Team #1 Roost Rustlers

[Bowfin]

Well, no luck on the last day for me. Only turkeys seen were on private land. Good luck to Rundrave and KMR85 - I think the remaining team members with tags.

[KMR85]

Season G starts Friday and there's been some birds on the state land I plan to hunt. This land has been pressured a little this year, but I'll still give it a try. I might be able to get onto some private land too. From the reports I've heard out of 243, I could be hitting it just right.

[rundrave]

its gonna be a long week for me, and weather is shaping up to be perfect. I havent heard many reports for the area, but I am definately getting excited.

good luck KMR85, I am looking forward to hear your results.

[rundrave]

well I am off to bed, alarm is set for 3:30am lol. Got a 2hr drive and plan to walk right into the woods from the truck hopefully before sunrise.

I will try to post updates from my phone otherwise I wont be back online until late Sunday.

The good weather forecast that looked great earlier this week is now looking to be cold and windy. I am hoping for the best. Wish me luck!

[Archerysniper]

Good luck drave, probably be a little late in the woods but they have been gobbling for at least a hour after sunrise.

[mrklean]

good luck dave

[KMR85]

Mobile update from the blind: Filled my tag Friday morning about 20 mins after the season began. 21 lbs, 9.5 inch beard, 7/8 in & 3/4 in spurs. Now if this rain would stop we might see more birds and fill my dad's tag. Stupid fishing opener always brings terrible weather.

[mrklean]

Nice job let's see some pics

[rundrave]

Weekend recap was basically 3 days of hard work all for nothing. We had 8 guys in our group hunting a variety of both public and private land for a grand total of 3 birds. So sadly to say I will be eating tag soup again this year, but it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort.

For starters the weather was horrible. Very cold, very windy, very cloudy with rain, rain and more rain. Not what I expected for this late in the year, especially for May.

Fridays hunt on public land; we started off early before sun up and were unable to find where any birds were roosting. So we climbed and hiked numerous areas and just tried to spot and stalk. With the rain and wind it was difficult but we tried high and low areas out of the wind with no luck. Later in the morning we spotted a nice tom with a few hens about 400 yards away on another ridge but they busted us right way before we could make any progress. One guy in our group jumped some hens by surprise and was able to get one really really young small bird.

We didn’t see or hear any birds the rest of the day. We literally hiked all day and sat in several areas with not much to show for it. Driving back to our cabin we spotted a nice Tom and so we made an effort to get close. Got with in 70 yards and he still hadn’t busted us. Made our way behind the ridge using that and some trees to keep us hidden, hoping for a closer shot. Made a good effort to be as quiet as possible and when I got to an opening close enough for a shot he was gone.

Saturday morning I was guided by a seasoned vet on some private land who really really wanted to get me my first bird. It was a balmy 38 degrees with a windchill in the 20's, with rain (a great combo to hunt birds in!....yeah right). We arrived before sun up where he knew the birds had roosted the night before. We sat and watched them with the intentions of letting them make the first move. There was a nice flock of about 20 birds that didn’t leave the roost until about 8am. The toms gobbled before they left the roost and nothing after. We watched them fly to the top of a ridge opposite of the one we were on. We then made our way for another stalk. The birds were out in a field and we used what little structure we could to get within 70yards and were set up perfect. They hadn’t spotted us and I was hidden in good position for good shot. There were 2 really nice toms that slowly made their way towards us. I had my gun up as the other guy watched and he kept saying, “Here they come, here they come, 2 really nice toms get ready!” My heart was racing and finally thought I would get a great opportunity to shoot a Tom. We sat there for what seemed like 30 minutes and they just stayed out of gun range and then slowly started to follow the hens away from us.

We made a decision to try and cut them off in the other direction. So we hustled back down through the canyon ridge and made our way down and back up in front of this flock of birds. We located them and they were even further out in an alfalfa field with no cover to get close. We decided to use a small hill and little cover in the field to belly crawl close enough for a shot. We very carefully worked our way out towards the birds. We got with in 60yrds and a hen busted us and alerted the flock. So close again but no luck.

We tried to spot some other birds but had little luck. We spotted another large flock of birds on another ridge but the birds kept out in the open areas and were very very skittish. They busted us from far way. We hiked to find others but didn’t see or hear any gobbling. So after getting soaked from rain and wet ground and very cold we decided to call it quits for the after noon and try to get on the birds later than evening before they went to back roost, assuming they were going to the same tree.

We arrived that evening to find the flock in an open field but again couldn’t get close enough to get a good shot. Not to mention we got caught in an absolute downpour of rain and once again got soaked in 40 degree weather.

Sunday morning it was again cold wet and rainy but the forecast called for sun and finally some warm temps. We didn’t get any gobbles in the morning and had trouble locating birds. Around 10am the sun started to shine but it was still very windy. The temps rose to almost 60 and it was great to see the sun but the wind still made it tough. We spotted a Tom at about 400 yards with 3 hens making their way towards us. We watch him breed one hen and then they made their way towards us. We set up again for another stalk only to get close and have them put another move on us.

We hiked all day again and figured we would at least here some gobbling with some nicer weather but again it was silent. Didn’t see or locate any birds for the rest of the day. We did jump a jake by surprise but was never close to get a good shot off. We put alot of miles hiking again with no luck.

So again, I have still yet to bag a bird. I have literally busted my tail hiking and looking for birds the past 3 days. I am exhausted; my body is sore and will admit I am slightly frustrated. I have until the end of this week to get back out, but the forecast calls for heavy wind and rain for most of the week. I may try to get out one more time but the weather doesn’t make me feel confident.

Here is a few pics from the hunt, not the greatest of quality as I took them from my phone. I wish they had some dead turkeys in them!

[KMR85]

Here's a picture of my bird. I was going to edit my mobile post above as closer inspection of my pictures shows both spurs at about 7/8". However the edit button doesn't appear.

[Archerysniper]

Here's a picture of my bird. I was going to edit my mobile post above as closer inspection of my pictures shows both spurs at about 7/8". However the edit button doesn't appear.

Congats on the bird it's a nice one and no need to update the spurs here just get them right on the form and submit the pics needed.

[mrklean]

congrats on the bird

[fishnhooks]

Nice Job KMR85! Congrats

"hooks"

[KMR85]

Thanks guys, it's been a while since I bagged one.