Uncle Nicky

13 or 14 total, that is a slow spring for me.

No shame in shooting a jake. Congratulations!!

Just the fact that they are getting bad press here is a good start. I don't know anything about the Randolph Rod & Gun Club, but certainly wouldn't want anything to do with them after this. If I was 100% sure that I was never going to get the gun, I 'd seriously consider a letter to the local newspaper or a Facebook smear, if nothing else to get the word about the bogus raffle so that others don't get burned.

Bill, I really think there IS something to what you are saying here. I didn't get out nearly as much this spring as I have in past years due to family obligations, but as usual, there wasn't the amount of gobbling I heard even 10 years ago in the morning. I got a couple to gobble late afternoon, but that was mostly shock responses. I do a lot of turkey hunting in southern Georgia, birds just DON'T gobble much there, that's just how it is; I feel blessed to know that it IS possible to kill birds that are tight-lipped (but definitely not as fun as playing with a screaming tom).

I was around 8 or 9, about the same age as when I taught my kids. But everyone is different.

That is because they (turkeys) really are not predictable. My experience is that they will travel through just about any type of cover or terrain. I can't picture them fanning & strutting in a high field for obvious reasons, but they'll certainly travel through high grass or brush to get to food, mate, or get to their roost spot.

Bumping it up, one spot still available.

Good luck Pygmy!

I have an opening for one person to fish for haddock, then stripers and whatever else once we get our limit on Saturday 6/15. Boat is Big Fish charters out of Marshfield/Green Harbor marina. 12 hour trip, could possibly carpool & stay with us, or meet up there. PM me if interested, thanks for looking!

Nice turkey. Witness protection program?

Well sh*t, I told him not to post pictures of my feeder on his Craigslist ad. Yes, you CAN'T fix stupid.

I sorta compromised, at least in spots where the walk isn't too far. I bring a gobbler lounger chair and a portable blind (the small fold-up type that youn unroll & stake in the ground). I can get away with a lot of movement and still sit for hours without fidgeting, I can pick up in 5-10 minutes if I decide to move.

Turkey nuggets wrapped in bacon, grilled deer keilbasi.

On one day, a gobbler call will bring them in (either out of curiosity or aggression), on another day they will ignore it or move along quickly. Like almost everything else in turkey hunting, there really is no predicting these birds. If you don't have a dedicated gobbler call you can make a passable gobbler sound with a box call or a mouth call, with some practice. Lots of people are scared to make gobbler noises in the spring, especially on public land (understandably so).

I'd add that male birds CAN be curious also, and sometimes if you just stop calling and stay put, they will eventually come looking for you. It doesn't always work, but it often does.

Doubtful, but you never know. Turkeys don't gobble like they did years ago. Just gotta get out there and try.

I killed one in Wyoming about 10 years ago. It was on a large ranch, not a fenced pen, but there were cattle guards and low barbed wire fences surrounding the ranch, so they would really need a good reason to try & get out. I killed a younger bull, about 200# of boned out meat, VERY close to grass fed beef, the family enjoyed every bite, I also got a nifty skull that I bleached & hung in my basement, and a beautiful rug that I will have made into a mountain-man coat some day. For a number of reasons, I'd use a rifle rather than trying to kill one with an arrow, but good luck whetever you decide to do.

Nice ditty, I think I read this in the bathroom at the rest stop on I-86 a few years ago...

I gobbler & a jake for me, a buddy that rode down with me killed a gobbler, my buddy that lives there killed 1, and another fella from NC who came to visit killed a longbeard. Birds down there act a little differently, they rarely gobble on the ground, so you have to get in front of them (usually). Often they will come slinking in silently. They were mostly separated, but the jake I killed came out into the field with 6 others. Lots of hens since they don't have a fall season, and I knew fanning/decoys wasn't going to work this year on the first day, so I left them in the blind after that, I'd rather have live decoys come out anyway. We mostly hunted in the woods in the morning, and fields late afternoon.

I am one of those suckers who pays for pet insurance, it's about $30/month per dog. I had a spell a few years ago where both dogs needed minor operations (hunting dog had an infected paw form a porcupine quill, she also got cut WIDE open on a barbed wire fence another time, and the wife's pooch had bladder stones). Each one of these episodes was between $800-$2,000 per procedure, after the bladder stone surgery I decided to get insurance, since both dogs were relatively young at the time . The wife's dog needed another procedure after we got insurance, and the insurance company stepped up and paid the bill without waffling, so I feel good about the decision. I like my dogs more than most people I know, I took on the responsibility of caring for them, so I feel obligated. I justify the expense by packing a lunch each day, drinking cheap beer, and using an inexpensive cell phone carrier. But you do reach a point where a pet's quality of life isn't worth the monetary sacrifice anymore. Nobody feels good about turning out the lights for good, but it's all a part of being a pet owner. I'd like to think that if there is a heaven, my dogs will be patiently waiting for me when I finally show up.

I have a brother that was a child prodigy, skipped a grade in school, etc...won a local quiz show in Philly as a teen. Anyway, he got his chance to go on Jeopardy. He decided to bet it all on the last question and lost. It was right around the time Weird Al Yankovich came out with " I Lost on Jeopardy". There is a moral & irony to this story somewhere...

Wild turkey & dumplings...WINNING!

Box call, but I carry a pot call, scratchbox, wingbone, and some mouthcalls also. But when the going gets tough, I usually revert back to the box call.

Sorry to hear it

Had some doozies, but most of the time it wasn't the work, so much as the co-workers. The worst was a job in high school calling people on the phone to take surveys, mind-numbingly boring, and the average person doesn't want to have their dinner interrupted to be asked what movies they watched this month or who they plan to vote for in the next election.