First morning of run n gun and I killed me a dandy!
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DANG!! That’s not a paint brush its a BROOM!
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Turkey...
- Thread starter catman529
- Start date
DANG!! That’s not a paint brush its a BROOM!
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Chistavocat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
- Messages
- 545
First hunt of the season this morning. Nothing. Heard a few gobbles on the way in but nothing close. It was soooooo noisy walking on the brittle snow at 27* after yesterday’s warm-up. Maybe they could hear me coming from a mile away but I only covered 2.2 miles in 6 hours. Most of which was after the snow began to melt and wasn’t so loud. A few tracks in the snow but other than that it seemed like all of the birds I located before the snow are elsewhere. Thought to myself they will be out on the road by the truck on the only bare ground eating sand, gravel and salt. Sure enough, 5 picking away. One very nice Tom heading into private land. Took the scenic route home past a couple of other good spots, nothing. Walked a piece of private I have permission on and saw some tracks but nothing in the surrounding fields. Made a plan for a sit with some decoys in the morning. All in all it was good to be out-not at work!
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Flew out to Missouri, been at it for 2 days been on birds they’re just not playing ball yet. I’ve been hunting with my Dad & it’s been fun , but tomorrow im flying solo gonna run & gun on a big pc of public. Can’t wait! Nice bird @flinginairos !
Beautiful bird
Thank you. May be the prettiest colored bird I’ve ever killed. Thought it was worth more wall space than just a fan The cape was actually very easy to do. Skinning wings while still attached was touchy but not bad
You did a great job. You will enjoy it on the wall for years.
denots
Well-Known Member
Well I heard my first gobble this morning. I got fired up to say the least, but he sounded like he was a 100 or so yards from me. I tried calling but with no luck. I'm just glad I found a Tom. I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if he had hens with him, but I'm gonna keep getting it wrong until I get it right. Man this is addictive!
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- Joined
- Sep 19, 2014
- Messages
- 3,939
Had the same thing happen yesterday. He probably had hens with him. I've seen hens pull a gobbler the opposite direction when you start calling to him. Usually the only way to pull those in is to make the hen mad. That's pretty easy to do but it's hard to get them to come in.
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2014
- Messages
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Had the same thing happen yesterday. He probably had hens with him. I've seen hens pull a gobbler the opposite direction when you start calling to him. Usually the only way to pull those in is to make the hen mad. That's pretty easy to do but it's hard to get them to come in.
denots
Well-Known Member
Sounds like I need to get my butt over your direction and get some lessons from a professional!
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I have called in gobblers that it took then an hour or more for them to get to me. I don't call alot , if they call I might give them a cluck or two and then stay quiet. This has worked numerous times for me and the birds come in for a shot. Be patient because sometimes they come in and are silent the last bird I killed with a bow he called twice I called once and it took him 45 minutes to come into me and the only thing I heard was a twig snap and there he was..
Autumnrider
Well-Known Member
Nature has no wrist watch
Both my birds this year were silent comers. The first one I had sat for almost 12 hours in a spot I knew they would be at eventually. I had used a trail camera to pattern them over a couple months and narrowed it down to a small open patch that they were working nearly every evening before fly up.
Hunted them off the roast that morning to only hear them walking away with their hens so I went straight to the flat I knew they would be on and waited. Soft called every few hours or so and remained motionless. 8 hours later I saw gobblers slipping threw the swamp headed my way. The second I had gotten off work and ran straight to the property and set up in same spot. I had just sat down and heard a twig snap and looked over as he was walking straight to the opening. Walked past me at 9 steps and got a severe migraine.
Sometimes they come gobbling there brains out and putting on a show and sometimes you have to “deer” hunt them. Of the 30 some birds I killed 90% of them were the typical turkey hunt but ever so often you gotta change your tactics to be successful. Just be patient and use all your unsuccessful hunts as a learning tool. The more time spent in the woods with the more you will learn. Patients pays.
Chistavocat
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
- Messages
- 545
This latest hunt was a tough one to swallow, but it is what it is........
