. It's like WWIII when those come around.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Yes, different places and environments have different levels of risk. Sounds like you are in a generally safe area for spring gobbler anyway. Here is the cover slide from our class. It shows an example of using blaze orange for spring gobbler. It is not legally required in our state but highly recommended.
I think the picture was actually taken during a fall turkey hunt but we do the same for spring. Just a picture to go with the description.
Thanks,
Jack
