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A little luck this morning in the turkey woods. No goobling heard from roost or early morning. At about 8:45, I fired one up with some excited clucking&cutting. He sounded off so distant, I wasn't actually sure he responded to me or just a coincidental gobble way off. I then did some yelps and got no response. So to test if he had responded to me, I tried clucking and cutting again. He gobbled and sounded like he was a little closer, but still a ways off, so I gave a few reassurance clucks and purrs, then put down the pot call and waited for him to hopefully show up. After about 10 minutes and not hearing or seeing anything, I got nervous when some crows sounded off in the area and he didn't shock gobble at them. So, I decided to cut again to see if he was still in the area. I gave a series of clucks and cutting and he hammered right back with 2 gobbles and was now really close. After a few minutes I could hear him walking in the leaves and he let out a massive gobble right behind me...Love that sound, close up! I could hear him thumping going in and out of strut behind me and then he finally came into view, but walking on the wrong side of me. He walked by my right side at about 7 yds and I knew there was no way I could turn on him for a shot. I figured to let him go by me and turn for a shot if I got a chance when his head went behind a tree. But then, he caught sight of my decoys (jake with 2 hens) to my left and he crossed in front of me at about 10 yards, heading to the decoys. He strutted around the decoys for about 30 seconds and I was able to get the gun in position when his head was blocked by his fan. When I shot him he was standing right next to my jake decoy at about 15 yards. What an exciting hunt! About 1" spurs and about a 9.25" beard.

Found these birds yesterday afternoon while scouting a recent land swap of public. He gobbled a bunch from the tree down in a swamp and I got in to about 100yds and setup. Once it got light I could hear hens so I moved and got in between them and him. Once I heard him fly down I made a few soft yelps on the diaphragm and that’s all it took. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Built a shed over the weekend 8 x 12 board and batten with corrugated metal roof, made with rough cut from a local Mill.

I had 4 jakes come in silently to my decoys this morning. Hopefully they will make it to next year and be Longbeards. It was fun watching one of the jakes attack my Jake decoy. valoroutdoors.com

They seem to have lockjaw down here in Dogpatch....Two jakes came in early opening morning and my Canadian guest killed one of them.... Second morning we heard nada on the same property, so this morning I took him on a tour of the best gobbler country that I know....Perfect quiet conditions and not a peep...I did a bunch of calling to try to raise a gobble, but had no response.. I told him that sometimes I could INSPIRE a bird to gobble, but I could not FORCE them to gobble if they don't want to...

Well here's the latest update on Gunner. I've been turkey hunting the last 3 mornings and working with Gunner after I'm done hunting. He has been coming along fine. He had no problem going into water for retrieves but would not go in over his head. I would not force him under any circumstances and remained patient. Yesterday he broke the ice and went into deep water and made a retrieve on his own. Gunner will be 4 months old on May 5 and I am proud of him. valoroutdoors.com

My trigger pulling for spring of 22 is a wrap. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My fault guys my buddy won't be able to snag these, apparently kids swimming lessons are more important then food plot seeds, what a jerk. Thanks for the opportunity Goofiser.

Finally got into some fish today. Unfortunately they where out of reach for my fly cast. They where hitting a big yellow/black rooster tail they wouldn’t hit anything else. Had a blast until I snagged a stick floating by and lost the lure. I kept two for lunch tomorrow. Question for the fly guys if there hitting a one inch rooster tail would a yellow streamer work? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My darn gobblers would not commit . They would start to come then get to the water and go back. bill would call they would come back to the waters edge then go away . Ughhhh these birds . Lots of fun had a couple of hens wonder by . That was cool . My heart was thumping so fast My arm was starting to cramp . Was getting ready to scare the he'll out of them if they didn't move on lolol

Although I was off work today I didn’t hunt. I had some things I had to get done and a 3:30am wake up, 50 minute ride down to my closest spot wasn’t going to work out for me. That spot isn’t what it used to be….what used to be 1000+ acres broke up over a couple miles is down to a couple hundred acres in one chunk. I still have good access in Ontario County and Livingston but that’s a 75 minute ride minimum. This is my 41 year hunting spring gobblers and the “fire” just isn’t burning as bright as it once did. Some years I’d hunt 20/31 mornings then come home and then go to work if it was a weekday. I hunted Sunday and heard some gobbling and it was exciting. Here’s a beauty from May 26, 2005…..wish my knees still bent like that.

I’ve set up on birds every morning so far. They seem to fly down and head the opposite way. Hens! I walked 6 miles the first day, 4 miles yesterday and 5 today. No late morning gobbles. All I have to show for is this dead head.

Fun opener. 2 Jakes and a Tom flew down on me while I was still setting up. The Tom walked away but the Jakes proceeded to molest my hen decoy before getting in a massive brawl that brought them less than 5 yards from me. I thought they were going to step on me. They eventually walked away. After the show they put on I decided to spare them. Plus that big Tom was gobbling his head off over the ridge. I managed to bring him in 3 different times but he outsmarted me. I couldn’t get a shot off. He was stunning. Fired up. White head. Looked like a vampire. Day 2 was uneventful... pulled a tick off me.

