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Post by whitetaildave24 on Apr 26, 2018 19:53:48 GMT -5
Had 4 different ones gobbling this morning. Sat in a corner I’ve watched one go into Saturday and yesterday. Hens followed script, but no gobbler as of yet. Did just have an eagle fly over too. So... which would you have enjoyed more getting a turkey or if the bald eagle had swooped in and snatched the turkey from in front of you? Definitely the eagle snatching the turkey.
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Post by darinfry on Apr 26, 2018 20:02:38 GMT -5
Just got back from lake Monroe. Heard a couple gobbles but the birds really don't seem fired up. Was thinking the cold weather/Late spring has em delayed. Hoping the warmer weather coming in gets them going
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Post by deadeer on Apr 26, 2018 20:39:25 GMT -5
Just got back from lake Monroe. Heard a couple gobbles but the birds really don't seem fired up. Was thinking the cold weather/Late spring has em delayed. Hoping the warmer weather coming in gets them going I agree with this. We just started seeing some lone toms out and about, so seemsto just be starting up north here.
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Post by nfalls116 on Apr 26, 2018 20:41:24 GMT -5
Good thing season didn’t start earlier like everyone always wishes for...
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Post by greghopper on Apr 26, 2018 20:54:58 GMT -5
Good thing season didn’t start earlier like everyone always wishes for... You said a mouthful there..... would been hunting turkeys in snow camouflage and buddy heaters in the blind! Seems our state Turkey Biologist may just know something!
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Post by firstwd on Apr 26, 2018 22:52:37 GMT -5
After 25 years of on and off (for various reasons) turkey hunting I finally brought my first bird home today. I have successfully called birds for other people, but never got to shoot one myself. Opening morning was so dismal that I spent the majority of the rest of the day working on finding a completely different place to go. In the end, I chose a slight change to the game plan and we stayed on the same property.
The first glimmer of the promise of another sunrise found us heading west down a logging road I had never traveled and far away from any of the field edges that are traditional turkey hunting grounds. About 50 yards prior to a steep dropp into the river valley the logging road split and a promising spot for the blind materialised. We we're set up on a finger ridge at about 5 o'clock on the outside bend of the river.
A gobble quickly got our attention about 10 minutes or so before legal light. We laughed because 2 years ago we were informed about a tame turkey somewhere on the road. There are some parcels of private ground in this area. Some guys had a bird "hang up" on them so they stalked to it and found one in a pen just hammering away. We deduced that this early talker was said tame bird.
Being an activity sport, we would call very sparingly to keep him fired up hoping a wild bird would think he's competition. A couple ridges over I thought I could see the edge of a barn, then I saw a turkey moving down hill and we were convinced this was the tame bird.
Silence ensued for about 15 minutes or so before another round of soft clucks was made. Gobble! Is that bird closer? Purr, purr, cluck cluck cluck, Yelp Yelp yelp. Gobble! That was from the other direction. No, still this way... Hmm..... As my partner was making his call sequence I added in another set of yelps and clucks and BOOM! the gobbler exploded. Yep, still this way and definitely closer! Less than a minute later I see his white head appear over the crest of the hill. Gobble, strut, gobble, move 8 inches, strut, gobble, silence. All at 30 yards and behind a cluster of trees. Call out the back of the blind and very soft clucks and he comes around the trees to get a better look. Cluck, clu, Gobble! He finally spots the decoy 15 yards beyond the blind on the logging road. Strut. Purr... Cluck. GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE! BOOM!
This old bird face planted, flipped twice, the drama was over. 25 yards, 10 gauge, 3 1/2" #4 shot, and the celebration was on. No way to know actual age, but everybody has said he's an old bird. 9 7/8" beard, spurs worn and rounded down to 1/2", and showing some battle scars. My best reasoning says this used to be the boss bird that ended up getting his butt kicked and was off on his own. He was extremely talkative and there wasn't another bird anywhere near him.
Now that we were out of the blind, I could see that the "barn" was a pile of logs where the second ridge about 200 yards over had been logged. That open hillside is where this bird had flown down. We spent an hour playing with a "tame" bird that went crazy enough to climb two steep ridges just to catch a ride home with me. I have no idea how we didn't completely mess that up, but the experience was incredible.
After packing up we tried another different plan to get my buddy a bird. We hiked to a mushroom spot and found nothing but a gobbling turkey. Long story short, the fat guy ended up pulling a 4.5 mile round trip hike both directions across some hills that need a staircase to find ourselves in the bottom of a valley in a power line cut. We got within 80 yards of a pair of birds that had hung up halfway up the other hill and across the creek. A second bird was not in the cards, but it was an incredibly fun hunt.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 27, 2018 2:58:58 GMT -5
DAY THREE
Good luck to all those going out..
