Team 15 "The Struttn' Studs"
04-14-2009, 05:01 PM
#121
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Sydney, AUS / Miami, OK
Posts: 289
RE: Team 15 Thread
JW has the stickers and will be posting them to me soon, anyone who is yet to send me there address or let me know if you want a sticker please do so ASAP as i will be sending them as soon as i get them.
i am still needing
John Deer
Msfieldmouse
NYhunter325
turkeytrack777
please pm me your address or post on the thread that you do not want a sticker. thanks all and good luck
i am still needing
John Deer
Msfieldmouse
NYhunter325
turkeytrack777
please pm me your address or post on the thread that you do not want a sticker. thanks all and good luck
04-16-2009, 06:13 AM
#122
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,927
RE: Team 15 Thread
I went out Saturday morning an hour before light to a spot on National Forest land that has held gobblers year after year; a large bench on the east side of a mountain. I've tried several approaches to get above the bench in the past and decided that my best bet was to go to the right (North) of the bench a few hundred yards, climb to the top and walk the ridge to above the bench and drop down. When I got within a hundred yards of the crest a turkey busted out of it's roost about 60 yards away. Ok, I thought, either I busted a tom off his roost or a hen. If it was a hen I figured there'd be more then one, either way I decided to continue with my plan. Ten yards later another turkey flew off, and then another. Finally when just a short distance from topping out another turkey busted out of the tree I had my hand resting on. That one startled me. 
I discovered that this area at the top had been burned over in a summer forest fire. The undergrowth was mostly cleared but there was plenty of leaf litter from the previous fall. Should be good for turkeys. I followed the ridge and dropped down to where I thought I was about 100 yards above the bench (turned out I was closer to 200 yards and a little further south). Come first light I heard a gobbler far off below, near the creek bottom. He was double gobbling. I also had some hens somewhere below me. I did a soft tree yelp. About 6:20 the hens were really going at it and I imitated the dominate hen as best I could. She sounded really fired up. Gobbler was still gobbling far off. I thought I'd call the hens towards me and see if they'd drag a tom with them. The birds were very vocal until about 6:30. I heard some cars coming up the gravel road down below (who comes in the woods this late during turkey season?) I also started to hear a human calling below and to my right (he would answer my calls and also did some coyote yelps later in the morning?!) All the birds shut up. By 9:00 the wind had really picked up and the temp had dropped. I figured I'd drop down to the protected bottoms where I had heard the gobbler. Maybe they were seeking shelter from the wind down there. As I walked I realized that I had been on the leeward side and the wind was actually even harder then I thought around on the east face. Movement off the side of the mountain caught my eye and I looked to see the grey back of two hens gliding across the valley. I wondered if they had jumped from down below me. Another 50 yards down I was just entering the bench and a gobbler took flight 30 yards in front of me and flew the opposite direction of the hens. I continued to the bottom and inside the woods from some fields I gave a couple of yelps. Nothing. Walking further in the woods between the two fields I see another hunter heading toward the road. I hoped I hadn't bumped him off his position. I hadn't. We talked for awhile and with another hunter who drove up. No one had heard anything, but neither had been there when I drove in in the dark. I headed on as planned and dropped into a creek bottom. On the edge of the dropoff before going down I found a lone deer bed with some shed long hairs in it. As cold as the morning was he better not be too quick in getting his summer coat. It was a steep climb down and I followed a deer trail to the creek. I found one downy turkey feather stuck to a mountain laurel bush soon after I had thought no turkey would be in stuff this thick. In the bottom it opened into a hardwood and I gave some calls before emerging out of cover. No answer. I made my way along the creek occassionally calling but getting no reply. I saw wings flapping in front of me and thought I'd bumped another turkey but it turned out to be a barred owl who came to rest on an bare oak tree to see what had disturbed his morning nap before flying off. Eventually the hardwoods gave way to mountain laurels creekside and white pine thickets on the hillside. I opted to travel the pines and eventually made it back to the service road and then to my truck. I stopped on the trout stream on the way out and fished for half an hour. No bites. I had a good morning just the same. I may go out tomorrow morning before work.
