2023 Turkey Hunting Thread

[dalton916]

Yep. I can’t tell you where I killed every turkey, but I can tell you where everyone one I missed was.

 

[Horn]

Yep. I can’t tell you where I killed every turkey, but I can tell you where everyone one I missed was.

Still learning here. Do those become spots you'd hunt again? I think I've heard that both strut zone and roost will continue use year after year unless they're disrupted too bad.

I've had to 10 yard or so encounters this year ( week) in different spots. What's my time frame to try again? File them for future years?

 

[dalton916]

Oh absolutely, I’m just referring to the fact that missing a turkey is devastating to the soul, lol.

 

[bonehed67]

I missed a bird at 8 yards in 2021. I was mad at myself beyond belief. I went with one of my best friends the next morning and had the best hunt ever. Killed an old bird with a gun my Pop's had bought years earlier and never killed anything with. Many tears were shed that morning and I had never seen Tim show that much emotion. My Buddy died unexpectedly on 2/22/22 at 56 years old. That morning was the last hunt we shared together. I will never put another shell in that gun. Hunting is more than we think it is at the time guys and gals. Enjoy every minute of it....even the misses and the crappy weather and everything that comes with it. Never know which one will be our last....

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[woodsdog2]

Happens to us all.

Indeed!

 

[ericabbott]

Do birds ever come back in, like a deer will sometimes?

had 2 Jake's. Total little birds but had one at probably 10 and one at about 15. I got a half 3/4 drawn... had my finger over the arrow and popped it off the string. The busted me trying to let down

Getting closer but that clock is a ticking! Very exciting!!

Matt Dale just posted a video on this topic. He spooked a couple of Tom’s from a spot, stayed patient and ended up killing one a couple hours later not far from where he spooked them. Of course he’s killed a crap ton of turkeys, but it is possible.

 

[woodsdog2]

@Horn, the turkeys are there for a reason. These are strut zones that have been used historically by generations of gobblers for decades. As long as there is no major changes to the area, turkeys will strut in the same areas year after year. For the private I hunt we no longer run and gun at all. We have a classic spot where a finger of cover closes into within 40 yards of an outside corner next to fields that the turkeys strut in. My bow blind I set up at the end of that point of cover. This point is also between a roosting ridge and the fields they strut in. Every morning they walk from the ridge to the fields and inevitably they will hear and/or see my decoys and hear my calling. Sometimes they come right in, other times they put in a show and eventually they break and come in or the hen leads them in. It is quite the experience with archery tackle…. It’s like deer hunting almost but calling to an organism that cares much more about what they hear than what they see or smell.

 

[woodsdog2]

Matt Dale just posted a video on this topic. He spooked a couple of Tom’s from a spot, stayed patient and ended up killing one a couple hours later not far from where he spooked them. Of course he’s killed a crap ton of turkeys, but it is possible.

I like his stuff been watching him for a couple of years. Solid advice. The best is how he waits for a gobbler then calls. He doesn’t typically just call and hope a gobbler responds. He knows there are turkeys in the area from scouting and trail cams and so he will set up and when he hears a gobble then he will call. Will wait to hear the next gobble then he calls. I have utilized this technique and have believe it works very well compared to just calling and hoping.

 

[Bowtie747]

I like his stuff been watching him for a couple of years. Solid advice. The best is how he waits for a gobbler then calls. He doesn’t typically just call and hope a gobbler responds. He knows there are turkeys in the area from scouting and trail cams and so he will set up and when he hears a gobble then he will call. Will wait to hear the next gobble then he calls. I have utilized this technique and have believe it works very well compared to just calling and hoping.

I call that technique “letting the bird kill himself”

 

[woodsdog2]

I call that technique “letting the bird kill himself”

It’s a great way to mange for decent to excellent Turkey hunting on small tracts of private ensconced by pressured private and public. Everyone around our farm is running and gunning and I just bowhunt them from a blind and “deer hunt” for turkeys until they want to respond to my calling or react to my decoys. We keep the turkeys perceiving that there is nobody on our tract that is hunting them. In other words we try to let them do their normal daily routines without disrupting them by closing in and running and gunning. I do believe it helps somewhat.

