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Post by hoosierwilk on Mar 3, 2006 8:16:11 GMT -5
Alot of great tips here guys, although I'm not a big fan of decoys. I know they have their place but if you use them and have trouble with birds hanging up try it without them and see if that helps. I primairly hunt crop fields here in western Indiana and have had decoys hang up more birds than they help bring in. I quit using them for that reason. Another tip, if its raining, go the fields. Turkeys go to open areas in the rain if theres any available. Especially the edges of fields. My last tip, know the terrain your hunting. Get out early and do some scouting and learn the lay of the land. Use your woodsmanship to move on birds. Good woodsmanship will kill you more birds than being a great caller. imho. hw
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 3, 2006 10:07:09 GMT -5
hey guys, remember this: have a positive attitude and your confidence will soar. also think of everyday you get to go hunting as this is opening day and enjoy, enjoy and have fun.i also like to thank the sportsman of indiana,the i.d.n.r. and the national wild turkey federation and our local chapters for bringing the wild turkeys back to indiana. after the spring gobbler season,remember there"s a jake"s day program for our future youngsters. this is probably the best thing we can do to give back to the sport of hunting the wild turkey.i"m so excited with the coming of spring gobbler season i can hardly wait till my grandson says "there he is" good luck and be safe turkey scout
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 14, 2006 19:44:45 GMT -5
hey guys , here a tip, if it happens to snow between now and mid april, get out and scout your area, its a great confidence builder just to see the tracks, the big flocks are breaking -up now and the smaller flocks will scatter looking for strutting and breeding areas, also the hens like to nest where water is close by, most likely a thick area with a creek. spring is near good luck this season to all turkey scout
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Post by Woody Williams on Mar 14, 2006 19:54:36 GMT -5
hey guys , here a tip, if it happens to snow between now and mid april, get out and scout your area, its a great confidence builder just to see the tracks, the big flocks are breaking -up now and the smaller flocks will scatter looking for strutting and breeding areas, also the hens like to nest where water is close by, most likely a thick area with a creek. spring is near good luck this season to all turkey scout Good advice, but if we have a snow I hope it is just good dusting..
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 19, 2006 11:08:46 GMT -5
hey guys,it getting close to time to pattern your shotgun, we shoot ours like a rifle ,a good rest and off of sand bags!(12 gauge- 30 yards ) . many shotguns shoot a pattern that is not centered with the sights, the pattern is either high, low, left or right of the point of aim, or a combination of these,such as low and left. you can adjust for this by using sights with adjustable for elevation and windage(such as tru glo sights). or by using a red dot scope or a low power scope.we all need to spend some time with our shotguns so that they will hit where we aim at! .....good luck,be safe, and take a youngster turkey hunting....... turkey scout
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Post by hunter480 on Mar 19, 2006 12:56:01 GMT -5
Don't shoot jakes, they are next year's crop!!! Even though you may want to: Last year had 3 jakes that ran 3 DIFFERENT long beards away in a river bottom field over the course of the first 2 weekends!!! Last weekend, the jakes were running when 1 boss gobbler showed up and I called him in SLOW for my dad to take his 1st eastern turkey. He didn't want to shoot a jake nor did I want him to, but he could have multiple times during the first few weekends. ANOTHER FUNNY NOTE: THE 3 JAKES WOULD GET SO CLOSE TOGETHER WHEN I'D DO WHAT CALL? GOBBLE TUBE THEY STAY CLOSE FOR 15-30 MINUTES THEN SEPARATE BACK OUT AND GO ON THEIR WAY, IT WAS FUNNY THE 1ST TIME, THEN THE COYOTE WHO TRYED TO NAB A DECOY WHILE THE JAKES WERE IN THE DECOYS WAS ANOTHER. THEY FLEW UP INTO THE TREES ABOVE OUR BRICKHOUSE BLIND AND MY DAD DIDN'T HESITATE TO ROLL THE COYOTE (3.5, #5'S HEVI-SHOT ROLLED THAT COYOTES ASS) AND FOR THE NEXT 1.5 HOURS THE JAKES GOBBLED, EVERY FEW MINUTES AS THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF THE 3 DECOY'S THAT DIDN'T MOVE LET ALONE THE DEAD COYOTE.....WHAT A DAY!!! THAT IS WHAT MAKES HUNTING WITH A FATHER OR SON SO GREAT I'LL NEVER FORGET THOSE 3 JAKES AND THE FUN MY 59 YEAR OLD DAD AND I HAD TOGETHER WHILE BEING IN THAT FIELD WITH THOSE JAKES. LAST SATURDAY OF SEASON PAID OFF, THE 3 JAKES A FEW HENS WERE IN THE FIELD RIGHT AFTER FLY DOWN AND THEN AT 7:50 NO HENS AND 3 JAKES. THEN A BOSS GOBBLER SHOWED UP AFTER A FEW PURRS AND A SERIOUS OF CUTTING. HE GOBBLED A FEW TIMES AND THEN HE WAS COMING, AS HE APPEARED THE JAKES DISAPPEARED AS IF THEY HAD BEEN SHOT EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE 150 OR SO YARDS AWAY FROM THE TOM. THE TOM STARTED TO HANG UP AND STRUT ABOUT 70 YARDS OUT WHILE EYEING OUR DECOYS, HE THEN WENT INTO A SERIOUS OF DOUBLE AND TRIPLE GOBBLES, I INTERUPPTED HIS LAST SERIOUS WITH A FEW CLUCKS AND A NICE PURR....HE THEN WENT OUT OF STRUT AND RAN ALL THE WAY TO OUR DECOYS AND STARTED STRUTTING A MERE 10 YARDS FROM OUT BLIND WHILE CIRCLING THE JAKE DECOY. I THEN LET OUT A LOUD SERIOUS OF CUTTING WITH MY MOUTH CALL AND HE GOBBLED AND IT WAS THE END OF A GREAT YEAR!!! WE KNOW THIS YEAR IS GOOD TO AS THE 3 JAKES ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER LONG BEARDS ARE AROUND, HOWEVER, THE JAKES MAYBE TOO EDUCATED ON DECOYS AFTER SEEING THEM EVERY WEEKEND LAST SEASON AND FOR SEEING THEM FROM A BIRDS EYE VIEW ABOVE OUR BLIND WHILE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE DEAD COYOTE WAS AND THE DECOYS!! CAN'T WAIT TILL THIS SEASON, GOING TO MISSISSIPPI ON MARCH 13TH FOR THE OPENER ON THE 15TH, A MERE 6 WEEKS FROM NOW! ? Don`t shoot jakes? Paaaleeeeeeeeeeeze. You go after all the longbeards you want, the jakes fry up tastier.
