With just over 2 months til turkey here I figured this might be a good thread to ease some of the cabin fever.
I want to know who is chasing turkeys without a blind this year. What your setup(camo, calls, decoys, etc.) is going to be and your strategy. By strategy I mean any thing from practice to calling and decoy setups.
Hopefully some of the guys with more experience will chime in with some words of wisdom.
Maybe we can keep this going through the season with hero pics and what didn't work stories.
P.S. any of you guys and gals crazy enough to try this are welcome in my camp and to share a store bought turkey dinner after season. :D
Well I'm one of those guys that crazy enough (or stupid :knothead: ) to hunt turkey's without a blind. I had the chance to close the deal on a few last year but I just couldn't quite connect. One of those time my bottom limb hit the ground so the arrow fell short.
Strategies- I'm building a ghillie suit this winter. Other than that the camo I use is Toad-A-Flage. This year I'm also going to try out the Heads up Decoys. They make a turkey decoy that attaches onto your bow and from what I've heard about them it works pretty slick. As for call's I'm going to try and utilize the gobble better this season. One more strategy is to find two tree's that you can squeeze in between, and draw of course.
I didn't end up getting one with my bow last year but I wouldn't have traded my experiences for the world.
:campfire:
When I started chasing turks with a bow I figured I would need some realistic practice. The couple times a month to the 3d course wasen't going to cut it. I looked at 3d targets but a tight budget wouldn't allow it and didn't have the movement that I was looking for. Finally I came up with a simple, cost effective solution.
I draw out a side profile and a tail fan on cardboard. I then cut a slot half way up the tail fan and half way down the side profile. I connect the two and add a little tape hold them together(my kids love this project). I spray it with some black paint and add a little detail with chalk or whatever is availble. I then add two pieces of string off the back to suspend it.
I then have a turkey target that spins slowly only offering a shot a varying times(I usually wait for the tail shot). In a wooded area with a good backdrop I can shoot at it with field tips or blunts sitting in a realistic hunting position. Works even better on a line with a buddy pulling by long string through your shooting lanes. Simple but great practice! :thumbsup:
I will post pic of this years target later.
Rob
I'm giving a go this year, too. I tried last year, without a decoy, and didn't come close to getting a shot. I did have one big gobbler come up behind me, within a few yards, while I was focused on another one. I didn't know he was there until I moved and he busted out of there.
I'll be wearing a modified leafy suit, utilizing existing cover, and definitely using a decoy or two.
I'll be at it again this year. I had one in shooting range (under 15 yds) but behind some dog fennel last season. He never gave me a shot, but it was the coolest hunting experience I've ever had.
Can't wait! I'll find some brush to break up my outline as much as possible, and go for it.
Snakebit, I'm not sure about decoy attached to my bow, I think I'd want the old bird looking elsewhere :wavey: :campfire:
I don't care if they can't see, I will shoot a blind turkey. I am not a no blind turkey gang member, in fact if they are part of a gang, all the more reason to shoot em! Actually, depending on situations and opportunities, I will hunt sans blind.
I,m going to go with no blind also.Been practicing inside this winter at only 9yrds.in my cellar.I,m shooting out of my waldrop packseat.Going to use a rancho long-coat if its not too warm.Had a shot at a tom last spring but missed.Hopefully I can make it happen this spring.Will be using a decoy and mouth calls.
I'm gonna give Big Jim's Bush in a Bag a try this year. I hate those dang tent blinds. Having said that, all of my turkeys (6 of them) with a longbow have been taken by stalking.
I'm in! Mouth calls only, state ground only, and either using my old leafy suit or getting a new one. Undecided just yet. I really despise mouth calls, I love the sound of a good box or slate, but I have left them at the house the last few years while toting the bow. Had some missed oppurtunities last year. #1 on my list is to make a tube quiver to keep my feathers both hidden and dry during this season.
Carried around a bunch of calls for years before I figured out a few mouth calls and a hoot tube were all I was using in the field. Maybe an occasional crow but that's about it.
I will be going with a leafy suit and inflatable decoys. Knee pads are a big help also. I don't feel comfortable in a chair.
Rob
My plan is to make buddy practice calling a lot so he can call my bird lol
How many are going with a 2 person setup and how much more effective has that been?
count me in.
