Turkey season opened in my neck of the woods on Saturday. I'm not a serious turkey hunter, but I love hunting turkeys even though I'm cursed as a turkey hunter. Something always goes wrong when I'm about to seal the deal. This year I didn't do a ton of scouting but located areas with birds and planned on hitting them opening day.
There seems to be a perfect storm right now from the popularity of youtube hunting shows, onxmaps making it easier to know where to go, people reconnecting with nature as a result of covid, etc. That storm has created the most turkey hunting pressure I've ever seen. Everywhere I went opening weekend on public land had road hunters repeatedly jacking my setups up. I had one guy on his way to shooting my Jake decoy from the hood of his car before the other guy in the car called him off.
The other big incident was day 2 when I was set up on a saddle waiting to intercept two toms coming off of private onto public in the morning. Unfortunately, they had to cross a field and a road to get to me, and a blue truck was obviously eyeballing them, too. The truck drove by every 10 minutes for an hour until the birds started making their way for the public. I was 100yds into the woods off the road setting on the saddle glassing the birds to keep tabs on them, when I see the truck stop. A guy gets out with two young boys probably about 15. The boys load shotguns and run towards me into the woods. Dad gets back in the car and takes off. I whistle and wave at them repeatedly as they are running towards me and they almost get all the way to me before finally hearing me. They got close enough I could see the pure excitement in their eyes, and the heartbreak when they realized another hunter was already there. They turned and went to the road as the dad was circling back around. I could hear them say there is already someone else there, and the dad tell them, "who cares, get back in the woods and sit on the ground," before taking off again. The boys sat on the edge of the woods right by the road. The birds came through the saddle as planned and I was in the right spot, but didn't shoot for safety reasons and those boys being so close.
I thought about that all day, and regretted not giving up the spot for them. I had a chance to show them how a real sportsman should act in the woods instead of the bad influence of their dad, and I missed it.
I did some calling around and a friend had some turkeys changing out around his property every day. He said there is a giant Tom with two hens I couldn't shoot because his wife liked watching him, and 3 or 4 others that are fair game. I went there after work tonight and set up a feeding hen and a Jake decoy up and was barely sat down when I noticed a tom about 75yds away checking them out. He beelined straight at them, and I shot just as he was about to beat down my Jake decoy. It took me longer to change out of my work clothes into hunting clothes than the hunt lasted. Beard was 8.5" and spurs were just 3/4 and 5/8, but man, I'm really happy with this turkey and breaking my curse. Gonna use all the meat for a wild rice and turkey soup recipe I got from a friend, and saved most of the feathers for tying flies.
Turkey Curse Broken
- Trout
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Turkey Curse Broken
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- ZSV
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Congrats!
Let us know how that soup turns out!
Let us know how that soup turns out!
“I only live once, I will not die a coward “ - Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel
- greenhorndave
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Congrats Trout!
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Sometimes when things get tough, weird or both, you just need to remember this...
https://youtu.be/d4tSE2w53ts
Sometimes when things get tough, weird or both, you just need to remember this...
https://youtu.be/d4tSE2w53ts
- hunter_mike
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Congrats!
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
- backstraps
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
CONGRATULATIONS Trout!!! Awesome job and a dandy gobbler
Trout aside from your ups, downs, and success...I love this paragraph:
“ I thought about that all day, and regretted not giving up the spot for them. I had a chance to show them how a real sportsman should act in the woods instead of the bad influence of their dad, and I missed it.”
You are a good man, and a sportsman who still gets it!
You ever find your way down to my neck of the woods id be happy to share a hunt with you.
Trout aside from your ups, downs, and success...I love this paragraph:
“ I thought about that all day, and regretted not giving up the spot for them. I had a chance to show them how a real sportsman should act in the woods instead of the bad influence of their dad, and I missed it.”
You are a good man, and a sportsman who still gets it!
You ever find your way down to my neck of the woods id be happy to share a hunt with you.
- PK_
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
That’s awesome man. Congrats. I literally just ate a bowl of wild turkey soup
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Congratulations!!
Hoyt RX7 bow, and exodus broadheads
Beast stand and beast sticks.
Beast stand and beast sticks.
- Trout
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Thanks, guys. Feels good to get the monkey off my back.
Thanks, I would love to take you up on that some day, same offer hoes to you if you're ever in the great white north.
backstraps wrote:CONGRATULATIONS Trout!!! Awesome job and a dandy gobbler
Trout aside from your ups, downs, and success...I love this paragraph:
“ I thought about that all day, and regretted not giving up the spot for them. I had a chance to show them how a real sportsman should act in the woods instead of the bad influence of their dad, and I missed it.”
You are a good man, and a sportsman who still gets it!
You ever find your way down to my neck of the woods id be happy to share a hunt with you.
Thanks, I would love to take you up on that some day, same offer hoes to you if you're ever in the great white north.
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Re: Turkey Curse Broken
Congrats!
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