2022 Wild Turkey Thread

Crazy hunt this morning...
My brother is visiting from out of country so I have been trying hard to get him a bird. We've been out a few times so far with no luck. Last Sunday I managed to get away for a hunt while he was tied up visiting family and had two come in to my decoys, could have got a double.. oh well, was happy with one.

We got out this morning. What a beautiful morning it was. 16 degrees, starry night, bright moon, no breeze.. can't ask for anything nicer. We get set up and the birds were later than usual gobbling. Finally, the first gobble of the morning set off about 5 or 6 others, and they were CLOSE. They were roosted behind us, I swear the closest one sounded like 50 yards. Right away we know we're in for some action.

Gobbling continues for about 20min. Let out a few soft yelps to let them know where we are. We heard the first crash bang boom fly down and know it's go time. Now we can hear the gobbles already getting closer but a yappy hen was working the valley behind us. Gobbling slowed down, we knew she had the boys' attention. Continued calling and she was getting agitated. Finally got a visual on a bird, a head bobbing about 10 yards into the treeline. I turn to my brother to tell him I see movement, then check back and suddenly 3 birds are coming in beards swinging. We get ready for action.

The plan was for him to shoot first, then me. One tom comes in with fan on display and starts laying the beat down on my jake decoy. The two others just followed him in. Too much movement for my brother to get a shot off. Next thing we know the 3 birds start fighting amongst each other and suddenly stop, necks up, and start quickly walking off the way they came. Game over, they're gone. My brother says he doesnt have a shot so I pull the window down on the side of the blind and drop a jake hard at 40 yards. He was moving fast, another few steps and he's back in the treeline. My brother celebrated but I was bothered. I really wanted him to bag one. I never felt so bummed after shooting a turkey Laugh2

So he says let's go grab the bird and stay a while. I decided it wasnt flopping anymore so we'll leave it right where it lays. We never discussed a plan but considering the circumstances we figured any more action is a long shot. If anything, the woods would need to calm down a bit first. We sat there in silence for no word of a lie, 10 minutes when another Tom came from the opposite direction with a hen following. What a rush. My brother lines it up and is waiting for a clean shot. The hen walks right past the decoys and heads for the treeline on the other side of the field, Tom is following and moving away from us. Each step he's getting farther so I whisper "not getting any closer" and BANG, he drops it.

In my years of turkey hunting, I've never witnessed a bird get shot, then another come in shortly after. 10 minutes, that's it. I got doubles before when they came in together, but never separate instances. Lesson of the day is if you have another tag to fill, sit tight for a bit and watch. You never know.

21.3 lbs, 11" beard, 1 1/8" spurs
18 lbs, 8" beard, 1" spurs

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1963beretta said:
Thats awesome Squid!! Memories that will last a lifetime.

Did you get any of it on film with your snazzy gopro skills??
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Unfortunately it wasn't great. The first group moved away from the decoys (and cameras) so the kill shot was missed. Got a big of them confronting the jake decoy and fighting though. The kill shot on the 2nd bird was captured, just barely. It was only in frame of one camera and it's a good distance away. Wasn't a great year for footage this year as all 3 birds so far were harvested away from the decoys. Oh well, as you say, memories... until I lose my mind Laugh2
 
Way to go squidxm!

I scrapped my crossbow yesterday. Only in post analysis and researching this morning did I realize what the circumstance was that created the problem.
I was out, didn't see squat. To uncock the crossbow, I fire an older cheaper bolt with a round head which is not supposed to penetrate so you can more easily recover the bold (shoot at ground or rotten tree, whatever).
The crossbow is so powerful, that even that purpose made head would still penetrate solid wood, so I printed one using my 3D printer with a much larger surface.
I used it, uncocked fine, retrieved the bolt. Went back to the cottage and met up with a buddy who wanted to go 4-wheeling. He asked if he could try the crossbow, so I showed him how to #### it, gave him the decocking bolt, showing him the safe way to load it, and told him to fire at my target. It would not come off safety. I forced one too many times and snapped the safety switch right off the crossbow. I decided it was too dangerous to toy with it any more, and did not want to leave it cocked, so I did a sacrilegious thing, covered it with an old tarp, and cut the string with my knife.