No real specific strategy but I know of a spot, I can back into some thick stuff.
I have called birds for three different guys with two person set up just like elk with caller 20 to 30 yards behind shooter. Did it with no decoys or blinds
Tried with a buddy last year and got picked off the first time while he was positioning the camera. I should have killed that bird. Second one slipped past while I waited for a better shot.
Plan for this year.... First off I have a folding stabilizer knuckle ordered so I can make something similar to Joebucks blind. I got rid of the ghillie and found a lighter version on sale at a large sporting goods store. I'm considering a Waldrop but as mentioned before, knee pads are quicker. Last but not least I plan the first move to be away from a responding bird. That's what gottem last year but by the time I moved into position for the shot, they were coming so fast we got caught flat footed.
I'm in. I have very little experience and I Do not have a blind. I am also poor as a church mouse at the moment and need to not spend cash. Necessity dictates. On top of that I am really looking forward to the challenge....
I will try. Been doing it more and more anyway. I don't have any really good places to go so it is really hit or miss on even hearing one, but I go anyway. One of these days. . .
ChuckC
Mouth call,good cover behind me, some low cover in front of me. I always mount a jake on a hen for the setup. I use broken arrows(always due to manufacture era not my shooting)to mount decoys. :)
Brent
Since last year with my first time to call in two jakes i have the fevor bad. When i saw Joebucks threads i really got pumped up again. Definately take the time to check out his post on PBS....in the knowledge through experience ...... http://www.probowsociety.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=10 ...there is a whoooole lot of good stuff to read there.
New stuff......I ordered a ghillie full body poncho off of e*** for $50, a pretty boy jake for $40 on their site and am seriously looking at those "shield" bow blinds. I have listened to Joebucks and others on utube where they show you how to use the different calls....so i have allot of practicing to do until the season gets here.
I will stay in touch with the warden who keeps up with where the birds are and their movements to give me a good idea where to go and scout.
My "plan" and we all know how those wind up :knothead: is to find them with a crow call...locate which paths they are taking then try one of the suggestions Joebuck posted....set up the decoys on the path and then back track about 20 yards and to the left of the path from the decoys.....so when the toms come down they will be facing the decoys.....start calling as soon as they leave the roost and hopefully when they walk by me to get at the decoys i will be able to get a good shot off.
Wish me luck because im going to need it!!! And i do the same for all of you!!!
Lance
I love hunting turkeys w/o a blind but my 5YO will be tagging along this year so we'll probably use one most of the time.
I hunt early in Nebraska and the birds are in big flocks and not very responsive to calling sometimes. Spot and stalk as close a possible and call one out of the big bunch or setting up an ambush where we think they are headed has yielded results. I've only killed one without a blind, but lost count of the close calls over the years.
Never used a blind, just natural cover or if a tom answers my call while I'm just standing there looking stupid....find anything to hide behind!
A good headnet, practice religiously from a kneeling position, learn to use mouth calls (keeps both hands free) and don't over call.
Stay alert and time your shot. Wait for the tom to display and offer that nice "fan" shot or let him walk behind a tree before drawing and take the broad side shot.
I like the 160 gr Snuffer as turkeys are tough. Not much else to offer except check out the Turkey vitals diagram...it's somewhere on the Forum.
I have only taken one turkey with a bow; a tom with a longbow and no blind. I had spent the morning in a blind and botched a shot at a tom that came in running at full speed. Never even got a shot off.
Packed up the blind and was walking back to the cabin for lunch. A buddy that helped me take down my blind and I were walking back to the cabin for lunch when we walked up on a large flock of turkeys feeding along a valley. Mark had already taken one with a wheelie bow that morning, so he stayed with the flock while I manuevered ahead. I backed into an isolated cedar tree and shot a tom as he walked around the tree not 3 feet from me. He turned and ran as I drew. I nailed him on the run. I am now hooked on hunting turkey without blind.
I almost shot a second tom the next day. I had two toms walk up out of a brushy draw as I crossed an open pasture. I saw them first and layed down flat on my belly with my bow in front of me. I watched Fred Eichler practice this shot and had practiced it myself. I had two toms within 15 feet while on my stomach. I was not turned right to raise up and shoot. But I tried anyway. They ran off and stopped abut 20 yards away. I shot , thinking they were 25 yards, and shot over one's back.
