2017 Live from the turkey woods thread

[WNY Bowhunter]

1 hour ago, Bill Schmidt said:

For the 2nd time this year- the watcher gobbler saw me!! Putt-Putt and they moved off very slowly. Now or never and I shot at 35 yards. Over the top again. Clean miss. I have not missed twice in a Spring since the early 1990s.   I am snakebit here or in a turkey hunting slump.  Hopefully this weekend................

Two missed opportunities for me too. Makes me sick just thinking about it. Still in disbelief over it...

[mowin]

1 hour ago, growalot said:

59% chance of rain tomorrow morning...Do I suck it up and use the cloud cover and the wet leafs to my advantage and try getting to the brush blind unnoticed? The trail is pretty clean. I haven't sat there, so not sure how well my knees will due...It may end up " Help I'm sitting in my brush blind and can't get back up!"...lol They are so dang close I will be sitting in my rain suit on the ground for at least 45 mins against a tree that will have rain pouring down the trunk...longer if they had a rough nite. Think it's doable? If the guys next door decide to hunt I could loose my chance at both...

You know what's going on happen.... They will roost by the blind u were in today. 

If you can roost them to be sure they are there, it's worth a shot. I wouldn't call if there that close though.  I've often walked in really early when there heads were still tucked into thier wing to set up close to them. Quite a site to watch em wake up and start the show. 

Edited May 12, 2017 by mowin

[moog5050]

So I am actually going to get my butt up and try to kill a turkey in the morning.  I doubt this makes any of the turkey very nervous, but I might as well try.  As the saying goes, even a blind squirrel ....

[Lawdwaz]

Had a fun morning today. I heard 4 different birds and had two jakes REALLY want to come to dinner...........The first crack I could have had was at MAYBE 20 paces.  The little "shaving cream brush" of a beard he had wouldn't have won any LB contests or furthered my legacy as a Master Turkey hunter so he got a easy pass.

After he went by me clucking and putting, I waited 10 minutes or so and readied myself to head to the other side of the mountain.  I figured I'd better make one more call before I took a step and BAM.....GOBBLE gobble.  It sounded like an adult had joined short stroke so I quickly sat down and donned my mask.  Within 2-3 minutes here come the blue heads!  Damn, fooled again.......it's just shorty with a beardless buddy (at least I didn't see it) with a mighty gobble!.

They sauntered by at 20 yards, going from left to right.  They passed by me giving me all the time in the world to make a decision.  They got a pass......

Oh wait, here they come again, going from right to left at the same approx. distance!  Best I could tell their beards didn't grow a bit in those 5 minutes.......t

OK NOW I'm out of here.....I headed back towards the truck to see if I could fire up two birds I heard from the truck when I got there.  Nothing doing there so I made a huge circle, hitting some prime areas that I enjoy walking as much as hunting.

After about an hour I'm back near "Jake City" again.  I figured what the heck, lets see if they wised up yet.........The answer to that would be no, they didn't.  They came in quiet as a church mouse though this time.  From right to left at about 40 yards before heading down and out of sight.  Cool!  So I sat there for a few minutes and took a little cat nap.  After getting my contacts back from up under my eyelids, I made a little chatter with the slate call.  All of a sudden directly to my 9:00 position here are two black blobs standing 15 yards away on a log.  The boys are back again!  At this point I'm thinking I could kill one and it'd be self defense as they just won't leave me alone!  This time something must have clicked in their pea brains though as they clucked a few times and headed off to the 12:00 position, sneaking away like they just figured it out. 

So it was a grand morning, all said and done. It was only my third morning out for the season, hopefully I can get out a bit more.  I did find a dandy shed horn too, I'll snap a picture in a bit.

[turkeyfeathers]

Larry,

Fun read and fun morning for you it sounds.

[grampy]

22 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

So I am actually going to get my butt up and try to kill a turkey in the morning.  I doubt this makes any of the turkey very nervous, but I might as well try.  As the saying goes, even a blind squirrel ....

