turkeys

HIcountryman

HIcountryman

Very Active Member
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let's revive this thread as a turkey hunting forum! hasn't been any action here in a while. can't wait til spring
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2nd post was a couple yrs ago. biggest spurs i've seen on a merriam's bird. they usually dull down on the rocks and such. his subordinate friend jumped on him after i shot him, strutting and gobbling on top of him as he thrashed around a last time. i pulled camera out of pocket to try and photo, but he saw me and regained his senses.
 
thanks guys. nothing like turkey hunting! being from FL, there are some long spurs down there. love the mountain scenery chasing Merriams.
 
Turkey hunting is my personal passion. I absolutely love chasing birds. I’ve personally taken my fair share & have thoroughly enjoyed calling in birds for others. It’s so awesome seeing the smile on a newby turkey hunters face when they hear a bird gobbling his head off. Most recently I’ve hunted with a buddy from California that had never turkey hunted and he’s absolutely addicted now. I love it!!!
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I too love to turkey hunt in OK. went from about 2010 through 2016. then they changed the evening hunt to end at 7pm instead of sunset.... seemed dumb to me.... haven't made it back there.... mostly work/time constraints.
dodging the tornados makes for some scary camping , eh?
 
HIcountryman said:
I too love to turkey hunt in OK. went from about 2010 through 2016. then they changed the evening hunt to end at 7pm instead of sunset.... seemed dumb to me.... haven't made it back there.... mostly work/time constraints.
dodging the tornados makes for some scary camping , eh?
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It’s a truly special place to me.
I understand the regulation change & cut off at 7PM. My assumption is the they were protecting the birds from being hunted on the return to their roosts. I hunt Easterns also & I think everyone would agree that they are the toughest subspecies to hunt. That being said, I believe that setting up near a roost is fair game. I won’t personally hunt near a roost for Rio’s, but that’s just me. I won’t begrudge anyone so long as they don’t shoot a bird off of roost. On the other hand, once he hits the ground he’s fair game.
As for the tornados, I haven’t had any personal experiences with them while hunting there. I have hunted near some wild fires a few years ago & that was pretty creepy. I never personally verified the claim, but I had heard a turkey hunter was caught in a wildfire in 2016 or 2017 near Arnett & died.
 
DoubleDropMuley said:
Hope to get the wife and I on are first turkey action in April!!!! Never been before .
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Best of luck to you & your wife.
I remember my first turkey hunt like it was yesterday & that was close to 30 years ago. I absolutely love it. I hope you have a great time and you are covered up with birds on your first outing.
 
3 Toe,
That fifth picture in your string looks like you were both trying to fan your beards opposite the turkey fans!! :LOL:
Pretty cool pic!
 
Starting to get turkey fever looking through the pics in this thread! Turkeys definitely get my heart pounding. I've only been hunting them for around 6 years and often get "buck fever" every time I see strutting toms!
 
saw a couple spindley longbeards (one strutter) with a group of 5 hens yesterday while scouting. heard a gobbler as he flew up to roost. talked him into gobbling a few more times. got the blood pumping for opening day a couple weeks away yet. nice to find a spot to hunt.
 
Just got news Nebraska has stopped selling non-resident spring turkey licenses. They are offering a full refund or if you have yours already you can hunt.
 
this is no time to go for a "vacation" . Have you not listened to the news, do you not believe in science? CO is offering refunds for residents whose tags are in units far away from their homes.

think about stopping at gas stations at the very least. how many people from who knows where touch everything? be smart and listen to the warnings/orders to limit travel to necessary excursions only.
 
Yeah, its been open here for a week and a half and I just haven't felt good about going down the hill to hunt them. Also got about 3 feet of snow the last week or so.
 
yoteduster said:
Gotta love opening morning
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Congrats man! Way to get it done.
I’m so freakin’ envious. I canceled my trip this year to MS due to this Corona Crap! I won’t get a chance to hunt birds until the beginning of May for UT’s general season hunt.
 