It was an absolute blast. Hunting from a blind will never be as much fun now. I say go for it. Use terrain and spot and stalk as best you can. The fun in trying is sheer joy!
No blind for me, I do use a stool and like to get in blow downs if possible. I use a mouth call by Woodwise and a True double by Primos. I also like to use a Smith box call. I use a Osage self bow that pulls short so I don't have to make a lot of movement. I can shoot sitting down or kneeling. Try to get some big trees around you and you can adjust when they go behind them. You only have about two seconds to shoot if your lucky.lol Once they start gobbling stop calling and they will come. It can take them a long time but they will come.
QuoteOriginally posted by mongoose:
Snakebit, I'm not sure about decoy attached to my bow, I think I'd want the old bird looking elsewhere :wavey: :campfire:
I've had friends tell me it works with the "other bow" so I figure I'll try with my trad bows. Also I'm very fortunate in that I have a lot of ground I can hunt and have a lot of different birds I can try different techniques on. I'll keep you guys posted on what works for me.
I've tried the two man set up and it worked out pretty well. My buddy shot a tom while we were using it. My favorite thing to do with cover is actually a sniper technique. I like to get a lot of cover in front of me and have a hole to shoot through. Not a very big hole, I like them about the size of a truck tire. I know this doesn't leave you with very many shooting opportunities but I did it does work. I One other tip, most of you if not all of you probably already now, is the golden hour. Around here the golden hour starts around 10 to 10:30 a.m. The hens leave around this time and the toms are on the search again. I don't know how many times I've heard my friends leave and then I tag out. Actually last season I didn't even start hunting till around 9 to 9:30 a.m. and had shot opportunities almost everyday I hunted.
Without a (artificial) blind is my goal for spring turkey. I would like to make or buy a ghillie suit but here is the plan. I know where the birds like to roost and can sneak in close under the cover of dark. I like to go in really early. I'm gonna set one hen decoy in an opening outside of the hardwoods. I've got a nice low stool to place behind some heavy deadfalls and scrub. Decoy will be about 12 yrds out to the west facing away from me so I'm not looking into the sun and hope for the tom to aproach from its rear. I finally learned last year that I'm not good on the call and I call too much. Now knowing that I hope to control myself and stay quiet this year......not easy to do, I get so excited when the gobbling starts. Anyway, I'm feeling confident in my plan and setup just hope it all comes together. Man I'm pumped up thinking about it!!!!!
Good luck to all of you, Joe
it takes some skill to stalk and kill 6 wild turkeys...........well done sir....
Im in too. Leafy suit,natural cover, blow down or a blown over tree root ball. Practive from my pacseat and knees. Try and set up a jake deke less than 10 yds on my left side(shoot righty)facing me so that ol big boy will come in and get in the dekes face...hopefully offering a fan shot.
Favorite call is an OLD Rohm brothers doubled side slate but I use a box some too. I always have a diaphram in for close calling to cut down on movement. As much as I love deer hunting turkey hunting is my favorite!
Tried it last year with minimal success. Will try again this year. Planning to try a jake decoy in combo with one hen. Going to start calling a ways away from the setup and then move to the setup site.As long as they don;t come in flying(like one did last year) I just might stand a chance.
@Rob W.: Don't you want a blind or can't afford one?
I have 3 DB, one of them is a recurve model and an additional cheap blind laying around.
I just don't have decent hunting ground around here beeing suitable for blind use...
The cheap one needs a shorter bow because it is slightly smaller. But when it rains it beats the heck out of getting your ass soaked...
I went blindless last year, and ended up missing two mature toms. So now I'm convinced it can be done - I just need to get my shooting under control! I will definately be going blindless again this spring. I love the freedom it gives me to move wherever I need to be.
The link to Joebuck's thread at PBS is a wealth of information. To hear him present it in person come to Alabama next weekend for the Tannehill Pre-spring arrow fling. He is doing a seminar on Saturday evening.
Good info coming here. Been reading the PBS thread too. What might help me is some pics of how you successful guys set up your decoys when using them. And the relationship to the no blind sitting spot and/or blind. I usually just set 2 hen decoys about 10 yards infront of the blind/or tree if going blindless. I've never been sure when to use a jake decoy or a tom decoy or combo of those with hens and how to posistion the decoys. I just throw them up randomly. It's worked but just curious to what others do. A picture can be worth a thousand words. :coffee:
QuoteOriginally posted by tecum-tha:
@Rob W.: Don't you want a blind or can't afford one?
