2022 spring turkey

[WoodMoose]

I've gotten lucky and killed one in NC and one in SC so far but this last week (since Monday) has been slow, real slow. Finally got on a gobbling bird today but of course I moved when I maybe should have sat still

oh well

there is always tomorrow, at least for a few more weeks

some great pictures in this thread - congrats to all the successful folks

 

[WildWill]

Covered 6 miles so far today. Saw a pile of deer, 3 coyotes, a covey of quail, watched a coon squeeze in to his hollow, and a young boar that I managed to sneak within 30 yards of due to the noise from the wind before he winded me. Anyone know what the lethal range for TSS to a pigs dome is? Found this big boy pretty deep in makes you wonder how old it is.

 

[ccc23454]

Cant wait! Truck and trailer are loaded and am heading to hills in morning! Weather should break and be nice by Monday and birds should be gobbling their heads off.

 

[trb]

Great morning on the front range, only lacked killing a turkey. Left my house at 3:15, hiked in 4 miles before first light and enjoyed a break in the wind and the sound of the woods waking up. No luck at my first spot, and got to my plan B spot by about 8 am.

I let off some yelps on the edge of a clearing, and immediately got a gobble in response. I crawled forward a bit and set up to call some more, but gobbles were joined by hens yelping back at me. The exchange lasted almost an hour or so, with the turkeys within 75 yards, but lazily drifting away from me. I think there were 2 toms, and probably got about 30 gobbles, but they were clearly being drawn away by real hens. I tracked them for a mile or so but couldn't never get another gobble once they had moved away. Circled back in the hopes that they would as well, but nada.



Definitely learned a bit more about the movements of this small mountain merriams flock that I have been hunting for 4 years. Chasing turkeys at 9k ft in the timber can be extremely frustrating and often pretty slow, but this morning's interaction was definitely one of the days that make the slow ones worth it, even if I didn't get a shot. Hoping to get back in there tomorrow morning, but the 30-40 mph wind forecast doesn't look great.

Also, I can't stop finding things I'm not allowed to touch.

 

[BrentD]

Well Season 1 has come and gone. I blew my one chance. Blew it bad. So now I sit for a couple of weeks before I get hot again.

Here are a few pics from an interesting time, mostly hunting a new place.

Eagle nest across the river from where I was hunting. Eagle nests are getting to be a dime a dozen. They were pretty darn rare when I came to Iowa 30 yrs ago. There was a tom gobbling within 50 yds of this nest, but the eagles didn't seem to mind. Sadly, it was not public property. All the birds were on private it seemed.



Not the best photo but here lies the bodies of hundreds, if not thousands of baby hickories. Everybody has to eat, even mice. This probably does more to affect forest condition that most people realize. Many years of hard work and haute' cuisine.





My first season, trophy shot. Should be a nice 2 or 3 yr old gobbler here, but I went total rookie and blew it completely. Pathetic. Now I get to wait a couple of weeks before I get to go again.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Well Season 1 has come and gone. I blew my one chance. Blew it bad. So now I sit for a couple of weeks before I get hot again.

Here are a few pics from an interesting time, mostly hunting a new place.

Eagle nest across the river from where I was hunting. Eagle nests are getting to be a dime a dozen. They were pretty darn rare when I came to Iowa 30 yrs ago. There was a tom gobbling within 50 yds of this nest, but the eagles didn't seem to mind. Sadly, it was not public property. All the birds were on private it seemed.
View attachment 219413


Not the best photo but here lies the bodies of hundreds, if not thousands of baby hickories. Everybody has to eat, even mice. This probably does more to affect forest condition that most people realize. Many years of hard work and haute' cuisine.


View attachment 219414


My first season, trophy shot. Should be a nice 2 or 3 yr old gobbler here, but I went total rookie and blew it completely. Pathetic. Now I get to wait a couple of weeks before I get to go again.
View attachment 219416

That is a sharp shotgun

 

[Shangobango]

Man this thread blew up since my last visit. Awesome seeing others success.

I am layed up in a hotel room hiding from the flash flood that happened today. Rode pretty much every road in the WMA complex that I am going to be hunting come Monday. Not a bad deal considering it is my first time on the place and OnX and the maps from the State are not at all accurate as far as what roads are open and closed and what roads even exist. Riding around today really let me nail down access points and figure out where hunting pressure will probably be concentrated.

It is supposed to come another frog strangler in the morning. Got to run the 2 hours home tomorrow for Easter with my folks. Going to try and locate some turkeys in the morning before i have to do the round trip to be back for the opener on Monday.

I will only have Monday and Tuesday to hunt. I expect a ton of other hunters. I will be bringing the old hip boots back with me. Sometimes you have to be creative to get away from other hunters…

 

[Shangobango]

Saw 3 longbeards this morning while fixing a Mountain House and glassing at a 4 way intersection. I had a total of a mile of gravel staked out. So I have a plan for in the morning.

Headed to do Easter with the family now. I feel good about that and about my chances for some action in the morning.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Great morning on the front range, only lacked killing a turkey. Left my house at 3:15, hiked in 4 miles before first light and enjoyed a break in the wind and the sound of the woods waking up. No luck at my first spot, and got to my plan B spot by about 8 am.

I let off some yelps on the edge of a clearing, and immediately got a gobble in response. I crawled forward a bit and set up to call some more, but gobbles were joined by hens yelping back at me. The exchange lasted almost an hour or so, with the turkeys within 75 yards, but lazily drifting away from me. I think there were 2 toms, and probably got about 30 gobbles, but they were clearly being drawn away by real hens. I tracked them for a mile or so but couldn't never get another gobble once they had moved away. Circled back in the hopes that they would as well, but nada.

