Official 2019 Wild Turkey Thread
- Thread starter Cameron SS
- Start date
Congrats, "park.city"... nice bird. Sometimes it comes easily... enjoy it when it happens that way, there is always the pain of next year!
Thanks hoyt. i see you stacked them up yet again. congrats. is that up to 11/11 ?
thanks guys, being my first bird i didn't have anything to compare it to and didn't fully appreciate how big it is. people keep telling me and every time i get more and more excited / sad that there is not much room to go up from here.
speaking with the neighbour, apparently there is a "big boy" still around, spotted as recent as yesterday so if i am able to connect on tag #2, it will be interesting to compare.
WTF? When did you get old? I just saw you a couple weeks ago....
I thought the same thing....softness....
Park City, great bird man! Congrats.
Runningfool
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
Lots of action this morning but decided not to shoot a rather large jake that came out...having too much fun for my season to be over now .
Called what I initially thought were 2 jakes out of the bush and right to me. After watching them for a while I think the one was actually a bearded hen. At any rate, I didn’t take the GoPro out so only have this cell phone video...was thinking of you Hoyt for two reasons: first, the Jake repeatedly made those pffffft noises as he strutted his stuff and second, as the video shows, the bearded hen just about walked into my blind and over my legs!
I packed it in around 11am, grabbed the decoys, and as I was quietly folding up my little blind skirt I caught some movement to my left and froze. A coyote was standing at about 60yds and looking right in my direction. He started to continue along the edge of the bush and as I slowly reached for my gun he stopped again and again I froze. What seemed like several minutes passed and he again started moving in the direction he was headed and once he was obscured by some pine bows I shouldered the shotgun and he stopped in an opening and caught a 3” load of #5 at about 40yds. Rolled him...one less turkey/deer killer out there. Also a good reminder why unloading my gun is the last thing I do.
.Called what I initially thought were 2 jakes out of the bush and right to me. After watching them for a while I think the one was actually a bearded hen. At any rate, I didn’t take the GoPro out so only have this cell phone video...was thinking of you Hoyt for two reasons: first, the Jake repeatedly made those pffffft noises as he strutted his stuff and second, as the video shows, the bearded hen just about walked into my blind and over my legs!
I packed it in around 11am, grabbed the decoys, and as I was quietly folding up my little blind skirt I caught some movement to my left and froze. A coyote was standing at about 60yds and looking right in my direction. He started to continue along the edge of the bush and as I slowly reached for my gun he stopped again and again I froze. What seemed like several minutes passed and he again started moving in the direction he was headed and once he was obscured by some pine bows I shouldered the shotgun and he stopped in an opening and caught a 3” load of #5 at about 40yds. Rolled him...one less turkey/deer killer out there. Also a good reminder why unloading my gun is the last thing I do.
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Got this guy about 745am. All because a hen came in and started yelling at my decoys. Cackles and cackles as she walked towards them, i thought she was going to attack my upright avian x hen! But she calmed right down to like clucks and purrs after she got close up. Then she went back the way she was headed before she saw them. To my luck, all the noise got a nice tom to gobble a little ways behind her. He must have been following her from a distance but with all that noise he caught up quick. Without another gobble he come out from the cedars in full strut. He was about 40yrds away and walking towards the hen that was making a scene. He was slowly moving away until he saw my 1/2 strut jake and a laydown hen and he instantly stopped following the hen and strutted to my decoys.
He was about 25yrds away so i started saying "peep peep peep" in an attempt to get him to stick his neck out but he was ignoring me. He was closing in on my expensive inflatable decoys and i didnt want to risk shooting him in that crowd and ruining any of them. So at about 20yrds (decoys were at 17yrds) i knocked him down while walking in full bloom. Winchester XX 3inch number 4s out of a mossberg 500 with a tightwad choke. That rig does it again as i bag my second turkey in my 3 years hunting the silly bastards.
Gotta say that the primos double bull surround view 360 blind is awesome. Love that i can see out of the walls (although not super crisp unless you are sitting close to the wall you are looking through). It lets you see movement everywhere, in order to get your gun up and ready at your shooting lane without scrambling at the last minute. Really happy with it! Just wish it was lighter lol i bought a BlindHog pack for it and that really helps hauling it around. Also lets you strap your chair and gun and other stuff to it.
So he turned out to be only slightly bigger than my other one even tho his spurs and snoot are longer, he weighed 18.2LBS (compared to 17.8). Beard was 9 inches and the spurs were an inch. Enough for me to hang him from the porch rafters before processing lol
Best part was that my dad didnt want to be out that early so he said he would meet me at 8 in the blind.
He shows up as im taking a picture of the downed bird lol early worm as they say!
Posting pics
Decoys live to see another day, bird was shot to the left of the upright hen, placed on stick to keep muzzle out of the mud
Blind 17yrds from decoys
View from inside
Hangin
Number 2
Dad counting on some jakes hanging around. No luck.
