How do we not have a 2024 Spring Turkey thread yet... guess I'll start one on a good note.
We've been hitting the turkey woods pretty hard between CT and MA youth season and the regular season in both states without any success. I know the weather has been hurting us a little plus work, school, and my kids baseball always gets in the way too. Been hearing a lot of birds gobbling on the roost but then quite once they hit the ground. I usually take this as the Tom's being with a hen right away.
And then we have this a**h*** bird.....
I really thought this guy was going to be my grunge/nemisys bird for the year. I've hunted three days working him and only got to see him for the first time right before I shot him this AM. Crazy.
We first found him before the season started while scouting/shed hunting with my lab. He gobbled at absolutely nothing and for no reason in the middle of the woods. My lab caught his scent about 20 minutes on our way out and took off.... pretty sure Emmit caught up with him and treed him like a racoon. LOL. Crazy bird dogs.
The first two day of hunting were the same. I'd call.. he'd gobble and come in to about 50-60 yards and gobble again to let me know he was there... he would never come any closer. I'd try and close my distance slowly... call again and he's respond once.. then disappear. Complete silence. Wouldn't answer anything. Then 15-20 minutes later.. he'e gobble again somewhere else about 100 yards away. I swear.. sometimes he must have walked right by me to get there.
This AM, I knew I had to try something different. Brought a hen decoy with me. Setup at 5AM... heard him on the roost and gobble all the way to the field that I couldn't hunt. I was able to slowly work him toward me but he started playing the same game. I heard him wonder off about 8AM... thought my day was over.. then about 30 minutes later he was back.. with a hen this time. He'd gobble sometimes but just ignore me most of the time. He was like 60 yards away at most. I'd had enough.
I dropped everything I had with me except a mouth call and my shotgun and slowly worked toward him. Finally I got eyes on him and the hen. I put a large thick pine tree between us and worked in closer slowly... Finally got close enough for comfort and I just stopped and raised the gun... it took 10 minutes before he slowly made his way toward me and I had a good shot... send 1 1/2 oz #7 of TSS at him... and then panic set in as I watched two birds getting away. Crap.. Did I miss? As I stood up I saw my gobble laying dead.... he had TWO hens with him!!!! I didn't even see the second one. Oh that was a relief.
You should have seen the woods... my backpack was over by this tree, my sling over here, decoy still sitting in the open being ignored, my chest rig was on the ground where I first started to close in on him. Took 20 minutes to gather up all my stuff.. but it was a proud 1.5 miles walk back to the truck.
I know I'm not the world's' best turkey hunter.. and certainly not the best caller either. This was my biggest bird to date at 20.5 lbs and 9" beard.
We've been hitting the turkey woods pretty hard between CT and MA youth season and the regular season in both states without any success. I know the weather has been hurting us a little plus work, school, and my kids baseball always gets in the way too. Been hearing a lot of birds gobbling on the roost but then quite once they hit the ground. I usually take this as the Tom's being with a hen right away.
And then we have this a**h*** bird.....
I really thought this guy was going to be my grunge/nemisys bird for the year. I've hunted three days working him and only got to see him for the first time right before I shot him this AM. Crazy.
We first found him before the season started while scouting/shed hunting with my lab. He gobbled at absolutely nothing and for no reason in the middle of the woods. My lab caught his scent about 20 minutes on our way out and took off.... pretty sure Emmit caught up with him and treed him like a racoon. LOL. Crazy bird dogs.
The first two day of hunting were the same. I'd call.. he'd gobble and come in to about 50-60 yards and gobble again to let me know he was there... he would never come any closer. I'd try and close my distance slowly... call again and he's respond once.. then disappear. Complete silence. Wouldn't answer anything. Then 15-20 minutes later.. he'e gobble again somewhere else about 100 yards away. I swear.. sometimes he must have walked right by me to get there.
This AM, I knew I had to try something different. Brought a hen decoy with me. Setup at 5AM... heard him on the roost and gobble all the way to the field that I couldn't hunt. I was able to slowly work him toward me but he started playing the same game. I heard him wonder off about 8AM... thought my day was over.. then about 30 minutes later he was back.. with a hen this time. He'd gobble sometimes but just ignore me most of the time. He was like 60 yards away at most. I'd had enough.
I dropped everything I had with me except a mouth call and my shotgun and slowly worked toward him. Finally I got eyes on him and the hen. I put a large thick pine tree between us and worked in closer slowly... Finally got close enough for comfort and I just stopped and raised the gun... it took 10 minutes before he slowly made his way toward me and I had a good shot... send 1 1/2 oz #7 of TSS at him... and then panic set in as I watched two birds getting away. Crap.. Did I miss? As I stood up I saw my gobble laying dead.... he had TWO hens with him!!!! I didn't even see the second one. Oh that was a relief.
You should have seen the woods... my backpack was over by this tree, my sling over here, decoy still sitting in the open being ignored, my chest rig was on the ground where I first started to close in on him. Took 20 minutes to gather up all my stuff.. but it was a proud 1.5 miles walk back to the truck.
I know I'm not the world's' best turkey hunter.. and certainly not the best caller either. This was my biggest bird to date at 20.5 lbs and 9" beard.
