DallasK wrote:Killed 2 birds here in Nebraska so far.
April 2nd, 2022 killed a nice Tom with my bow.
May 1st, 2022 killed a double bearded Tom with the 12 gauge.
What a great spring! Onto deer season prep.
Congrats!
LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
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Moose
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Congrats!
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Andr3wxmma
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
So after tagging out fast in Wi (season 1). I decided to plan a 4 day trip to southern Indiana to try and help an Army buddy get his first bird / teach him the ropes of turkey hunting.
Thursday (Day 1) Nice brisk cool morning and mid 60s during the day I planned my drive through the night (sleep is overrated if you can go hunting instead). I got to his house around 4am to grab him and then we headed off to a spot we suspected there to be turkey's at but had 0 turkey scouting to go off. My buddy had gone out once with his grandfather when little and never got a bird so he was starting at square one. We posted up on a small open area and listened. Shortly we start to hear two birds firing off down near a marsh surrounded by some high ground on each side. We decided to go after the bird on the left because it seemed like the more huntable area or traversable ridge to stay above the bird. We go and cross a few small ridges listening and tracking the bird, when we got within about 150 yards I thought I heard putting in the next small ridge but not where the gobbles were coming from. After that the bird on that side went silent. So we decided to head towards the other bird whos now gobbling at every crow, owl, or stick that breaks. Exactly what you like to hear. Once we got within 150 yards I finally call to him with a yelp sequence and he replies after a few more sequences We decided to get closer because he's not coming closer. At this point i suspected he had called in a real hen because he was gobbling less and less. As we got closer we ran into a water obstacle but from our angle it looked like it may be crossable further down, so we start sneaking to that point. When we got close enough i decided to try him again, He would a gobble every couple calls but he wasn't moving and we decide to push closer/ get eyes on the potential marsh crossing. When we got about 20 yards from where i thought they could cross he was gobbling at the sound of us going through the woods. I look over across the water and he's full strut on a overhanging log gobbling(i could see a hen laying the edge of the cattails too) and I could shoot him easily with my setup at 50 yards and so could my buddy but the only problem is he has a big bush between him and the bird, When the bird turned and faced away we tried adjusting to get my buddy a shot and sometime during that we must have been busted because we never saw him again. My buddy was loving turkey hunting after this hunt and it seemed like we had a few good days ahead of us.
Friday It gets a little warmer 60 at night and 70s during the day, but we plan to go back to that area because we were unsuccessful in hearing a single gobble anywhere the night prior. We end up heading down closer to where the birds were and never hear a gobble or see any birds. We did do some deer scouting and learned the terrain both the birds were in. That night us and one of his other buddys who turkey hunts but if really new to it decided to scout / afternoon hunt/ roost a big ridgeline above a river we had deer hunted the year prior and ran into a ton of turkeys when doing it. I ended up calling a solo hen with clucks and scratching in the leaves and my buddy thought he spooked two birds but wasn't sure, not a single gobble was heard. We observed some scratching where we walked in(not super fresh) from but not much where we expected birds.
Saturday Hot again like 65 at night 80 during the day, We decided to go into that spot hoping to stay up on the high ridge and listen for gobbles, we should be able to hear one super far away. We ended up walking the whole ridge and then hopping into the river bottom to look for sign / deer scout and never heard or saw a turkey. We scouted another area I suspected turkeys but we only ever saw tracks in the mud in there. We then drove to a new spot to attempt to roost with a thunder storm rolling in. We had heard this area gets a ton of pressure so we held off on going there. A buddy of my friend told us about a spot he sees turkeys when deer hunting / scouting. I have my buddy drop me off at a spot with the guidance to hurry the back if the thunderstorm starts pouring. Right as I'm getting out of the truck i see a bird right in the field as i'm walking away from the truck and he's parked looking at onX for where he's going to go. The bird doesn't seem like it hasnt seen us or cares yet so i hide behind a pine tree. While this is going on a truck with a couple young guys drives by and start owl hooting and doing what i think was supposed to be a gobble and the bird flies.
. I still stay and roost the spot and observe a unknown turkey fly up about 150 yards away and thought I heard a distant gobble in response to some thunder but not enough to know for sure or even guess where it was. my buddy also sees a bird roost at his spot 400yards down the road but 0 gobbles.
