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Post by wtrfwlr on Mar 17, 2013 18:44:33 GMT -7
I was curious if anyone else here is addicted to chasing gobblers through the woods in the springtime? I know Hunter63 does, anyone else here love the sound of a cut, purr, strut and drum?
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Post by dameon on Mar 17, 2013 20:03:27 GMT -7
Definitely, I take opening week off work every year and camp out, hunt all day!!
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Post by woodyz on Mar 17, 2013 21:31:58 GMT -7
I hunted turkey for years. They were all but extinct in Ks in my youth, due to bad farming advice, but we hatched them for goberment release in the late sixties and kept some on our place.
When I got to TX in the early 80's we hunted them at the same time as deer. I hunted a deer lease in South TX and we always had turkey and quail on the lease. I used to take my kids and sit in a blind and watch deer and turkey all afternoon. One year there must have been a thousand turkey, the next they were all but wiped out by coyotes.
I knew that turkey babysit, in other words a hen will watch over other hens little ones while they feed but the first time I really saw it in practice was that year there were so many.
That afternoon I was hunting on the river for a tree stand. First I had about 30 hogs, not javelin, although they were there on the lease too, but feral hogs. I was in a big pecan tree and they fed for a while right under me. I pick out a nice 175 # sow and thought about shooting her, but I was afraid they would hang around and keep me up the tree so I passed.
One the other side of the river was about a seven foot be arm, probable man made as there was a corn field on the other side. Once over the berm their was a nice sandy beach before the water.
I heard turkey in the corn I knew they were coming to the water, but I wasn't prepared for the size of the flock. It was all hens and Jake's and there must have been 300 of them. But what was fascinating was how they came to water. One set of hens stayed on top of the berm to keep watch while the other hens went to drink. Then they changed places and the others drank, then they headed the young birds just like you see cowboys heard cows, got them all in a tight bunch and pushed them down the river bank. It was worth the 45 minutes watching them work the young ones.
It was also the first time I saw quail roosters fight each other like gamecocks. I was in a tower stand and there was a lot of dust at the bottom. About 40 quail came in under the stand and started taking dust baths in the dirt, All of a sudden two little roosters had their neck feathers spreed out and the were jumping and trying to spur each other. Those two got some others going and it was amazing watching them.
I moved to S.C. in 1990 and hunted them with deer also. Then I moved to KY in 1995 and they were very thick on our deer leases. In KY I was able to once again take my kids in to blinds and watch turkey and deer. Then my youngest daughter started hunting and I basically just took her and enjoyed her hunting.
She was 11 deer for 12 single shot kills, 4 heart shots. She was a great shot with a Chinese sks. In fact the last time her and I went hunting she killed a doe and a turkey.
Now she has 4 kids and the oldest two 9 and 10 have heard her and I talk about it and seen a few pictures and want to know when she will take them.
I never had much luck calling them in, mostly it was just ambushing them as they came to water. I called in my turkey with a deer grunt call then I ever did with a turkey call or slate.
My best friend in TX was really good with a mouth call, he would sound just like the other birds coming off the roast and he could call them to us every time.
I love fried turkey breast, had my first on a deer lease in TX. But I really like just watching them feed in a field and interact with each other.
I have been lucky getting to hunt but even more just getting to watch the animal in there natural habitat is more fun then the hunt (as long as I get my tags filled too.
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Post by offtrail on Mar 23, 2013 18:26:46 GMT -7
You would think I would but not. I really don't like sitting still and waiting for the animal to come to me. I do know it's a fun and challenging sport enjoyed by many sportsmen. I guess i would rather fish then hunt  been waiting all winter ;D |
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Post by Cwi555 on Mar 23, 2013 19:04:19 GMT -7
Can't really claim it any more given the number of years it's been.
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Post by wtrfwlr on Mar 23, 2013 19:04:52 GMT -7
You would think I would but not. I really don't like sitting still and waiting for the animal to come to me. I do know it's a fun and challenging sport enjoyed by many sportsmen. I guess i would rather fish then hunt been waiting all winter ;D Oh no, it's not like that at all! It's nothing like deer hunting where you sit in a likely spot and hope they come that way. No Sir, it's a full on running, calling, chasing em up and down ridges, trying to head em off or get in front of them type a deal! Now you may try and figure out where he might be or go to but if he goes the other way or angles off for some reason you gotta get up and move, and I mean in a silent hurry too or he will be long gone before you know it! It's a blast, especially if they're gobbling. If you get close in on one and he let out a huge gobble right behind you and you didn't know he was slipping in on you, you swear you heart it going to jump right outta your chest! It's also fun to combine fishing and turkey hunting. I used to go over to Lake Ouchita in the Ouchita Natl. Forest and crappie fish out of my boat during the day. Late in the evenings you can hear the gobblers going to roost. They usually gobble on their way and after they fly up, then you can try and pinpoint where they are and make a predawn hike to get in close for a fly down at day break in the morning! Bag yourself a big ole Tom and go ahead and fish the rest of the morning. It just don't get much better en that!  |
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Post by dameon on Mar 23, 2013 20:49:11 GMT -7
I deer hunt because I want some deer meat, if it were up to me I would kill all the deer I need opening week so that I didn't have to go back. I turkey hunt because I like to turkey hunt. If I fill all my tags in the first week, I would still go with someone else to try and call one in for them, I love the thrill when you here one hammer down in the morning, even if he hangs up somewhere and you never even see him it is still a rush!!
