wildcat junkie

With the overcast skies, dawn was slow in coming this morning. We did get a break on the rain from about 4:00 AM until 6:45 AM W/a brief period of sunshine. I got set up on the tree line at about 5:15. Except for some owls, all was quite. I set up my strut decoy about 20 yds into my field in a pocket formed by the tree line & a thicket of 2nd growth gray birch. The tree line is on a swale so the decoy would be easy to see from the opposite field by any turkeys cruising the edge. I set Up my Hammock Seat on a large Ash just inside the tree line W/the decoy over my right shoulder facing the edge of the tree line. The edge of the opposite field was about 25 yds in front of me. I decided to keep calling to a minimum. About 5:30, a gave my gobble tube a shake & it was answered immediately by a Tom in the field to the south. The gobble didn't sound very deep so I assumed it was a Jake. Over the next 1/2 hour I gobbled twice more & let out a short series of yelps. Each time, the Tom answered. Soon, I saw movement in the field to my left & soon, a hen entered the woods just to my left & trotted by at about 15 yds. I could see the Jake through the brush in the field, & he soon paralleled her cause about 20 yds out. He did pause for a moment in an opening & I could see his beard that was poking straight out about 2" or so. Before I could make a decision, he was off in pursuit of the hen. He pretty much had me pinned anyway. I stayed until about 6:45 when the rain started up again. I hadn't heard or seen anything for quite a while so I decided to walk back to the house for my morning coffee. Mr Butterball was a no show. I hope he didn't get taken yesterday.

Yeah, he got to see & hear some gobblers too. No hope for him now.

He's probably too busy monitoring Obama's invasion of Texas.

That's exactly what I was thinking. The other Tom that was with him didn't even make a sigh of strutting, just following along leading me to believe Mr Butterball is the head honcho in these parts.Not 20 minutes ago, I got some bubble wrap out of the garage to plump up my strut gobbler decoy. Just before that, I went out & found a tree to sit by. It's a big ash about 20" in diameter just inside the treelike. I found a spot about 15 yds into the field where the decoy will be conspicuous to any Tom crossing the 50 yd wide tree line between my neighbors field & mine. Hopefully, that will draw his attention long enough for me to remain unnoticed as I send him a load of copper plated #6s. I've been practicing with my new shaker & I'm getting a pretty realistic gobble too. I think I'll get him fired up with that before he flies down, then clam up. I think he's foisting across my neighbors field. Maybe I better check that out the evening before?

I just expanded the view on the iPad & it's a turkey alright. In half fan/strut & I could see his white head on the left. There's another turkey @ left center near the end of the field.Even W/O blowing it up, just compare the size W/the tree trunks & you'll see it's too small to be a bear.

Yes indeed, I fear that I am educating him.

Last Monday a fellow I met through this forum came down out of the Adirondacks to take me up on an invitation to hunt turkeys on my farm in the St Lawrence valley. This was his 1st attempt at Turkey hunting. I have 2 hay fields that form an "L" with a fence row meeting the inside corner. Since I have had birds come from either direction, I set up in the fence row near the corner & Ralf sat in a blind that I have set up in a brushy rock pile about 50 yds into the north hay field. Just after we settled in, I heard the 1st googles coming from the south @ about 5:10 AM. I started out with some soft tree yelps, gradually increasing the volume as the sky got brighter. I had 2 Toms responding, but they seemed to be a bit standoffish. Before they got too close, I re-positioned my self farther north to try to call the birds past Ralf. Long story short, the birds put on quite a show for my guest, but never got closer than about 60 yds. We later re-positioned, but the Toms were tight lipped. On the way out, I got a look at them from a distance in my neighbors field. One of the birds looked BIG from a distance of several hundred yds. Fast forward to yesterday morning. I placed Ralf on a connector lane about 40 yds off the edge of my neighbor's field to the south. He was about 30 yds west of the area where the birds had entered my field through some 2nd growth gray birch. Except for a few Whip-poor-Wills & one Barred Owl, it was quite this time around as the sky lightened. As the sun climbed, I saw a hen enter the hay field just to the north of where Ralf was set up. I watched her work her way east. Soon after she disappeared, I heard a gobble just to the east of the gray birches. The damned birds were crossing into my property about 100yds from Ralf. I got them coming my way. There was that HUGE Tom & a smaller one. The big guy was fanning & strutting. His head was like a snow white golf ball. The smaller Tom never fanned, but his head looked like a red hot poker as the rising sun shown through his wattles. Well the big guy got to within 100 yds of my position & I think he spotted me sitting on the log behind a bush. The smaller Tom had already lost interest, but the big guy had kept strutting for a while after that. The sun was shining on me and I could see him looking straight at me. He didn't spook & run off, he just slowly started to work his way east. That was without a doubt, the fattest Tom I ever saw. Even as he skulked away, he looked like a domestic turkey all fattened up & ready for butchering. I've been refraining from hunting W/O my guest, but this is getting personal! All in all, we had another good morning. Ralf saw several hens & we heard @ least 2 more Toms in addition to the ones I saw in the field. Funny thing is, although the birds were tight lipped on the roost, we heard quite a bit of gobbling after the sun got a little higher in the sky.