Tough bastard. He had a bunch of missing feathers and a chipped spur. RIP
He was about 25yrds away so i started saying "peep peep peep" in an attempt to get him to stick his neck out but he was ignoring me. He was closing in on my expensive inflatable decoys and i didnt want to risk shooting him in that crowd and ruining any of them. So at about 20yrds (decoys were at 17yrds) i knocked him down while walking in full bloom. Winchester XX 3inch number 4s out of a mossberg 500 with a tightwad choke. That rig does it again as i bag my second turkey in my 3 years hunting the silly bastards.
Gotta say that the primos double bull surround view 360 blind is awesome. Love that i can see out of the walls (although not super crisp unless you are sitting close to the wall you are looking through). It lets you see movement everywhere, in order to get your gun up and ready at your shooting lane without scrambling at the last minute. Really happy with it! Just wish it was lighter lol i bought a BlindHog pack for it and that really helps hauling it around. Also lets you strap your chair and gun and other stuff to it.
So he turned out to be only slightly bigger than my other one even tho his spurs and snoot are longer, he weighed 18.2LBS (compared to 17.8). Beard was 9 inches and the spurs were an inch. Enough for me to hang him from the porch rafters before processing lol
Best part was that my dad didnt want to be out that early so he said he would meet me at 8 in the blind.
He shows up as im taking a picture of the downed bird lol early worm as they say!
Posting pics
Decoys live to see another day, bird was shot to the left of the upright hen, placed on stick to keep muzzle out of the mud
Blind 17yrds from decoys
View from inside
Hangin
Number 2
Dad counting on some jakes hanging around. No luck.
Tough bastard. He had a bunch of missing feathers and a chipped spur. RIP
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Heard at least 100 gobbles from one Tom this morning after fly down. I'm assuming he's strutting on the next property over and he will gobble to my calls but he hasnt moved in over 3hrs
Just had a Jake come in but not like my stutter decoy then he circles around then he lays down 50 yards away and watches!
Hes been there for 35 minutes now and I can just see his head. Hes fixed on my decoys, doesn't seem to mind me drinking coffee or moving around. I got the crossbow today and going to wait out these Tom's, havnt heard him gobble since 9am.
Had a Tom at 10 yards 4 days ago but he must have seen me because he went wide when the hens walked within 5 ft right to my decoys before loosing interest and the Tom followed. Had a 50 yard full strut shot but decided to pass. If I had the gun he would of lost his head at 10 yards
Just had a Jake come in but not like my stutter decoy then he circles around then he lays down 50 yards away and watches!
Hes been there for 35 minutes now and I can just see his head. Hes fixed on my decoys, doesn't seem to mind me drinking coffee or moving around. I got the crossbow today and going to wait out these Tom's, havnt heard him gobble since 9am.
Had a Tom at 10 yards 4 days ago but he must have seen me because he went wide when the hens walked within 5 ft right to my decoys before loosing interest and the Tom followed. Had a 50 yard full strut shot but decided to pass. If I had the gun he would of lost his head at 10 yards
Hey, best of luck, keep us updated...
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Although not “rare” double beards are not very common. Multiple beards are what really add to what your bird would score on a points system. Great catch!
I've been hitting the field pretty hard since opener. The weather around here has been cold, windy and a lot of rain. A lot of days would go by without a single gobble, other days they would gobble on the roost and go silent once they flew down. However, the birds were around and moving. I had a lot of hens roll through my setups (I have a few blinds strategically located), but the Toms just weren't having anything to do with me. I would see them in the brush, but they wouldn't come out. Usually about 2 hours after fly down, I would do a run and gun, but I just wasn't getting any response to my calls, so it made it pretty difficult, and I'd always end up back in a blind.
The past three mornings things have been getting better. The gobbling would last an hour or two after fly down, and I heard a lot more gobbling on the roost as well. I've been getting the Toms to come out into the fields, but never quite close enough to where I was setup. I made a last minute change in one of the blind locations on my way out yesterday, and rolled in at 4AM this morning.
It was foggy, and on the colder side, but judging by all the activity so early in the morning (beavers slapping their tails, swans honking, owls hooting, and birds chirping), I had a good feeling. 5:20 rolled around, and the gobbles started. As luck would have it, there was a nice Tom roosted about 60 yards from me in the swamp I setup near. He was talkative, and I resisted the urge to call. There were also several hens in the trees, and I waited for one to fly down, and then I began some soft clucks and purrs. It wasn't more than a couple of minutes and the rest of the hens and the big tom flew down. I clucked a few more times, hit the Jake gobble call (I hunt private land so not worried about using this call), and suddenly I had two hens coming in right in front of me, and three from my right... with the big tom following in behind the three. They were all heading towards my spread.
I lined up my shotgun, and got the bead on the toms white head... I let out a couple quick chirps from my mouth call, he stuck his head up, and I let him have it at about 40 yards. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. The three hens that were in front of him ran back into the swamp, and the two that were in front of me, just hung out, stuck their necks up and watched the death flop for a few seconds and then went back to what they were doing. They hung out for quite some time before I got out of the blind and they ran off.
Well, that's one in the bag and one to go! God I love turkey hunting!