If we were listing reasons A through G why some are against full inclusion and tallying up all the answers, I actually think that's closer to G than it is to A. But in this vein there lies some truth. Despite some of the bad ass cig smoking, irish spring using, I don't practice and shoot big bucks guys on this site, most of us know that is incredibly more difficult to get a successful shot off on a nice mature buck, or doe for that matter at 30 or under with a compound. I will agree that it doesn't take a ton of work to become a decent shot with a compound these days. I will say that to become a decent shot so that when it's go time and your muscle memory kicks in from all that practice to overcome all the adrenaline does take more work than the guy flat footed in shorts and t-shirt in his backyard though. I'm not a vet, but I've spoken to many who have seen combat that can attest to repetition and muscle memory from training kicking in during a cluster f*ck engagement and have to think that it's a similar concept. To answer what's closer to A than to G though? It's draw, distance, lack of optics, lack of rest etc. Those are the differentiators for most of us. Not so much the "I earned it in the off season". Just my tired old .02. Hell there's a crossbow now that has 2 bolts ready to go. I haven't seen that in a compound yet.

So what's the line for you? What if that guy is cooking meth out their on his property? What if he's trafficking humans or running a pedo ring? When do you stop minding your own business? I'm curious what your line is. After your last post indicating it's ok to wound birds because they taste bad, I've decided I'm no longer replying to your posts. So take that as a victory, and good luck in life wolc. You and I have closed our chapter.

This is as boring as fishing ….

I can’t tell you the earliest I’ve seen them fly down but I’ve surely had them fly away in the pitch dark.

Not turkey related,other than I wish I was in the woods instead of work tomorrow morning!!!currently in the front yard,was a crow now a Grey squirrel terrorizing hawk.surprised he hasn't had enough!

Being shot is too quick , stoned is more like it .

Tried to move in under some birds we found yesterday. Kept pushing in slowly, found a good pinch point around 445 sat down and prepared for the morning to begin, as the sun came up we realized we were directly under the flock and the chaos ensued. Had some pokes at the 2 Jake's in the group, gobbling all over us and big boys just rolled on uphill. No breeding behavior imo. Just regular chuckle heads looking for love still. Good times!!! Going to try to get uphill of them tomorrow. Plenty of gobbling near me til 730 am.

So, I started reading this and stopped when the conversation turned to the usual banter on the subject because it always goes south from there. I just went to the last page. In my opinion there is an advantage with the crossbow if on a rest, but of course it will be on a rest of some sort most of the time, just as when gun hunting from a stand. The compound is not that difficult to master to the point of killing a deer under 25 yards, as long as you have the stealth to draw and shoot. For me, there is also the adrenaline rush with a bow that I do not get with a gun or crossbow, it’s simply not there. The engagement and the “closeness”, I feel to the animal is amplified when the bow is in my hand, unlike the interaction between hunter and prey as seen through a scope…for me. I believe it has to do with the amount of movement needed to get the shot off with a bow. I did buy a crossbow 5 or so years ago and sighted it in rather easily, not as easily as I have with my compounds I will say, but not too difficult of exercise to accomplish. I went hunting with relatively little practice and shot a buck at 20 yards – without one hint of excitement or satisfaction. It just didn’t do it for me, and I also felt as if I were carrying a toy around the woods, a nerf gun with sharper projectiles if you will. My curiosity was satisfied, I sold it almost immediately and will stay with the compound for as long as I can, then I will gladly move to a crossbow. I hunt private land, so what others do doesn’t concern or bother me in the least. In fact, I would much prefer my neighbors participating in such hunts as described in many of these types of threads, “hiking” “walking around” “still hunting”… the same way they gun hunt, have at it. I’ll be perched silently, bow in hand, on the escape routes from their hillside. If I hunted public land my opinion would possibly be different or I would have to modify my strategy to take advantage of such hunters. As far as the implement itself goes, I have no pre-determined opinions one way or the other as to its classification as bow or gun. It is certainly not a gun, and in fact shoots arrows. The definition of archery is shooting with bow and arrow. The definition of crossbow is a medieval bow fixed across a wooded support… kind of self-explanatory to me. All in all, I think the crossbow can be easier to use for many people. After sighting-in mine, my wife took a shot with it, never having shot a bow or crossbow before, and nailed the target 30 yards away with exceptional accuracy. Quite an accomplishment relative to handing her a 70lb compound. To think that a scoped crossbow on a rest is not an advantage over a vertical bow with pins seems silly to me, freehand, the compound is more accurate for me, but neither are very difficult to master. So what am I trying to say? Who knows? there are a lot of acres out there and unless someone is engaging in a hunting practice, legal or otherwise, that is directly effecting me in a negative way, why even think about what they are doing? I just hope something like this passes before I NEED to use a crossbow to hunt the warmth and colors of October of some distant year.