Sunday We set up in the field I saw the bird fly up from and listen. We hear 2 distant gobbles near where my buddy rooster and then silence. After a while we decide to do a loop looking for the bird who gobbled and never heard him, we did spook a nested hen walking around, It's always fun when they flush at 5-10ft. I'm assuming the bird I had seen fly up was the hen and it got down and ran right to him. We went back to the house and I started to pack up my things for the long drive when my buddy decided he was going to cook up a good lunch before i hit the road. I decided to look at the weather and it was calling for 47 in the morning the next day and a barometric pressure of almost 31 (the previous days were around (28-29)) My buddy has to be at work at 9 on monday and i told him we should go out and if we get close to a bird on the roost we could have them dead by 730am and he'd still make work but he decided to play it safe. (probably didnt help the last 3 days weren't very eventful) but at this point it was late enough that it meant if i drove now id hit rush hour on my way back through Chicago so i decided im going to go out solo and give it a last chance before driving in the morning.
MondayI go back to where we had the birds fired up the first day i tried roosting the night prior but there was a lot of noise going on and i never heard a gobble. I get to a spot where i could hear either birds if they gobble. Shortly after first light i heard both birds going at it, I decide to go after the right side bird this time and due to our scouting in there i had a nice route picked out and could get there quietly and unseen. There was a lot of micro terrain of 10-20ft high by 5-10ft wide ridges on top of this steeeeep hill with tons of blow downs that all filter into the marsh. I went super slow and planned to get onto one of the micro ridges that lead right down to where he was on the log last time we were in there. When i got close to where i wanted to be i hit him with the "WHO WHO COOKS FOR YOu" and he tripled gobbled and i could tell he was close and still in his tree. The pines in the area had no lower branches but were fairly thickk up where the gobbles where coming from so i decide to slowly crawl on top of the mini ridge and i throw down a hen decoy in the one really visible spot to give him a distraction if he comes up the wrong mini ridge and i have to swing on him. I then sneak back down move 5-10 ft closer to the bird and crawl back up and setup against a big tree, it was wider than my shoulders but i had 0 front cover and im up high so i knew my only chance was if i could stay perfectly still when he comes in. He kept gobbling and gobbling from the tree, so eventually i do a quick mock wing fly down sound with my hat and follow it with a soft yelp and he immediately jumps from one tree to another and another tree about 50-60yards away where i can now see his feet. and then he glides down to 30 yards on my mini ridge and is full strut walking towards me. Luckily i had my gun shouldered and pre aimed perfectly and just had to squeeze the trigger. (if you like fans don't take a frontal on a strutted up bird) he immediately flopped in the low ground in-between the mini ridges and i run over to make sure he isn't going to get back up. I then pull him onto the ridge and take a picture to send my buddy it was 7:10am!!!
He was the smallest beard / spur non jake i've ever shot with only half inch spurs and a 5 inch beard but he was one of the most satisfying kills.
I gifted my buddy, some turkey shells for his gun, a push pull call, a face mask, and my cheap leafy suit i dont use and he plans to get back out there now especially after i got one.
I like the people of Southern Indiana because they're honest and we can relate on a lot of things unlike the city folks i deal with every day now but that also means a lot of them hunt! This was the hardest hunting for turkeys i've ever experienced in my short career, which i'm assuming a lot of it was due to the weather but these birds get hunted hard and don't talk at night like im used too(we observed a lot of coyote, bobcats, and other predators while there) there was around 10-15 trucks on every piece of public when we'd move spots around 9-10 most mornings and we only heard maybe 2 shots the entire time.
TLDR: Screw work, and always hunt when you can.
Thursday (Day 1) Nice brisk cool morning and mid 60s during the day I planned my drive through the night (sleep is overrated if you can go hunting instead). I got to his house around 4am to grab him and then we headed off to a spot we suspected there to be turkey's at but had 0 turkey scouting to go off. My buddy had gone out once with his grandfather when little and never got a bird so he was starting at square one. We posted up on a small open area and listened. Shortly we start to hear two birds firing off down near a marsh surrounded by some high ground on each side. We decided to go after the bird on the left because it seemed like the more huntable area or traversable ridge to stay above the bird. We go and cross a few small ridges listening and tracking the bird, when we got within about 150 yards I thought I heard putting in the next small ridge but not where the gobbles were coming from. After that the bird on that side went silent. So we decided to head towards the other bird whos now gobbling at every crow, owl, or stick that breaks. Exactly what you like to hear. Once we got within 150 yards I finally call to him with a yelp sequence and he replies after a few more sequences We decided to get closer because he's not coming closer. At this point i suspected he had called in a real hen because he was gobbling less and less. As we got closer we ran into a water obstacle but from our angle it looked like it may be crossable further down, so we start sneaking to that point. When we got close enough i decided to try him again, He would a gobble every couple calls but he wasn't moving and we decide to push closer/ get eyes on the potential marsh crossing. When we got about 20 yards from where i thought they could cross he was gobbling at the sound of us going through the woods. I look over across the water and he's full strut on a overhanging log gobbling(i could see a hen laying the edge of the cattails too) and I could shoot him easily with my setup at 50 yards and so could my buddy but the only problem is he has a big bush between him and the bird, When the bird turned and faced away we tried adjusting to get my buddy a shot and sometime during that we must have been busted because we never saw him again. My buddy was loving turkey hunting after this hunt and it seemed like we had a few good days ahead of us.
