2023 spring turkey!

[Foldem]

Colorado public otc bird. Roosted him last night and he came straight to me off the roost this morning after gobbling at every sound in the woods for 45 mins. 14 minute season .

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Got my Colorado list B bird. Hunt lasted a whole day this time haha.

 

[Hunting Wife]

Hunting Husband had some unfortunate family things to attend to this weekend so I was on my own without much of a plan. It poured rain all day on Saturday, and I wasn’t sure where to even go since I stayed at work and am not near my usual haunts. Drove to the closest spot I could think of (a couple hours away still), glassed up some silent birds, and screwed around with a flock of gobblers until I was finally able to cut some off and cluck them into range. This one was a kind of unique experience, and I think one of the older birds I’ve ever gotten. Made for a fun morning.

 

[Gellar]

View attachment 275262Another morning in North Idaho with a bird for a buddy. I should go chase bears but I get easily distracted.

What kind of .410 is that?

 

[Mica Man]

What kind of .410 is that?

https://www.rkguns.com/rossi-single-shot-tuffy-410ga-odg-turkey-sh

 

[Mica Man]

Your photos caused me to purchase one!
I see you have no rear sight, do you just line the front bead down the center of the rail? I purchased a Red Dot Reflex, hopefully I didn't waste $100.

I just center the bead down the rail. Idaho doesn't allow electric sights for hunting thus no red dot on my tuffy.

 

[phutch30]

I just center the bead down the rail. Idaho doesn't allow electric sights for hunting thus no red dot on my tuffy.

I sent you a PM on the IDaho red dot law

 

[Hem]

Good way to start on the first day of my annual trip.

 

[Mica Man]

A bird for my daughter before school this morning.

 

[westbranch]

Surprised you have not ran out of turkeys by now!

 

[Mica Man]

Surprised you have not ran out of turkeys by now!

Let me know when you want to go!

 

[Straight Arrow]

15 yr-old grandson, with his proud Dad.

 

[johnp]

Not much gobbling lately but this guy followed a bearded hen right into the danger zone!

 

[Wild Bill]

Got to the spot early early (4:15) in hopes of getting into a well used roost area. Turns out some super heavy and localized rain had the river ripping and I couldn't cross safely in the dark. Set up close, but couldn't pull any birds close enough. Plan A woulda been a slam dunk, as I watched 8 gobblers strutting next to the tree I planned on setting up under. Damn.
Decided to pull the plug and head out to try and get to work at a decent time. While leaving, I spotted 3 birds a 1/2 mile down the railroad tracks. Headed towards them and cut the distance significantly. Aaaaand then a train came through and sent them deep into the neighboring property. Nice. Back to the truck.
Driving past a ranch I hunted a few times in the past and saw 5 or 6 gobblers out in a corner of a field above the floodplain. Swung in and talked to the rancher and he gave me the go-ahead. Snuck across an opening and down into the floodplain and cut the distance to about 75 yards. Right away 3 jakes came in on a rope with 4 toms hanging out further back. Lined up one jake and squeezed one off. He flopped for a good while and with some excited calling, together we drew in one of the longbeards. Touched off another round and had nice double.
A great end to a challenging morning, and to my spring turkey season. Still have a tag left, but it's time to get the boat out now. Walleyes are biting. Until next year.

 

[mdcrossbow]

Left Maryland house at 4 AM and just arived at Turkey camp in Greensboro Vt. In the White Mts. about 20 minutes from Canada.
My buddy went to one side of the farm and me to the other . At 6:02 BANG. He dropped a nice 2 YO Tom. It ended his getting skunked street. Tomorrow we'll be hunting another farm, I'll be taking a 15 YO out who's becoming a great hunter
5/21
We did some scouting and Friday morning. My buddy grogner shot a three year old at 602in the morning Friday. This. Morning I went out? 5 minutes after 1st light. Walked to where I knew birds were roosting. Jumped the hens out , got lucky Tom's remained on the roost near by. I backed out. Put my hen decoy out in fresh tilled field and yelped did a fly down cackle n Tom's were gobbling. 5 minutes later 4 Tom's came rushing in. Took the lead bird with a 9"beard. Small spurs. @5:27 AM !
So I sit a bit and strike up another gobbler. This guy was big but got spooked.
Hunting different farm tomorrow.

 

[phutch30]

Hosted a buddy from OH this weekend. Had a blast. These will be the last of 2023 MT spring turkey pics from me...probably

 

[johnp]

My friend ,Ellen , has tried several times to get her first turkey. We had a great star to the morning when a couple of Does accompanied by newborn fawns entertained us . No tree gobbling at all had me thinking it might be a slow turkey day.
Then out pops three jakes and within a few minutes they make their way into range. Her shot was right on and the turkey jinx was over!

 

[Gellar]

My friend ,Ellen , has tried several times to get her first turkey. We had a great star to the morning when a couple of Does accompanied by newborn fawns entertained us . No tree gobbling at all had me thinking it might be a slow turkey day.
Then out pops three jakes and within a few minutes they make their way into range. Her shot was right on and the turkey jinx was over!View attachment 277121

They are still gobbling and strutting every morning here. Maybe even better than during the season.

