Unofficially....Live from the woods 2021 turkey hunting thread.

[Lawdwaz]

48 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

I use Permitherin  for my camo  treatment.

 I use REPEL for around my Neck. Use the back of my hand to spread some around my ear area- very careful- and some on the Temple cheek area.

 Skeets still buzz around close . Not many bites though.

Do you use a mask when expecting a gobbler to come in, if so what kind?

[turkeyfeathers]

Samantha and I giving it a whirl 

[2012_taco]

I'm in Little Valley for a last hunt here, not s gobble so far. Beautiful morning to be out! Good luck TF and Sammie. 

[reeltime]

Finally after being under my skin since I made a mental mistake on this bird the day after I killed my wv/pa double and for the last 6 days playing chess he made a mistake.

Story later.


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[Five Seasons]

Got my triple pack of phelps diaphragm calls this week and I really didn't realize how used up or bad my old primos calls were. These are much more raspy and my pur is half way decent now. I can't seem to get my pur to be soft and there's a hint of a cut/yelp in it that I can't consistently eliminate, but I'm getting better and I think the old call was half my issue.

Excited to get out this weekend. Not sure saturday or sunday yet

[Five Seasons]

13 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Do you use a mask when expecting a gobbler to come in, if so what kind?

i like the 3/4 that I use. I spray it with permithean as well and just pull it up when I think action is near and down when walking around. Except last year when I wore it driving alone in my car because of covid.

[Pygmy]

6 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

I use a pull up mask like always. All,I  have to do is make sure the Bill of my hat is lowered so mr. Big does not see my Eyes.

So " Mr. Big doesn't see your eyes "....  Do you hunt with your fly unzipped, Bill ..??...Hehehe...

[KBUsmc0311]

Went this morning to where I met you blackbeltbill, heard no gobbles maybe someone got the bird I was working. Oh well it was a beautiful morning, sadly the weather and work won’t cooperate for the weekend but I may get out one last day on the 31st. Good luck to everyone this was my turkey season and aside from not getting a bird yet it was a blast.


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[reeltime]

recap of this mornings hunt and some history with this bird.   as I said I made a not normal for me mental mistake on this bird back on 5/13 when he bought my fly down and soft yelps hook line and sinker and knowing this bird has been hounded relentlessly since youth season I knew I should of got across the little part of the field to get closer to the outside corner and roll of the hill because my sixth sense told me he is going to come down that edge drop down the hill then come up the finger of the field I was at the end of and when he didn't see a hen there he was NOT going to come in.....had I scurried over and set up I would of had him dead at 25 yards. 

Monday I heard him and played cat and mouse over 2 miles and I swear he was part road runner because i could not get ahead of him., at 10 am. I unloaded the gun and took off for the vehicle to try and get around him and by the time i got over there he was another 1/2 mile farther on the power line.

Tuesday i got in super early and when he gobbled he was almost a mile away across the big hollow so off I was and just simply could not get caught up to him.

Wednesday he was back in our playground but he somehow got around me and out to the hens and then he off to the races again.

today, walking in at 230 am was like walking out at 6 am,,, man it was bright!  I had a hunch that today the back finger of that field above the river was going to be the spot. it took a long time to walk in there when using the periodic clouds to block out the full moon as I knew I was going to be in with the hens.  Finally got settled up against a double trunk apple tree on the outside corner.

It was pretty light when I heard the first gobble WAAAYYY behind me and i knew immediately it was not road runner, 5 minutes latter a gobbble WAAAAAAAY out front and across a 80 foot deep ravine with a big creek at the bottom.  As much as I didn't want to do it as I had hens right above me in a oak tree 10 yards away I knew i had to let him know there was a hen there waiting on him.  so I hammered a flydown cackle into some short hard cutts.

man did the trees light up around me with one hen being extremely harsh with her response. He gobbled again from the same spot and as the hens all calmed down some when he gobbled a few minutes later I could barely hear him but knew he was on the ground and on my side of the creek.

he gobbled 3 more times the last just before entering the field directly across from me, the one really sassy hen was coming down the edge looking for that first hen to talk and she was going through the entire hen vocabulary from putts to kee kee's, purrs....and she was getting close now at less that 5 yards.  

He had worked across the field half way and was now at 25 yards but in full strut with nothing but air between us and he finally broke strut as the hen is now 5 feet from my right knee, my thumb was already on the safety so when he broke strut I eased the safety off settled the crosshairs on his eye and it was over.  

he was a lightweight at 16 lbs, sported a paintbrush 10.5" beard and 1 3/16 needle sharp spurs,,,,,and 6 copper plated #5 shot in his left thigh and lower left breast muscle. 

I put a jr. hunter and his dad on a pair of 2 year olds yesterday morning and.........well lets just say the JR hunter learned there is way more area around a turkeys head than on a turkeys head as he promptly missed him with a scoped 20 gauge at a whopping 7 yards... I told them how to walk in there, what tree to set up on, where the birds were going to come from......I just failed to tell him to let the bird walk out 20 yards into the field before trying to shoot him LOL. at least it was an absolute clean miss.

