Team 2

[Cheetah]

Day 4 Morning

 

I think we were both tired of trying to call birds across private fences, so we decided to try going for the distant gobbles I heard when I shot my bird.   There was actually a decent gravel road that went into this area and allowed us to have an easy walk into where I felt the birds should be.   We got in early to try to get there ahead of any other hunters, but it didn't seem to matter.   Forest roads were abundant, so walking was easy.  We went right to the spot I had a bird gobble from a few days prior, and waited.  

 

It didn't take long for the flock to start making noise, and we only had to move a little ways to get close to them.   As usual the turkeys all came down and went away from us.  They set up shop on a long ridge and seemed content to just stay there.   We had no easy approach so set up our own position on the forest road we were on which was covered in tracks.   Other birds were gobbling in the distance the opposite way, and when one sounded close we chose to go for him.   Nothing came of that little walk other than the loss of a $65 custom call...  On the plus side we found a nice deer skull.  

 

Back to the flock, one gobbler would respond to a crow call, so we knew they were still up on the hill.  We made a painfully slow walk straight at them since they were high enough up they hopefully wouldn't see us.  When we got to the timber they stopped responding, so we guessed they went over the top.  We worked our way up and found where they had been feeding.  Just shy of the top we set up to call just in case they were over the lip of the hill.  

 

We received an immediate response to some lite hen yelps and clucks.  A hen with the gobbler was not at all pleased that we were there.  We got into a bit of a yelling match with her.  She was coming closer, dragging the gobbler with her.  When I heard drumming I motioned for my uncle to get the gun up since he was still calling.  In a few moments I saw a tail fan cresting the hill.  He angled left, looked around, went behind a tree.  I heard him go into strut and drum...   BANG!   

 

 

 

 

[DrJ]

Just returned home last night. Had 3 Jake's come in at 7am on my 1st morning and decided to pass on them. Never saw or heard a Tom the next 5 days. Oh well maybe I learned a lesson. Good luck to all.  

[Cheetah]

That's rough DrJ, were you on public or private land?   

[DrJ]

I was on private land that I have shot 8 birds in 10 seasons.Over 300 acres of prime land by Caledonia but none in our group of 4 scored this year. Just makes me more excited for next year. Might try the last season but will probably be into fishing by that time. Good Luck to All.....

[fivebucks]

We just got shut out down by Caledonia also so don't feel bad and we've been turkey hunting since 1980.  We were on private land also but found the birds still flocked up.  We had flocks of 12 - 15 birds we were trying to work and it didn't work.  2 out of 3 could have shot jakes and we all had plays that just did not work out.  That's turkey hunting.

[Cheetah]

I am out in MN this morning.  Flock gobbling in the valley below me.  Going to start with my bow this time.  Have a few days to hunt. 

Oh and Sutty is with me.  Set up across the field with one of his daughters.  Trying to talk him into picking up a youth tag for her.

[monstermoose78]

Good luck

[ANYFISH2]

1 hour ago, Cheetah said:

I am out in MN this morning.  Flock gobbling in the valley below me.  Going to start with my bow this time.  Have a few days to hunt. 

Oh and Sutty is with me.  Set up across the field with one of his daughters.  Trying to talk him into picking up a youth tag for her.

Can you spring him the dollar to convince him!

[Cheetah]

Our MN hunt this year was just about as easy as they come.  Sutty and I arrived at different times, he was late, and set up on opposite sides of the field as planned.  I could hear the birds gobbling in the valley below in their usual spot, and they sat there a long time in the cold.  Sutty couldn't see because he was on the back side of a finger of trees because he didn't want to spook anything out since he was late...  Eventually they got down and proceeded to sit on the far hill for a while longer.  I could see a 6 or so males, but suspected most were jakes, and a few hens.  

 

Just when I was getting tired of waiting, about 8:30am, I saw one gobbler enter the field and walk straight towards Sutty's position.  As the bird got in front of Sutty, another nice gobbler came into the field.  I called to him but he wanted nothing to do with me.  Sutty shot the first bird, and the second one didn't know what happened.  Of course Sutty came running out of his blind and scared off the second bird that he didn't even know was there.   