I have 3 DB, one of them is a recurve model and an additional cheap blind laying around.
I just don't have decent hunting ground around here beeing suitable for blind use...
The cheap one needs a shorter bow because it is slightly smaller. But when it rains it beats the heck out of getting your ass soaked...
I have an intimidator that I use when I take the kids out. I just don't like sitting in one. Drives me nuts and they are a pain to pack in.
Rob
I have always hunted turkeys with a run-n-bow ;) approach. I'm thinking this year maybe more of a deer hunting type strategy is in order. Seems like it would put the odds a little more in your favor(if thats possible).
I'm just not sure I can listen to a bird hammer on the next ridge and keep my butt put.
Who hunts turkey more like deer?
Rob
I've never killed a turkey...but I would love to. Came close a few years back, but the old tom just wouldnt come that last little bit. Just don't have a good turkey huntin spot. I still go and try and I'm gonna go and try again this year. I'm with Rob though...I hate pop up blinds! Feel couped up in those thing's! Nothin like turkey huntin with a bow without a blind! :)
Good hunting, Jason
I've tried without but havent had any shot opportunites that way. I've got feathers 3 times from the blind. I was thinking sorta of like Rob W. and try the deer type hunting. Tuck down in a log pile or something. Either way, it's a blast.
I don't own a blind so that answers the first question.
As far as strategy I'm still looking for that "dumb" bird. You know him. He's the one in the garden on Sunday afternoon's. Or he walks past the door during the other eleven months of the year.
PA,....... joebuck talks about the best times to use certain decoys........you just have to dig through the thread to find it!!! :knothead:
Another reason not to use a blind is because when you wear a ghillie suit the bigfoot sightings go up!!! :laughing:
Last year was my first for hunting turkey and i tried the run-n bow method and I got in on a few but got busted every time. I chalk that up to a learning experiance. Im still gonna do the same thing this year with a few refinements to my strategy. Pack less gear, carry something i can throw up behind me to hide my silhouette [camo cloth or burlap] and try to bring them to me more than running to them. :thumbsup: :archer:
My best advise. Get their head behind when you start your draw. (Can't see you through a tree) or when they're strutting looking away) Don't move if there's nothing between you and the bird.(They're super jumpy when it comes to movement) That is unless you're really good shooting running targets with small vitals. Get a mouthcall. Decoys will help as well. Be careful. It's an awesome sport, but many times everybody's converging on the same bird. I always carry an orange vest inside my jacket and slide it if I see another hunter.
Rob, I tried the ambush approach with my oldest daughter a couple years ago. Watched birds for weeks, had them patterned. Season came in, set blind up, daughter and I set in it and listened to birds all morning. I just knew one would show. By 9:30am, still no birds and disappointed kid. Next time out, back to old run and gun, called in several, no shot but if she'd been a little more experienced it would have been easy. Now blind only goes when rain is flying.
I have been successful without a blind. I hunt several large drainages that are loaded with gamble oak and ponderosa pine that supply good cover. when i get a bird hot I generally try to call him into an area that has open trees and little brush. As he gets closer I shut up and make him look for me and use the trees as a block to draw. I dont use decoys either they spook most birds in my neck of the woods. I also call from known strutting zones when the birds are on the roost. I shut up when they come off the roost. remember that hens go to toms most of the time. The idea is to call from an area he is comfortable in and set up on a strutting zone. I am not really calling him in I make it sound like there are hens in an area and wait for him to come strut and ambush him. This works great because he isnt look for another turkey in his strutting zone when he shows up. Hopefully this made sense.
Dk
I'll try and search through JoeBucks threads. Thanks
I use both. I hunt Turkeys a lot like deer and try to cut them off from where they are already headed.I have a couple of brush blinds made and one pop-up. They are set and the Turkeys are getting used to them. One near a peanut field the other on a logging road they walk in the swamp and another on a strutting area on a small sand ridge. When I use my leafy suit I run and bow. Killed a Turkey both ways last year and the year before.RC
I seldom use a decoy and call very little.RC
I think I'll go at them with the blind this year...just b/c I can move around more and bring more stuff with me....but I think it could be done with a good ghille and a lot of background cover. Set up against a blowdown and call away....now I've got the desire to go without a blind!!!