Go get em moog!  Best of luck buddy! Will be looking for pic's by 8:30 or so, but hey, no pressure!...lol

 

21 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Had a fun morning today. I heard 4 different birds and had two jakes REALLY want to come to dinner...........The first crack I could have had was at MAYBE 20 paces.  The little "shaving cream brush" of a beard he had wouldn't have won any LB contests or furthered my legacy as a Master Turkey hunter so he got a easy pass.

After he went by me clucking and putting, I waited 10 minutes or so and readied myself to head to the other side of the mountain.  I figured I'd better make one more call before I took a step and BAM.....GOBBLE gobble.  It sounded like an adult had joined short stroke so I quickly sat down and donned my mask.  Within 2-3 minutes here come the blue heads!  Damn, fooled again.......it's just shorty with a beardless buddy (at least I didn't see it) with a mighty gobble!.

They sauntered by at 20 yards, going from left to right.  They passed by me giving me all the time in the world to make a decision.  They got a pass......

Oh wait, here they come again, going from right to left at the same approx. distance!  Best I could tell their beards didn't grow a bit in those 5 minutes.......t

OK NOW I'm out of here.....I headed back towards the truck to see if I could fire up two birds I heard from the truck when I got there.  Nothing doing there so I made a huge circle, hitting some prime areas that I enjoy walking as much as hunting.

After about an hour I'm back near "Jake City" again.  I figured what the heck, lets see if they wised up yet.........The answer to that would be no, they didn't.  They came in quiet as a church mouse though this time.  From right to left at about 40 yards before heading down and out of sight.  Cool!  So I sat there for a few minutes and took a little cat nap.  After getting my contacts back from up under my eyelids, I made a little chatter with the slate call.  All of a sudden directly to my 9:00 position here are two black blobs standing 15 yards away on a log.  The boys are back again!  At this point I'm thinking I could kill one and it'd be self defense as they just won't leave me alone!  This time something must have clicked in their pea brains though as they clucked a few times and headed off to the 12:00 position, sneaking away like they just figured it out. 

So it was a grand morning, all said and done. It was only my third morning out for the season, hopefully I can get out a bit more.  I did find a dandy shed horn too, I'll snap a picture in a bit.

Sounds like you had a fun a spring morning Law!  Goes to show, you don't need to kill em to have a great hunt!

[moog5050]

I would be thrilled to know there is a turkey in a 1 mile radius of where I sit grampy.  I will call that a victory.  lol  Please no unreasonable expectations by you!  I figure I will see a deer or two maybe and its been a while for that.

So someone explain why I shouldn't sit in a deer stand comfortably vs at the base of the tree?   I see them in the fall occasionally when hunting deer.  Never see them when sitting on the ground or in a blind come spring.  I know its blasphemy for you real turkey hunters. Guessing it has more to do with calling from a tree vs. ground level?

[moog5050]

And question 2, is the novice better off with or without decoys.   Think small food plot surrounded by swamp (west), woods (north and east) and through about 30yds of woods south, an open field with a creek between the 2.  I can't hunt the field. 

[rachunter]

No luck on the state land. Got lucky with one more start on a dead battery. Who knows how long I would have been stuck back in there. No cell service ether. Rain tomorrow so I'm staying on my property. 

[growalot]

Quote

You know what's going on happen.... They will roost by the blind u were in today. 

That would be fine if they still walk down the hill like the last two times...they would have to walk right by me, I don't think they can anymore though. The mature maple have lost the roosting branches. They would literally roost over the blind some mornings. I don't know why I'm worried I have countless times gone in with them roosted there and in the fall it's ridiculous,you'd think they were following me...I'd climb the ladders to the stands and as the sun brightened I'd see I was siting smack dab in the middle of a flock...3 years ago they helped me arrow a buck...as he came in behind and passing me one of the Toms in front of me gobbled. He stopped to look and I put one through his heart. took 2 bounds and tipped over...I almost nocked another arrow to shoot the Tom but I was too excited.

 Looked again I'm thinking it will just be a sprinkle and nothing more tomorrow... 

[growalot]

Quote

And question 2, is the novice better off with or without decoys.   Think small food plot surrounded by swamp (west), woods (north and east) and through about 30yds of woods south, an open field with a creek between the 2.  I can't hunt the field. 