Bigfoot!

That wasn't at the border. It looked like US 11. I have been stopped on SR 30 just north of Paul Smith's which is more than 20 miles from the border. I had 2 rifles in the trunk & lots if ammo. I was on my way to shoot at a range in Saranac Lake. I was wondering if they were going to ask me if I "had any weapons".If you live up here near the border, this is a common thing on SR 37, CR 310 & various other routes. They hide just 1 1/2 miles north of my house, but I think that is just a loafing spot.

I'm not even sure it can be (legally) sold to someone that doesn't own adjoining property. I had 20 acres that was landlocked. I bought it because my property bordered it & I eventually sold it to another neighbor that had land adjacent to it. That might be the reason it's so cheap. Realtors are no better than used car salesman when it comes to ethics.

I was once told by an Indiana DNR biologist that barometric pressure has a lot to do with it. High barometric pressure being more conducive to gobbling. Monday morning the robins were already singing & the whip-poor-wills calling @ 5:50 AM. We had 2 gobblers sounding off shortly thereafter before I made my 1st call. My friend, on his very 1st turkey hunt, got to watch both toms for quite some time, but they never got close enough. We're going to try a different strategy on Friday, positioning him closer to where the birds came from with me near there final destination along the N/W corner of my hay field. I had originally been in that fence row, but I repositioned myself to put my buddy between me and the birds.

I can remember when just about all hunting jackets/vests had a wide loop or 2 small grommets for the license pin.

As I suspected, competition will be driving down the price. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Savage-Axis-Replacement-Trigger-Spring-3-to-4-lbs-pull-/221387375058

I seriously doubt that the spring "was made for your Savage AXIS" or it would cost more than $20. Good example, is the simple trigger mechanism for the AXIS costs 2X as much as a the much more complex M98 Mauser trigger from Timney. Volume drives down price. Having a spring made for the application would be cost prohibitive, especially since the proper length/tension already exists. Now, for the person that did the legwork to find which hardware store spring was a proper fit for the AXIS, kudos for his entrepreneurial initiative. Once he had the manufacturer's product number, he probably bought a thousand of them for 10¢ each. I wish I had an AXIS in hand to do the same. All the ACCU-Trigger has for adjustment is a screw that applies tension to the same spring arrangement. The ACCU-Trigger just adds the sear block in the trigger shoe for added security from litigation for Savage. Happy to here your results are satisfactory.

My cantelouopes are doing great & I have a few Crimsom Sweet watermelons spouting, but the Moon & Stars seedless watermelons are not sprouting at all yet.I would like to get sweet corn planted this week. I plant Northern Exra Sweet (Sh2 hybrid 67 days) should start bearing in mid July. I usually plant 4-25' rows every 10 days for an extended harvest into Labor Day.

You can plant carrots any time as long as you have a way to keep them watered.They can be harvested right up until a hard freeze. I planted Coreless Nantes last year in June & had huge, sweet carrots through late summer/early fall.

While $20 is a lot cheaper than a new Timney trigger, someone is making a killing in those springs. You can get springs at a local hardware store for less than a dollar. Here's a write up of a trigger job I did a few years back. My 5mm Remington Magnum center fire conversion had a horrible 8# trigger pull. I purchased some springs at the local hardware store, added a sear engagement screw & did some stone work on the sear. http://5mmforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/516-m591-trigger-work/?p=2822

Have any of you tried dropping the butt smartly onto a wood block or padded surface that will not damage the stock yet test the security of the lighter trigger? I always do the "drop test" when doing trigger work, whether I've installed an aftermarket trigger or modified a factory trigger. If it's going to drop the sticker, it's good to find it out under controlled conditions.

I had a Red Fox den under a small cottage on my place in semi-rural Southern Indana. It was about 100 yds from my house. My wife took videos of the kits playing on the porch of the cottage. With coyote populations out of control in those parts, Red Foxes started denning closer to human settlements to survive.

Download you PIX tohttp://s76.photobucket.com It's free, no spam, & you can access your PIX from any computer or mobile device.

Those look like Gray Fox kits.

Well, that's just great because I wasn't trying to amuse you. Thanks for the positive report.

It's called "supply side economics".

It isn't a striker fall that is doing this. The safety works in that respect. You need to check to make sure the firing pin is rebounded by opening the bolt & running your finger over the face to see if the firing pin us protruding. My thought is that the OD of the firing pin is just enough larger than the ID of the hole in the bolt that it gets jammed & doesn't rebound. That's about the only way that the action can fire on closing W/O a striker fall.