How dare you !! LoL

What if I stashed one in your shed???

Do you have a crossbow? If you do, which are you more accurate at 20-25 yds. Freehand crossbow or compound? I am more accurate with my compound at those ranges than I am freehand with my crossbow. For whatever reason it is much easier for me to hold the pin on a compound steady. Now you put the crossbow on a rest and its a different story but we very rarely get a rest while hunting.

Who leaked documents from the Supreme Court should be the question being asked.

I love my A5 Brownings, and those old Remington 11's are great examples of that patent. Good luck with your recuperation from Covid and getting those old guns cleaned up. I'm looking forward to seeing photos!

Quick question for you experienced turkey hunters: What is the earliest you have seen a tom fly down on his own? I got caught setting up on a bird opening day. He must have been able to see my decoy and flew down around 5:10. I got my face mask on and made the best of a shoddy setup. He put on a heck of a show for 20 minutes, strutting and gobbling for my hen decoy about 80 yards out. Two live hens flew down and hurried away from him. I yelped at him and got him to come within 50 yards, but as he circled further to my left I had to move the gun and got caught. It was still fun. Didn't connect the first two days and now it's back to work. Saw lots of deer (which was encouraging), more turkeys than I expected, and a bear that spent every evening grazing in some hay fields. Congrats to those who connected. It's a long season. Looking forward to getting back out, but I'm busier than usual with work. We shall see...

Up, coffee's on and gears packed. Only have a couple of hours to hunt, but I'm heading out anyway. Taking the box call along with the glass pot this morning.

While everyone else was chasing turkey, I decided to clear the trails from all the downed tree branches and found that some chucks decided to make a home in one of the hay fields. I picked a spot 30 yards in the woods on a ridge overlooking the field and set up shop. While scanning the fields, one of the burrowing devils popped up 20 yards to my right. I thought it was another dam tree rat squirrel making a racket and was surprised when I looked over to see a woodchuck. Properly adjusted, a thermal scope is very useable during the day, as long as you don't look into direct sunlight. The BAE sensor in the Thermion XG50 is really impressive. https://youtu.be/EDPer1czAz4

I can't wait to dig up some leeks for potato, ham, and leek soup. Mine looked like they were still a week away or maybe a little more. I always save some for pickling too.

How’s that for keto Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I found the You Tube version ..........

I can’t wait for organized sports with my daughter so I live through you guys. For now, she’s in “multi-sports” every Sunday, dance every Friday and music Tuesday. Sunday was soccer at multi-sports. She’s 27months old but I got her dribbling the ball pretty well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I was under the impression house league means no travel.....but found out alot of these leagues are hurting for players and now they play crossover games with other towns. On the flip side we haven't played a house game but have 3 travel games under our belt. The boys are young and very raw, but they just have a blast playing together. This weekend will be the wakeup call for the boys. We are in a tourny about 50 minutes from home.....play.1 game Friday night.....2 games Sat....and then potentially 2-3 Sunday. We shall see how they handle multiple games in a day. Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

Got in at 5 am and set up in roost area bird starting gobbling 70 yards down hill from me ,was big tom i wanted. Had hen roosted 20 yards below me and a jake 50 yards up hill. 3 other hens flew down below me and 2 my right , then the dominate hen to my right 40 yards the tom pitched down 10 yards past hen and went into full strut, the jake landed about 35 yards from me but had no visable beard. I had a poke at tom at 50 yards but wasnt comfortable doing so as its a really nice bird and he never came out of strut the jake came to within 20 but i let him join rest of flock as the headed away to the lake. Was a good morning got out before it started raining..

Had a great time today with Chef and AT! The Willowemoc fished slooooow but Oquaga was great, two beasts in less than an hour. Lots of bugs coming off but no rises Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

9 o clock bird. Called back to him 2-3 times then I shut up and he came in gobbling his head off. 9" beard 3/4" spurs 19lb.

My buddy and I both scored. Mine was at 7:30, his at 10.

For 15 bucks a shot , I would just go buy the turkey ! And no gutting and plucking involved !

30 yards ?! Since ‘88 I shot one bow deer at 25, the rest were all between 8-15 . I seldom have ever practiced at 30 , no need . Bow season is about hunting skills brush up on them son .

You left out Paleo

You forgot me Wolc. I'm just done having the same debate with the same people and letting it affect my day. This site is in the shitter anyways. Maybe Elon Musk will buy it and we'll have some structure.... Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

I've missed plenty when I first got mine.... then it got crazy, you can cut thier heads off with current guns and chokes. That's all, no one is saying your a sissy. Just making sure you understand the choice you make regarding pattern potential while shooting at turkeys.

You could argue that it would make you a very careful shot.