Post by Hood on Apr 27, 2007 14:43:48 GMT -5
I'm fairly new to turkey hunting since the population has been pretty low around my hunting areas. About four years ago, I found a turkey track on my place. It was the first I had ever seen and I had yet to see a critter that made tracks like that.
Last year was better, the first day I hunted I seen a turkey and heard him gobble. That was pretty exciting for me, even though I didn't get one. The very next day my buddy took one with an eight inch beard. Things were getting better.
This year, I started seeing more turkeys in the surrounding areas and had high hopes for this year. Since I had never taken a turkey, I decided to take the first legal bird if given an opportunity.
I hunted Wen. morning and heard a hen yelping, but nothing else. Spent most of the morning being thankful that I had a tent blind to hunt from due to the pouring down rain! Wen. night, I gave it another try, but the high winds and long hours began to dampen my spirits a bit.
I woke up Thur. morning almost wishing it was thundering and lightning so I could go back to bed. But it wasn't even raining, so I got ready and headed out. I was pretty tired and didn't have much hope of seeing anything. I got to my blind and set up my decoys.
Everything was pretty quiet as it started to get light out. I watched a deer come in and she seemed pretty interested in my decoys. But it was still fairly dark. After about fifteen minutes or so, I hit the call and tried to sound like a bird flying down. No reply... (Here's My Set up)
A short while later, I heard some gobbling on the roost. I could hear a two or three gobbling back and forth. Then I thought I heard a fourth and maybe a fifth gobbler. A short time later I could hear a hen yelping. I listened to them gobble for about thirty or forty minutes, until they just stopped. I waited for probably another half hour spending most of the time wishing I had set up closer to where I heard the gobbling.
Suddenly, a couple of geese flew overhead honking as they went by. They weren't very high and I leaned down to look out the window and catch a glimpse of them. I was suprised to see a hen out in the field feeding about seventy-five yards away.
As I watched, I seen a bunch of birds come out behind her.
I tried to take a couple of pictures, but they seen my decoys and headed that way. They covered the seventy five yards in about two seconds! They were all bunched up in front of me as I searched for a long beard. I couldn't find any and they were grouped so close together that if I shot, I figured I would take more than one out.
They were kind of walking around the decoys and I wasn't sure if they were getting spooked. So when I finally had an open shot at one, I took it. He fell on the spot and the rest scattered, but not too far. I watched for a moment and they started coming back. One of them started acting aggressive towards the bird I just shot. Then I heard them start calling each other back as they wandered out of sight.
I thought it was a pretty good morning and hopefully my buddy will get a chance this weekend. Thanks to all that have helped by giving me advice. It's very much appreciated!
Special thanks to LawrenceCoBowhunter. I was using a DB Custom Slate call and it sounded very good in the woods. I didn't call very often, but it seemed like the hen came in to it with the jakes following her.
I'm going to give it to my buddy to use as well as the Turkey Tamer Box Call and see what kind of results he has with them. It's been raining quite a bit, so I didn't get much of a chance to use the box call.
Good Luck to everyone!
Robert
Last year was better, the first day I hunted I seen a turkey and heard him gobble. That was pretty exciting for me, even though I didn't get one. The very next day my buddy took one with an eight inch beard. Things were getting better.
This year, I started seeing more turkeys in the surrounding areas and had high hopes for this year. Since I had never taken a turkey, I decided to take the first legal bird if given an opportunity.
I hunted Wen. morning and heard a hen yelping, but nothing else. Spent most of the morning being thankful that I had a tent blind to hunt from due to the pouring down rain! Wen. night, I gave it another try, but the high winds and long hours began to dampen my spirits a bit.
I woke up Thur. morning almost wishing it was thundering and lightning so I could go back to bed. But it wasn't even raining, so I got ready and headed out. I was pretty tired and didn't have much hope of seeing anything. I got to my blind and set up my decoys.
Everything was pretty quiet as it started to get light out. I watched a deer come in and she seemed pretty interested in my decoys. But it was still fairly dark. After about fifteen minutes or so, I hit the call and tried to sound like a bird flying down. No reply... (Here's My Set up)
A short while later, I heard some gobbling on the roost. I could hear a two or three gobbling back and forth. Then I thought I heard a fourth and maybe a fifth gobbler. A short time later I could hear a hen yelping. I listened to them gobble for about thirty or forty minutes, until they just stopped. I waited for probably another half hour spending most of the time wishing I had set up closer to where I heard the gobbling.
Suddenly, a couple of geese flew overhead honking as they went by. They weren't very high and I leaned down to look out the window and catch a glimpse of them. I was suprised to see a hen out in the field feeding about seventy-five yards away.
As I watched, I seen a bunch of birds come out behind her.
I tried to take a couple of pictures, but they seen my decoys and headed that way. They covered the seventy five yards in about two seconds! They were all bunched up in front of me as I searched for a long beard. I couldn't find any and they were grouped so close together that if I shot, I figured I would take more than one out.
They were kind of walking around the decoys and I wasn't sure if they were getting spooked. So when I finally had an open shot at one, I took it. He fell on the spot and the rest scattered, but not too far. I watched for a moment and they started coming back. One of them started acting aggressive towards the bird I just shot. Then I heard them start calling each other back as they wandered out of sight.
I thought it was a pretty good morning and hopefully my buddy will get a chance this weekend. Thanks to all that have helped by giving me advice. It's very much appreciated!
Special thanks to LawrenceCoBowhunter. I was using a DB Custom Slate call and it sounded very good in the woods. I didn't call very often, but it seemed like the hen came in to it with the jakes following her.
I'm going to give it to my buddy to use as well as the Turkey Tamer Box Call and see what kind of results he has with them. It's been raining quite a bit, so I didn't get much of a chance to use the box call.
Good Luck to everyone!
Robert
congrats man