 

Sutty just bought a new house and had to head home asap to help his wife with packing things, and his daughter didn't seem too interested in shooting her own bird this year.  Now that she saw how ridiculously easy it is she probably won't be interested next time either. 

 

 

I figured I should get to the edge of the field the birds were coming out on, and as I started moving my blind I bumped some hens that hadn't yet come up all the way out of the valley.   I finished getting my blind in place and sat a while, but it seemed we had scared the remaining birds out of the area, or maybe they were just laying low out of the wind.  In any case I went to get some lunch and let things settle down for a while.  

 

After a couple hours of eating and casting for fish that weren't there, I decided I would head back up to sit in my blind.  Just as I reached the top of the hill to see into the field I saw three big gobblers walking across the field.  I ducked down and ran around the edge of the field out of their view to get closer.  

 

I crawled up to about 10yd from the field edge, as far as I could go without being seen, and started calling.  They liked what they heard, but wouldn't commit right away.  After maybe 10 minutes of me cutting and purring, and all three of them strutting and gobbling out at 60-70 yards they started coming.  I couldn't see them well through the brush I was behind, and they didn't want to walk through it.  If I was at the edge of the field I could have shot them, they were within 40yd.  They proceeded to do a big arc along the field edge back to where I had just walked.  

 

After a couple minutes of not seeing them I picked up my call, they gobbled, and then I saw them marching in where I had just walked.  When I last saw them going this direction I had shifted to face that way, I was now facing the tree I just had my back against, which put my butt in a thorn patch and the barrel to one side of the tree.  The birds started walking to the other side, so as they got behind the tree I eased the barrel to the side they were going to come out on.  They started coming up the other side back to the field they were just in and were too close together for a shot.  Finally one eased out in front and I let him have it.  He tipped backwards and rolled back downhill, and didn't even kick until I went over to grab him.  27 yards with the range finder after the fact.  

 

 

Both birds turned out to be very nice old birds with long spurs.  

 

Sutty's weighted 22lb 4oz, 10" beard, 1 3/16" spurs.  I believe this is his best turkey to date.  

 

My bird weighted 25lb 8oz, 10" beard, 1 1/8" spurs.  My best turkey by weight and age.  

 

Sutty and his bird. 

 

 

 

Me and my bird.  I shot from one of the trees above this rock I think.

 

 

 

[Illini Walli]

congrats, guys, those are a couple really nice ones

[DrJ]

Congrats to you both. Team 2 is moving on up. I wish I could have helped out a bit though.

[Cheetah]

DrJ, you can still hunt the last half of May with your MN tag.  

[DrJ]

Hey Cheetah I decided to head down to my spot and hunt next Wed,Thur and Fri am. Hoping they're still active and I can put one down for the team. Anyone hear from Thunderbucket. Team 5 will be tough to beat.  DrJ

[Cheetah]

Good luck!  I am going to Wisconsin the 19th-22nd.  I've hunted late season many years and managed to get birds.  

[Sabastian Thunderbucket]

Good to see some luck being had!   I'm still working on getting a bird.  Had a nice big gobbler at 15 yards this past Sunday morning, but he avoided taking the last few steps to get a clear shot with the bow.  I'm hoping to get out a couple mornings next week before work to close the deal   Lots of birds around and they have been vocal

 

[Cheetah]

Wisconsin was a bust.   There were plenty of birds around, but they clearly are well educated when it comes to hunters.  Most hens were going to nests early, but nothing would respond to or come to calls of any kind.  I watched many birds that I would call to in a field turn and walk away, even jakes and gobblers with no hens.  Some birds would sprint out of sight! 

 

I did come very close to a nice gobbler but forgot my range finder in my blind and didn't shoot when I thought he was a bit too far.  Ranging the area later proved otherwise...  I also had another group with a nice gobbler and a few hens that I had been chasing multiple times, they started going away from my calling, so I crawled up behind some thick pine trees to get close for an ambush shot.  Of course a hen busted me at 15yd and they disappeared...  

 

After two solid days of rain, and this morning's rain with zero birds heard or seen I packed up and went home.  My brother called to tell me he shot a bird in the spot he told me I should go to... 

 

All in all I only heard two gobblers actually gobble in three hard days of hunting, neither would come to me.  Many more seen.  I only heard one hen yelp back to me, again saw many others that would not make a peep...