That really depends on how the birds have been hunted/pressured and if they have hens that are running to them...Today I opted no decoys because they hung up the other day with them...Ya because they have had 2 live hens actually moving to them...and those decoy weren't moving at all in the no wind we had. if any thing a feeding hen. Best of luck to you go knock one down!

[ATbuckhunter]

24 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

I would be thrilled to know there is a turkey in a 1 mile radius of where I sit grampy.  I will call that a victory.  lol  Please no unreasonable expectations by you!  I figure I will see a deer or two maybe and its been a while for that.

So someone explain why I shouldn't sit in a deer stand comfortably vs at the base of the tree?   I see them in the fall occasionally when hunting deer.  Never see them when sitting on the ground or in a blind come spring.  I know its blasphemy for you real turkey hunters. Guessing it has more to do with calling from a tree vs. ground level?

I used to think that as well, but as i got a little better at turkey hunting I started seeing them more. I know some people that are successful at turkey hunting using a tree stand, but most don't. I think the main reason is not wanting to get shot spread through out the breast, and it also being a little easier to pick you out in a stand. 

As fat as question 2, I think Ive had slightly more luck with out decoy's than Ive had with them, but they both can cause birds to hang up. Just find a way you like to hunt, because both ways are deadly. 

[growalot]

moog once you actually find some birds and as time goes by here is the trick to help avoid that "hang up" being out of range  Oppss didn't see that, any ways getting to know from what direction they'll most likely show up and set the decoys so they have to walk across in front of you or even past you.  So if you had decoys say 15-20 yrds out front and they where coming in and hanging up at 40 - 60 yrds...Then put those decoys off to the side and behind you...then their hanging up lands them in your shooting house.

Edited May 12, 2017 by growalot

[growalot]

Moog..... I hunt from stands and elevated blinds and they come in fine ,that is when they have a mind to. As far as the shot,well standing side ways when your shot hits it's hitting the head and or wing feathers. I've never had a problem with pellets unless I shoot too low and that would happen from the ground as well.

[moog5050]

Thanks Grow.   i will have to do some best guessing.  We see so few birds, no pattern.   But I generally know they are not likely to come from the cattails so that eliminates west although I have seen them on the edge of the cattails.  South has good visibility.  Most likely to come from east or south east if we see any.  And with the creek running so hard, there are only a few crossing points (down trees) from south.  That property will likely have hunters on it too.  Maybe one of us should set up in plot and the other further down the creek near one of the crossing trees. 

[Core]

Went out for first time ever, me and the other guy (Turkey hunting for years) saw nothing in some public land that was very lowly pressured. Another hunter who was there this morning also saw/heard nothing. I'll go out another 1-2 times, though. Absent some of the mosquitos it's an interesting time of year to hunt.

[moog5050]

I told my wife I am going to kill us a turkey dinner in the morning.  She is getting the roasting pan out.  Done deal now.  

[Lawdwaz]

2 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Had a fun morning today. I heard 4 different birds and had two jakes REALLY want to come to dinner...........The first crack I could have had was at MAYBE 20 paces.  The little "shaving cream brush" of a beard he had wouldn't have won any LB contests or furthered my legacy as a Master Turkey hunter so he got a easy pass.

After he went by me clucking and putting, I waited 10 minutes or so and readied myself to head to the other side of the mountain.  I figured I'd better make one more call before I took a step and BAM.....GOBBLE gobble.  It sounded like an adult had joined short stroke so I quickly sat down and donned my mask.  Within 2-3 minutes here come the blue heads!  Damn, fooled again.......it's just shorty with a beardless buddy (at least I didn't see it) with a mighty gobble!.

They sauntered by at 20 yards, going from left to right.  They passed by me giving me all the time in the world to make a decision.  They got a pass......

Oh wait, here they come again, going from right to left at the same approx. distance!  Best I could tell their beards didn't grow a bit in those 5 minutes.......t

OK NOW I'm out of here.....I headed back towards the truck to see if I could fire up two birds I heard from the truck when I got there.  Nothing doing there so I made a huge circle, hitting some prime areas that I enjoy walking as much as hunting.

