Sir-diealot

Mike Chamberlain Sent from my A574BL using Tapatalk

I can't run so that's not something I can do. Sent from my A574BL using Tapatalk

So opening day I saw at least a dozen turkey, I was able to call them from the field into the woods, all came within 2-4 feet of me but all were hens so I let them pass. I did get to hear a lot of vocalizations so that was pretty neat. I didn't get to see any turkey this morning, but I got to hear a lot of clucking, some gobbling and some Kee-kee runs, some yelps and some tree talk so it was a good morning. I got to see some chipmunks and squirrels and some birds. It's always a good day when you get to see God's world wake up in the turkey woods. Also some pretty colors in the sky. I do have a question though, when I started to hear the kee-kee runs I started trying to throw back exactly what I was hearing, it seemed to drive the turkey away. Should I have just sat there silent like I did before and let them go into the field and try to call them again if there were any males?

You may not have seen both my edits in my reply above, you may want to start to hunt crow.

What is the normal survival rate of wild turkey poults? The proportion of poults that die in their first two weeks of life ranged from 56 to 73 percent in a number of studies of eastern wild turkeys. Most poult mortality takes place in the early part of their lives when they cannot roost in trees. https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Turkey/Pages/TurkeyBiologyFAQ.aspx Now you take predation after they can roost and that will diminish it even more. A Fisher will go up a tree and take out a full grown turkey so you know they are taking poults as well. Edit: By the way there was a study done of nests with eggs (Chicken eggs as I seem to recall) on them where they set up cameras to watch the nests and what they found to be the biggest predators of eggs was surprising, I thought it would be, coon, opossum or skunks but it turned out crows got more eggs.

I have had MANY Ameristep blinds, best one they ever made was the Roundhouse and I wish they would put it out again instead of the Doghouse which costs about the same and has far less room than the Roundhouse had. I have also had their Doghouse blinds, Penthouse blinds (Loved these though not the window placements for gun hunting) I currently have the 2 man chair blind and it does not work well for me for turkey hunting because the barrel I have is long I guess and it is hard to not make a ton of noise and hide your movement because it is small. Oh I have also had their Outhouse blind as well. I bought a Barronett Blinds Pentagon blind when they first came out and it has been the biggest pile of junk I have owned, from the very first time I put it up it had all these little pin holes in it, the corners were deteriorating to the point that I could see light through the corners including the one at the door. Mind you I love all the room it has but for the $229 I paid for it when it first came out I expected far more. Why did I not return it you ask? Simple, I bought it from Gander Mountain and the day after the blind was delivered they went belly up so I was stuck with the blind. I actually fell through the blind this past Spring when I lost my balance so it gave me an excuse to order another blind. Now with all that said I understand they have improved greatly since then and just ordered the Barronett Ox 5 Hunting Ground Blind because it has all the room of the Pentagon blind and it is waterproof, not water repellent. I was going to buy the new insulated Ameristep blind but read several reviews that said it leaks badly. As others have said stake it down, don't use the ones that came with it, buy ones that are all steel and have a good head on them so you can use a hammer to drive those stakes into the ground and be sure to do the same with the tie down points, I always like to tie at least one guy wire to a tree or something else that will not moved, tied it to a old trailer 2 years ago, worked great. I firmly believe in wearing black in a blind as the interiors are black, that includes gloves and mask and or face paint. Before you set up be sure you clean the area of any sticks, twigs or leaves so that you do not give yourself away when trying to position for a shot. I have NEVER brushed in a blind, set a blind up Friday night just inside the woods and had deer, turkey, squirrel, chipmunks and birds all around me less than 16 hours later I guess it would be. Nothing wrong with brushing in, I see no reason not to, breaking up your outline is always good, but make sure you set up in the shadows if you can, that will help as much if not more than brushing in because some of those blind fabrics are shiny and you don't want the sun on them both because it will destroy the blind eventually and the reflection can scare game away.

You bring up how big a clutch a hen has, studies have shown that 4 or less survive in most ideal situations, let along how things are here in NY especially my area where the lands have been raped so badly by the Mennonites as a whole as well as others that followed suit with what they do.

Of which to you refer?

Thanks for the high praise. I am not knocking those that choose to take a hen, I just do not understand it, I seem tons of people complaining there are not as many turkey as there used to be (Which I agree with) and I view killing a hen as killing the future. Of course I know people that say killing a Jake is bad because they are stupid, but I do not agree myself.

I would have just divorced her!

I do not like to get venison processed like that normally, I would rather just have steaks, roasts and a small amount of burger but Costanza's hot Italian sausage is the closest I have had to the hot Italian sausage I grew up eating from Scapelliti's in Lowertown in Lockport, NY where I grew up.

No always, no. I do wash all clothes hunting and non hunting as well as my blankets and sheets in Dead Down Wind laundry soap and spay my gear down with their scent eliminating spray as well. I do have a Scent-Lok suit I bought many years ago but it is huge on me now (I used to be close to 500 lbs. and sit at 320 and diminishing now) so the only time I wear it is over other clothes on cold days. I actually want to sell it.

There are some turkey hunters that will not hunt in the Spring, they say it is to easy and no challenge to get a turkey in the Spring. I disagree. On a side note I picked this up on ebay the other day, supposed to be in Tuesday. The Wild Turkey Biology & Management by James G Dickson. This will be my next purchase I think. Wild Turkey Harvest Management : Biology, Strategies, and Techniques, Paperback by . Fish and Wildlife Service (COR); Healy, William M.; Powell, Shawn M., ISBN 1484970233, ISBN-13 9781484970232, Like New Used, Free shipping The book’s objective was to synthesize what is known about the effects of hunting on wild turkey populations, and provide models for regulating harvest that provide ample hunting opportunity with minimal risk of overharvest. The book also reviews the biology of the species and the 3 basic strategies for harvesting wild turkeys.

Added video, got to 1:20 did not know how to focus at first.

Hope so, can't go out tomorrow, have to help with the chicken BBQ at the firehouse til 10:45 and then church at 11 and then go talk with a guy about bow hunting his land.