You guys have my respect. I have been trying for three years to get a bird with no blind. I just cant seem to close the deal. I may resort to a blind this year.......but then again it is a blast trying to get drawn back on one.
Hey Aaron...you still making those great recurve soft bow cases? I love mine...may need one for the longbow and new recurve.
I am shooting the longbow well....and I snuck up within 15 steps at full draw on a hen a few weeks ago..... count me in!
Looking at gluing some real feather son my collapsible Jake, mouth calling, crossing my fingers....
I'm in! I've had so much fun chasing turkeys with my bow out here in CO. I haven't killed one, but I'll be back home in MI in May trying to ambush one from blowdowns/brushpiles or just running until I get on some.
I've busted up flocks before (unintentionally :banghead: ), but then sat and yelped softly with a mouth call and had them come back to re-group but I either didn't have enough cover or whatever...
Once I had a gobbler flush as I stood up to make a move and he flew left to right in a level line and as I swung with him I almost tripped on a stump so I never got a shot off, but man was that a fun day...
Can't wait til May!
:campfire:
I will be hunting on public grounds if I get drawn, 5/6-5/8. I have no private property that has turkeys. All public property is by drawing only. Ghillie suit. I hate packing in a blind. That one that Mudd put together would be tempting to try though.
I don't call as a rule. It seems to spook them around here. I like to scout them and try to be where they are going to be.
All that being said, I have never been "sucessful". It's fun trying though.
~Bona
Bona you are welcome to try it again down my way. Just give me a shout. :thumbsup:
Rob
Hey Rob! I thought you would never ask! :p
I'll see what I can work out.
~Bona
b.glass, i hate to say it, but I use a Ghillie poncho and all it takes is a smooth 2 second draw anchor release shot rhythm. The turkeys around here don't seem to be able to put the bush that shoots a bow thing together. It may be better than a blind and a lot more portable and cheaper.
I have never had a turkey within shooting range, hen or tom. I don't use decoys either. I've had turkeys spook with them too.
I've been told I wasn't a bad caller. But I've had toms gobble on the roost then go the other way after fly down.
I'm trying to get my son to go out during the youth season. They are having a drawing on Resevior property for the youth season.
I normally hunt alone.
I agree with the ghillie suit. I used one last year and got the closest ever to a shot. Probably a jake.
This farm is perfectly set up for hunting them without a blind. Lots of birds and long skinny fields with big cedars on the edges. Its simply a sit and wait game. They will come its just a matter of time.
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Turkeys/insideout.jpg)
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Turkeys/thehole2-600.jpg)
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Turkeys/thehole3-600.jpg)
(http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa121/kyTJ/Turkeys/tj08bird1-600.jpg)
Hey guys...last year i used a face net but i didnt like that at all.....i want to try the facepaint or burnt cork but doesnt all of that stuff just rub off or run off if you sweat or it rains?
I'll be joining this club. I've tried turkey's with a blind. Shot my first one without a blind though. I've gotten probably 5-6 shots on them without a blind too. To me it's more fun trying to set up and close the deal. The blind certainly adds to the odds being in your favor. I only bring it if it's going to rain. We shall see.
-Jeremy :coffee:
QuoteOriginally posted by huntsmanlance:
Hey guys...last year i used a face net but i didnt like that at all.....i want to try the facepaint or burnt cork but doesnt all of that stuff just rub off or run off if you sweat or it rains?
Some of it does but some doesn't. There are benefits either way though. The stuff that stays put is harder to clean off.
b.glass- I've experienced the same thing right off the roost. A lot of times the hen's take the toms and jakes the other way because of the competition with another "hen" (I think :dunno: ) . But don't give up on the call, wait for the hens to leave the toms/jakes mid morning and then call. I've had this work a number of times.
As for decoy's I really don't use them. I have a little in the past but I've had just as good of luck without. So I don't even bother bring them along anymore.
Rob, maybe you could take some of us Southern IN. folks to school. :D I done a little looking around on my hunting spot the other day...not much turkey sign. I've seen turkey there but I think they roost across the road in a big pine thicket. Maybe,just maybe...I can call one in this year. I hope!
