Adrian J Hare
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NewLowell On. Can.
Finished up my second tag the weekend after last. Right off the roost and they work down the pasture to a perfect shooting range.
Official 2019 Wild Turkey Thread
- Thread starter Cameron SS
- Start date
Cameron SS
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ground Zero
Got a few more days to get my second bird. Mosquitos are out now so it will be far less comfortable
Adrian J Hare
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- NewLowell On. Can.
Slammed a double today with two different hunters.
My season has just started a few days ago and has been interesting. Thursday worked a bird for almost 2 hours and in he comes and I blow a 20 yd gimme on a decent tom. It happens no big deal.
Last couple days been chasing a big bird and this morning had the holy hell scared/shocked out of me.
Breaking daylight and the tom is where he is supposed to be and so am I. He gobbling, I let him know I am there and make him wait as he gobbles for another 10 minutes. I just start a second series on a box call, incidentally one of my $100 customs.
Now I will state the next series of events are most likely a case of mistaken identity and the fact my Gillie suit works as it is not one of the cheap ones. I had liberally applied the 98% DEET so was smelling appropriately.
Just as I start the second series I catch a flash off my right(offhand) shoulder and its a coyote coming full tilt under a log 10 feet from me. One bound he is at arm's length, mouth opening and so close I could see the black pupils in his yellow eyes, not slowing.
Gun was in my lap, did the only thing I could and smashed my call across his snout, he turns 90 degress takes 2 bounds to the edge of the field and strats shaking his head and pawing his snout. Mind this all happened in split seconds.
A double tap of 3.5" #6 then made sure if that dogs intentions were me it wasn't going to happen again and it was not the first time this big male had hunted turkeys.
Talk about 0-60 in a heartbeat. Screwed my hunt to boot.
My take is the coyote was either focused on the decoy laying behind the tree I was sitting against, or saw me moving slightly in the dim light or was trying to rush the decoys and I was in between. I have been close to coyotes before 10-15yds but never like that and never so fast. The worst part is the busted call LOL
See what the morning brings I guess!!
Last couple days been chasing a big bird and this morning had the holy hell scared/shocked out of me.
Breaking daylight and the tom is where he is supposed to be and so am I. He gobbling, I let him know I am there and make him wait as he gobbles for another 10 minutes. I just start a second series on a box call, incidentally one of my $100 customs.
Now I will state the next series of events are most likely a case of mistaken identity and the fact my Gillie suit works as it is not one of the cheap ones. I had liberally applied the 98% DEET so was smelling appropriately.
Just as I start the second series I catch a flash off my right(offhand) shoulder and its a coyote coming full tilt under a log 10 feet from me. One bound he is at arm's length, mouth opening and so close I could see the black pupils in his yellow eyes, not slowing.
Gun was in my lap, did the only thing I could and smashed my call across his snout, he turns 90 degress takes 2 bounds to the edge of the field and strats shaking his head and pawing his snout. Mind this all happened in split seconds.
A double tap of 3.5" #6 then made sure if that dogs intentions were me it wasn't going to happen again and it was not the first time this big male had hunted turkeys.
Talk about 0-60 in a heartbeat. Screwed my hunt to boot.
My take is the coyote was either focused on the decoy laying behind the tree I was sitting against, or saw me moving slightly in the dim light or was trying to rush the decoys and I was in between. I have been close to coyotes before 10-15yds but never like that and never so fast. The worst part is the busted call LOL
See what the morning brings I guess!!
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Heart racing stuff! I’ve had coyotes stalk in on me during a turkey hunt. They were clearly focused on my decoys. The first time it happened, the coyote took off when I revealed myself. The second time, the coyote attacked my strutting jake decoy and I filled it with a turkey load. So goes it....
Oddly enough, my game cam has taken photos of turkeys and coyotes spending some time together. The coyote wasnt paying any attention to the turkeys, and the turkeys just stood there watching the coyote. I wouldn't have imagined getting footage of that
Oddly enough, my game cam has taken photos of turkeys and coyotes spending some time together. The coyote wasnt paying any attention to the turkeys, and the turkeys just stood there watching the coyote. I wouldn't have imagined getting footage of that
smokin'stoegie
CGN Regular
- Location
- S/West Ontario
That's wild. So did you actually smoke the yote or just shot at him ?
I too have had a coyote skulk up and suddenly rush my decoy. I shot that one as it stood there staring at the decoy after attacking it.
Most other times those buggers just screw up hunts by showing up, but yes if you did gas it I agree it needed to be taken out of the food chain. Good work.
Submitted my mandatory turkey report yesterday, and got to thinking...
One of the questions asked is “how many live turkeys did you see while hunting” which I assume helps them estimate population numbers. But while hunting gobblers, it’s not unusual to have 2 or 3 hunters together, one calling and the others waiting. If all 3 report the same number of birds seen at the end of the season, won’t that skew their population estimates a bit?
One of the questions asked is “how many live turkeys did you see while hunting” which I assume helps them estimate population numbers. But while hunting gobblers, it’s not unusual to have 2 or 3 hunters together, one calling and the others waiting. If all 3 report the same number of birds seen at the end of the season, won’t that skew their population estimates a bit?
Or if you hunted in the same spot 5 days in a row and the same 2 hens showed up at the same time each day does that mean you saw 10 live turkeys?
It's all guess work but thats all they can do right
A bit late to the party, but wanted to share my season. My grandfather (whose hunting stories ignited my own hunting passion as a young child) passed away in March. Years ago he had given me his old hunting knife and I thought an appropriate tribute would be to carry it on all my hunts this year, beginning with spring wild turkey.
