teenbowhunter
Junior Member
Had at least five in the trees above me gobbling every time I made a noise getting out of the car. Needless to say I didn't see any turkeys and I'll be back and much sneakier in the morning lol
2017 Random Turkey Scouting
- Thread starter Spencie
- Start date
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Birds were going good this morning. Lots of Tom's and Jake's this year.
I slipped in on one on the roost gobbling. He strutted in the tree until a hen pitched down and he flew straight to her. The other 5-6 hens waited until they could see him and flew right down to him. Henned up bad! I was about 50 yards from them but they were across a small creek and it was pretty thick between us. He only gobbled twice on the ground but that was enough to get a bearing on his direction. I slipped back and cut wide around him. Trying to get a bead on where they went first thing in the morning so we know where to setup. I got around and out front of where I thought he might be going. Sure enough he popped out about 20 yards away with the hens. A hen spotted me but didn't cluck just tucked and slowly scurried off. She wasn't sure though and stopped twice to look back so I didn't really spook em she just didn't like something she saw. Could have shot that Tom a dozen times though. Goes to show you that even if a bird is henned up you can still kill em without even making a call you just have to shit or get off the pot quick and get around them. We don't even bother calling to a bird that's going away anymore. Soon as we see he's not coming our direction we get on the move. Despite trying tons of times we have never called a bird backwards and had him come back.
I went and picked up Travis and we located the birds he was listening to. They were in a field with about 6 hens. There were three Tom's and a jake. Looked like two two year olds and maybe a 3 year old.
I slipped in on one on the roost gobbling. He strutted in the tree until a hen pitched down and he flew straight to her. The other 5-6 hens waited until they could see him and flew right down to him. Henned up bad! I was about 50 yards from them but they were across a small creek and it was pretty thick between us. He only gobbled twice on the ground but that was enough to get a bearing on his direction. I slipped back and cut wide around him. Trying to get a bead on where they went first thing in the morning so we know where to setup. I got around and out front of where I thought he might be going. Sure enough he popped out about 20 yards away with the hens. A hen spotted me but didn't cluck just tucked and slowly scurried off. She wasn't sure though and stopped twice to look back so I didn't really spook em she just didn't like something she saw. Could have shot that Tom a dozen times though. Goes to show you that even if a bird is henned up you can still kill em without even making a call you just have to shit or get off the pot quick and get around them. We don't even bother calling to a bird that's going away anymore. Soon as we see he's not coming our direction we get on the move. Despite trying tons of times we have never called a bird backwards and had him come back.
I went and picked up Travis and we located the birds he was listening to. They were in a field with about 6 hens. There were three Tom's and a jake. Looked like two two year olds and maybe a 3 year old.
Not much for gobbling this morning. Had 4 hens and 3 Jake's in the alfalfa, and 5 hens all by themselves 100 yards away in the cut corn. My buddy was listening at another spot and had some action.
Then when I left the spot I was listening at I pulled over onto a gravel entrance to piss (still on property I can hunt) and there was 6 Jake's standing on the gravel road 50 yards into the woods. I've been seeing a lot of Jake's this year.
Since the end of March I have had no Toms on cam strutting. 8 came through on April 6th and another on the 13th. I have heard a few gobbling on the roost way off but that's it. Every spring they leave...earlier each year. There is a group of jakes running around daily numbering from 6-12. That number may drop by one if things don't turn around.
teenbowhunter
Junior Member
What I thought would be a sneaky route to the roost turned out to be climbing a cliff of blackberries. So I got there late, sweaty, and loud as hell. Lots of birds heard none were seen lol
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They're strange like that and yard up in the winter just like deer. They have a winter range but come spring its like a bomb went off and they scatter to their spring locations. The birds Alex and I hunt show up around the end of March each year. No idea where they come from they're just there one day.
Mine usually leave as soon as breeding is done. They come back in late summer. But every year has been earlier than the year before.
I must be feeding them well as the flocks are here year around. See flocks 50-100 in Jan-March. Then they break up into smaller groups 5-10 for breeding. All winter all most every day I see a flock of 30-40 come out of the brush and walk across the yard going to the cow pasture to pick corn out of the cow patties.
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Depends on the population of a given area I think. If the whole area has a good number of birds then mixing around doesnt gain them much as everywhere is full. Here in Clark only about 20 are killed each spring. Travis, Alex and I are 3-4 of those. The population is sparse and pocketed. They can move to a prime winter spot then prime nesting spots and back and forth. One thing is for sure though, where there are cows there's turkeys.
Hunted the WV opener in the rain. The turkeys must have had a miserable night....I only heard two distant gobbles around 8:00. There was lots of shooting in the clearcut out the ridge from us....high powered rifles picking off far away Toms. Will try again tomorrow.
mercercountyhunter
Junior Member
What is the reason for using high power rifles for turkey? Is the population that high ? Just doesn't seem like fun to me but that's just my opinion. Not saying anything bad about it just clueless why it's allowed in only a few states. And not even sure how many states that is.
Lazy hunters that can't call I guess. Takes the fun out of it by shooting them from 300 yards.
twireman
Senior Member
Tilled up this backwoods plot Saturday in hopes of keepin turkeys interested in area till season. Jakes are dusting in it already. Hopefully they stick around till this Saturday as my 9 year ild nephew will be there with us!