I put those birds to bed tonight and tomorrow morning its Jason's turn at trying one of them, while he is trying those birds I am scouting for a back up for him or intell for next year.

[BizCT]

Quick hunt this morning on Pressured  Public Dirt- " Love the Challenge "!
  1st time Biking in on my Schwinn  Mountain Bike this Spring.
 Solid 1 Hour at my 1st location. No Gobbling heard
  2nd Location,I  walked in a 1/4 mile and was entering open Hardwoods  and heard a Owl Hoot that Definitely  was not an Owl! 
  Backed out of there- safety first and good ethics.
Cut and Run to front Fields and also on the way out.
  No Gobbling heard today.
Hope my 2 fellow hunters who parked after me have more Luck today then me.
   Tomorrow, I  am going after this one Gobbler that gave me the slip a week ago.
 It means a 1 1/2 mile hike in with Hills. No Problem.
  Down to 237lbs after 28 Total Turkey Hunting days. 
 Cynthia is up Sat + Sun. She gets 1st shot of course. 
And maybe 2 will come In.
 Pic of my Mountain Bike with my Slinged Shotgun.

Have you considered trying a different spot instead of the same piece 28 days? Or are you hunting different land?


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[518BowSlayer]

Gobbling on the roost right where I thought they would be... across the creek on the neighbors side

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[518BowSlayer]

This is the most gobbling I've heard this year. It's 7:30 and they're still letting it rip at least every 10 minutes. Definitely more than one bird but they are still on the neighbors side. Keeping it interesting at least

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[Lomax]

Giving it a go mid morning hopefully they are active like they were earlier this week mid day. 

[Five Seasons]

17 hours ago, Pygmy said:

So " Mr. Big doesn't see your eyes "....  Do you hunt with your fly unzipped, Bill ..??...Hehehe...

don't we all? don't want movement and don't want to wet the drawers, so if it's just hanging out you're gtg!

[WNY Bowhunter]

12 hours ago, reeltime said:

recap of this mornings hunt and some history with this bird.   as I said I made a not normal for me mental mistake on this bird back on 5/13 when he bought my fly down and soft yelps hook line and sinker and knowing this bird has been hounded relentlessly since youth season I knew I should of got across the little part of the field to get closer to the outside corner and roll of the hill because my sixth sense told me he is going to come down that edge drop down the hill then come up the finger of the field I was at the end of and when he didn't see a hen there he was NOT going to come in.....had I scurried over and set up I would of had him dead at 25 yards. 

Monday I heard him and played cat and mouse over 2 miles and I swear he was part road runner because i could not get ahead of him., at 10 am. I unloaded the gun and took off for the vehicle to try and get around him and by the time i got over there he was another 1/2 mile farther on the power line.

Tuesday i got in super early and when he gobbled he was almost a mile away across the big hollow so off I was and just simply could not get caught up to him.

Wednesday he was back in our playground but he somehow got around me and out to the hens and then he off to the races again.

today, walking in at 230 am was like walking out at 6 am,,, man it was bright!  I had a hunch that today the back finger of that field above the river was going to be the spot. it took a long time to walk in there when using the periodic clouds to block out the full moon as I knew I was going to be in with the hens.  Finally got settled up against a double trunk apple tree on the outside corner.

It was pretty light when I heard the first gobble WAAAYYY behind me and i knew immediately it was not road runner, 5 minutes latter a gobbble WAAAAAAAY out front and across a 80 foot deep ravine with a big creek at the bottom.  As much as I didn't want to do it as I had hens right above me in a oak tree 10 yards away I knew i had to let him know there was a hen there waiting on him.  so I hammered a flydown cackle into some short hard cutts.

man did the trees light up around me with one hen being extremely harsh with her response. He gobbled again from the same spot and as the hens all calmed down some when he gobbled a few minutes later I could barely hear him but knew he was on the ground and on my side of the creek.

he gobbled 3 more times the last just before entering the field directly across from me, the one really sassy hen was coming down the edge looking for that first hen to talk and she was going through the entire hen vocabulary from putts to kee kee's, purrs....and she was getting close now at less that 5 yards.  

He had worked across the field half way and was now at 25 yards but in full strut with nothing but air between us and he finally broke strut as the hen is now 5 feet from my right knee, my thumb was already on the safety so when he broke strut I eased the safety off settled the crosshairs on his eye and it was over.  

he was a lightweight at 16 lbs, sported a paintbrush 10.5" beard and 1 3/16 needle sharp spurs,,,,,and 6 copper plated #5 shot in his left thigh and lower left breast muscle. 

I put a jr. hunter and his dad on a pair of 2 year olds yesterday morning and.........well lets just say the JR hunter learned there is way more area around a turkeys head than on a turkeys head as he promptly missed him with a scoped 20 gauge at a whopping 7 yards... I told them how to walk in there, what tree to set up on, where the birds were going to come from......I just failed to tell him to let the bird walk out 20 yards into the field before trying to shoot him LOL. at least it was an absolute clean miss.

