2022 Wild Turkey Thread

My buddy commutes from Barrie to Toronto for work and he's been seeing lots of fields with 20-25 birds. It's always nice to see birds, but they need to break up soon. With the snow that fell last night, it doesn't feel like spring turkey season :(
 
Flocks of mature birds broke up 2-3 weeks ago and the only flocks I am seeing now are last years small birds. Covid seems to have helped wild game as there seems to be more deer and turkey than normal.
 
Counting down the hours.

I came from a family without any hunters so I got off to a late start so to speak. But I've made up for lost time as best I could. My first turkey took almost 25 minutes. My second took almost 2 years. I've killed a bunch with a shotgun, several with a compound bow...And still my fondest memories are of helping a few youngsters, including my daughter, discover a love of turkey hunting.

All that being said, I find myself at a point where I don't really care if I shoot a bird. It's an odd place but that's where I am. Excited as all get out for the season but not too worried about filling a tag.

Wishing everyone the best of luck this season, whatever that means for you.
 
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canadian hunter312 said:
Flocks of mature birds broke up 2-3 weeks ago and the only flocks I am seeing now are last years small birds. Covid seems to have helped wild game as there seems to be more deer and turkey than normal.
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Just heard from a buddy in SW ON and another in central ON that birds on their properties are still in huge groups. Need to bust em up.
 
squidxm said:
Just heard from a buddy in SW ON and another in central ON that birds on their properties are still in huge groups. Need to bust em up.
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My backyard is a couple hundred acres of private turkey paradise and we watch them all year. We're also looking at a 20 minute drive through the sticks before we reach a city so it's not like I am speaking of a single bush. Most mature hens are single with predictable feeding times, the big boys are strutting, and the flocks of young birds are doing their normal clueless wandering.

Maybe your buddies are seeing the normal flocks of immature hens and jakes? As mentioned, covid helped turkey numbers and there are tons of young birds everywhere. We have some flocks of up to 40 birds but with zero mature birds in them.

Weather has no impact on breeding so it's unlikely your buddies are seeing mature birds still flocked up.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
My backyard is a couple hundred acres of private turkey paradise and we watch them all year. We're also looking at a 20 minute drive through the sticks before we reach a city so it's not like I am speaking of a single bush. Most mature hens are single with predictable feeding times, the big boys are strutting, and the flocks of young birds are doing their normal clueless wandering.

Maybe your buddies are seeing the normal flocks of immature hens and jakes? As mentioned, covid helped turkey numbers and there are tons of young birds everywhere. We have some flocks of up to 40 birds but with zero mature birds in them.

Weather has no impact on breeding so it's unlikely your buddies are seeing mature birds still flocked up.
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The one guy's words were "my dad could have shot 4 huge toms right from the truck". Laugh2 isn't that just the way she be when the season isn't open yet..

Tomorrow looks like a wet one. Will keep many people home.
 
I went and checked my spot at about 7:30 pm. 3 nice Toms and about 6 hens moving around. To be honest I don't even care if I kill one. I just wanna hear the gobbles in the morning. Guess it will be a sleepless night.

Good Luck All
 
So far the rain is holding out. Lots of gobbling....but in the far distance. Based on game cam footage, the property last saw action on the 23rd. Hopefully I can bring something in.

Good luck ladies and gents!!
 
Rain is hit n miss down in 92. Rained real good in 94 thru the night. Im rocking some old school waxed cotton barbour pants so i guess ill find out if i waxed them right if nothing else
 
At 6:30, I had a Tom come gobbling in to about 25 yards but the bugger knew exactly how to either stay out of range or keep a tree in between us. I had one chance to thread a shot through two trees at the closest point it got. I likely would have tagged it had I taken the shot, but I was positive it would present a better opportunity. Of course it didn't and eventually booked it after a hen all while keeping an obstacle between us.

This was the exact moment to take the shot. Head straight up in between two trees. It was impossible to see if it was in fact the bird with the big spurs, but this bird had what appeared to be at least a 10” beard. Lets see if it comes back
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https://i.imgur.com/l2N9Poz.mp4
 
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I had light rain and zero gobbling on the roost. Had a jake and a hen decoy out. Did some slate calls but no response. Once I guessed fly down was done (couldn't hear because of the rain) I did a couple chirps on the mouth call and a gobble almost made me jump. Had four good size toms all walking together in and out of strut go right to the decoys. Had to wait for one to separate enough and took him. Killed at 0638. nice size bird. Just getting home to clean and I'll update with measurements. Man I love turkey hunting !!!
 
doublelung said:
I had light rain and zero gobbling on the roost. Had a jake and a hen decoy out. Did some slate calls but no response. Once I guessed fly down was done (couldn't hear because of the rain) I did a couple chirps on the mouth call and a gobble almost made me jump. Had four good size toms all walking together in and out of strut go right to the decoys. Had to wait for one to separate enough and took him. Killed at 0638. nice size bird. Just getting home to clean and I'll update with measurements. Man I love turkey hunting !!!
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Well done doublelung!!
 
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