 

[Dsabhunt]

I set up a ground blind in pretty much the same spot every year for bowhunting turkeys. Just seems to be a spot where they want to be. Since I started using the spot about 5 years ago, I've shot one there every year and for the most part so has my buddy.
The spot is on a small hill at the end of a treeline that splits 2 fields they strut in. They can see the decoys from almost every direction except from behind the blind and usually end up in one of those fields during the morning. I don't always have to call them either. Sometimes they see they decoys and run into the set up

 

[woodsdog2]

I set up a ground blind in pretty much the same spot every year for bowhunting turkeys. Just seems to be a spot where they want to be. Since I started using the spot about 5 years ago, I've shot one there every year and for the most part so has my buddy.
The spot is on a small hill at the end of a treeline that splits 2 fields they strut in. They can see the decoys from almost every direction except from behind the blind and usually end up in one of those fields during the morning. I don't always have to call them either. Sometimes they see they decoys and run into the set up

Exactly

 

[Empostarr]

This year was my 4th turkey hunt. My uncle invited me out and spoiled me on my first hunt, the field he said was good, was hot in the afternoon and we both tagged out, i got a jake. My second season was lots of frustration since I just couldn't get on any birds, and when I did see them they didn't respond to my calls. Last year our hot spot was cold, but I did end up finding a new spot by just driving around in the early morning and listening to where they were gobbling. I got into a bunch of birds and missed one at around 40 yards. I just got too excited.

This year my uncles hot spot was on fire for opening day, he tagged out 20 minutes after legal shooting started, but i couldnt be there that day. I struggled for days since, having enounters, but none wanting to come into my setup. I went and got some new decoys (I had old hand me down foam ones) and got it done this morning.

I set up at a transition between a cut corn field to the west and a field of dead grass with little clearings here and there to the east. The transition is only about 50 yards long and I set up my ground blind close to 30 yards in on the grass field, with my back up against a big patch of thickets. Well worn game trails run all through the grass field, so I set up facing south with a trail crossing 10 yards in front of me. I put one decoy on the trail to me left and another on the trail to my right, trying to cover both fields essentially. It's been really quiet this season, so I've started blind calling every 15-30 minutes.

I just got done checking the time when I noticed a turkey moving along the south edge of the corn field. I give him some clucks and he immediately starts strutting. I wait until he gobbles, then just respond with some soft clucks and yelps. We do this call a nd response a few times. Eventually he works his way around the corn field and starts walking the transition. I give a soft cluck, he turns and sees the decoy in the trail and starts strutting. He walks a little, shows his right side, walks a little, shows his left side, sashaying his way down the trail. He was about 16 yards away and fell dead in his tracks when i shot. My heart was thumping the whole time. I love turkey season.

Brining the breasts to cook up this weekend!

 

[Micneador]

Was blessed to kill a gobbler this morning. Will share some pictures when I'm able to get some service worthy of uploading.

 

[Gator]

I did end up finding a new spot by just driving around in the early morning and listening to where they were gobbling.

Congrats!
Riding around and just listening is my go to method. I start 2-3 weeks before the season. This year that resulted in a dead gobbler 40 seconds after his feet hit the ground.

 

[woodsdog2]

Nice bird @Empostarr!!! Way to go @Micneador! See, your "whiff" the other day is long into ancient history now right? Congrats.

 

[Apex7]

Our season starts Saturday Saturday April 29. Be using a bow or a Hickory Creek mini vertical crossbow with Magnus bullheads broadheads. I do use decoys and a ground blind if using the bow. For run and gun I use a leafy suit and a turkey chair and the Mini crossbow. Good luck and be safe everyone.

 

[Micneador]

Nice bird @Empostarr!!! Way to go @Micneador! See, your "whiff" the other day is long into ancient history now right? Congrats.

Never, and nobody will let me forget it either lol.

Killing that bird Tuesday would have changed the dynamic of the trip. Meaning that my two buddies could have doubled yesterday and we would only have to find a bird for my sister to kill.

It's been fairly eventful though, could have killed jakes but passed. One of my buddies had a bird killed out from under him by a private landowner that cut between him and the gobbling bird on the property kine if public/private. Came real close to killing one late afternoon yesterday.

It's raining today so we're going to drive around checking some spots while it's raining and try to put some pins on new birds.

 

[Horn]

I had to change plans, went in a new area totally blind. I did find scratching, is this area worth hunting? So far nothing. Just wondering if that sign means much or just that turkeys were here eating at some point. I set up maybe 100-200 yards from the scratching, closer to an open field. Sign is in between two open fields with a few hundred yards of wooded in the middle

 

[boyne bowhunter]

2023 Year of the Jake
I have hunted 6 days this year so far. Could have killed jakes five of the days and managed to get self-filmed video footage of them coming in four of the days. The sixth day was opening morning and I worked a big mature Tom for an hour or so but the closest I could get him to was 60 yds. I have video of him too but he's too far out to clip a decent picture of.


Day 2 Inside 10 yds. It is snowing in the video.

e

Day 3, I ran out of memory card on this one but here he is only 30yds out when the camera quit recording. He came in running off the roost and ended up passing by inside 15yds.


Day 5, Thought my Jake deke was gonna get its butt kicked (inside 15 yds).


Next morning same spot . . . birds at 25 yds.


There are mature Toms moving but they're still in big flocks hanging in the private fields. This was the field in the background on day 5 hence the repeat of the same spot on Day 6.



At least it hasn't been boring this year . . .