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Turkeys spring 23'

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,009
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Triple duece and I set up a blind yesterday where I suspected several birds were roosting. I was right. Big gobbler flew down, had no hens. He saw my lone hen decoy and went into strut on a knob just above me. Gobbles his fool head off. I was sitting back enjoying the show and hoping he would eventually give up on her coming to him and move into bow range. And he was doing just that a little at a time. Perfect. And then I heard them… the blasted jakes gobbled across the farm. Just a few minutes later they gobble on my ridge, run past me at a dead sprint towards the strutting Tom. When they gobbled close, he folded up his show and took off running. The jakes assumed his former position just out of bow range and put on a good show that I was too mad to enjoy. The big bird never said another word. The jakes are just a real pain in the tail. Four of the five mornings I’ve hunted have been disrupted by those punks.
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
30,563
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Licking Co. Ohio
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Believe I picked the right spot though...
Maybe tomorrow.
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,869
189
Mohicanish

I took Wednesday off. Last night i drove around the farm owl hooting and coyote howling with no results. I can hear my calls echoing off the landscape so they should be reaching any birds in the vicinity. This morning i went out at sunrise and didn’t hear anything. Once again tried some locator calls and nothing. So i have up on the farm and started driving around the Mohican state forest public hunting area and the muskingum watershed public land as well. Hiked down one trail about a half mile, and drove 40ish miles. Never heard a single gobble to any of my calls. So i came up to where i had my encounter Tuesday but I’m set up to cut him off from where he came through. Nothing so far other than one lonesome looking hen in a field this morning. So its time to enjoy another cigar and look for morels after 1200.
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,009
261
A lady just told me her husband found his first patch yesterday. He’s been out everyday for the last couple weeks. He found about 20. You’re visiting a bad neighborhood for mushrooms this year.
 

Left field

Active Member

I took Wednesday off. Last night i drove around the farm owl hooting and coyote howling with no results. I can hear my calls echoing off the landscape so they should be reaching any birds in the vicinity. This morning i went out at sunrise and didn’t hear anything. Once again tried some locator calls and nothing. So i have up on the farm and started driving around the Mohican state forest public hunting area and the muskingum watershed public land as well. Hiked down one trail about a half mile, and drove 40ish miles. Never heard a single gobble to any of my calls. So i came up to where i had my encounter Tuesday but I’m set up to cut him off from where he came through. Nothing so far other than one lonesome looking hen in a field this morning. So it’s time to enjoy another cigar and look for morels after 1200.
That’s the trend I’m having on public land , maybe tuekey hunting is going back to the old days of guys sitting in one spot , waiting on one turkey :unsure:
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
What da heck? Hurricane wash you north or did you just get lost? 😁. Good luck to you in Ohio. I may have heard about one turkey you witnessed already. Part Amish, part Mexican, part coyote hole dweller, but a good bit of a turkey too. 🤣. (I'm sure he made you feel at home and was very hospitable.)
Who ever do you speak of? 🤣

@Isaacorps that picture damn near put a tear in my eye I smiked so big! Fucking love it!!!
 

Isaacorps

Member
5,377
145
Columbus
Pretty good hunt despite the weather. Rain let up around 7:30, heard my first gobble at 9:00 a long ways off. Right on cue it started raining again lol. Had nothing to lose so I worked toward it in the rain but nothing doing. Switched it up and went across the road and climbed the hill. Started calling when I got to the top of the ridge at 10:00 and almost immediately one hammered back on the opposite ridge across the holler. He was fired up, cutting me off mid calling sequence. There was no good way to get to him except to take the looong way around. I kept taking his temperature as I went and he was game. Finally made it around and set up. Never heard another peep out of him lol. Ended up fooling with him for about an hour. Got some pretty good recon on where he’s hanging out/roosting. The plan is to sneak in there early tomorrow morning and hopefully tuck in close to him. I know from past experience that birds like to roost in the general area so could turn out to be a fun morning. Or quiet as a tomb 🤷🏻‍♂️😅. All in all a fun hunt