I'm taking my grandson who just flew in from Brooklyn NY to hunt a couple days with me..
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Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Apr 27, 2018 6:07:10 GMT -5
It's a nice cool morning out. Heard my first gobble while ago.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 27, 2018 6:08:08 GMT -5
Another nice morning and NO gobbles ...
We are sitting where I killed yesterday ..
Had a couple does come out and that is it...
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Post by jman46151 on Apr 27, 2018 6:20:19 GMT -5
Out for my first sit of the season. Have 1 tom a couple hundred yards away gobbling his head off at every crow but not at any calls.
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Post by jman46151 on Apr 27, 2018 6:53:41 GMT -5
That gobbling tom snuck in on me. As I hit send on my last post I look up and there he is 100 yards away. I now have my first archery turkey miss I think. I've got feathers and a little blood but he ran off like nothing happened. I may go get the gun before I go looking for him in case I need a follow up shot.
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Post by hornzilla on Apr 27, 2018 7:06:05 GMT -5
Sure is a pretty morning. Made change in game plan for today. Decided to try another spot this morning. It's a great plan........total silence, not one gobble.
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Post by deadeer on Apr 27, 2018 8:23:22 GMT -5
I turned off my alarm, closed my eyes for a sec, then woke up 4 hours later to my boy leaving for the school bus. Wow! Must have been tired! Wife said, "who's the turkey now?" Lol
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Post by jman46151 on Apr 27, 2018 8:49:39 GMT -5
Saw my bird from this morning booking across the neighbors field. Last week there was a flock with two toms but today he was by himself. He acted a little scared so I'm going to assume he isn't the dominate bird. Maybe the rest of the flock will show up this evening.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 27, 2018 9:25:01 GMT -5
It sure is a QUIET morning...as in no gobbles or turkeys seeen..
Bummer.. trying to get my grandson on one..
It ain’t working out.. 😩
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Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Apr 27, 2018 9:31:15 GMT -5
No turkeys here yet, just that one gobble at 0700. This spot certainly has an abundance of wasps though.. Wednesday night they were swarming my truck out by the road, and had gotten in the cracked windows. This morning, I'm about 100 yards from the road and they are very interested in my blind. I've killed 2 so far that found their way in.
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Post by colts1888 on Apr 27, 2018 11:50:45 GMT -5
Hunted the last 2 mornings and have yet to hear the first gobble or see a turkey. I know they are around i seen them in the weeks leading up to the season. just really slow right now up here.
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Post by whitetaildave24 on Apr 27, 2018 13:23:38 GMT -5
This morning was a great hunt. Had birds all around. 7 different ones gobbling. Was watching two long beards on the roost. Birds started flying down all around us. Some so close I could almost touch them with my gun as they flew by. 4 Jakes and some hens. One longbeard flew down and went the other way. He snuck in quietly later but did not like the jake decoy and he took off. The fun needed in that spot about 9 or so. A little before 11 I got to be part of a public land spot and stalk turkey kill. This was a big ole tom. Nearly 22” of total beard. Two big paintbrushes. Hopefully it’ll be my turn tomorrow.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 27, 2018 16:10:28 GMT -5
We sat till noon and saw and heard nothing..
I hate that for my grandson...
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Post by tomthreetoes on Apr 27, 2018 17:53:47 GMT -5
Opening day spot on some new property, had one gobbling but just sparingly. He didn't want to play so I went to a different spot on the same property. I saw tons of sign but no birds. Yesterday my wife had a morning appointment so no hunting. This morning I went back where I saw all the sign Wednesday. I thought before I walk a mile or so in the dark maybe I might owl a bit, nothing on the first hoot series but a gobble on the second. He was across the road on the opposite side. Great,that saved me a long walk but he was in the spoils. I tried to sneak in on him but the brush and briars were too thick causing me to take a more open route. He stopped gobbling and I was afraid he'd spooked. There was nothing else going on so I sat down and called a little and got no response. Few minutes later he gobbled on his own a couple hundred yds. away. I had to cross 5 spoil banks to get to a spot where I could see more than 20 yds.. Quiet a feat for an old fat man with one bad leg but I made it. It paid off, after 30 minutes, he came back looking for the hen he heard at day light. At 45 yds. the old Remington super mag blew him of the top of a spoil bank. I'm one tired but happy old turkey hunter. Next week my son and I get to chase gobblers together for the first time in several years, I can't wait.
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