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Post by danf on Mar 19, 2006 21:21:48 GMT -5
hey guys , here a tip, if it happens to snow between now and mid april, get out and scout your area, its a great confidence builder just to see the tracks, the big flocks are breaking -up now and the smaller flocks will scatter looking for strutting and breeding areas, also the hens like to nest where water is close by, most likely a thick area with a creek. spring is near good luck this season to all turkey scout Sounds like we might get a chance to do some snow scouting in the next few days. Seems like we always get a decent snow in March.
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 21, 2006 9:27:18 GMT -5
hey guys, the pre- season snow is here,might wait til the storm over, while your scouting, especially the newer guys to hunting the wild turkey, please do not try to call (yelps ,clucks, and purrs etc.) while out on your scouting trips, this pre-season calling will only educate the whole flock, and will mess you up for opening day. i know it"s tempting if your a rookie, trust me don"t. if you want to locate a gobbler use a locator calls such as a owl, crow, or a peacock ..... good luck and be safe.......bring a youngster turkey hunting.......... turkey scout
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Post by danf on Mar 23, 2006 15:57:17 GMT -5
I actually got out and did some more scouting yesterday afternoon. Learned some things thanks to the snow. Turkey tracks are kinda hard to identify when they were made in the morning and you don't see them until 5:00 in the evening after it's been above 40 all afternoon. I took some pics, but have yet to get them on the computer....
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Post by ridgerunner on Mar 25, 2006 19:18:02 GMT -5
Here's a tip I learned. I think Kaiser posted it on another forum, but it works. Take a cigarrette lighter and heat the slate surface on your calls, the slate holds moisture and it dulls the sound. I did this and you can see the water evaporate from the slate, after I did this my calls sounded much better. It Works! Ridgerunner
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 27, 2006 11:09:51 GMT -5
hey guys , a hunters" tip, when you get close to closing the deal on a big o"boss gobbler, start by taking deep breaths,let out slowly, try not to move this is critical moment, don"t blow it here, when you feel he"s in range, slowly take your safety off and line up on that boss gobblers" neck and slowly squeeze the trigger, after he"s down and usually flopping around, make sure your gun safe and go get your bird, congratulations on a great hunt...... be safe and good luck ..... take a youngster turkey hunting.... turkey scout
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Post by Woody Williams on Mar 27, 2006 11:13:33 GMT -5
hey guys , a hunters" tip, when you get close to closing the deal on a big o"boss gobbler, start by taking deep breaths,let out slowly, try not to move this is critical moment, don"t blow it here, when you feel he"s in range, slowly take your safety off and line up on that boss gobblers" neck and slowly squeeze the trigger, after he"s down and usually flopping around, make sure your gun safe and go get your bird, congratulations on a great hunt...... be safe and good luck ..... take a youngster turkey hunting.... turkey scout MAN!! You have some great TURKEY TIPS. When I run up to them I put my foot on their neck just in case. I had a friend that grabbed one that wasn't quite dead and he got seriously spurred. It took 9 stitches to close the wounds.
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 27, 2006 16:15:58 GMT -5
hey woody,thanks for the nice comments, just trying to help our fellow sportsmen to enjoy hunting and pass down a tradition(thats dear to my heart) of hunting and enjoying the outdoors to all! .........good luck this season.... turkey scout
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Post by danf on Mar 27, 2006 22:30:12 GMT -5
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Post by Woody Williams on Mar 27, 2006 22:48:14 GMT -5
A little more melting and tehy would pass for BIGFOOT tracks.. Proof positive they are there..
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Post by danf on Mar 27, 2006 22:52:10 GMT -5
Yep. I had to look twice to realize that's what they were! Didn't hit me right away. I don't have turkey tracks ingrained in my mind like I do deer- yet. ;D
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Post by turkeyscout on Mar 28, 2006 9:44:02 GMT -5
hey danf, now that your confidense is soaring and you got the proof in some nice photos, since the snow is gone, keep up your scouting and now look for turkey scratchings, they will be shaped like a ice cream cone with the bottom of the V is where there heading. i get all excited when i see this sign, this is part of your plan to patterning the wild turkeys, also on the tracks don"t worry that it seems like most of the tracks are hens, when the season comes in the gobblers will be close to the hens. ....good luck and be safe... take a youngster turkey hunting.....turkey scout
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Post by turkeyscout on Apr 1, 2006 11:09:45 GMT -5
hey guys , it"s time, time to do some serious turkey scouting........ good luck and be safe.... take a youngster turkey hunting...... turkey scout
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