 

[NEWHunter]

Due to some of the kids activities I couldn’t hunt my first tag - leaving me just Saturday and Sunday to fill a late season tag. Went Saturday morning and it was a total bust. Due to the decline in numbers I didn’t even get a gobble out of the 50 acre woodlot I choose that morning.

That afternoon I took my son out to look for some birds. We found a lone tom in one spot and a group of five birds in another. The five were in calf high alfalfa at 400 yards and my optics couldn’t tell me if one was a Tom. Unfortunately, with family obligations we didn’t have the opportunity to try and roost either option.

I waffled for hours on where to go Sunday morning. Eventually I decided to roll the dice on the lone Tom - crossing my fingers that he would opt to roost nearby and not a half mile away and out of reach.

My son had a hard time waking up so we were running late Sunday morning. We were still about 30 yards from our planned spot when a Tom cut loose. To make matters worse we only had about ten minutes until shooting light. My hope was that with overcast skies, full foliage, and our silent approach via the freshly planted field we might be OK. I was determined to get to my planned location as it was the high spot in the field, allowing our decoys to be seen from all corners of the field.

We moved up to our planned spot and I threw out two hen decoys at about 12 yards and tucked us in to the brush on the edge of the field. We masked up, I got my calls set, and told my son to get set. The tom had gobbled a few more times while were setting up. I started calling and after a few yelp sequences with my mouth call he responded - he hadn’t spooked and we were still in business! I knew he was close and after hearing his response I figured he was roosted about a hundred yards away.

I was still trying get my son set up when he gobbled again. This time the notes sounded much more distinct and it was definitely louder. A quick glance to my right revealed he had hit the ground at 75 yards and was closing. Of course we weren’t in position yet.

He paralleled the field edge about 30 yards out until he was in front of us. He was strutting and on a mission, but he didn’t seem to want to come any closer. I let him take about four steps past the decoys, trying to give him every opportunity to commit and continue to put on a show. However, by this time my gut was telling me he was expecting the hens to come to him and he wasn’t going to get closer. I opted for the shot and folded immediately. We were all done before 5 am.

Afterwards, my son kept remarking how lucky we were to have it all work out so well. I acknowledged that luck certainly played a role, given that the tom stayed in the limited area we could hunt him rather than moseying down the creek and out of reach. But more importantly, I let him know that experience and learning from past mistakes had more to do with this outcome. I was pleased to see the light bulb go on . . .

 

[BrentD]

Well, I will bore you with my 2023 turkey. Here he is:


No, that's not a mistake. I got a big fat NOTHING, unlike everyone here. So, there won't be any of this in my future either.


No Turkey Leg Carnitas - to die for normally.

I'll just bore you with the last day's events.

It was raining at before dawn. Hard. I wasn't very enthusiastic, so I went out to breakfast with my wife and then came home and hung out as the rain gradually died out. By about 1pm, it looked like the rest of the day was rain free. I didn't really want to go but I felt guilty so I did. l

I did a slow walk and call routine for a couple of miles along some public land field borders. I was using my favorite home-made box call that I have used to kill a dozen birds. But today, not a peep, anywhere. Dead silent. Birds should be lurking just back in the timber in the shade and cover, but if they were, they weren't giving themselves away.

Finally I got to the back field and low and behold there is a mature tom out there. Maybe 50ish yards out and feeding away. Well that sure looked good. He had no idea that I was around and I'm somewhat imfamous for tagging out on the last minute of the last day. This was pretty close. Maybe 6:30 or so.

I snuck down to the field edge and got in position before I called. I even thought about taking a poke but 50 yds is a bit far, and it might have been 60 for all I really knew. But with a few soft yelps he should head my way easy. So I yelped really soft and just a few. His head came up. Then he went back to feeding. I yelped again. This time, his head shot out to the right side and his butt followed right behind as he vacated the premises stage Right just as fast as his feet could pitter-patter across the cover crop field. DANG! That sure went bad. Worse, this exact same scenario played out 2 days earlier in the exact same place with three idiot jakes of all things. Clearly, my calling sucks. Sounds just like very other year to me, but I'm clearing the fields of birds like I was riding a bulldozer.

Sunset was to be about 8:22 or something like that. Birds start flying up well before that, but there was just enough time to make a big hike down a bottomless ravine, up the other side on all fours and then hunker along the rim of this flat. It was a skinny piece. A triangular extension of a piece of private occupied all of the flat but a skinny little strip only a few 10s of feet wide or less where the flat dropped away onto an incredibly steep ravine on public where I had a hunch a bird was roosting regularly. It was a a bit of chore getting in there without making commotion or being spotted or trespassing, but but I'd been there once before and knew the route.

Got there, settled in front of a red oak just over the lip of the flat. Nothing for cover really but with just my head and shoulders above the flat and a few weeds around, I thought I might get lucky.