Friday It gets a little warmer 60 at night and 70s during the day, but we plan to go back to that area because we were unsuccessful in hearing a single gobble anywhere the night prior. We end up heading down closer to where the birds were and never hear a gobble or see any birds. We did do some deer scouting and learned the terrain both the birds were in. That night us and one of his other buddys who turkey hunts but if really new to it decided to scout / afternoon hunt/ roost a big ridgeline above a river we had deer hunted the year prior and ran into a ton of turkeys when doing it. I ended up calling a solo hen with clucks and scratching in the leaves and my buddy thought he spooked two birds but wasn't sure, not a single gobble was heard. We observed some scratching where we walked in(not super fresh) from but not much where we expected birds.
Saturday Hot again like 65 at night 80 during the day, We decided to go into that spot hoping to stay up on the high ridge and listen for gobbles, we should be able to hear one super far away. We ended up walking the whole ridge and then hopping into the river bottom to look for sign / deer scout and never heard or saw a turkey. We scouted another area I suspected turkeys but we only ever saw tracks in the mud in there. We then drove to a new spot to attempt to roost with a thunder storm rolling in. We had heard this area gets a ton of pressure so we held off on going there. A buddy of my friend told us about a spot he sees turkeys when deer hunting / scouting. I have my buddy drop me off at a spot with the guidance to hurry the back if the thunderstorm starts pouring. Right as I'm getting out of the truck i see a bird right in the field as i'm walking away from the truck and he's parked looking at onX for where he's going to go. The bird doesn't seem like it hasnt seen us or cares yet so i hide behind a pine tree. While this is going on a truck with a couple young guys drives by and start owl hooting and doing what i think was supposed to be a gobble and the bird flies.
. I still stay and roost the spot and observe a unknown turkey fly up about 150 yards away and thought I heard a distant gobble in response to some thunder but not enough to know for sure or even guess where it was. my buddy also sees a bird roost at his spot 400yards down the road but 0 gobbles.Sunday We set up in the field I saw the bird fly up from and listen. We hear 2 distant gobbles near where my buddy rooster and then silence. After a while we decide to do a loop looking for the bird who gobbled and never heard him, we did spook a nested hen walking around, It's always fun when they flush at 5-10ft. I'm assuming the bird I had seen fly up was the hen and it got down and ran right to him. We went back to the house and I started to pack up my things for the long drive when my buddy decided he was going to cook up a good lunch before i hit the road. I decided to look at the weather and it was calling for 47 in the morning the next day and a barometric pressure of almost 31 (the previous days were around (28-29)) My buddy has to be at work at 9 on monday and i told him we should go out and if we get close to a bird on the roost we could have them dead by 730am and he'd still make work but he decided to play it safe. (probably didnt help the last 3 days weren't very eventful) but at this point it was late enough that it meant if i drove now id hit rush hour on my way back through Chicago so i decided im going to go out solo and give it a last chance before driving in the morning.