Saturday morning I sat on a private farm and the birds were gobbling there heads off about 500+ yds to the south. Nothing in my immediate area. There is a public piece to the south of where I assumed the birds were roosting, so I went in that night to check it out, hoping to pinpoint the roost. I set decoys and ended up striking up a Tom that was on private land to the west but it was getting late so I didn’t press my luck. I could see 2 toms and a couple hens fly up within 100 yds of my location exactly where I thought they were that morning. I waited until it was completely dark so they wouldn’t see me leave as I could see them in the trees and left my decoys and crept out.
Fast forward to this morning. I got up really early and snuck in on the crunchy snow and set up. They gobbled like crazy again and went silent after flying down. They would occasionally answer my light calling and I struck up a conversation with a hen but they stayed put and milled around for about an hour and a half. I decided to sneak out to the full strut decoy and have a look at there location. I could see 3 strutters behind a row of pines on the border of public/private about 75yds out. . I hid behind the decoy and called while moving the decoy to give it some life as I wasn’t sure if they could see it at any point of the morning. They payed little attention even though they looked in my direction but continued on there way with the hen. So I decided to pull the decoy off the stake and begin to stalk them, crawling behind it peering between the feathers of the real fan.
The turkeys continued on heading behind a small pond on public land. It took about an hour to get down the hill close to the pond when one of the toms decided he was going to investigate. He circled back towards me on the path that they had taken. He became a little nervous but was to a spot I thought was close enough for a shot. I pulled the gun up, took aim, and missed.
That bird flew off while the others moved farther way not really knowing what had happened. I stayed hidden and let things settle down, wondering if I should have tried to close the distance on the bird before I took a shot.
The birds continued to move around on the other side of the pond so I decided to continue the stalk. I crawled to the location of the missed shot and saw no evidence of hitting the bird. At this time the other two toms started closing the distance. They came up the bank and walked straight towards me. I balanced the decoy on the snow/weeds and readied the gun. One behind the other they continued to come, but wouldn’t separate for a shot. 30yds, 20yds, 10yds without a shot that didn’t have the potential to kill both of them. They finally separated enough for a shot at 5yds. I pulled the trigger only to see them both turn and run into the brush/tall weeds. Another miss! A 5 yd miss none the less!
I was in disbelief. Everything worked out perfect except my shooing. A few lessons learned.
1. This is a tactic I have never used (besides flashing a fan at distant turkeys) but realized I works, and works well. I have always been apprehensive of this tactic on public but could see potential approaching hunters from quiet a distance and the birds were between me and the access.
2. Don’t get trigger happy. After finding the tracks of the first bird I think he was at least 50 yds out. Not an ideal distance. I should have let that play out further. I also realized that it is hard to judge distance looking through a fan and a big old Tom looks closer than he is when at eye level.
3. When a turkey is at 5YDS! don’t aim for the head/neck. The shot pattern at 5 yds is small. I was already eating turkey breast wrapped in jalapeño and bacon, instead of using my head and shooting at the body at that close range.
4. I need a decoy set up specifically made for stalking/reaping. One hand on the decoy and one hand on the gun is not ideal.
5. This is the first bird(s) I have missed. Hopefully missing two within minutes will cover me for a while, but don’t think you have the turkey in the bag before he’s actually in the bag.
This gave me a similar feeling as when I missed that stud buck last fall. Well, not quit that bad. I need to get off the schneid!!!!!
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Saturday morning I sat on a private farm and the birds were gobbling there heads off about 500+ yds to the south. Nothing in my immediate area. There is a public piece to the south of where I assumed the birds were roosting, so I went in that night to check it out, hoping to pinpoint the roost. I set decoys and ended up striking up a Tom that was on private land to the west but it was getting late so I didn’t press my luck. I could see 2 toms and a couple hens fly up within 100 yds of my location exactly where I thought they were that morning. I waited until it was completely dark so they wouldn’t see me leave as I could see them in the trees and left my decoys and crept out.