Here are a few pics:
The past three mornings things have been getting better. The gobbling would last an hour or two after fly down, and I heard a lot more gobbling on the roost as well. I've been getting the Toms to come out into the fields, but never quite close enough to where I was setup. I made a last minute change in one of the blind locations on my way out yesterday, and rolled in at 4AM this morning.
It was foggy, and on the colder side, but judging by all the activity so early in the morning (beavers slapping their tails, swans honking, owls hooting, and birds chirping), I had a good feeling. 5:20 rolled around, and the gobbles started. As luck would have it, there was a nice Tom roosted about 60 yards from me in the swamp I setup near. He was talkative, and I resisted the urge to call. There were also several hens in the trees, and I waited for one to fly down, and then I began some soft clucks and purrs. It wasn't more than a couple of minutes and the rest of the hens and the big tom flew down. I clucked a few more times, hit the Jake gobble call (I hunt private land so not worried about using this call), and suddenly I had two hens coming in right in front of me, and three from my right... with the big tom following in behind the three. They were all heading towards my spread.
I lined up my shotgun, and got the bead on the toms white head... I let out a couple quick chirps from my mouth call, he stuck his head up, and I let him have it at about 40 yards. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. The three hens that were in front of him ran back into the swamp, and the two that were in front of me, just hung out, stuck their necks up and watched the death flop for a few seconds and then went back to what they were doing. They hung out for quite some time before I got out of the blind and they ran off.
Well, that's one in the bag and one to go! God I love turkey hunting!
Here are a few pics:
Is a double beard that rare? As I posted earlier in this thread I got my first bird this year, and two people since have been impressed with the beard
The big bird I mentioned earlier in this thread had double beards that were close to 12" long each... I have only shot one double bearded tom, but that was in North Dakota... and my son shot a nice one here in Ontario that had a 10" & 6" beard... you don't see them that often, so it is an interesting characteristic for sure.
Out with my daughter this morning. She has passed on jakes twice this year holding out for a tom. This morning she got her reward. This guy came in on a run after crossing the field going away from us. We aren't sure what made him change his mind and there was no decoy he was running for. He just up and ran right in. She dropped him clean with her 20ga at about 15 yards. Windy and cold morning, so we were glad it was over quick.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Congras to your daughter Dilly!!
Hope someone is hunting this weekend. I have been in NFLD for a week and won't be back home for another. Been visiting a sick relative so was not able to hunt yet.
Need A fix. Pics or stories are appreciated. Talking to the locals and confirmed by a reliable source it seems there may be a bird or two on this rock in the area I am at, time will tell.
If I could get away I would go and try to hear a gobble but that will have to wait unfortunately.
Need A fix. Pics or stories are appreciated. Talking to the locals and confirmed by a reliable source it seems there may be a bird or two on this rock in the area I am at, time will tell.
If I could get away I would go and try to hear a gobble but that will have to wait unfortunately.
Same with a buddy of mine. He has at least two toms showing up on camera most afternoons/evenings. But when he goes out, they always seem to be in a different field doing their strutting. He was only using hen decoys. I told him to try his tom decoy in the hopes the turkeys would see it and rush in for a fight instead of waiting for his hen decoys to walk over to them.
May get an update from him next week lol
In other news!
My spurs are coming along nicely and are sitting in borax until next saturday. Will be putting them up next to my first turkey spurs from 2017:
Clean/cut off all the skin and crap attached to the bone. Scrape off until nothing left.
Boil in water with a few drops of dish soap for 25-30mins until the caps pop off (scoop them out and with a gloved hand squeeze the cap, it should pop right off).
Scrape the inside of the cap clean. Then place caps in a sandwich bag of Borax for a week.
Continue boiling the spur for another 5 mins the remove and scrape clean again. The boiling will bring out more film that needs to be cleaned off plus the new stuff from under the cap.
Once all cleaned, soak the spurs in hydrogen peroxide (the 3% stuff from the grocery store works fine) for 12- 24hrs. Then remove, dry with a paper towel, and put them in to the Borax along with your caps. Let sit a week (caps will be a week and a day).
Pull them out and blow the borax out of everywhere. Sand the spurs to remove rough edges. Figure out the alignment of each cap to each spur, test fit. Then glue them on (i use Devcon, but im sure gluegun would work).
Here is the boiling and the peroxide part. Will update when i take them out of the borax next weekend.
Beard and spurs drying out in Borax (spurs spread out for picture, otherwise completely covered in Borax for a week)
Finished drying and gluing everything together.
Spur caps back on.
Paracord through the primer pocket, beard glued in. Just need to add the date on the brass and job complete!
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Haven't had a chance to get out over the past week, but my family was over for a Mother's Day dinner last night. I decided to pull out my turkey feet, bear and fan from a couple years ago to show them to my 6 year old nephew. I don't think I've ever seen him that captivated by anything. It was nice to see.
My 4 year old daughter sat with me during the processing of geese last fall and turkey this spring. She picked out each feather that she wanted to keep as well as found a pellet from one of the geese to go show mom. She explained to mom that's how the goose died. Teach them young not to be afraid of the circle of life; even if they keep telling mom about how smelly the turkey is when it's dead lol