MondayI go back to where we had the birds fired up the first day i tried roosting the night prior but there was a lot of noise going on and i never heard a gobble. I get to a spot where i could hear either birds if they gobble. Shortly after first light i heard both birds going at it, I decide to go after the right side bird this time and due to our scouting in there i had a nice route picked out and could get there quietly and unseen. There was a lot of micro terrain of 10-20ft high by 5-10ft wide ridges on top of this steeeeep hill with tons of blow downs that all filter into the marsh. I went super slow and planned to get onto one of the micro ridges that lead right down to where he was on the log last time we were in there. When i got close to where i wanted to be i hit him with the "WHO WHO COOKS FOR YOu" and he tripled gobbled and i could tell he was close and still in his tree. The pines in the area had no lower branches but were fairly thickk up where the gobbles where coming from so i decide to slowly crawl on top of the mini ridge and i throw down a hen decoy in the one really visible spot to give him a distraction if he comes up the wrong mini ridge and i have to swing on him. I then sneak back down move 5-10 ft closer to the bird and crawl back up and setup against a big tree, it was wider than my shoulders but i had 0 front cover and im up high so i knew my only chance was if i could stay perfectly still when he comes in. He kept gobbling and gobbling from the tree, so eventually i do a quick mock wing fly down sound with my hat and follow it with a soft yelp and he immediately jumps from one tree to another and another tree about 50-60yards away where i can now see his feet. and then he glides down to 30 yards on my mini ridge and is full strut walking towards me. Luckily i had my gun shouldered and pre aimed perfectly and just had to squeeze the trigger. (if you like fans don't take a frontal on a strutted up bird) he immediately flopped in the low ground in-between the mini ridges and i run over to make sure he isn't going to get back up. I then pull him onto the ridge and take a picture to send my buddy it was 7:10am!!!
He was the smallest beard / spur non jake i've ever shot with only half inch spurs and a 5 inch beard but he was one of the most satisfying kills.
I gifted my buddy, some turkey shells for his gun, a push pull call, a face mask, and my cheap leafy suit i dont use and he plans to get back out there now especially after i got one.
I like the people of Southern Indiana because they're honest and we can relate on a lot of things unlike the city folks i deal with every day now but that also means a lot of them hunt! This was the hardest hunting for turkeys i've ever experienced in my short career, which i'm assuming a lot of it was due to the weather but these birds get hunted hard and don't talk at night like im used too(we observed a lot of coyote, bobcats, and other predators while there) there was around 10-15 trucks on every piece of public when we'd move spots around 9-10 most mornings and we only heard maybe 2 shots the entire time.
TLDR: Screw work, and always hunt when you can.
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DallasK
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Moose wrote:DallasK wrote:Killed 2 birds here in Nebraska so far.
April 2nd, 2022 killed a nice Tom with my bow.
May 1st, 2022 killed a double bearded Tom with the 12 gauge.
What a great spring! Onto deer season prep.
Congrats!
Thank you!
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dan
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Incoming
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Andr3wxmma
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
dan wrote:Incoming20220504_161308.jpg
look forward to the video
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greenhorndave
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
dan wrote:Incoming20220504_161308.jpg
It looks like his time on earth is outgoing
----------
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
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Autiger
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Blew my shot this morning trying with the bow for the first time ever. Took someone up on their suburban private land. Put an arrow through one but must have been all breast and no vitals, but he was walking around for hours after with his running buddy. Got a photo from the landowner 3hrs after the shot. I’m giving it another try tomorrow, but picked up Magnus Bullheads this evening and took some shots in the basement. 10-15 yards and his head will come off.
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Specter
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Just shot my first ever turkey,Michigan public land run and gun, that was such a rush! A hunt I will not forget.
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Andr3wxmma
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Specter wrote:Just shot my first ever turkey,Michigan public land run and gun, that was such a rush! A hunt I will not forget.
Awesome first bird, Welcome to the addiction!
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Chad Gus 715
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
26 pounds, 11.25 inch beard and 1.125 inch spurs, opening day of 3rd season in Wisconsin
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equal opportunity hunter
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Specter
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Andr3wxmma wrote:Specter wrote:Just shot my first ever turkey,Michigan public land run and gun, that was such a rush! A hunt I will not forget.
Awesome first bird, Welcome to the addiction!
Thank you!
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Andr3wxmma
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Chad Gus 715 wrote:26 pounds, 11.25 inch beard and 1.125 inch spurs, opening day of 3rd season in Wisconsin 20220504_192142.jpg
thats one big bird, Congrats!
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Moose
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Specter wrote:Just shot my first ever turkey,Michigan public land run and gun, that was such a rush! A hunt I will not forget.
Congrats!
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Moose
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Chad Gus 715 wrote:26 pounds, 11.25 inch beard and 1.125 inch spurs, opening day of 3rd season in Wisconsin 20220504_192142.jpg
Heck of a bird! Congrats!
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greenhorndave
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Re: LIVE from the (turkey) Field - 2022
Moose wrote:Chad Gus 715 wrote:26 pounds, 11.25 inch beard and 1.125 inch spurs, opening day of 3rd season in Wisconsin 20220504_192142.jpg
Heck of a bird! Congrats!
What the Moose said!
----------
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
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