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Post by wtrfwlr on Mar 23, 2013 21:20:41 GMT -7
I deer hunt because I want some deer meat, if it were up to me I would kill all the deer I need opening week so that I didn't have to go back. I turkey hunt because I like to turkey hunt. If I fill all my tags in the first week, I would still go with someone else to try and call one in for them, I love the thrill when you here one hammer down in the morning, even if he hangs up somewhere and you never even see him it is still a rush!! Yep, your an addict!  We have a lot in common When you are sitting there and it is dead silent and all of the sudden you hear a "Spitttttttt Darrruuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm" 15 or 20 steps behind you you could wet you pants except your whole body is locked up way to tight for that to happen! ;D And then if he rolls a thunderous double gobble right about then you stand a real good chance of losing consciousness!! |
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Post by dameon on Mar 23, 2013 21:41:30 GMT -7
Man I was addicted from the start, the first year I ever hunted turkey, I was maybe 15, it was towards the end of the season, I had them gobbling at me all season long but never called one in, I was talking dirty with one that was in front of me and I thought I had him coming to me. Then, out of nowhere one blows up the woods maybe 200 yards behind me, so I turn and run maybe 10 yards to a brush pile behind me and get in position, I hit the call one more time and he is within 100 yards, I barely have time to drop the call and get my gun up. He hops up on a fallen tree in a dead run, his head is solid red, his is pi**ed that I'm in his territory!! I get so excited I missed the first shot. He stops running and turns the other direction, I sling more lead his way and finally drop him. I think it was my greatest hunting experience!! He weighed 23 lbs had a 12 inch beard and 1 and a half inch spurs!
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Post by wtrfwlr on Mar 23, 2013 21:56:29 GMT -7
Great story and a Super Gobbler no less! That would certainly have you hooked for life! I was hooked from the start too.
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Post by mud on Mar 23, 2013 22:56:11 GMT -7
never done it. had no interest in it since I hate turkey to eat and well I hunt for food.
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Post by angelhelp on Mar 24, 2013 5:39:20 GMT -7
Never done it. For that matter, I've never been hunting either. Mountainmark's family & friends got me hooked on venison, though, and I've always liked turkey. Anything that flew that I've sampled, I've liked to eat. Attachments:
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Post by offtrail on Mar 24, 2013 6:31:51 GMT -7
Now that sounds like a lot of fun .Turkey hunting and fishing at the same time, i may have to try that.
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Post by wtrfwlr on Mar 24, 2013 7:07:41 GMT -7
Now that sounds like a lot of fun .Turkey hunting and fishing at the same time, i may have to try that. Oh I'm tellin ya offtrail you'd be eat up with it! My Uncle and I used to go and crappie fish out of his little flatbottom boat, late in the afternoon we would pull into a long cove. When things would get calm and quiet he would take the wooden boat paddle and haul off and smack the side of that aluminum boat with it and make a huge bang! Instantly in response those gobblers on the afternoon roost who go bezzerk gobbling their fool heads off! It's called "shock gobbling" or locate calling. In the spring the Toms will gobble at all sorts of weird noises, I've heard them shock gobble off the slamming of a truck door! They also go nuts to a crow call or an owl call, they hate crows and owls! Oh man my feathers are starting to puff up!  |
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Post by mountainmark on Mar 24, 2013 7:31:13 GMT -7
Never really got into this. Though a number of times I have thought I heard a herd of deer coming through only to find it was a herd of turkeys. I once was in stand early in the morning and as daylight hit I started hearing what souinded like a goose behind me. Being a good half mile from any waterway and in open timber, I thougth this odd. Then a hen turkey walked in the clearing behind my stand. (who would have known they sound like a goose?) Next thing I know, from directly in front of me, about thirty to forty turkeys come flying right at me, landing all arouind me in the trees. Now that was a pretty cool experience. Got nothing against them, just like to deer hunt until I tag out and then my fowl addiction is Ruffed Grouse. There's nothing like hitting one of these timber chickens on the fly!!They fly for cover, zig zag, are virtually invisible in the fall leaves, and man they give your heart a jump when they burst into flight! It takes some skill to hit those birds. At least where I hunt. We have an annual hunting trip to Maine where we hunt them, but up there they aren't as used to people, so they are a bit easier to get. |
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We have a lot in common 
