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Turkeys spring 23'

triple_duece

Ragin Cajun.
9,490
159
So this is how the last two days ended up. Drove up to Tn yesterday arriving about 3 pm. Looked on hunt stand for a wma and had one not far from the interstate and was on both sides. After trying to navigate and drive I arrived and parked at a creek. Sat outside to listen and pee. Nothing going on so I tried to find some other entry points. Some were driveways so I crossed the interstate to hit the other section. Found one spot to park and as I got out the truck, the urge to drop a duece hit so a quick run in the woods and was all good. The roads didn’t follow around the wma and I tried to pick another spot but no go. Looked again on website and had one further west. 100 miles west 🤡. Hit the other wa after taking several wrong turns and arrive just before fly up. Stepped outside and it was cold, I was in shorts and crocs. Put some clothes n and it hit me….. better check the regs. Fugg me, just special 3 days here and there and this one was closed. Hauled ass out and tried to find another closer. I was disappointed and mad that I made a foolish mistake driving so far. It’s dark now so I drive back almost where I started. My plan was to get a motel or primitive camp at the wma parking lot. Regs says no. Drive towards a big city and found a motel on the outskirts. Cops are there doing a detail…..good and bad. I asked if they were there for a detail or a call. Detail they say and I introduce myself and tell them I’m a Ff and ask if I should stay here. All my crap is in my truck, they said yes. Go in and hybebb ask for my DL and asked me to park across on the other side. No problem, move my truck and get out and cops call me over saying don’t stay here. Told them thanks and ask where a better location was. Arrive at this one and hand over 158$ for basically 4 hour stay. Got up at 4:30 and went to another wma. Fugg, sun rise is at 6, I thought it was 6:30 like at my house. Daylight broke as I pulled up to a ride w a locked gate. I guess no driving on the public, ok cool. Walk in on a limestone road listening and get to a cabled of trail on a ridge. Stood there for a minute to listen and I hear a vehicle coming….could only be green jeans right? Nope a woman driving her son in camo.

Walked up the trail calling every 2-300 yards till I got to the end. Sat and called sparingly with no turkeys heard. Walked out and hit the main road and arrived at a two year old cut. Walked the logging road in and found some tracks. Called as I walked back until it got thick. Figured I’d sit and do some light calling and wait for a bird to hit the road on a rise. Hour later I hear a hen, I soft call to her and she answers. Play the game but she ain’t moving. I head back towards the gravel to close some distance. Set up again and I soft call, she answers, I repeat what she said. After some time I hear her again so I cut some distance. Then I see a hunter and he sees me. He apologized and I said all good, how would he know I’m there as my truck ain’t on the road. We chatted, he’s a locale and he asked me if I wanted a ride to my truck. I said that would be nice as it cuts a two mile walk out. Get to the truck and we exchange numbers as we said if we get on something we’d let each other know. We texted all day. The gate is open on the north side so I drive around and back in. Seen a hen here and there in some food plots and a few trucks. I marked some areas and walked another trail and at the end was a pipeline. Sat at the 4 way calling softly and sparingly w nothing of interest. Headed down and found a double pipeline and thought that’s where I’m gonna find a bird. All the trails were on rides and this place, like all of them been hit hard. The pipeline runs east and west so you better be a die hard walking it. 200’ down and up fairly steep. Not this flat landers style but you go to do, what I got to do. Walked in after seeing a bird run off a field in the direction of the pipeline. Great I’ll get in there and vary softly call and scratch some leaves. I see a dark Turkey coming up and walks 30 from me. It’s a hen, I wait for a Tom but she’s alone. She walks 12 yards from me and starts dusting on a rotten stump. After10 minutes she about to walk on top of me until she notices a fat blob on a tree, about 5 yards away. She putts once and heads back down the pipeline how she came. That was it except for the local gave me a motel 15 minutes away and $60 bucks cheaper. I will report tomorrow. Sorry so long.
 

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Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
39,067
274
We got on one yesterday morning that was gobbling his head off on the roost. Probably over 200 times. Wasn't a great spot to setup but you gotta do what you gotta do. There was a bunch of undergrowth through mature hardwoods. Eventually the bird pitched and started working our way but went silent. About 15 minutes later I see his head pop up about 5 yards beyond the decoy at 20 yards. I had my gun up in that area but before I could get my head down on the gun he started putting and walked off. The moment he saw that decoy he was out. He went back over near his roost and was gobbling and strutting just over the edge of the ridge. Knowing he wasn't coming back I crawled about 30 yards up and got to within about 20 yards where I could see over the edge if I stood. I shouldered the gun and slowly stood. He was down there gobbling, drumming but I never saw so much as a tail feather and he was only about 20-25 yards away. There was a bunch of young growth saplings about 3 feet high and it completely obscured him. He eventually worked off the other way. We got out of there and went the long way around to the ridge he was heading to and set up there for a while without hearing him again.
 

triple_duece

Ragin Cajun.
9,490
159
Heard a distant gobble once this morning. Only other thing that happened was a deer blowing at me at the crack of dawn and almost got stepped on by two does while sitting a food plot. Headed to north tn.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,126
261
I heard just one gobbler today. It was so far off I couldn’t get a fix on his position. Turkeys are funny like that. They gotta be in the mood or it just isn’t that much fun.
 

tracker 6

Junior Member
639
85
In a thicket
Finally heard birds,and they wanted play.Called 1. White head to the one spot I couldn't shoot, gobbled and drummed for a few then putted and left. 5 min.later anOther one fired up. Talked back and forth for bout a hr. Again no shot. Kept at him, same deal. Oh well "all the fun, none of the mess".
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
49,370
288
Appalachia
I was thinking about old Rexy's comments regarding "shooting the gobbles" out of them while I was sitting in silence on Sunday. Not long ago, our woods were on fire in the spring; deader than a door nail now.
 
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Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,206
189
Mohicanish
I was thinking about old Rexy's comments regarding "shooting the gobbles" out of them while I was sitting in silence on Sunday. Not long ago, our woods were on fire in the spring; deader than a door nail now.
but why hasn't that happened in states that have had turkey hunting longer than ohio? or are ohio birds that much more pressured?
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,206
189
Mohicanish
it's probably my fault that I'm not at the correct mast trees just like with the deer... per the odnr a few seasons ago
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
49,370
288
Appalachia
but why hasn't that happened in states that have had turkey hunting longer than ohio? or are ohio birds that much more pressured?
I've always considered it more on the micro, than the macro. I'm not a geneticist, so I have no idea how long you'd need to selectively remove a particular trait or behavior to see it represented in the whole, but it's interesting to consider. It could also reflect hatch/nesting issues, habitat, weather, etc., so there's a lot to unbox here, but file it under "things that make you go :unsure:"
 
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