Team 2 - Ppfftt-doom BOOM!

[Wanderer]

Well guys, lay down your vitals on when and where.

MN only for me this year. Season D / April 28 - May 2.

Southeastern part of the state on a farm we've hunted for years. Never know how things will shake out but it's been a good place to me.

[goblueM]

I'll be hunting in southwest Virginia on national forest land, in the Blue Ridge Mountains - first season outside of SE Minnesota

should be an adventure, as I'm in completely different terrain, and there's virtually no farmland or openings in the woods. Gonna be hard to scout... hope I don't drag you fellas down

[Wanderer]

hope I don't drag you fellas down

Nah, the only draggin goin' on will be the beards on our birds right before we take 'em.

I'm probably going to try and take my first ever bird with my bow this year. Never tried with my bow because I couldn't stand staying in a blind but I broke that problem a couple years ago. We're hunting an earlier season than normal and with winter hanging around like it is I might enjoy the comfort of "indoors hunting".

Name ideas? Let's hear em.... If we don't come up with anything better, I'm just gonna call us all Bearded Buzzard Busters or something like that.

[Musky hunter 82]

Musky hunter ready to go. I'll be hunting season C April 23-27th, I'll be out there with my bow this year. This is the first year hunting them, so I hope I can put one on the ground. I'm planning on taking a few days off of work early in the week incase I don't get one over the weekend.

[Sorgy]

Well guy's I will be starting us out on April 13th. MN Season "A". Hopefully the snow will be gone by then. I will be hunting zone 227 just North of the cities. I may take a run up there after work today. I was up a couple of weeks ago and lined up some property to hunt where there are always birds.

I have a feeling that they may still be bunched up at that time. What do you guys think about setting up with a small flock of decoys vs a strutter and a hen? I am thinking of setting up 3 hens and B-mobile- what about adding another jake decoy to the mix?

It will be a long couple of weeks.

Good Luck to all

Steve

[goblueM]

so... team name? my creative juices are at historic lows at the moment... nothing is coming to mind

[Musky hunter 82]

What about the "Bearded Bandits", or "The Strikers"???

[Cheetah]

Hey guys. I'm bad with team names, you go ahead and pick one.

My plans this year are the same as last year. Going to head over to the Black Hills area the 22nd - 25th, maybe also the 26th if it's a slow hunt. Then I come home for a few days and turn around and go to SE MN for the weekend. I'll hunt MN for maybe 3 days. Public land for everything. Mostly run and gun hunting, I don't like sitting on decoys, but I have a few I haul around on trips just in case I feel like throwing them out.

There are still surplus Wisconsin permits available, so I am considering that for a mid-late May hunt, but it would be a blind hunt for me since I've never hunted any areas over there.

[Cheetah]

Wanderer, what zone are you in for the D slot? I will be in 349, south of La Crescent.

[goblueM]

349 - thats my old stomping grounds. gotta love Houston County - morels, trout, and turkeys all in the same week!

[Wanderer]

349 - thats my old stomping grounds. gotta love Houston County - morels, trout, and turkeys all in the same week!

Exactly!

Cheetah, 348 near Peterson.

Sorgy, it's fun messing around with decoys but I wouldn't sweat too much over whether you have like 4 or 5 out there. Set up the way you want it first (throw everything at em) and let the birds tell you what they want from there. They're the only ones who really know.

Personally, I've almost given up completely on dekes in my area. I haven't been able to credit one for the success of a hunt for a while but I can still remember a few they blew!

[hugonian1]

Hugonian 1 checking in guys.

I am hunting Minnesota- 236 E (May 3rd thru 7th) and

Wisconsin season E- zone 4 (May 11th thru 15th)

Both more late season than I am used to but the way the weather has been late may be better than early.

I am not too good at names so go with what you like best.

It should be fun!

[Sorgy]

I just returned from a scouting mission driving some of the back roads in my zone. Many of the roads still have snow on them at this time

With the A season only 2 weeks away it looks nothing like previous scouting missions years past. I have heard of birds in the area but next week I will hit the ground and do a little more recon from the ground on the properties I have lined up. Tonight it was ugly.

I am open to any name.

Good Luck

Steve

[Musky hunter 82]

I'll be in area 417, around New London on private ground. I saw a ton of birds last fall while bow hunting, so if they use the same area I should be in good shape. I'm waiting for the snow to go down before I can get in the area though.

