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2022 Spring Turkey Season -

I was doing more deer scouting than turkey hunting. At the time I came upon him, I had hiked close to 6 miles according to my GPS. It was another mile to my truck from where I took him.
 
last week or so has been super tough.

Couple Gobbles at dawn from the roost then radio silence as soon as they hit the ground. All this wind sure isn't helping.

Did find a few new spots to chase grouse in the fall with the pup. Love hearing them drumming in the spring.

I'll continue to get out till the season ends though... trying to find that one last stupid bird
 
Been tough going.
Went after some suburban birds this am. Had three gobbling from the roost about 100-150 yds away before light.
Went silent after fly down and couldn't move them and never heard them again....Will keep at it but each year it gets harder and harder to do the predawn wakeup!
 
kerryman71 said:
That would be great someday. I got into hunting late in life, maybe he'll get into sooner. He enjoys shooting with me at the range. Right now it's girls, sports and getting ready for college in another year or so.
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He may do the same. I started young but a lot of people start much later in life. My dad didn’t do much hunting but some of my most cherishes hunts are with him. Nothing like hunting with family.
 
HorizontalHunter said:
He may do the same. I started young but a lot of people start much later in life. My dad didn’t do much hunting but some of my most cherishes hunts are with him. Nothing like hunting with family.
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Grew up in the city, my father never hunted, nor did anyone else I knew. Got into it a few years back with the gateway drug of hunting, squirrel 😄. Spent I don't know how many hours in a tree stand and woods last deer season. Loved every minute of it. The week before getting that turkey I told my wife "I need to be in the woods!" 😀
 
Another quiet morning without a gobble.
Going to switch it up and go to spots B & C rest of the week.
Pretty warm this am, but not too buggy.
Got home and let the dog out backdoor to go pee and he chases a Jake out of the backyard....:mad::rolleyes:
 
Hoping to get out again towards the end of this week. I may hit CT, if not this week then I'll go next week. Their season ends 28 May. Already planned on doing some scouting for fall deer season there, and set up another trail cam.
 
kerryman71 said:
Hoping to get out again towards the end of this week. I may hit CT, if not this week then I'll go next week. Their season ends 28 May. Already planned on doing some scouting for fall deer season there, and set up another trail cam.
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Good luck guys.

One of the neat things about the Connecticut deer season is that, unlike Mass, you can use deer decoys.
 
Laying in bed Sun AM about 7:30 futzing on my phone and realized there was a Tom in the woods nearby. My windows were closed. Either he was loud as all hell and across teh street or I misjudged his direction.

I find that turkey location is hardest on sound. I dunno why, but I'm not alone in not always being able to zero in on the direction of a call. Maybe unlike a duck call - or completely opposite of one - it over-echos.
 
Took my bow for another hike through the woods yesterday, LOL. Went to CT this time. Didn't hit the woods until about 830 am, and it obviously got pretty warm, so I wasn't expecting a whole lot.

My son plays high school lacrosse. A parent made the comment "I went to a fight and a lacrosse game broke out". I'm just going to say "I went scouting for deer and got a turkey". Did a lot of scouting and set up a camera in an area with lots of sign.

With that in mind, any recommendations on reflective trail markers? I always set way points on OnX and my GPS watch to lead me to where I pick for a tree stand, etc. but I generally go pretty deep in off the beaten path and figure those would help in the dark. I saw some red ones last deer season that really lit up well from my headlamp with the red LED on.
 
kerryman71 said:
With that in mind, any recommendations on reflective trail markers? I always set way points on OnX and my GPS watch to lead me to where I pick for a tree stand, etc. but I generally go pretty deep in off the beaten path and figure those would help in the dark. I saw some red ones last deer season that really lit up well from my headlamp with the red LED on.
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Tacks will also guide others to your stand. Stealth is really important. There is no sense giving your hard earned hunting spots away.

Try to not let people see you taking out a deer and don’t tell others what you are seeing/shooting or you will run into the guy you tell and his 6 cousins.

There are only two times I tack a tree. I tack the destination tree/blind and if there is a tricky turn I will tack that. When I hunted from trees I would mark my tree at the height I wanted to hunt at with a strip of flagging tape around the tree held in by reflective tacks. People don’t tend to look up.

White is brighter than fluorescent orange IME when it comes to seeing tacks at night.

I use my GPS to navigate and it will always get me to my spot. I use OnX for satellite views and and seeing where my stand is in regards to other terrain features.

Bob
 
Good advice. Thanks. I would definitely use them sparingly. Last year I was heading into a spot that I was hunting blind off topo map info, and as I got into the area it lit up like a red Christmas tree. At first I thought the state marked the trail, but then I realized the state wasn't using fire tacks. Led right to a stand.

Yesterday I was deep in from where I parked when I went off the beaten path. In that instance I'd throw a tack in a tree on the opposite side of where I wanted to go. From there I'd head in and play a very long spaced game of connect the dots, using very few and in a pattern that you'd have to know to look for. I hang and hunt, so I'd mark the tree I picked for my stand. OnX and my GPS generally get me there. I drop way points along my path so I can use them too, just looking for an extra nudge in the dark.
 
kerryman71 said:
Hit CT again today. Nothing. Bumped a couple doe. Scouted pretty heavily and set up a trail cam. Hoping to get out one more time this week before the season ends.
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Hit nh yesterday morning. Just used a brush blind.....had 2 deer come out of the woodline 15 feet from me. They stood there for about 5 minutes before I finally moved and they heard me and bolted back into the woods. It's awesome when I can sit still for that long so close to deer and not get made.
 
whacko said:
Hit nh yesterday morning. Just used a brush blind.....had 2 deer come out of the woodline 15 feet from me. They stood there for about 5 minutes before I finally moved and they heard me and bolted back into the woods. It's awesome when I can sit still for that long so close to deer and not get made.
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Its pretty neat to be that close. I wonder why I treestand sometimes....but then if I had to draw a bow I couldn't do it without them seeing. So that's why.

Sounds like your becoming pretty good at stand hunting, originally you were a drive hunter no?
 

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