I yelped a few times, super soft. This time with a mouth call that I don't trust, but my box call was dead to me now. Nothing called back so I diddled around with my phone, read a few HT posts nearly fell asleep and then, unexpectedly, I thought i heard something. Or more like felt something. That deep vibrating "thrummmm" maybe. But I wasn't sure, and I didn't hear it again.

And suddenly, there he was! Under 20 yds! Right in front! Looking right at me! DANG! And instantly, I'm just a little kid with turkey-fever, and I'm thinking this is going to work! It's a miracle, I'm going to fill this tag yet, Carnitas are mine! But he has me totally pinned with my gun across my right leg, pointing in the right general direction but in my lap, not on my shoulder. So, what to do in the next instant? Well, not what I did. Which was schooch my head and shoulders down to meet the gun coming up, and awkwardly hurrying as he spotted my head movements and then fire a clean miss and then yet another. Both high and left with my cheek nowhere near being lined up on the buttstock. Holy Rookie, Batman, did I ever mess that up as the bird beat cheeks down the rim and the over the edge and gone forever, just like my carnitas.

So, woe is me. And now you know. But I sure have enjoyed and envied each and every one of these successful turkey pics. Just can't have one of my own to show you.

 

[Hem]

Well, I will bore you with my 2023 turkey. Here he is:
View attachment 277128

No, that's not a mistake. I got a big fat NOTHING, unlike everyone here. So, there won't be any of this in my future either.
View attachment 277129

No Turkey Leg Carnitas - to die for normally.

I'll just bore you with the last day's events.

It was raining at before dawn. Hard. I wasn't very enthusiastic, so I went out to breakfast with my wife and then came home and hung out as the rain gradually died out. By about 1pm, it looked like the rest of the day was rain free. I didn't really want to go but I felt guilty so I did. l

I did a slow walk and call routine for a couple of miles along some public land field borders. I was using my favorite home-made box call that I have used to kill a dozen birds. But today, not a peep, anywhere. Dead silent. Birds should be lurking just back in the timber in the shade and cover, but if they were, they weren't giving themselves away.

Finally I got to the back field and low and behold there is a mature tom out there. Maybe 50ish yards out and feeding away. Well that sure looked good. He had no idea that I was around and I'm somewhat imfamous for tagging out on the last minute of the last day. This was pretty close. Maybe 6:30 or so.

I snuck down to the field edge and got in position before I called. I even thought about taking a poke but 50 yds is a bit far, and it might have been 60 for all I really knew. But with a few soft yelps he should head my way easy. So I yelped really soft and just a few. His head came up. Then he went back to feeding. I yelped again. This time, his head shot out to the right side and his butt followed right behind as he vacated the premises stage Right just as fast as his feet could pitter-patter across the cover crop field. DANG! That sure went bad. Worse, this exact same scenario played out 2 days earlier in the exact same place with three idiot jakes of all things. Clearly, my calling sucks. Sounds just like very other year to me, but I'm clearing the fields of birds like I was riding a bulldozer.

Sunset was to be about 8:22 or something like that. Birds start flying up well before that, but there was just enough time to make a big hike down a bottomless ravine, up the other side on all fours and then hunker along the rim of this flat. It was a skinny piece. A triangular extension of a piece of private occupied all of the flat but a skinny little strip only a few 10s of feet wide or less where the flat dropped away onto an incredibly steep ravine on public where I had a hunch a bird was roosting regularly. It was a a bit of chore getting in there without making commotion or being spotted or trespassing, but but I'd been there once before and knew the route.

Got there, settled in front of a red oak just over the lip of the flat. Nothing for cover really but with just my head and shoulders above the flat and a few weeds around, I thought I might get lucky.

I yelped a few times, super soft. This time with a mouth call that I don't trust, but my box call was dead to me now. Nothing called back so I diddled around with my phone, read a few HT posts nearly fell asleep and then, unexpectedly, I thought i heard something. Or more like felt something. That deep vibrating "thrummmm" maybe. But I wasn't sure, and I didn't hear it again.

And suddenly, there he was! Under 20 yds! Right in front! Looking right at me! DANG! And instantly, I'm just a little kid with turkey-fever, and I'm thinking this is going to work! It's a miracle, I'm going to fill this tag yet, Carnitas are mine! But he has me totally pinned with my gun across my right leg, pointing in the right general direction but in my lap, not on my shoulder. So, what to do in the next instant? Well, not what I did. Which was schooch my head and shoulders down to meet the gun coming up, and awkwardly hurrying as he spotted my head movements and then fire a clean miss and then yet another. Both high and left with my cheek nowhere near being lined up on the buttstock. Holy Rookie, Batman, did I ever mess that up as the bird beat cheeks down the rim and the over the edge and gone forever, just like my carnitas.

So, woe is me. And now you know. But I sure have enjoyed and envied each and every one of these successful turkey pics. Just can't have one of my own to show you.

Most excellent rendition. The birds I found were mostly not interested and booking it the opposite direction too. Familiar late season shenanigans.
At least be thankful you don't have to drive terribly far. Just have to make up for it next year.