Jason
Nice set-up TJ!
Jason, most of the time turkeys are safe with a longbow in my hand. :D
If the weather is good I wouldn't mind camping a weekend during season. Last year was a monsoon.
Rob
Hey guys, this is a great post. Never hunter turkey before and will be attempting this season with a homemade ghillie poncho and a short seat. Great info here on decoy set up and calling. My hunting buddy and I saw a ton of turkeys during deer season. It was raining turkeys all around us one morning. Looking forward to giving it a go here in NY. Will probably then only see deer then!
I'd be up for camping! Alot of forest ground not to far from my house. I think the Hoosier National is about 210 thousand acres. Come close to killing a turkey there a few years ago. I'm up for any place though...just let me know.
Jason
Looks like a spring turkey camp could be taking form here. :campfire:
One thing I have finally figured out over the years is if a bird answers assume he is on a dead run toward you. I don't know how many times I have been caught trying to make up some ground between me and him.
Last year was my first for hunting turkey, and getting busted was the standard pattern for me.This year im more determined than ever to bag one. Kinda gets in your blood. :bigsmyl:
Rob, you hunt private or public ground?
Jason
I like to kill turkeys from time to time so I will probably just use the blind, but if I am successful will try more hunting without a blind for sure. It is definitely much more challenging.
I am off on the 5th and 6th, Sat. and Sun, of May and might be able to get the 4th off. I am also off on the 23rd and 24th of April but that is a Mon. and a Tues.
Those would be the best chances for me to get down there. If I don't get drawn for the 7th and 8th of May at the Mississinewa then I could use those days down there.
Jason, I have private ground close to the house but usually hunt public. I like to stretch my legs.
Rob, I like to stretch my legs myself. Maybe we could get together and do some huntin.
Let me know!
Jason
Good luck guys. Eastern turkeys will make a fool of alot of folks including me. I hunted them hard for nine seasons without a blind here. Every year I had several within bow range but never put one on the ground. Some years I called in nine gobblers and never got a shot.
Tail tucked between my legs, pun intended, I'm ready to go back to the challenge. My thoughts are a set of decoys fifteen yards out. Two "fake" stumps (two stakes in the ground with solid camo fabric stretched between them over turkey head height a few yards away from the decoy. In a nutshell just something for the gobblers head to go behind so I can draw my bow and shoot. I think it will work. Wish me luck! lol
By the end of this season i may be putting land mines all around my decoys!!!
Im in this year, the only time I'll use my blind is when my daughter wants to go with.
doug77
My kids to my wife...."wheres dad?.....is he out in the back yard dressed like a bush and playing with his toy turkeys again???"
:bigsmyl:
I got tired of the blind last year and called in 3 longbeards to 10 yards...perfect range. Had a good ditch to hide in (old grown over creek bed), they came up the farming road as if on cue and turned right too me...I THINK they could see my red fletching and locked in on where I was at. They never spooked but didnt stay around long.
without a blind I had more opportunities as I dont have the best of blinds. I might have to rethink this spring. Unfortunatly I love hunting thunderchickens with a black powder double as much as a longbow and with a typical short hunt planned, the double gets the nod after a couple days.
I secured a new farm to turkey hunt this year. I may try without a blind the first weekend so I can stay more mobile. I'm not exactly sure where the turkeys are gonna be, so I'd like to be able to move around quickly as needed.
All the yrs I've bowhunted and turkey hunted...since the late 50's..I've never bowhunted for turkeys. Mainly for three reasons. They see to good, I hunt public land (chances are few) and I like fried turkey breast.
However, this yr. if I can kill one early in the season with my flintlock shotgun, I'm going to give it a go. Mainly because I know of a couple places with big thick blowdowns right along the side of a hardwood ridge that gobblers love to travel. One is absolutely perfect to get in and there's big old white oaks all out in front of it perfect for a gobbler to walk behind and let me draw.
edit
Took a walk in the woods this morning about a mile from home. Just wanted to visit my "favorite" turkey spot and check over my natural blinds.
I found one of my natural blinds decimated by a very large tree limb that fell through the middle of it. Would have killed anyone in there...but it now offers even more natural cover. No place to hang the Torges seat so I'll be kneeling down in this one.
