wooly

I've been meaning to upgrade the scope that came on my Traditions for years now. I keep telling myself I will the first time I miss. It might be a while..

Straight up custard seems to be what they like lately! Kinda like the stuff myself!

Thanks for the comments guys! Phade- the toms are here, but they don't talk much when they got the girls. I ran up to set another blind this morning and almost bumped 3 longbeards with 2 hens out of a secluded field off the corner of this one. I had to back out or I would have got busted over a few pictures. That's not exactly what I want to do at this stage of the game, so the decision was an easy one. Not a gobble all morning as they danced around spinning in silent circles. Seems like whenever the jakes get the girls the woods erupt with gobbling from every tom on the block but it's hard to pull one in. At any rate, I've seen more action these last few days than I did ALL of last season. Should be a good one!

Just wanted to add my own little "spin" to G-mans post to make it more viewer friendly.

They're just jealous you get paid more than they do for doing the same thing! Don't worry about what them other drunks think. You only get out of it as much as you put into it! You sure do seem to give it your ALL,lol

No fair man.... I was still working on the dimensions and calculating my mathematical equations behind that wall of tin! Any consolation prizes still available, and will you be having another contest anytime soon I can practice for until then. Congrats on the big win TF! Jenny will enlighten your tastebuds and make you a better man!

Drivers have had it so rough these past few decades.... I can only imagine how much work it was to drive before all these technological break throughs. - sattelight radio - televisions - rear bumper cams - ABS - P/S- P/W- P/M- P/L - AWD - GPS - A/C - Heated seats - side mirror defrosters - air bags - automatic seat belts - zone temperature control - crumple zones - direction signals - horns - road sensing suspension - automatic transmissions - key fab door lockers - windshield wipers and blue joooice - all weather radials - synthetic oils I'm sure I left a ton out, but don't forget the most important "Jetsons-age" innovation..... ******* IDIOT LIGHTS and cup holders! I can think of no other reason why America is becoming a nation of fat LAZY people....rob! Where the hell have you been? The damned things practically drive themselves already in case you haven't noticed. Don't think because you turned a few dials and punched a few buttons you get the crown of "Mr Motivation".... good grief!

I laughed my tail feathers off at this one! My kinda guys!

I got one re-occurring floaty that looks like Tiffany Lakosky. I only see it late at night when I close my eyes and really focus,lol

That is sharp! Any future plans to experiment with stone tipped sticks?

I think turkey are very aware with everything going on above them, sometimes more-so than what's happening down on the ground at their level. I was watching some birds out in the field the other day when a vulture shadow suddenly appeared to be chasing them to the edge of the woods. Those birds had their eyes glued to the sky until they identified it as harmless and made their way back into the open. From a hunting point of view. I've been picked off in a stand by MANY fall turkey while bow hunting. Spring turkey hunting from a stand just doesn't appeal to me in the least. I'd rather have them gobblin' and spittin' in my face no matter how much harder it is to remain motionless and hidden.

If sitting in a blind with a camera, a 6pck, and an e-cigarette counts.... then yes, I'll be "scouting" Saturday!

Here's a few more shots from yesterdays sit in the blind. The last shot is from this morning right off the roost all 3 came in fired up again. Same jakes as yesterday came looking for their foam friend again but didn't stick around as long when he was nowhere to be found.

Not sure if your camera allows you to change light metering modes or not. If it does, you would do best to set it to "Matrix metering" where it will expose the picture for the entire scene. It's still hit or miss with many variables that affect it, but that would be the best choice IMO. Spot metering and center weighted metering are going to blow out the highlights every time in that situation when you're just measuring the light available on your subject. Or you could just wait until you have a slightly overcast day to even the light out so you're not confusing your cameras sensor. Getting their early or late in the day (the golden hours) will also tone down those harsh "hot spots" as the sun sets lower in the sky and will add depth and shadows.

They definitely were close enough to hear the shutter slap. Average shot from this set was about 5-20yds. It actually made them shock gobble a few times! I think it probably sounds like something rustling in the leaves to them. Sometimes I wont shoot if a critter gets too close is acting spooky, but these guys didn't have a care in the world.

Thanks for checking them out guys! Wildcats- I just use an entry level DSLR. Nikon D-3200 with a slow 55mm-300mm F/ 4.5 - 5.6 Nikon lens. I shoot most all of my critters in aperture priority. When I moved my blind last night, I did so with the rising sun in mind. The first pic I posted here is the money shot I was looking to get, so I was pretty pumped when I got home to see the sunlight glowing through his fan the way I had planned! Sometimes my best hunting set ups are not the best photography set ups, and vice versa. Whenever I have a chance to "scout" an area, I try to pay attention to the little things that will make for the best photo shots as well as the places I can kill an animal when the time finally arrives. I don't hesitate to snap a TON of shots as well and sort through the best of the set when I have time. I took over 300 pics out there today with these guys.... these were just the first ten that I got around to working on.

Not a one all weekend. Those birds are safe with me.... for another week!

With the camera of course,lol I made some adjustments to my blind set up last night to put me in a better position for some better pics this morning. The first gobble rattled off at 6:19am before a few hens showed up a little while later. Eventually, these three jakes made their way in front of the blind and spotted my "fake jake". I couldn't get out of the blind until 12:09 when they FINALLY made it to the far corner of the field and into the timber! No longbeards today, but no shortage of fun and excitement behind the camera either!

Wow- great shots and beautiful animals! I'm not much of a cat person, but seeing those could change my mind!

Cool shots DT- pretty country! How 'bout that last pic.... is THAT a Wild Turkey?

Set the blind up last night to watch over the field this morning. I got there a little late (7:30) and there were two toms and 2 hens already out there doing their thing. Pretty sure they heard me undo the zipper on the blind as they made their way off. Did manage to yank a few gobbles out of them before they left, but other than that, it was pretty quiet out there. 2 different gobblers..

Aweeeee...., I think I'm in LOVE,lol

A swing and a miss for me as usual..., but you cracked that one out of the park! He really does look good! I kept wanting to call him a "golden horn hiker" for some reason, but I was worried about a few guys here who have their eyes on my drinking habits tonight....and yesterday..... and the week before last...,lol Congrats on a fine buck, and good to see him home!

Lookin' good! I'm not crazy about the golden x-country skier hitting the slopes between his ears, but it's your mount! Real nice buck there!

Oh well, I didn't come up with that one right away either and had to actually give it some thought. Maybe someone else will find themselves in that predicament and find a use for their old bow that way. With my brains.., and your good looks, we'll make a great team... Tell your G/F that Jenny says hi!