Turkeys are winning !

1st
These birds are hen'ed up !
I get to the farm in Va @ 5am get set up in a way back field a few gobbles at first then the sun popped out and there must have been a dozen toms sounding off in the to bottoms on both sides of the field in the hard woods. I was thinking ...this is good. 5 times I have a bird with in 75 yards and a hen sticks her big noise in his business and cuts him off. You'd think one would get through. It's about 11:30 and I get my finial gobble and then another ..cool he's on his way. Then i got shot blocked again !
Maybe Monday. Instead of hunting the small field on top I'm going to slip into the thick of these birds on the creek bottom and hopefully add a surprise to one and help him take a dirt nap




2nd hunt in Va. Awesome morning
But...... Big Tom won again this year. Few birds were talking. I had my back to a creek and looking up a hardwood ridge from the bottom. I'm set up where I saw this Boss Tom last year but could not get the shot. So this year I set up and was waiting on him. He never gobbled. I got a gobble from a bird down the creek about 150 yards and he's making his way to me so I repositioned myself to the left and the bird is coming. He's about 75 yards out and all of a sudden this Big Bad Boy comes running in quite ! He's 25 yards from me at 5o'clock and Nothing I could do but sit and hope for him to walk behind a tree. He did but he bolted as I started my turn. It was exciting ! So maybe tomorrow.
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Tomorrow is opening day here in Indiana. Youngest daughter and I have traditionally hunted this since the beginning of turkey season in Indiana. So have a personal day tomorrow. She and I will be in the blind. Water everywhere, don't remember ever seeing turkeys wade water, have moved the blind three times, hope we have it right for tomorrow, this is my year to get to shoot first! Hens are on nests already, if it stays cool, the toms will will be in the woods with them as they won't leave the nest in this cold weather.

Not been very good around here. Hot, cold, windy the weather's been crazy.

Jonathan Go out a roost a bird tonight. You'll know where he is in the morning.

I'll be heading back out in the morning. 3:15 wake up call and 1 hr 20 minute drive. I get about a half hour to settle in before things start happening. Trying a different technique in the morning with a Jake and hen back in the woods. I will not make a sound till the toms are all hammering after wake up. Same as this morning except backing off 35 yards across the small creek and leaving the dec's where I was this morning.


John with all them birds you have in Tenn. Should be like Rabbit hunting

Round these parts it starts 1st of May. Keep posting these reports I'm getting the urge to get out there myself. Been scouting.

Had a gobbler & a hen putting a show Saturday morning on our rear lawn around 10am. Actually the tom put on the show. It dropped its wings, fanned his tail & fluffed himself up to an impressive size, and strutted around like he was a turkey God. Unfortunately for him the hen wasn't impressed. This went on for over a half hour until the hen eventually worked her way back into the woods. Believe me, that Tom must have really thought a lot about himself, yet, despite his efforts, it was for naught. Was surprised at how long he would keep his tail feathers fanned.

Not roosting any birds tonight. Raining, changing to snow later. Got everyone fed, in the house. Lilly is feeling poorly, had her to the vet yesterday. I have a cyst on my back big enough for a training bra. Feel rough myself, but won't miss opening day with my daughter for most anything in the world.

Al, with that tom all puffed up, ever see anyone "burp" a turkey????

Jonathan Shively said:

Not roosting any birds tonight. Raining, changing to snow later. Got everyone fed, in the house. Lilly is feeling poorly, had her to the vet yesterday. I have a cyst on my back big enough for a training bra. Feel rough myself, but won't miss opening day with my daughter for most anything in the world.

Al, with that tom all puffed up, ever see anyone "burp" a turkey????

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Actually I hadn't, but since your post I have. I checked out youtube & watched a couple of videos. Frankly, I'd never heard of that. I grew up on a farm raising 10,000 chickens (White Rock) & you'd think I might have caught "wind" of that from other farmers. Guess I led a sheltered life.

Well Dave keep the feedback coming. Love to hear your hunt experiences.

Jonathan good luck on the hunt and thanks for the education. Get your back seen to after.

And? ????????? Did you get one????? Or you eating bread and water.


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Saw 4 geese, 13 deer, 2 different hens and 2 different toms. Closest was 120 yards. BUT, I had the most enjoyable sunrise and morning with a most beautiful young lady. We have time to talk, laugh, discuss world events. THAT my friends is what hunting is to me. The bagging of a critter is second most important, guess that shows my age huh?. Dang gone I was tired, 4:30 am in the blind is early now to me! I'll have a go at it this weekend. Oh, I forgot, it is also the first time we ever got snowed on!!!!!!!!!

glad you had a good time jonathan, was the geese swimming by they could up here. we got water everywhere.. and those talks in the woods or on the water are always the best.. you do need to get that back looked at before it gets any worse..

larry merlau said:

glad you had a good time jonathan, was the geese swimming by they could up here. we got water everywhere.. and those talks in the woods or on the water are always the best.. you do need to get that back looked at before it gets any worse..

