MT 2017 Spring Turkey Hunt Thread

[phutch30]

I think everyone did. LOL 5/5 on buddies drawing. they bumped the tag numbers up a lot in 399-20

 

[406LIFE]

Sadly, I will not be killing 9 birds this spring. I am one of 30 people who did not draw the Mineral County tag. Oh well. Bag my 2 here in the Root and move to R1. Plus, I have a few bear tags this spring to tend to.

 

[hobbes]

3 out of 5 in my family drew 399. My wife drew 399-20 and my daughter and son drew 399-21 (youth). My wife and youngest son both drew it two years ago (Lewis and Clark County) when it wasn't combined into one unit and both filled the tag.

Myself and my oldest son did not draw. What the heck? Maybe I'll draw a 380 bull tag.........HA! Yeah right!!

No matter, it works good for my wife and daughter and youngest son to have the tag since the kids will be in track and have little time to take two and three day trips all over the state. I'll still get the joy of working birds in for them, and I'll still plan to burn up a lot of gas to hunt R1, R5, R6, R7 and maybe R2.

 

[phutch30]

399-20 is going to be interesting with 400 some odd people running around. 5/6 on buddies drawing it.

 

[hobbes]

With several counties combined now and the turkey numbers doing pretty well and spread into more area, it may not be too bad. However, that 400 is in addition to the 100 youth permits (399-21). When we hunted here a couple years ago we were hunting with 25 adults and 5 youth spread out over Lewis and Clark and Broadwater (although a fairly confined population). I'd say the first couple weekends may be interesting if hunting in a well known area. We'll try to hunt it during the week.

 

[Chris D]

Drew the Mineral County tag

I'll be hunting the Bitteroot and maybe head up to Region 1 and hit central MT as well.

 

[Hem]

turkey egg for me

 

[Art Vandeley]

15 tags in my unit Will hunt it after I get after my my R5 birds.

 

[Chucknduck]

Gonna be trying my hand at turkey for the first time this year. Gonna be a learning process

 

[Hem]

R5,R7, and maybe R-Wyoming and R-South Dakota
But could get side tracked while on the East side and chase pike with a fly.

 

[C_Dick_Run]

Glad I found this thread this is just what I was looking for. I'm in Billings and will be hunting turkey this spring. Planning on R5 or maybe R7 which seems to have a little more access. There are a few places along the rivers in R5 block management that have turkeys but it seems FWP doesn't leave contact information up all year, unless I'm missing something. R7 however does have some pieces of block management posted for spring turkey so that may be where I end up. Where I'm from in Michigan there are turkeys everywhere, but Montana has such different and vast terrain and I've only ever seen turkeys on river bottom ag land. Is this usually the case in your experience? Also, the turkey "rut" in Michigan was usually at peak around April 15-20. Is it about the same for areas in R5 and R7? Thanks in advance for all your advice/opinions.

 

[406LIFE]

I would say in R5 and R7 riverbottoms will be your friend.

As for a rut, good luck pinning that down. I have birds in Missoula area already strutting hard. Seems like it might be early this year. I haven't had a season open yet that the birds where on point. It doesn't seem to matter much. If you are where the birds want to be, you'll be able to call them over.

 

[Doublecluck]

Glad I found this thread this is just what I was looking for. I'm in Billings and will be hunting turkey this spring. Planning on R5 or maybe R7 which seems to have a little more access. There are a few places along the rivers in R5 block management that have turkeys but it seems FWP doesn't leave contact information up all year, unless I'm missing something. R7 however does have some pieces of block management posted for spring turkey so that may be where I end up. Where I'm from in Michigan there are turkeys everywhere, but Montana has such different and vast terrain and I've only ever seen turkeys on river bottom ag land. Is this usually the case in your experience? Also, the turkey "rut" in Michigan was usually at peak around April 15-20. Is it about the same for areas in R5 and R7? Thanks in advance for all your advice/opinions.

I believe the only block management land open to spring turkey is in region 7. When I first started hunting montana turkeys we focused almost exclusively on riparian/ag areas along rivers and had good sucess. More recently I have discovered good populations in the ponderosa/wooded areas and have had equal sucess there. I usually cover lots of ground and use locator calls to get response gobbles in this habitat. Quite often I observe turkeys in a specific area only in the spring and I am sure that hen dispersal plays in to those observations.I have found that turkey "rut" or reponse to calling can vary greatly thru the season. Quite often I have observed different rut behavior region to region and even flock to flock in the same time period. Dont be afraid to get aggressive And move in and challenge late season hened up birds.Don't be afraid to ask permission, I feel like we run about 50/50 when I ask by myself and about 80/20 when we pull the "can my daughter hunt turkey card" hopefully this helps.

 

[hobbes]

Toms will gobble and strut through the whole season. I hunt the entire season but prefer mid to late season. Hens are more likely to be nesting leaving toms looking for company. It's normal for them to already be strutting especially on warm days. They've probably been doing it for a while to some extent.

The breeding cycle is triggered by amount of daylight. The toms are just like a buck or a bull, ready to go before the hens are. If they start laying too early, their chicks won't have crucial food sources available when they hatch.

The Ponderosa covered hills in R7 and R5 have birds.

 

[C_Dick_Run]

Awesome thanks for your advice I appreciate it

 

[406LIFE]

Just about a week to go. I have a 16 year old that I will be taking on her first turkey hunt. Hope she can sit still. Checked on my birds and I don't see any giants, but several very respectable birds. Always got access to a couple of new spots that I still need to scout. Looking like the birds will be on time for the opener. Some activity, but not real fired up yet. I picked up an ID tag as well, just in case the mood presents itself while I am bear hunting.

 

[hobbes]

I'll be listening for birds this morning in the areas we Hope to fill the wife's and kid's limited tags. We'll hunt those tags on the opener. I'll head east the following weekend.

 

[Art Vandeley]

I went down and scouted some new areas yesterday. Found a nice Tom to chase next weekend. Can't wait!

 

[POk3s]

Leaving in a couple weeks (Easter weekend) to hunt turkeys in R7. Hoping I can find somebody who knows the unit and I can bounce some ideas off of???? I've read and researched about everything I can find on the internet, as well as google earthed things to death. The density map seems like it could be a little skewed considering it doesn't look like they put high priority in going out and making observations anymore.......or maybe the info just hasn't changed and there's no need. Again, just hoping to find somebody who won't mind telling me "that's a good idea" or "you're stupid" hahahahaha. Let me know or PM me....thanks

 

[phutch30]

Word from the R7 bio is numbers are down. May want to call for some info