Dropped down a ridge and started paralleling the mighty Hudson when I caught movement up ahead. A nice flock of maybe 12 birds easing around feeding. Probably 150 yds from my spots. Eased down another 30 yds, walked around a small knob and 3 does bedded busted out of there.
It was a great morning.... :thumbsup:
Good morning indeed Mr. Skipp.RC
You know season is getting closer when you call your buddy to tell him how well the birds are responding to calls in his area. :D
Rob
i'l be after them again this spring, i think the guille will help this year, especially when moving in on one and theres no real cover to hide in when you get to where you need to be.
I woke up to gobbling turkey's yesterday morning. I love this time of year. I bought a new decoy to try out that attaches on your bow. I'm still missing a couple links to get the setup complete but when I do I'll post some pics. :campfire:
-I've got my bow/arrow setup ready to go.
-Haversack is packed and waiting.
-Leafy suit is washed
-stocked up on bug spray
-calls are tuned
All this and I still have to wait 3 1/2 weeks for season! :banghead:
Rob if i had to wait another 3 1/2 weeks i think i would pull my hair out in frustration!!!
Did a quick walk about in one of my turkey woods about an hour ago. Busted a hen off her nest! Seeing as how the season is still 3 1/2 weeks off I may have to re-think my tactics. Maybe the Toms will be really lonely by then and ready to come to calls?
I have busted two hens off nest in the last week. I did find some good dust bowls yesterday. I plan on sitting all morning a few days in the up coming weeks to figure out some travel patterns just in case they don't respond to calls.
Rob
So how is everyone doing? Any success yet?
I only have one more week to go until the season opens!
KS opened yesterday! I've been out watching the birds but haven't hunted them yet. I have a friend coming Wed. evening so I've just left them alone.
I'll post pics in this thread if we do any good! :campfire:
I busted a hen off her nest last wk. This morning was the first morning I didn't hear a gobble. Did hear one of the worst things a public land hunter can hear..somebody trying to sound like an owl.
I got within 40 yards of a nice tom this morning before he busted me and flew. This will be my first time hunting turkeys, but I think this will also be the first time these particular turkeys have been hunted, so maybe we'll educate each other.
I can make them gobble by hooting at them but they're on private land which may :pray: belong to a friend of mine and he may :pray: break his longstanding policy and let me on. I've been watching them for two years now on my morning hikes. Last week I saw two toms strutting with about 6 hens around them from about 200 yards away.
If I can't get access to where I see them most of the time, I'm going to have to call them across a highway. So I'll have to be lucky.
But no blind for me.
How's season going for everybody?
I've had a pretty good couple weeks. I've had 3 missed opportunities. First one I had birds all around me but they didn't like the decoy I had set up and busted out of there. Then I went out one morning called two toms in from 300 yards to 15 yards. They came in on the back side of me where I didn't have any cover. I drew on one at 15 yards, he freaked out then I freaked out and didn't pick a spot. Shot right under him. Then this last Saturday night. I had this tom gobbling at every little yelp I did. He came in on a run from a ways out. I was set up in a "V" of a fallen tree on a flat bottom. When the bird got into the bottom he didn't see the hen so I knew he was going to try and get around the fallen tree. Well when I was swinging with him I saw me move my bow. The shot was at 30 yards as he was walking away from me, and the arrow almost took his head off. But it was a clean miss.
I hope you guys are doing better then me lol
i was off work today due to all the rain, so i got up and went.
got to my area and there was already a truck parked there, OH WELL!
i went in anyways, i hit a bend in the trail and i see his decoys off to the left, so i continue on and circle wide and head back down towards the river, i get to where i want to be.
unload my backpack and deploy the decoys and put my guille on and sat on my little tripod seat up against a tree.........sat for about 2-1/2 hrs.
didnt do any calling at all, i think the other hunter has been in here every day messin with this bird(from all the footprints in and out of here).
its an archery only area, natl wildlife refuge.
so im packing my stuff,jamming my decoys in my packpack and trying to zip it closed......when i glance up in front of me...and here comes a gobbler....walking straight at me....i ease my pack down to the side of my leg....reach for my bow...get my fingers on the string.....he's at 10 yds. and im bent over at my waist looking at him across the bottom of the brim of my hat.....
he finaly makes me out and turns the way he came......i didnt even try...i just froze and watched him walk away....if i would have just waited another 5 minutes before packing it up..........just maybe!!?