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We actually had to move the blind to the SW corner of the farm, jumped the fence and hunted off of the neighbor's property as my North half is extremely wet/under water! Geese were walking stalks eating. Yep, those times in the woods/on the water, memories! Got a dr. appt. for Monday for them to look at my back. Thanks for the concern!

Speaking of geese, I think they make one of the most pleasant sounds to be heard when stiil in the dark, on a deer stand, as daylight is just peeking over the hill and the geese are taking off from a nearby wetlands to start their day. They do represent the wildlife well, doing their thing despite the encroachment of civilization. And, to hear them flying over the house at night, when it's about 9pm, totally dark, is enjoyable. On the downside is having to contend with them during a round of golf. Ball placement takes on a totally new meaning then!

Jonathan Shively said:

...I had the most enjoyable sunrise and morning with a most beautiful young lady. We have time to talk, laugh, discuss world events. THAT my friends is what hunting is to me...

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I went deer and elk hunting with my dad and/or granddad a number of times as a kid. In all the trips, over all the years, we never did even see a single legal animal to shoot. But I still have (mostly) fondly memories all those trips into the woods. (The memories of sleeping in a canvas and flannel sleeping bag at 11,000 feet in the fall aren't all that fond, lol.) Those times will be with me always.

It wasn't until a year or so ago that one of my nephews introduced me to the proper term for what I'd done as a kid...it wasn't hunting, it was armed hiking.

Jonathan Shively said:

Saw 4 geese, 13 deer, 2 different hens and 2 different toms. Closest was 120 yards. BUT, I had the most enjoyable sunrise and morning with a most beautiful young lady. We have time to talk, laugh, discuss world events. THAT my friends is what hunting is to me. The bagging of a critter is second most important, guess that shows my age huh?. Dang gone I was tired, 4:30 am in the blind is early now to me! I'll have a go at it this weekend. Oh, I forgot, it is also the first time we ever got snowed on!!!!!!!!!

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Sound like a great day Jonathan

Son in law came by tonight, he got one. Don't know the measurements, Lou Ann took pictures for him of it and him. Got a shot at our red fox, Lou was behind me putting the hex on me. Fox lived tonight. Got our flock of hens last year, working on the cats now. Been seen by other son in law coming out of one barn. To close for comfort, has to go.
Jay, you are so right, it was a great day. A day with my girls, or family, it is a treasured day!

My turkey hunting story...

When I was still in high school, my dad and I went deer hunting with my dad's friend Pete and his son Rich. Rich was a few years older than me...kind of a big brother. Rich and I went up on a Friday night to set up camp, and our dads came up Saturday to join us.

Although the weather was dry when we got there, Rich and I woke up to 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground on Saturday morning. We decided to get out and do some scouting for tracks while the snow lasted. We split up...he went up the road and I went down. Before too long, the dads came driving along, so they gave me a lift back to camp. Right about then, we heard two shots coming from up the road. A few minutes later, Rich showed up in camp carrying two decent toms. (In NM at that time, you got a turkey tag with your deer license. It's only good for one turkey, but he knew the rest of us had tags.)

Turns out Rich saw some turkey tracks in the snow and within a few minutes caught up to them. They were walking away from him about 30 yards away. Although Rich was shooting a borrowed 30-06 deer rifle (one of my dad's), he took two shots and dropped two toms. That was when we all learned that a 180 grain hollowpoint elk load (one of my dad's reload recipes) properly placed in the butt of a tom turkey will field dress it before it hits the ground. The body cavities of both birds were completely empty, with the exception of a few bits and pieces of guts. The breasts on both birds were untouched. One of the birds got hit a little off center, so one of his drumsticks was a bit chewed up, but the other one couldn't have been more perfectly killed and cleaned.

Good story Vaughn. You buddy Rich sounds like my little brother. He shots them with a 270 , head shots though.


Turkeys won again this morning , alarm with off at 3:15 I rolled over and went back to sleep. Yesterday morning it was so windy they were shut up.

Jonathan glad you had a great day with the girls. Jacob is my turkey hunting buddy , I sure miss him out in Iowa.

Dave, maybe you should paint a turkey scene. Might change you luck and we could watch the painting develop.