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My season started with high Hope's like it does every year. My nephews had both already scored a couple nice 2 year old toms. I worked to the blind for my first morning sit and busted a turkey roosted right over my blind. Pretty quiet morning with a great view of the sunrise. The rest of day was quiet with a hen and 3 Tom's not wanting to get too close. Thursday was another for hen sightings without a gobble heard. But we were seeing large groups of toms just off the property. Friday morning I heard a distant gobble followed by many more with sime hard to pick out and other a lot closer but still out a 1/4 mile or so. Had a couple working closer but then drifted off. That brings me to last night. I decided to grab a small popup blind and head to one of the ridges where I heard the gobbles in the morning. I picked a spot and and up without a decoy about 5 pm. I called occasionally and scratched leaves without seeing or hearing any signs of turkeys. A little after 7 pm I let loose with some aggressive yelping and cutting in my box call. Nothing, guess it was going to be one of those quiet evenings. Then 5 minutes later a gobble close. Took me a couple minutes to see him and then another strutting down the ridge. Then they disappeared. I continued the scratch leaves occasionally but gave them the silent treatment call wise. About 10 minutes before sunset heard a couple birds fly up close by and started to pack up for the long walk back down a swampy/boggy trail. Looked up and saw him 35 yards away that must have popped up over the edge of the ridge. He got nervous and started quickly walking towards the edge. I was able to quickly get my gun picked up and pointed in the right direction, getting a shot just before he dropped out of sight. He went down in a heap 45 yards away. Didn't have a good option for taking pictures on my own and in a hurry. But here is what I have. Better bird than I thought once I looked him over closer when I got home. He had a 9" beard, sharp, hooked 1 1/8" spurs and weighed 24.6 lbs. Now to finish up a few projects and get out in the boat for some panfish before I go back to work Wednesday.

Well I've done more distance scouting than I have walking through the woods and fields. I haven't seen a lot of birds in the fields. In my walks on our hunting areas the tracks in the fields are hugging the wood edges. When I have gone into the woods I'm seeing a lot of scratching on ridges and hill sides. Must be a lot if bug and worms under the leaves right now as that is where they are spending a bulk of their time. What is everyone else seeing?

The main purpose of this Contest is for the members to have some fun sharing their success and stories with a little friendly competition thrown in. Let's have some fun! 2016 FM/HSO Member Turkey Quest Sign Up Summary of 2016 FM/HSO Team Sign Up 1. All birds submitted must have been harvested within the Rules and regulations of the state that they are hunted in. 2. Teams will be randomly assigned with equal,(as possible) assignment of youth hunters(those 17 or younger at the beginning or the Contest) and different subspecies hunted. Deadline for registration will be midnight(cdt) March 28, 2016 in the Contest Sign Up Thread. The teams will be posted as soon as they are determined and entered onto the site. For members who miss the deadline a substitute pool will be kept where members will follow the same rules and can submit a bird but they must register by April 15th, 2016. They cannot harvest a bird before they are registered. If a team has a member that has not posted or responded to email by May 13th, 2016 a member from the pool will be randomly drawn to fill spots on teams with "no shows" just to keep it even. Each team will consist of up to 6 hunters. At the start the teams will be named FM Forums 1, 2, 3... Teams can come up with their own name at anytime. Please decide on that one name before having the default one change,(no multiple name changes allowed). 3. Submitting birds for scoring. There will be a submission form posted for use by the start of the Contest. You will need to get a witness for the measurements of spur, beard and weight. Both you and the witness will need to sign the form verifying the measurement as being correct. All measurements will need to be in standard measurement,(Inches/pounds). In addition to the submission form members will need to post three photos,(there will be a submission thread for this). If you need help posting pics let me or your team mates know. One a close up of the spurs with a ruler/tape measure showing length,(you may need two pics if the spurs are different lengths). Also a second photo with a close up of the beard doing the same. The last picture should be of you,(the happy hunter with your face mask pull down) holding up your beautiful bird. We want to see the whole bird as well as what you look like. One of these photos should also have your 2016 filled turkey tag in it. If your state does not use a tag system then write the date the bird was taken on a piece of paper and include it in one of your photos. When the Contest starts there will be also be a link to submit your filled out form. If you are not able to submit you bird online, send Borch or team member an email and we'll make arrangements to have it mailed and posted. 4. Scoring of the bird will be based on the NWTF scoring system. Each member will be able to score one bird(the first bird taken for your season even if you are allowed more than one) for the Contest. The top 4 scores for each team will be used to calculate the team's final score. The team with the highest final score will be the winning team. Also in addition to the team competition we'll have an individual youth,( those 17 or younger at the beginning of the Contest) and adult competition. We'll use the same bird and score for the bird submitted to the team competition. The highest scoring bird will be the winner. 5. The Contest will run from April 1, 2016 until June 7, 2016. Winners will be announced after that time. Winning teams and individuals will earn the right to Advertise their great expertise and skills as the 2016 FM/HSO.com Turkey Contest Winners in their signature. The 2016 FM/HSO.com Forum Members Turkey Quest is a Contest created and operated independently by FM/HSO.com forum members and is not officially sanctioned or managed by the site itself. Let's have even more fun this year!!!