After about an hour I'm back near "Jake City" again.  I figured what the heck, lets see if they wised up yet.........The answer to that would be no, they didn't.  They came in quiet as a church mouse though this time.  From right to left at about 40 yards before heading down and out of sight.  Cool!  So I sat there for a few minutes and took a little cat nap.  After getting my contacts back from up under my eyelids, I made a little chatter with the slate call.  All of a sudden directly to my 9:00 position here are two black blobs standing 15 yards away on a log.  The boys are back again!  At this point I'm thinking I could kill one and it'd be self defense as they just won't leave me alone!  This time something must have clicked in their pea brains though as they clucked a few times and headed off to the 12:00 position, sneaking away like they just figured it out. 

So it was a grand morning, all said and done. It was only my third morning out for the season, hopefully I can get out a bit more.  I did find a dandy shed horn too, I'll snap a picture in a bit.

Shed horn I picked up today.....

 

[growalot]

Dang!!!!the hunters son is here.. pretty sure he'll try putting them to bed..which means if not spooked...I can now worry about getting shot in the morning.. They are out feeding in that area now.. love flashing from pc room...one big Tom in sight head down path towards CBB.

[turkeyfeathers]

Moog , turkeys in fall and winter seem to not give a darn about me then. Sitting in tree wearing blaze orange. Unlike bucks during mating season birds don't dumb down,  they actually might be more aware of what's around them. I'm afraid to blink at spring birds. Skip the tree stand. Hunker down next to a tree. Throw some purrs and clucks at them every 15 minutes or so. When you think you're calling really quiet , cut that volume in half. Most important part , enjoy the morning regardless if you carry a bird out or not. Spring is amazing in the woods. Rule of thumb : decoys if overlooking a field. None if in hardwoods. Make them look for you 

[growalot]

Ummmm. no I do not love flashing but cladding I do..Ok one more time...Glassing...lol

[grampy]

4 hours ago, moog5050 said:

I would be thrilled to know there is a turkey in a 1 mile radius of where I sit grampy.  I will call that a victory.  lol  Please no unreasonable expectations by you!  I figure I will see a deer or two maybe and its been a while for that.

So someone explain why I shouldn't sit in a deer stand comfortably vs at the base of the tree?   I see them in the fall occasionally when hunting deer.  Never see them when sitting on the ground or in a blind come spring.  I know its blasphemy for you real turkey hunters. Guessing it has more to do with calling from a tree vs. ground level?

It is hard to shoot something that isn't there. But good things happen to good people, so good luck my friend!!!

I'm not near the turkey hunter, some folks on here are. But I've had good luck using decoys. And the only turkey I've killed with a bow, was out of a deer stand while hunting deer, a number of years ago.

[moog5050]

Thanks for the advice all.  Shooting lights out tonight with the recurve and my new higher anchor.  So tempted to bring it but I probably should use every advantage just in case one is around.   Probably be texting from the diner by 8am.  Lol

[E J]

I had a fun hunt this morning. I buddy and myself went to one of his spots. Right after we got set up a tom fired up above us but back the way we came in. We stayed put anyway. A hen flew out into the field we were watching first. After that I heard a little clucking, then shortly three jakes came by me. I knew my buddy would probably take one if he had the chance. They started heading his way. The tom was still hammering away all the while. I thought I heard wing flaps in the direction of the field so I started looking that way when.... ka boom. My buddy whacked one of the jakes. As I look his way I see a strutting tom out in the field with a hen so I start calling with cuts and yelps. I texted my buddy not to get up to get his jake. The tom and hen came towards us a bit but the hen eventually led him  away into the brush. We waited a while then got out of there. All in all it was a good morning.

[Zag]

Well my first hunt was in the rain/snow mix with no luck. Wed I went to my go-to spot with not a gobble to be heard so I packed up and headed to our land. Did a long walk and talk with no response and headed to work. Thursday I headed to our land first and heard two different gobbles right where they usually are. Once they hit the ground I started calling. They slowly made it my way and both were Jake's. They crossed the path before I was able to move and now couldn't see them with the brush so I started scratching leaves and they turned around and hit the path and dropped the 2nd bird that crossed. With my limited time I'm happy as hell with the hunt. Nothing better than having birds gobbling within 30yrds of ya.