[Wanderer]

Yeah Sorgy, this area (227) isn't really cranked up yet for bird activity. I haven't heard a bird gobble yet this year and I know there's at least 20 birds that live around here. I see some in the 601 area on my way to/from work though. We're getting close but could definitely use a warm up.

It looks like our team is fairly spread out - that's good! And we have some out of state hunts to hear about which is always cool. This should be fun.

So we have name options:

The triple B's (shortened version of my first threat).

Bearded Bandits

The Strikers

No creative juices.

Or,

PPFFTT-DOOM!! (the drumming of a strutting tom)

I vote PPFFTT-DOOM!!

[Sorgy]

Wander have you hunted 227 before? I may try and find some more propertys that have some standing corn on them or very near by. I am hunting in 2 weeks. I think I will have opportunity on the land I have lined up but it never hurts to find some backup spots. I may run up between Isanti and Prinston. I have to find a plat book on my way up that way.

Running way to late in the game

I stopped by the Sportshow on the way home this afternoon and wow is it getting smaller. I did however like the Turkey Mounts by McHugh Taxidermy

Good Luck

Steve

[Wanderer]

Sorgy,

I've lived in and hunted around 227 for roughly 15 years. Funny thing is though, as time goes by, I fish and hunt around home less often. I usually have to get totally away for the weekend or longer to get a good trip in. The quality is here but the un-distracted time is not.

For a plat book you might want to call around a bit to locate one. They're not as readily available as an Atlas.

Good luck!

[Sorgy]

Wanderer,

Usually the county library has a copy. If you know aprox where you want to gain permision you can photo copy a sheet or several.

I hear you about getting away. I do the old stay at home and I alway feel that if things are slow I should get home and get something done or get into work. If I am away from home I don't have that problem at all Road Trip

Pfftt-Doom sounds good to me. or Pfftt-Doom BOOM

[Cheetah]

Have you guys tried looking up the county HSOforum to see if the link to the GIS maps? I was doing it the other day for down in 349 and finding out who owns the fields near where I hunt that I have seen hold turkeys in the past.

[Wanderer]

Good info Cheetah. I haven't had the need to do much land owner scouting in MN for some time so it's good to know the latest IT approach.

Sorgy, I just re-read your intent to find some standing corn. Not a bad idea. Most of the birds I've seen lately have been in cut corn but I have a standing corn field by my house the flock has been using all winter. The thing is though, they've had a set of dense pines adjacent to the the field for winter cover just across the gravel road.

Talk about perfect. Roost in the pines, eat in the corn and gravel on the road.

PPFFTT-DOOM BOOM made me laugh. I like it even though we hope to have some archery birds this year.

[Archerysniper]

Wander have you hunted 227 before? I may try and find some more propertys that have some standing corn on them or very near by. I am hunting in 2 weeks. I think I will have opportunity on the land I have lined up but it never hurts to find some backup spots. I may run up between Isanti and Prinston. I have to find a plat book on my way up that way.

Running way to late in the game

I stopped by the Sportshow on the way home this afternoon and wow is it getting smaller. I did however like the Turkey Mounts by McHugh Taxidermy

Good Luck

Steve

Plat books are sold at the License center in Cambridge by the 4h.

[Sorgy]

I would love to take a bird by bow. One of these years I will decide to give it a better shot.

Just a update. I put some miles on this afternoon checking out some projects we have coming up. Drove up to North Branch and down 95 to Stillwater. I only saw one group of birds near Stone Bridge trail North of Stillwater. It was the biggest flock of turkeys I have ever seen. No scattered birds out on the field edges.

tic tic tic tic 12 days and counting

Good Luck

[sticknstring]

Love the team name guys! Nothing better than a drumming tom working in.

[Wanderer]

Sorgy,

Best of luck to you as you prepare for your season!!

We're looking at going down to the farm on Saturday to poke around a bit. I'll report back if we do.

[Sorgy]

Guy's,

Im seeing more and more birds around and I am confident that things will be much improved by the start of my season and only getting better.

I dug out the decoys and messed arond with full and jake fans for the B-Mobile. took some pics of it to get some opinions and they are stuck in my phone- I blocked internet and such on the family plan(ATT) and picture messaging is blocked as well.

I plan on spending some time scouting over the weekend and early next week.

Good Luck

Steve