I put those birds to bed tonight and tomorrow morning its Jason's turn at trying one of them, while he is trying those birds I am scouting for a back up for him or intell for next year.

Always love your stories. Congrats on tagging out in another state too. You truely are the man when it comes to killing gobblers!

[Buckmaster7600]

Out again this morning on Pressured  Public Dirt. Heard 2 Gobblers in a Swamp.
  One of my Toughest  Springs for sure.Looks like that 23lber will be it this year.
  Northren New Jersey - the Turkey Population  is extremely  Low.  Not many Jersey Hunters in Sussex and Passaic counties  are hearing any Gobblers. I bought 4 Tags covering 4 weeks and did not hear too much.
   Word is that Changes are coming to the New Jersey Turkey Spring Turkey Season soon. 
   I am feeling fortunate  that, I  tagged that 1 NY Gobbler.
   The good times of the past are gone when, I  took 4,5,6 Turkeys in a year and 3 States.
   Just happy to be out now and Hiking around with a Gun- lol.

What is the difference you’re seeing from years past? Around here there aren’t the birds there once was, the birds we have don’t gobble like they once did and there are at least double the hunters then there was when I started 20yrs ago.

That being said I had a great year! I hunted 13 days killed 2 birds called in birds for 2 buddies and a cousin and had another buddy miss a bird as did my cousin. 7 out of the 13 hunts we had opportunities. 3 of the 5 birds were killed on public land. Our population is rebounding from the low a few years ago. The population in the Adirondacks is still climbing steadily. I also heard more gobbling this year than I have in the last 5 or 6 years. I think more if that had to do with the cold start to spring and season hitting more of the breeding peak than bird populations.


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[Buckmaster7600]

Since, I  hunt New Jersey and keep up with another Hunting Forum- the Turkey Hunters in New Jersey report this Spring as their absolute Worst.
   Many veteran  Turkey Killers have not shot a single Gobbler in New Jersey.
  Now up in Orange County- no Problem at all good Turkey Numbers.
   Hopefully,I  can call up another Gobbler for Cynthia.

But you said the good times of the past are gone, what do you think has changed?


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[JALA RUT]

Anybody out today hearing any gobbling? Dead quiet in the woods that I'm in this morning.

[stubborn1VT]

Took a quick walk at the farm where I work.  No birds.  Very quiet (except for the planes, traffic and neighbor's lawn mower).

[Shoots100]

Turkey number are down in NJ.

Used to see them all over when visiting friends there, not anymore.

Maybe the winter weather had something to do with it ?

Coyote ?

Have been a lot more coyote sighting's in NJ lately.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Shoots100

[Five Seasons]

The last hurrah. Settled in a little after 5 and no gobbles. My goal is 730 haha, wish me luck




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[Lawdwaz]

2 hours ago, Belo said:

The last hurrah. Settled in a little after 5 and no gobbles. My goal is 730 haha, wish me luck




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Looks like you’ve already had a successful hunt.  Congratulations 

[Lawdwaz]

44 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

5/30/2021- Out at 7.17am. Got caught in the rain. Pulled Decoy at 6.45am or so and Biked out.

So at 7.17am as, I am putting my Mountain  Bike into my Saturn, I  hear 4 Magnum Shots!!

 Definitely  not the Field,I  was in.  I know which one going by my minds eye.

 Wonder if the owner of this Black Equinox  got that Gobbler?

  I say no- but you never know.

Four Magnum shots, gotta be two lucky Hunters killing birds or both pounding the same bird?

Or, God help him a unplugged gun??

What does Cynthia drive, maybe it’s her and her hubby?

[mowin]

54 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Four Magnum shots, gotta be two lucky Hunters killing birds or both pounding the same bird?

Or, God help him a unplugged gun??

What does Cynthia drive, maybe it’s her and her hubby?

Don't need a plugged gun for turkey. 

[Bodhi_308]

3 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

Well Larry- probably  the same young Guy as a few days ago because,I  once again heard a " not too good" Owl Hoot. 

  Same as a few days ago- heard a Man made Owl Hoot - saw a Yellow back Tag and of course backed out as,I  was entering Hardwoods.

 This time,I  had a Decoy out and he was coming down the Field Line and Hooting and saw my Decoy.

 Glad he backed out.

   So it was dry and calm until 6.30am. Then a Light rain turned into a much heavier Rain.

  Biked out and now a Driving Rain all the way out.

  My assessment-- Definitely  no Toms were down on the ground yet before the light rain at 6.30am.

   At 7.17am in a now driving Rain and at my Suv,I heard- Boom---Boom- Boom-Boom. First 2 Shots spaced out and the next 2 Shots super quick as in a Bird now in Flight and gaining Distance.

   My Assessment- A Failed Roost Shooting attempt by 1 Hunter.

  

Could also just be shooting at one in a field...