I discovered that this area at the top had been burned over in a summer forest fire. The undergrowth was mostly cleared but there was plenty of leaf litter from the previous fall. Should be good for turkeys. I followed the ridge and dropped down to where I thought I was about 100 yards above the bench (turned out I was closer to 200 yards and a little further south). Come first light I heard a gobbler far off below, near the creek bottom. He was double gobbling. I also had some hens somewhere below me. I did a soft tree yelp. About 6:20 the hens were really going at it and I imitated the dominate hen as best I could. She sounded really fired up. Gobbler was still gobbling far off. I thought I'd call the hens towards me and see if they'd drag a tom with them. The birds were very vocal until about 6:30. I heard some cars coming up the gravel road down below (who comes in the woods this late during turkey season?) I also started to hear a human calling below and to my right (he would answer my calls and also did some coyote yelps later in the morning?!) All the birds shut up. By 9:00 the wind had really picked up and the temp had dropped. I figured I'd drop down to the protected bottoms where I had heard the gobbler. Maybe they were seeking shelter from the wind down there. As I walked I realized that I had been on the leeward side and the wind was actually even harder then I thought around on the east face. Movement off the side of the mountain caught my eye and I looked to see the grey back of two hens gliding across the valley. I wondered if they had jumped from down below me. Another 50 yards down I was just entering the bench and a gobbler took flight 30 yards in front of me and flew the opposite direction of the hens. I continued to the bottom and inside the woods from some fields I gave a couple of yelps. Nothing. Walking further in the woods between the two fields I see another hunter heading toward the road. I hoped I hadn't bumped him off his position. I hadn't. We talked for awhile and with another hunter who drove up. No one had heard anything, but neither had been there when I drove in in the dark. I headed on as planned and dropped into a creek bottom. On the edge of the dropoff before going down I found a lone deer bed with some shed long hairs in it. As cold as the morning was he better not be too quick in getting his summer coat. It was a steep climb down and I followed a deer trail to the creek. I found one downy turkey feather stuck to a mountain laurel bush soon after I had thought no turkey would be in stuff this thick. In the bottom it opened into a hardwood and I gave some calls before emerging out of cover. No answer. I made my way along the creek occassionally calling but getting no reply. I saw wings flapping in front of me and thought I'd bumped another turkey but it turned out to be a barred owl who came to rest on an bare oak tree to see what had disturbed his morning nap before flying off. Eventually the hardwoods gave way to mountain laurels creekside and white pine thickets on the hillside. I opted to travel the pines and eventually made it back to the service road and then to my truck. I stopped on the trout stream on the way out and fished for half an hour. No bites. I had a good morning just the same. I may go out tomorrow morning before work.
04-16-2009, 06:27 PM
#124
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,583
RE: Team 15 Thread
Well second season starts tomorrow. After school me and my dad will be heading out and hopefully saturday morning I hear/see a turkey, hopefully shoot one.
Today we had our first track meet. We got 4th overall. I've been having problems with my ankles and I wasn't doing the best I can. Highjump I only jumped 4' 6" I was expecting 4' 8" or 4' 10". I ran a 2:45 in my 4 x 800, 2:42 in my open 800, and a 14 flat in my sprint med (100 meters).If I was up to par I could have easily shed a second or two off the 100, 5-10 seconds on my 800s and jump a 4' 10".
Today we had our first track meet. We got 4th overall. I've been having problems with my ankles and I wasn't doing the best I can. Highjump I only jumped 4' 6" I was expecting 4' 8" or 4' 10". I ran a 2:45 in my 4 x 800, 2:42 in my open 800, and a 14 flat in my sprint med (100 meters).If I was up to par I could have easily shed a second or two off the 100, 5-10 seconds on my 800s and jump a 4' 10".
04-19-2009, 09:50 AM
#126
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,583
RE: Team 15 Thread
haha, I know how you feel. I woke up for our morning practice friday at 6 (really not that early) but I just didn't want to get out of bed. It seem to have changed saturday and sunday morning. The alarm went off at 4:30 and I woke up instantly and was ready to go. I ended up waking up at 2:45 then tried getting back to bed and woke up again at 3:30, so I just stayed up another hour. I was pumped to get out for the first morning of this year.
Well anyway, back to my long weekend story.
I got home from school friday and got ready as fast as I could for turkey hunting. At 5:30 I went out. I called a few times here and there and never got a response. I saw like 20 deer all around me but no turkeys. Then at 6:30 a turkey comes towards me. It walks right next to the blind (about 5 feet away) and goes right towards my decoys in the corn field. I got a ton of pictures of it and some videos of it. The turkey finally left at 7:45 and then right before the sun went down a turkey gobbled over my the creek (about 300 yards away). It was too dark for me to see my pins so I didn't call to it. I woke up at 4:30 saturday morning and left the cabin at 5:00. At 5:30 I heard a loud gobble over by the creek. Then I hear two more gobbles just a little ways from there. Then I heard 4 or 5 differant gobbles south of me. And then a few more gobbles to the south east and a few more to the north east. It was nearly impossible to count because they were going crazy but I would estimate 10-15 differant toms gobbling. I did my diaphrams a bit. A few responded but never came in. After all of the gobbles I only saw two turkeys (far from me) and about 30 deer (4 bucks already growing antlers).