Reading online, and rethinking the events, I realize now that after the first time I shot with my printed head, the arrow must has pushed on even more making the length just shy of the safety latch that allows the crossbow's safety to be removed. I did not see that, and did not really know that was even a possibility. I can certainly put a new string, but I don't think the safety can be repaired, so now I have no means to hunt my land anymore. Quite bummed out, but... now I know... wish I knew sooner... c'est la vie.
 
Runningfool said:
You don't even need a mouth call for this. Just make a putt putt putt sound and they will stick their head up, neck out, nice and pretty. This technique is also useful when sitting with another hunter and two birds show up....it can be hard to time the shots so I tell my partner before hand that if two birds come in, I will putt, and when they stick their heads up it's wham-o time.
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"HEY turkey" works well too.
 
AdamRoby said:
Way to go squidxm!

I scrapped my crossbow yesterday. Only in post analysis and researching this morning did I realize what the circumstance was that created the problem.
I was out, didn't see squat. To uncock the crossbow, I fire an older cheaper bolt with a round head which is not supposed to penetrate so you can more easily recover the bold (shoot at ground or rotten tree, whatever).
The crossbow is so powerful, that even that purpose made head would still penetrate solid wood, so I printed one using my 3D printer with a much larger surface.
I used it, uncocked fine, retrieved the bolt. Went back to the cottage and met up with a buddy who wanted to go 4-wheeling. He asked if he could try the crossbow, so I showed him how to #### it, gave him the decocking bolt, showing him the safe way to load it, and told him to fire at my target. It would not come off safety. I forced one too many times and snapped the safety switch right off the crossbow. I decided it was too dangerous to toy with it any more, and did not want to leave it cocked, so I did a sacrilegious thing, covered it with an old tarp, and cut the string with my knife.

Reading online, and rethinking the events, I realize now that after the first time I shot with my printed head, the arrow must has pushed on even more making the length just shy of the safety latch that allows the crossbow's safety to be removed. I did not see that, and did not really know that was even a possibility. I can certainly put a new string, but I don't think the safety can be repaired, so now I have no means to hunt my land anymore. Quite bummed out, but... now I know... wish I knew sooner... c'est la vie.
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What make and model of crossbow?
 
AdamRoby said:
Way to go squidxm!

I scrapped my crossbow yesterday. Only in post analysis and researching this morning did I realize what the circumstance was that created the problem.
I was out, didn't see squat. To uncock the crossbow, I fire an older cheaper bolt with a round head which is not supposed to penetrate so you can more easily recover the bold (shoot at ground or rotten tree, whatever).
The crossbow is so powerful, that even that purpose made head would still penetrate solid wood, so I printed one using my 3D printer with a much larger surface.
I used it, uncocked fine, retrieved the bolt. Went back to the cottage and met up with a buddy who wanted to go 4-wheeling. He asked if he could try the crossbow, so I showed him how to #### it, gave him the decocking bolt, showing him the safe way to load it, and told him to fire at my target. It would not come off safety. I forced one too many times and snapped the safety switch right off the crossbow. I decided it was too dangerous to toy with it any more, and did not want to leave it cocked, so I did a sacrilegious thing, covered it with an old tarp, and cut the string with my knife.

Reading online, and rethinking the events, I realize now that after the first time I shot with my printed head, the arrow must has pushed on even more making the length just shy of the safety latch that allows the crossbow's safety to be removed. I did not see that, and did not really know that was even a possibility. I can certainly put a new string, but I don't think the safety can be repaired, so now I have no means to hunt my land anymore. Quite bummed out, but... now I know... wish I knew sooner... c'est la vie.
Click to expand...

You might b lucky but your limbs could b garbage now never a good idea to cut the string on a crossbow
 
Waterfowler said:
What make and model of crossbow?
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It is a Killer Instinct Lethal 405.

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Jesselegend01 said:
You might b lucky but your limbs could b garbage now never a good idea to cut the string on a crossbow
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Indeed, my options were limited. I put the decocking bolt in thinking it would help but obviously the cut string bypassed the bolt. I wonder how I could even tell if they were damaged or not?

