MCgunner
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We have Rios here, Colorado County.
When does your turkey season start and...
- Thread starter SoonerMedic
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We have Rios here, Colorado County.
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SoonerMedic
Member
Ladies, I believe it's going to be a quick season for me 
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SoonerMedic
Member
AHHH SO JEALOUS!! I've only gotten one picture of the jake that I posted....he's got maybe a 1-2" beard and very small spurs. I got my decoy finished for the most part, just have to drill out the JB Weld tomorrow so that I can run the stake through the nut and attach the smaller fan with iridescence at the tips to the base of the main fan. Other than that, I have a shift to work tomorrow and I'm getting off at 6 so I can make it out to the blind bright and early Thursday!
tomturkey
Member
Michigan's first one week hunt starts on the 17th of April. Followed by another one week hunt starting on the 24th. Theses are drawn hunts. There is a hunt that runs the whole month of May this year after those two hunts. It can be bought over the counter. Where I hunt with the month long season I can hunt public and private lands but in the southern part of the state it is private only. This is a simplified version of how the seasons run as the Michgan DNR has lost all common sense in their regulations long ago. We can only kill one bearded bird in the spring.
I scald and pluck all of my turkeys. I used to dry pluck them as a native American friend would use the feathers in art work. After he past I went to scalding and the feathers come off a lot easier. I leave the breast sponge on the spring toms as it adds moisture to the meat. It is trimmed off before I carve the bird . All of my turkeys are roasted in a bag so they stay moist. You can squeeze the moisture out of the breast meat. I generally roast the day before they are to be served, carve them and put the meat in Tupperware with a little of the moisture out of the bag poured over it to keep the meat moist. A wild turkey has better flavor than a tame one. It will be ate before a tame one sitting right next to it on the buffet table.
I scald and pluck all of my turkeys. I used to dry pluck them as a native American friend would use the feathers in art work. After he past I went to scalding and the feathers come off a lot easier. I leave the breast sponge on the spring toms as it adds moisture to the meat. It is trimmed off before I carve the bird . All of my turkeys are roasted in a bag so they stay moist. You can squeeze the moisture out of the breast meat. I generally roast the day before they are to be served, carve them and put the meat in Tupperware with a little of the moisture out of the bag poured over it to keep the meat moist. A wild turkey has better flavor than a tame one. It will be ate before a tame one sitting right next to it on the buffet table.
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SoonerMedic
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So the jake that's been visiting the area where my blind is set up failed to show the two mornings I went to hunt. Kind of crazy....hopefully I can get on top of him monday morning or afternoon.
JeffG
Member
Wisconsin is based on a lottery, though I've never failed to get a tag. Seasons are zone specific, and week specific in the spring. So the hunter picks a zone and a week, and a second choice . I was able to pick up a second tag for a later week in May, my first try is May 03. No handguns or muzzleloading handguns allowed, but muzzleloading shotguns, shotguns, and archery are allowed. I use a 54 caliber smoothbore which is 28 gauge, and a "secret" load of FFFG and #6 shot. I do pretty well, my calling skills on my glass pot calls suprise even me. Fall seasons are longer, and either sex is ok to harvest.
Fall seasons are longer, and either sex is ok to harvest.Good luck to you today. The most frustrating thing about turkeys is that they are predictable.....until they're not! Got a few more pics of a nice gobbler yesterday. Only two more days to wait....
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SoonerMedic
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Gahhhh I'm so jealous!! All that's been coming around my blind is a jake with a pathetic little beard. I heard two rafters gobbling this morning from the north of my blind and to the east. I think they're both henned up and refuse to come around where I'm calling. It was kinda windy today (16mph gusts) so I'm hoping that Wednesday may be a little different. I've yet to see a gobbler in person!
harrygunner
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In early March, I pulled off a highway in Utah to take a nap after driving too long. Drove the Jeep into a back area in a National Forest.Before long, I woke up from the noise of dozens of wild turkeys surrounding the Jeep. They were unfazed by the car, or my moving a bit inside. Just business as usual for them.
Risked moving to take a photo. The others were behind the car by this time.
JeffG
Member
Don't be afraid to switch pot calls, to see if they have your call "made".
1895gunner
Member
I'm hunting NW Georgia WMA's and it runs till May 15th. Still working it...
1895gunner
1895gunner
Armored farmer
Member
#1 son tagged this big gobbler this am.10.75" beard, 1" spurs.
Maybe I'll get lucky this week. The birds are beginning to cooperate.
JeffG
Member
Very nice! Congrats!
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SoonerMedic
Member
Great looking bird!! I'm working tomorrow and will be trying for a bird I've been hearing gobble on Sunday. Wish me luck! I'm doing terrible so far lol
Well, my best friend and hunting buddy from Illinois came out to Kansas for our annual turkey hunt. Opening day (Wednesday), after working a gobbler for two hours, he finally came in close enough that I put him on the ground at 9:00 a.m. After getting him tagged and putting my calls back into the vest, I bent over to pick him up and I heard another gobble. Looked up and saw three longbeards coming around a bend in the creek about 200 yards away. Sat back down, got out my calls and started working them. About 9:30, I heard my buddy shoot about a quarter mile away from me back across the creek. Kept working the gobblers and they eventually started working my way. A few minutes before 10, they were close enough and I lowered the boom on the closest one. I had not intended to tag out opening morning, but I just could not resist working that second trio of gobblers. The next morning we went out again and we managed to call in another trio of longbeards and my buddy filled his last tag. We had a great hunt and a great time together. This year marks our 25th year of hunting together and we have built up a pretty big treasure chest of wonderful memories.