View attachment 219368

Definitely learned a bit more about the movements of this small mountain merriams flock that I have been hunting for 4 years. Chasing turkeys at 9k ft in the timber can be extremely frustrating and often pretty slow, but this morning's interaction was definitely one of the days that make the slow ones worth it, even if I didn't get a shot. Hoping to get back in there tomorrow morning, but the 30-40 mph wind forecast doesn't look great.

Also, I can't stop finding things I'm not allowed to touch.
View attachment 219365
View attachment 219366

Til when?? forever?? Stash them suckers and come back when legal shed season starts up???

 

[Beignet]

0/2 here in western MT. Starting off promising yesterday with lots of noise in the woods prior to first light. Started snowing soon thereafter and things shut down. Hunted another spot this AM that is well known to have a lot of birds and didn’t hear much of a peep all morning.

Birds were painfully plentiful, out and about, at the lower elevations on private where the snow has already melted away.

Hope everyone is having better luck than myself out there!

 

[TOGIE]

no luck on Friday. Quiet quiet quiet. That spot felt so dead I didn’t even go back out yesterday. Might do an afternoon session tomorrow in a new spot.

 

[Beignet]

no luck on Friday. Quiet quiet quiet. That spot felt so dead I didn’t even go back out yesterday. Might do an afternoon session tomorrow in a new spot.

I haven’t committed much effort to afternoon/evening hunts. How do you guys change up tactics and find birds after the morning “rush hour?”

Afternoons and evenings would allow me a lot more time in the turkey woods since I start work early and end early. Would like to save my precious PTO for some summer backcountry trips and Fall hunting season.

 

[trb]

Til when?? forever?? Stash them suckers and come back when legal shed season starts up???

Oh don't you worry, I'll be back after May 1st.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Oh don't you worry, I'll be back after May 1st.

That’s the spirit

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Oh don't you worry, I'll be back after May 1st.

https://giphy.com/gifs/jAqMqwrfM9nkPyPi1a

 

[trb]

Great morning on the front range, only lacked killing a turkey. Left my house at 3:15, hiked in 4 miles before first light and enjoyed a break in the wind and the sound of the woods waking up. No luck at my first spot, and got to my plan B spot by about 8 am.

I let off some yelps on the edge of a clearing, and immediately got a gobble in response. I crawled forward a bit and set up to call some more, but gobbles were joined by hens yelping back at me. The exchange lasted almost an hour or so, with the turkeys within 75 yards, but lazily drifting away from me. I think there were 2 toms, and probably got about 30 gobbles, but they were clearly being drawn away by real hens. I tracked them for a mile or so but couldn't never get another gobble once they had moved away. Circled back in the hopes that they would as well, but nada.

View attachment 219368

Definitely learned a bit more about the movements of this small mountain merriams flock that I have been hunting for 4 years. Chasing turkeys at 9k ft in the timber can be extremely frustrating and often pretty slow, but this morning's interaction was definitely one of the days that make the slow ones worth it, even if I didn't get a shot. Hoping to get back in there tomorrow morning, but the 30-40 mph wind forecast doesn't look great.

Also, I can't stop finding things I'm not allowed to touch.
View attachment 219365
View attachment 219366

The wind was pretty horrendous this morning, but I relocated the Tom around 6:30 am roosted about 50 yds onto a private ranch. He was gobbling back to my calls like crazy, but I watched him move downhill, towards what turned out to be 3 hens roosted below him.

I watched him strut, follow them around the meadow for about an hour, occasionally reminding him where I was. He gobbled to almost every call I let out. Eventually the hens started to lead him away even further, so I circled around the ranch to another patch of public to cut them off. By the time I got around the ranch I was still 75-100 yds behind them, always moving away. Eventually they moved onto more private that kept me from following. Disappointed not to have been able to take advantage of having a bird located, which has been 90% of the battle for me in the past on the front range. Regardless, I got quite the show of him strutting and gobbling dozens of times within 200 yds of me this morning.

Here is a shitty picture of him fanned out.

I have read and been told about the strategy of calling aggressively to hens to get them to come investigate and bring the Tom in tow, but that has not work for me at all. Hopefully that group circles back to the area in the coming days instead of moving further onto private.

Put on 15 miles today, mostly off trail. The bird feeder turkeys on this thread are increasingly the focus of my dreams and jealousy.

 

[MNHunter67]

Got my first longbeard today with my trusty old Belgian A5. Happy Easter from western Montana!

 

[TOGIE]

I haven’t committed much effort to afternoon/evening hunts. How do you guys change up tactics and find birds after the morning “rush hour?”

Afternoons and evenings would allow me a lot more time in the turkey woods since I start work early and end early. Would like to save my precious PTO for some summer backcountry trips and Fall hunting season.

I’m far from an expert. But I’ve found that toms will do some gobbling when it’s getting close to evening roost time. If nothing else the evening hunt can beneficial for locating turkeys, finding roost locations, and patterning.

If youre lucky maybe you can locate and intercept a tom on his way to roost.

 

[Gellar]

I haven’t committed much effort to afternoon/evening hunts. How do you guys change up tactics and find birds after the morning “rush hour?”

Afternoons and evenings would allow me a lot more time in the turkey woods since I start work early and end early. Would like to save my precious PTO for some summer backcountry trips and Fall hunting season.

I blind call in areas between the roost and where they want to feed. Turkeys will usually come in quiet during the day so you have to be alert. I sit in a spot for 45 minutes give or take and move. If I hear a gobble I chase it. I have good success if I hear one gobbling midday.

If I had to kill a turkey, I would be out in the afternoon during a warm spring rain. Turkeys can’t resist that!

 

[Beignet]

Good tips, @TOGIE & @Gellar, thanks!