Update: I took the trigger box off the stock, and can see a piece broken inside of the trigger group, which is preventing the safety from disengaging. I am not sure where the damage came from, but at least it confirms to me that I had no other choice but to cut the string for my own safety. There are still 3 small Allen key screws that hold the assembly together that I can't budge. I keep breaking pieces off my Allen wrench. Using a 1" piece with Vice grips, it won't budge, the metal just snaps. I left a message with Killer Instinct, but I don't see any trigger boxes on their website, so probably this is a gonner.

I plan to go out further next weekend with my 12 Gauge shotgun. I was having issues with it, shells failing to extract so I did not have faith in it. I did a repair after noticing some burrs, but have yet to range test it.
Last weekend of hunting, so I might as well give it a try and hope for the best.
 
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Had an excellent hunt yesterday. Did not get one in the end, but finally saw some activity!

Went up to the cottage late Thursday night, it was raining so I could not do much prep work to pack up the quad. Woke up "late", like 6:30, it was already bright out. My wife had contractors coming, but they were supposed to be only working in the afternoon. I loaded up my old 1986 4-wheeler with my chair blind, ATV cover, shotgun, decoys, and a bag with my calls and some water. It all fit beautifully with a homemade metal framed "basket" in the back (guy I bought it from used it for hunting as well). Quad is a b!tch to start, but once warmed up works great. It rained a lot the previous few days and the trails were all wet and muddy, some areas have flowing water. That little 250cc RWD took it on like a champ. Went to the same place I hunted last year, and put the blind right under the "hunter here" sign, to avoid getting shot (too many morons in the area). The first 2 hours were silent. It was pretty cold, at least no black flies, just the occasional mosquito. The past 3 weekends I did not see nor hear a peep, so I contemplated leaving, but remembered all those forum stories about things getting exciting in the last 15 minutes of legal hunting hours (which here it is noon).
Did one more loud call and finally got a response way off across the hydro trail in the opposite forest (100-150 yards away. I'd call, he'd call, back and forth.. then my slate stopped working. I think I rubbed it too smooth, didn't have sand paper on me, or really the time to fiddle with it, so I tried the gobbler. I still got 2-3 replies, but then he went silent. I think my Gobble call sounded "bigger" than his.

Another 45 minutes goes by, starting to feel like leaving again, in the meantime I managed to scratch my slate with a knife and kind of got it working again a bit. Suddenly, out of the blue, I see a flock of them, maybe 20 birds fly across towards me. The land is on a pretty steep grade, I am on the lower side against a forest, so its easier for them to fly down than to walk. I start calling vigorously, then one lone male turns mid flight, flies over my decoys and lands somewhere behind and to the right of me. Now the nerves kick in, get the gun ready, he's gobbling like crazy, I'm responding, but my slate is still sh!t so the calls sounds terrible. He's circling, but won't come into view. He knows something is up... but he's still interested. Maybe 20 minutes of calling back and forth, gun at the ready, blood flowing... Then... My darn phone rings. I swear to god, I turned the ringer off. I hate this phone, I can have all sounds off. Took me a few seconds to unzip my pocket, pull it out, hit the silent button... but that was it, no more gobbles. 10-15 minutes trying and trying, looking, can't see or hear anything. Then I saw him, huge male walking back up the mountain across to the other side, probably 70 yards away already. I got out of my blind, and started to creep / crawl towards him but he quickly went out of sight.

It was the wife, contractors came early, wanted me to move my car. Time to pack and trail back is about about an hour. I was busted anyway, so that was it. It's supposed to rain all day Saturday and Sunday, but we have Monday off and so far the weather looks like it may be nice, and its the very last day of hunting season... I think I may drive back up Sunday night and take a final stab at it. That would be sweet, last day of the season... we don't have a fall season up there, so its now or nothing.

All that to say, it was awesome. I don't care that I did not catch one, it's that whole chase part that is so much fun. It also tells me that maybe my original spot isn't so bad. I may go back there with my weed Wacker, earth, and clover seed and prepare the site for next year! Now that I have the 4-wheeler, even if its an old POS, I can lug all my gear there without putting too much strain on my bad back. I guess breaking the crossbow was a blessing in disguise.
 