Saturday night I went out at 5:00. I saw about 15 deer (1 buck that I could tell through the binos) and 4 turkeys. I was sitting in my blind and I glanced behind me and saw two turkeys fighting. They were both on top of the hay field eating and when ever they go close to each other they would fight. Then they would split up. Then get close and fight again. They finally went in opposite directions. One headed towards our corn field but sadly I was on the opposite hill). Two more toms followed the one that came towards the cornfield and they went and roosted in our timber.
Sunday morning was crap. Foggy, rainy, windy, and cold. Never heard a turkey gobble. Never even saw a turkey. My dad said he heard one fly down from its roost but it went in the opposite direction as him. Only saw 3 deer.
We're going out tonight again and hopefully I can poke one with my bow.
I caught 5 bluegill and 2 catfish when fishing.
Well anyway, back to my long weekend story.
I got home from school friday and got ready as fast as I could for turkey hunting. At 5:30 I went out. I called a few times here and there and never got a response. I saw like 20 deer all around me but no turkeys. Then at 6:30 a turkey comes towards me. It walks right next to the blind (about 5 feet away) and goes right towards my decoys in the corn field. I got a ton of pictures of it and some videos of it. The turkey finally left at 7:45 and then right before the sun went down a turkey gobbled over my the creek (about 300 yards away). It was too dark for me to see my pins so I didn't call to it. I woke up at 4:30 saturday morning and left the cabin at 5:00. At 5:30 I heard a loud gobble over by the creek. Then I hear two more gobbles just a little ways from there. Then I heard 4 or 5 differant gobbles south of me. And then a few more gobbles to the south east and a few more to the north east. It was nearly impossible to count because they were going crazy but I would estimate 10-15 differant toms gobbling. I did my diaphrams a bit. A few responded but never came in. After all of the gobbles I only saw two turkeys (far from me) and about 30 deer (4 bucks already growing antlers).
Saturday night I went out at 5:00. I saw about 15 deer (1 buck that I could tell through the binos) and 4 turkeys. I was sitting in my blind and I glanced behind me and saw two turkeys fighting. They were both on top of the hay field eating and when ever they go close to each other they would fight. Then they would split up. Then get close and fight again. They finally went in opposite directions. One headed towards our corn field but sadly I was on the opposite hill). Two more toms followed the one that came towards the cornfield and they went and roosted in our timber.
Sunday morning was crap. Foggy, rainy, windy, and cold. Never heard a turkey gobble. Never even saw a turkey. My dad said he heard one fly down from its roost but it went in the opposite direction as him. Only saw 3 deer.
We're going out tonight again and hopefully I can poke one with my bow.
I caught 5 bluegill and 2 catfish when fishing.
04-19-2009, 09:56 AM
#128
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1,583
RE: Team 15 Thread
The turkey pictures from my trail cameras...
Notice that all the pictures have both deer and turkey in them and that when I was hunting the turkeys were always by the deer.
Notice that all the pictures have both deer and turkey in them and that when I was hunting the turkeys were always by the deer.
04-20-2009, 09:55 AM
#130
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,927
RE: Team 15 Thread
Beautiful day Saturday. Went out behind my house and set up on a small food plot I made on a flatspot on the side of the mountain where they had the loader when I had the woods selective cut. I didn't hear a thing. Not a gobble, not a yelp. I did hear some movement in a draw out of sight. I decided to move up to a saddle and call into the next hollow. Keeping below the ridetop I set down my stuff and prepared to call when a red head popped up twenty yards away. I dropped down quickly and did some calls but no go....I heard what sounded like two birds leave. The area looked good with plenty of sign so I got set up there and called some more. About 45 minutes later I heard something but couldn't see anything. I decided to be ready and took my gun from a leaning position to on my knee. A tom I couldn't see ran out of a dip about 60 yards away putting. 
Still hadn't heard any gobbles. About 30 minutes later my neighbor behind me drove his 4 wheeler up to the top. (our lines meet on the ridge top and he's retired and uses the 4 wheeler to hunt). I flagged him with my orange and we ended up talking the rest of the morning. While talking 3 deer ran past us, and I jumped another 3 bedded down while on my way out. Got two days planned this weekend in turkey country and may try to get out briefly one of the mornings this week. Working on a long box call for my dad too and want to have it done for this weekend.
Saturday night a bear got on my porch and drug my trash cans up the mountain 100 yards and knocked over my grill and drug it into the yard.
Still hadn't heard any gobbles. About 30 minutes later my neighbor behind me drove his 4 wheeler up to the top. (our lines meet on the ridge top and he's retired and uses the 4 wheeler to hunt). I flagged him with my orange and we ended up talking the rest of the morning. While talking 3 deer ran past us, and I jumped another 3 bedded down while on my way out. Got two days planned this weekend in turkey country and may try to get out briefly one of the mornings this week. Working on a long box call for my dad too and want to have it done for this weekend. Saturday night a bear got on my porch and drug my trash cans up the mountain 100 yards and knocked over my grill and drug it into the yard.