My two opening day gobblers:
My buddies opening day gobbler:
My friends 2nd day gobbler:
My two opening day gobblers:
My buddies opening day gobbler:
My friends 2nd day gobbler:
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SoonerMedic
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Those are all wonderful looking birds! I can't seem to get anything to come in close enough to shoot. I am either terrible at calling or just very unlucky. I've heard some gobblers about 100 yards away or so but was unsuccessful at getting them to move. I'm leaning toward it being my calling skills (or lack thereof).
This time of the year, when some gobblers get "henned up", they become reluctant to leave any hens they are with to go to a call of a hen they cannot see. Some gobblers are reluctant to go to a hen calling because each time they have done that previously, they have gotten the snot beat out of them by a more dominant gobbler. I doubt that your calling is the root of the problem. I have heard (and made) some pretty awful calls while a gobbler was coming in. Unfortunately, the best teacher for learning to call is experience. The main thing with any type of call you are using is cadence. Make sure the yelps are quick and crisp, with 5 to 9 yelps. Make a few calls and stop, listening for a gobble. If a gobbler responds, don't call back. If he is interested, he will listen for a return yelp, and if he does not hear one will gobble again. When he gobbles without being prompted, hit him with a four or five note yelp. Get him gobbling to you, rather than you yelping to him. If you call too much, he will assume you are a hot hen and he will wait for you to come to him. The trick is to get him so hot and frustrated, he will come seeking the stubborn hen. This is the approach that I have used for years and it works more often than not. But nothing works 100% of the time.
A mouth diaphragm call is the most difficult call to use. A box call is the easiest, followed by a slate (pot) call. After a gobbler gets fired up, start toning down your yelps. In other words, call more softly and less often. Learn how to run the peg on the slate to sound like a contented purr. As the gobbler gets closer, yelp only 3 or 4 times very softly. Purr a bit. Use one hand to scratch in the leaves, like a turkey scratching for acorns. Also, the time of day will often make a difference. Off the roost early in the morning, gobblers are concerned about getting their harem together. If possible, get within about a hundred yards of where they are roosting. Don't start calling until you hear the hens start some soft tree yelping. Mimic the hens you are hearing. If you can sound like them, you will sometimes be able to call the hens in. The gobbler won't be far behind. Bringing in hens is more difficult, as the "boss" hen will often not want any competition and end up leading the gobbler away from this unfamiliar hen. But if you can manage to get the boss pissed off, she just may come right in to kick your butt.
I have been hunting turkeys for 25 years, and I am still learning. No two gobblers are alike, and no gobbler is the same two days in a row. Don't get discouraged, but keep after it. The only way to get better at it is to keep trying and learning. I hope I am not being presumptuous with my post, and if so, I apologize. I am only trying to provide information that you may or may not know in an effort to help out a fellow turkey hunter. Good luck to you and keep after it.
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SoonerMedic
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No offense taken whatsoever! I'm green at hunting in most regards. I've grown up hunting small game (rabbits, small birds and squirrel) but never turkey, geese or deer. All of this information you gave is very helpful. I guess we can kind of call it playing "hard to get" just like some women do lol. It does make sense....do you use decoys? I have a jake and two hens (tomorrow I won't be using them since I'm hunting somewhere else and I left my decoys in my blind) but haven't had any success.
I rarely use decoys any more. When I first started hunting turkeys, I used them. Seems like some times they worked, other times not so much. Pretty much quit due only to the fact that it is more "stuff" I have to carry with me. With all the calls and other stuff I carry with me, it makes me wonder how the heck ol' Daniel Boone ever shot a turkey!
MCgunner
Member
Seen turkey down the road, but nothing on my end of the road. So, I've been dewberry picking.
Armored farmer
Member
Maco Jim, my long time black powder shooting pard...and my son's father in law, got his bird on our property.
Armored farmer
Member
Maco and his bird.
redneck2
Member
The biggest problem I see with turkey hunters is moving too much. You cannot move at all. Not even a little.
My hunting buddy has been going three years and has yet to get a bird. I've called them in. Then his head moves like a bobble head doll. I tell him to quit moving. He's says he's not moving, then starts gawking around and spooks the birds.
You cannot move. At all. You move, they move. Away. Fast.
Their vision is 170 degrees, so if they turn their head very slightly, they have 360 degree sight. The only time you can move is if they are fanning and their tail blocks their sight. But if there are two, the other one spooks.
My hunting buddy has been going three years and has yet to get a bird. I've called them in. Then his head moves like a bobble head doll. I tell him to quit moving. He's says he's not moving, then starts gawking around and spooks the birds.
You cannot move. At all. You move, they move. Away. Fast.
Their vision is 170 degrees, so if they turn their head very slightly, they have 360 degree sight. The only time you can move is if they are fanning and their tail blocks their sight. But if there are two, the other one spooks.
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