Just a quick sanity check, since I am doubting myself now. These are the legal dates for Quebec in 2022.

Is May 23 inclusive, meaning I can hunt legally on Monday the 23rd? I don't know why this is confusing me...
 

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Out for a late morning hunt and on the way to my spot had what I thought was a pale yellow cat come out of the fence line about 100 yards in front of me. It was walking funny for a cat so I put the binoculars on it and it turned out to be a blonde racoon. Never heard of it before but apparently it is a rare colour phase , about 1 in 100,000.
 
Damn... I just found out there was a major thunder storm yesterday and the power has been out at the cottage since 4:40 PM. That's more than 24 hours without power, at ~10º and raining, cottage will be cold.
That also means no running water (well with pump), which means no toilet, no shower, no washing hands... No lights (dark as a witches one), and not sure if the food in the fridge and freezer will keep. Wife is predicting it will be restored sometime on Tuesday, based on the lack of data on Hyrdo's website and the number of people and areas without power.

Now to decide, how badly do I really want to go hunting?
No morning coffee, or toast for breakfast. No post hunt shower, or even washing of hands if I am successful.
Potentially a really cold sleep tonight... still tempted though.
 
Well, I went... did not sleep great, woke up this morning to a chilly 2 degree, wet and soggy morning. Was at my spot by 5:30, and by 10:30 had enough and called it a day. No power at the cottage, wore my hunting parka to eat toast and drink my morning coffee made with a propane camping stove. Did not hear or see a darn thing...but, at least I am not kicking myself wondering if I missed another opportunity. Could have stretched it from 10:30 to noon (end of season) but my fingers were numb from the cold and my heart was no longer into it.

Here's to a second unsuccessful season... hoping for better luck next year. Sigh.... 11 months to go, sheesh.
 
AdamRoby said:
Well, I went... did not sleep great, woke up this morning to a chilly 2 degree, wet and soggy morning. Was at my spot by 5:30, and by 10:30 had enough and called it a day. No power at the cottage, wore my hunting parka to eat toast and drink my morning coffee made with a propane camping stove. Did not hear or see a darn thing...but, at least I am not kicking myself wondering if I missed another opportunity. Could have stretched it from 10:30 to noon (end of season) but my fingers were numb from the cold and my heart was no longer into it.

Here's to a second unsuccessful season... hoping for better luck next year. Sigh.... 11 months to go, sheesh.
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But you weren't working, so it was a good day.

I went my first 4 or 5 seasons without bagging a bird but every hunt, tag filled or not, is a success. You always learn a thing or two.
 
squidxm said:
But you weren't working, so it was a good day.

I went my first 4 or 5 seasons without bagging a bird but every hunt, tag filled or not, is a success. You always learn a thing or two.
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For sure, I have fun no matter what, but I always feel a bit more pressure because we don't have the fall hunt in that area. One good thing is that my spot seems to be decent, and I plan to mow the area down and throw down some white clover seed to hopefully promote more wildlife activity in that spot. Maybe in a couple of years they will know it to be a good spot and will increase my chances of success.
 
Went out on Tuesday with my brother in law and had an amazing time! First time turkey hunting for me. It was honestly so surreal. Even if we didn't get a bird it would have been an amazing experience just seeing how they behave. Set up and immediately hear them gobbling. A coyote comes out but luckily he didn't ruin our day. A hen comes out and she's all we see for about half an hour. Finally 3 toms and 4 more hens appear. Try calling and waiting for about 45 minutes and then they look like they're going back in the woods so we wait until the last possible second. Brother in law hits his, I thought I missed but he says he thought he saw something fly up and drop, and it seemed like there were too many feathers from just one bird. We try calling again and wait about 45 minutes before having a look and sure enough I did hit him and he was laying along the tree line.

His was 0.3 lbs heavier but had tiny spurs and a shorter beard. Mine was 15.2 pounds, 0.75 and 1 in spurs, and a 10.5 in beard.
 
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