Opening day here in WI was last Wed. As it started getting light gobblers were going off all around me - at least 4 right up the ridge from my set up at an inside field edge.
After fly down I could see two toms struting on the hillside above me and within 10 minutes here they came. Strutted right into a lone hen decoy and proceeded to strut and gobble at 5 yards. I was frozen in place, hoping they might both line their heads up behind a fan. Not to be, and eventually they started to walk toward the field. I drew, and got away with it, but was just too rattled by that point and shot low, cliping a wing feather from the strutting tom.
A little later 6 jakes came prancing in. I'd have been happy to make it 5, but way too many eyes with that bunch and they knew something was up and boogered on me.
Another hour goes by and here comes two hens headed my way from the field, with two new toms in tow. The hens walked right past my deke, and the toms followed them in all puffed up. Same deal as before - they stood there for a good five minutes, but never once got their heads hidden out of my sight. As they started moving off I drew, the hens to my right started putting, and I rushed a shot. I collected another feather.
Man this no blind stuff is tough!!
The lesson I took from that morning is decoy placement is critcal. I had the decoy on my side of the trail that runs into the woods. The gobblers all stood facing the decoy, and thus facing me. I should have set her up on the other side of the trail. A seven yard shot would have been close enough..... :dunno:
I had a fantastic hunt a couple of week ago. The first day I had 17 birds within 30 yards of me and heard no less that 12 separate gobblers. There were so many birds around me, I couldn't draw without being seen. When I did decide to take a shot, I got busted by a big gobbler that was only 10 feet behind me. I didn't know he was there, until he started making his alarm putt. It was pretty funny. About 6 birds all started putting loudly, but they never did figure out exactly what I was. They eventually moved off and out of range. I had to end my day's hunt at noon, so I didn't get another shot.
The next day, I set up in a little better spot. I ended up calling in a huge tom from about 400 yards away. Long story short, I worked him right into my setup and shot him right after he spurred my jake decoy. The shot was at 15 yards and right where I wanted, high and right behind his wing butt. After flopping around for a few seconds, I thought he was down for good, my arrow remaining in him.
Right as I was congratulating myself, he hopped up, ran a few yards and took to flight. He flew maybe 100 yards, never getting more than 15 feet off the ground. He went straight into the thickest part of the swamp. He was definitely going down for the count the last I saw.
After waiting an hour, I went and got a buddy to help me find him, but after 2 hours of intense searching, we were unsuccessful. I have no doubt that we were right on top of him, but it was so thick that, unless we were standing on him, we couldn't see him. It made me sick to lose that bird. That is actually the first game animal, other than small game, that I've not been able to recover.
I called it a day and went back to the hotel to find a string tracker. My hunt ended up being cut short due to a death in the family, so I came home empty handed.
Great stories everyone. I get to "fowl" up without blind beginning Wednesday.
I would be afraid to put anything resembling a turkey on my person. There are too many gun toting, trigger happy fools running around where I hunt. Nothing against gun hunters, its the bad ones I'm leery of. I try to pick my spots away from other hunters but you never know when one is around. :help:
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I've made the mistake of getting obsessed with one old tom that I know is 4 yrs old. I've been on him the last 4 weekends (well been on him is an overstatement)...he has been within 50 yds for 4 weekends and I can't get him to close the distance. I had him coming to the dekes this past Sunday...in an open pasture (I was set up just inside the woodline)...gobbling, strutting,spittin and drumming... he's at 10 yds, I draw...and get busted by a doe that was walking the field edge. I never heard or saw her until she blew... right into my right ear...I just about messed myself...she barrelled outta there like I stuck a hot poker to her butt...the tom about turned himself inside out scrambling from the commotion...and I'm left holding the bow at full draw wondering what the heck just happened. I still ain't sure who was more buggered up...me,the doe or the tom!
I've got 3 spots picked out for the opener wed. Not sure what the plan will be. Birds were vocal this morning.
The woods are more like a jungle around here than any other year I can remember. Had a couple field spots picked out that are way too tall now.
Rob
Wow it has been memorable for this Illinois first season NO blind Turkey chaser. Remember to take the best shot your presented, not necessarily the PERFECT shot you imagined.