Fast forward to this morning. I got up really early and snuck in on the crunchy snow and set up. They gobbled like crazy again and went silent after flying down. They would occasionally answer my light calling and I struck up a conversation with a hen but they stayed put and milled around for about an hour and a half. I decided to sneak out to the full strut decoy and have a look at there location. I could see 3 strutters behind a row of pines on the border of public/private about 75yds out. . I hid behind the decoy and called while moving the decoy to give it some life as I wasn’t sure if they could see it at any point of the morning. They payed little attention even though they looked in my direction but continued on there way with the hen. So I decided to pull the decoy off the stake and begin to stalk them, crawling behind it peering between the feathers of the real fan.
The turkeys continued on heading behind a small pond on public land. It took about an hour to get down the hill close to the pond when one of the toms decided he was going to investigate. He circled back towards me on the path that they had taken. He became a little nervous but was to a spot I thought was close enough for a shot. I pulled the gun up, took aim, and missed.
That bird flew off while the others moved farther way not really knowing what had happened. I stayed hidden and let things settle down, wondering if I should have tried to close the distance on the bird before I took a shot.
The birds continued to move around on the other side of the pond so I decided to continue the stalk. I crawled to the location of the missed shot and saw no evidence of hitting the bird. At this time the other two toms started closing the distance. They came up the bank and walked straight towards me. I balanced the decoy on the snow/weeds and readied the gun. One behind the other they continued to come, but wouldn’t separate for a shot. 30yds, 20yds, 10yds without a shot that didn’t have the potential to kill both of them. They finally separated enough for a shot at 5yds. I pulled the trigger only to see them both turn and run into the brush/tall weeds. Another miss! A 5 yd miss none the less!
I was in disbelief. Everything worked out perfect except my shooing. A few lessons learned.
1. This is a tactic I have never used (besides flashing a fan at distant turkeys) but realized I works, and works well. I have always been apprehensive of this tactic on public but could see potential approaching hunters from quiet a distance and the birds were between me and the access.
2. Don’t get trigger happy. After finding the tracks of the first bird I think he was at least 50 yds out. Not an ideal distance. I should have let that play out further. I also realized that it is hard to judge distance looking through a fan and a big old Tom looks closer than he is when at eye level.
3. When a turkey is at 5YDS! don’t aim for the head/neck. The shot pattern at 5 yds is small. I was already eating turkey breast wrapped in jalapeño and bacon, instead of using my head and shooting at the body at that close range.
4. I need a decoy set up specifically made for stalking/reaping. One hand on the decoy and one hand on the gun is not ideal.
5. This is the first bird(s) I have missed. Hopefully missing two within minutes will cover me for a while, but don’t think you have the turkey in the bag before he’s actually in the bag.
This gave me a similar feeling as when I missed that stud buck last fall. Well, not quit that bad. I need to get off the schneid!!!!!
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This was a tough hunt. Gobbling at gray light 6-700 yards away on either side of our setup. A place which is usually loaded with turkeys ended up completely empty last Friday. So we deer hunted for em out of a blind in an area we know they strut. Left the blind at noon to locate and a lone tom hammered - we doubled back to another ridge where we figured he’d be - but he beat us there abc spotted us.
He folded his wings and headed off but didn’t spook. Done. Dang.
We tore down and headed 250 yards south and set up; at 12:55 we heard a gobble behind us. Likely (but can’t ever know!) the same bird. He was skittish but within 20 minutes carefully called him into range and some TSS from the Browning 1962 Sweet 16 folded him at 39 yards!!!
Unreal.
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d_rek
Well-Known Member
Got my first opening day bird! Had an AMAZING hunt and tagged a nice one for Michigan's turkey opener!