The initial few weeks of the season were tough with cold, wet weather really shutting down the birds. Fortunes began to swing on May 18th. We were in position by 4:30 AM within 75 meters of a roosted flock. It was clear and cool – the birds began rocking the limb just before dawn. Despite it being a clear day, the birds stayed on the roost quite late, not flying down till 5:20 AM. For about 20 minutes the birds milled around in their usual landing area just to the left of their roost. My hunting partner was calling infrequently (and we did have a jake/hen decoy spread) and the lead hens began to move in our direction. Soon I had multiple hens within mere meters of me. The longbeards had followed suit and had stopped around 30 meters to my left. I was screened by a cedar branch and could not reposition with the hens literally meters way. I stayed patient and eventually the hens wheeled away and began moving toward the middle of the field. The two longbeards followed and when the first bird (the smaller of the two) entered my shooting lane I fired. The bird folded immediately. We waited another 30 minutes to see if the remaining longbeard would approach the setup for my hunting partner, but the birds were moving off toward the neighbouring field. The longbeard weighed 21.75 lbs, had an 8 inch beard, and 0.75 inch spurs. Coolest part of the hunt was the fact it was the first "real" hunt my 8 year old nephew had been on and he loved every minute.
My second tag was still in my pocket as the season wound down so on the final day of the season (May 31) I went into "Delta Force" mode. This is when I go solo, very early, and extremely stealthy in an effort to be as tight to the roost as possible. I was in position around 4:25 AM and saw a coyote in the pre-dawn gloom. I had not roosted birds and thus was relieved to hear the dominant longbeard begin to sound off. Typical of late season hunting he did not gobble often. Around 5:10 AM I heard him gobble from the ground in the woods – unusual as they typically fly directly into the field. I turned to begin getting my calls ready to attempt to call the bird when I glanced over my shoulder toward the field and simultaneously heard alarm putting. Standing in the field directly in front of me were two longbeards, who had clearly just flown down silently. The birds were turning to leave so I quickly swung on the nearest bird and dropped him at 39 meters. I hustled out and put an insurance shot into him just to ensure a clean kill. He was 19.5 lbs, 8 inch beard, and one 0.75 inch spur.
A great season and time to look to the fall big game seasons ...
The initial few weeks of the season were tough with cold, wet weather really shutting down the birds. Fortunes began to swing on May 18th. We were in position by 4:30 AM within 75 meters of a roosted flock. It was clear and cool – the birds began rocking the limb just before dawn. Despite it being a clear day, the birds stayed on the roost quite late, not flying down till 5:20 AM. For about 20 minutes the birds milled around in their usual landing area just to the left of their roost. My hunting partner was calling infrequently (and we did have a jake/hen decoy spread) and the lead hens began to move in our direction. Soon I had multiple hens within mere meters of me. The longbeards had followed suit and had stopped around 30 meters to my left. I was screened by a cedar branch and could not reposition with the hens literally meters way. I stayed patient and eventually the hens wheeled away and began moving toward the middle of the field. The two longbeards followed and when the first bird (the smaller of the two) entered my shooting lane I fired. The bird folded immediately. We waited another 30 minutes to see if the remaining longbeard would approach the setup for my hunting partner, but the birds were moving off toward the neighbouring field. The longbeard weighed 21.75 lbs, had an 8 inch beard, and 0.75 inch spurs. Coolest part of the hunt was the fact it was the first "real" hunt my 8 year old nephew had been on and he loved every minute.
My second tag was still in my pocket as the season wound down so on the final day of the season (May 31) I went into "Delta Force" mode. This is when I go solo, very early, and extremely stealthy in an effort to be as tight to the roost as possible. I was in position around 4:25 AM and saw a coyote in the pre-dawn gloom. I had not roosted birds and thus was relieved to hear the dominant longbeard begin to sound off. Typical of late season hunting he did not gobble often. Around 5:10 AM I heard him gobble from the ground in the woods – unusual as they typically fly directly into the field. I turned to begin getting my calls ready to attempt to call the bird when I glanced over my shoulder toward the field and simultaneously heard alarm putting. Standing in the field directly in front of me were two longbeards, who had clearly just flown down silently. The birds were turning to leave so I quickly swung on the nearest bird and dropped him at 39 meters. I hustled out and put an insurance shot into him just to ensure a clean kill. He was 19.5 lbs, 8 inch beard, and one 0.75 inch spur.
A great season and time to look to the fall big game seasons ...
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smokin'stoegie
CGN Regular
- Location
- S/West Ontario
Congrats Buckchaser on your late season success. 2 very nice birds.
Good story as I always like to hear when the younger ones get out and experience those adventures
Good story as I always like to hear when the younger ones get out and experience those adventures
Cameron SS
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Ground Zero
I'm surprised that they didn't ask for a break down of males and females. I can't see how they think they can get a good read on population by asking such a broad question.
I'm also surprised they didn't ask about any other animals that were observed, such as coyotes, foxes, deer, turtles etc.
smokin'stoegie
CGN Regular
- Location
- S/West Ontario
The other thing that skews the reports is that many times guys who hit the same bush will sometimes chase the same bird over days if not weeks...
I know they ask about coyotes in the Controlled Deer Hunt mandatory survey.
I know they ask about coyotes in the Controlled Deer Hunt mandatory survey.
Copy of an frt isn't going to stop a CO from hassling you or even taking your rifle until he can confirm what he is looking at.
So either don't hunt with a black rifle if you don't want to deal with uneducated co's and police or stick it out like the rest of us until they all educate themselves via interactions with many hunters using non restricted rifles as they were designed.
What do you mean by “stick it out”?...
Isn’t a copy of an frt a tool that can be used to “educate them during an interaction”?...