3toe I know what you mean had to pass on my annual nebraska and s.dakota hunts this year because of this virus thing
Clueless I'm going to let wife decide how she wants to cook it
 
Well 1st trip in Wyoming came up short, had 2 gobblers coming in and from out of nowhere a young kid came strolling through the woods having a grand ol time right between us and the turkeys, they shut up and it was over!! Oh well pretty fun anyway, not sure I’ll make it back but gonna try hopefully!!
 
It,s been a tough 1st week to the North Carolina season. Where I hunt gobblers are covered up with hens and not responding much to calling. Yesterday afternoon I was going set up on a small isolated field that turkeys have been frequenting but this gobbler and a hen were already there. I was lucky enough to be able to work my way close enough for a shot.

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I finished my spring season yesterday morning. I had been messing with the same two gobblers that had a bunch of hens for just about every morning since the season opened. They would gobble on the roost and a little on the ground then would make their way to a 30-40 acre field to feed and strut. They had 3 routes and I could never get on the same one they were on. So after them getting by me again and them not responding to calls at all I decided to go after them and made a 1.5 hour loop through the thick woods around to the other side of the field. where they worked their way close enough to the edge for me to get a shot at 32 yards. Not my preferred way to hunt but it worked this time.
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RS said:
I finished my spring season yesterday morning. I had been messing with the same two gobblers that had a bunch of hens for just about every morning since the season opened. They would gobble on the roost and a little on the ground then would make their way to a 30-40 acre field to feed and strut. They had 3 routes and I could never get on the same one they were on. So after them getting by me again and them not responding to calls at all I decided to go after them and made a 1.5 hour loop through the thick woods around to the other side of the field. where they worked their way close enough to the edge for me to get a shot at 32 yards. Not my preferred way to hunt but it worked this time.
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Congrats RS!!!! I love the sharp hooks on him. ??
 
Posted in the NM forum already, but:

Flirted with this bird for over an hour. He'd gobble once and then go silent for five or ten minutes. Came close the first time only to turn around and go a couple hundred yards back up the ridge. At that point, I didn't think he was going to come back, but then he turned around and slowly worked his way back down the ridge before hanging up again just inside my effective range. That was close enough for me. He never did strut that I saw.

I think he's the prettiest turkey I've ever taken, but he's also the "turkey-est" smelling turkey I've ever smelled. I hope the strong smell doesn't affect how he tastes. That's my grandson and future turkey hunter in the other picture... :cool:

So happy to be able to hunt. One down, one to go.

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RS said:
It,s been a tough 1st week to the North Carolina season. Where I hunt gobblers are covered up with hens and not responding much to calling. Yesterday afternoon I was going set up on a small isolated field that turkeys have been frequenting but this gobbler and a hen were already there. I was lucky enough to be able to work my way close enough for a shot.

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We don’t get spurs like that in NM cause all the rocks, figured it would be the same in Utah. Super jealous.
 
I have never quite understood the fascination with spurs and long beards. I've tried boiling, frying, roasting and BBQing them, never did get so I could eat em...HA. i hunt to eat so first legal bird is going home with me. The trophy for me is in the calling em in. That is a hoot.
 
Largebull said:
Spurs don't excite Me but The LONGBEARD does . Then I can Mimick them Southerners ,LOL............BULL!
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Lol... I hear ya! For me it’s all about the spurs. When I down a bird with 1 1/4” or better spurs on public land, I know he’s an old warrior that has been around the block a few times. It’s like taking a bruiser old buck that’s past his prime for me.
 
If you kill a gobbler with good spurs you know he's been around a few years it should make you feel good that you out smarterd him which sometimes ain't very easy it's like taking a 180 four pointer compared to a 2 pointer imo

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Opening day of the Utah Youth Hunt. We played around with a few during the morning, but they didn't want to cooperate. Sat down for a lunch break and let out a few calls. He responded and it was game on. I think I enjoyed watching this go down more than if I were in the driver's seat. :)

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SureShot said:
Opening day of the Utah Youth Hunt. We played around with a few during the morning, but they didn't want to cooperate. Sat down for a lunch break and let out a few calls. He responded and it was game on. I think I enjoyed watching this go down more than if I were in the driver's seat. :)

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That’s awesome! I love seeing kids in the outdoors. Congrats to you & him on a great hunt.
 

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