Weather was perfect the last few days, sunny and mid-50's, and forecasted for mid-60's today. I was seeing a huge uptick in activity and strutters over the weekend, so I was really optimistic for this morning. I got out about 1/2hr before daybreak. It was pretty quiet but maybe 10-15 minutes after official sunrise I had 9 birds in the field about 300 yards away - 2 toms, 3-4 jakes, and the rest were hens. Some light calling got them gobbling but the Toms were stuck tight to the hens. They skirted my setup and proceeded to the next field over to sun themselves and strut on a knoll for the next two hours.
Luckily the action didn't escape me and I had a coyote come in at 40 yards and take a swipe at my decoy. I would have threw some shot at him but when he got close enough he ran in like a lightning bolt towards my hen deke and chomped down on here and as fast as he did that he bolted away.
After almost 2 hours the birds broke apart with the jakes heading away, and the hens and toms starting south towards the neighboring woodlot. I figured it was time to get aggressive so I started hammering the box call. Well that got the girls attention and they just about turned a 90 and headed right for my setup. It took them the better part of 45 minutes to work their way back over to my property and I finally coaxed them into killing distance with some light clucks and yelps. When the toms hit 30 yards I let out a loud putt and they stuck their heads straight up in the air. I was more than ready for them at this point and all I had to do was pull the trigger. The first shot spun him around and he stood doing a drunken wobble and, not wanting to chase down a bird, I took a follow up almost immediately, dropping him on the spot.
GREAT hunt and FIRST time i've gotten a turkey on opening day!! He dressed out at 25lbs live weight, 9" beard, and 3/4" spurs. Just a beautiful bird!!
Weather was perfect the last few days, sunny and mid-50's, and forecasted for mid-60's today. I was seeing a huge uptick in activity and strutters over the weekend, so I was really optimistic for this morning. I got out about 1/2hr before daybreak. It was pretty quiet but maybe 10-15 minutes after official sunrise I had 9 birds in the field about 300 yards away - 2 toms, 3-4 jakes, and the rest were hens. Some light calling got them gobbling but the Toms were stuck tight to the hens. They skirted my setup and proceeded to the next field over to sun themselves and strut on a knoll for the next two hours.
Luckily the action didn't escape me and I had a coyote come in at 40 yards and take a swipe at my decoy. I would have threw some shot at him but when he got close enough he ran in like a lightning bolt towards my hen deke and chomped down on here and as fast as he did that he bolted away.
After almost 2 hours the birds broke apart with the jakes heading away, and the hens and toms starting south towards the neighboring woodlot. I figured it was time to get aggressive so I started hammering the box call. Well that got the girls attention and they just about turned a 90 and headed right for my setup. It took them the better part of 45 minutes to work their way back over to my property and I finally coaxed them into killing distance with some light clucks and yelps. When the toms hit 30 yards I let out a loud putt and they stuck their heads straight up in the air. I was more than ready for them at this point and all I had to do was pull the trigger. The first shot spun him around and he stood doing a drunken wobble and, not wanting to chase down a bird, I took a follow up almost immediately, dropping him on the spot.
GREAT hunt and FIRST time i've gotten a turkey on opening day!! He dressed out at 25lbs live weight, 9" beard, and 3/4" spurs. Just a beautiful bird!!
BRAVEHEART
Well-Known Member
Nice job! Beautiful Michigan turkey!!
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d_rek
Well-Known Member
Another beautiful Michigan bird bites the dust! Had a short hunt calling for my brother in law this morning and brought this tom in on a string. We were in our blind at 6am and just after we were setup the toms started gobbling like crazy for the next half hour. At 6:30 we spotted a ton 50 yards out strutting toward our setup. He got within 15 yards and my BIL dropped him. We were done hunting at 6:45am - less than an hour after we got out!
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BRAVEHEART
Well-Known Member
Looks like you have a hot spot!Another beautiful Michigan bird bites the dust! Had a short hunt calling for my brother in law this morning and brought this tom in on a string. We were in our blind at 6am and just after we were setup the toms started gobbling like crazy for the next half hour. At 6:30 we spotted a ton 50 yards out strutting toward our setup. He got within 15 yards and my BIL dropped him. We were done hunting at 6:45am - less than an hour after we got out!
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