You know DTC, you should get a Neb tag just in case. You know it would be awesome if you and jr get a double.

Good luck with the bow Zubba. I told myself that after I got a bird with the gun that I'd go back to trying with the bow. But I would really like to keep this team next year so I'm just hanging the bow up til deer season.

Drove by my hunting spot this morning on my way to a jobsite and seen 4 gobblers struttin next to an old farm building. So they are still in there. Might have to buy that 3rd tag for this weekend. Still have til the end of May, but I'm just getting started on building an addition to the house, an upstairs laundry room for the wife, and my 3 year old is anxious to go fishing. So time is starting to really fill in with other activities.

Get that boy better DTC and good luck to ya in NE. I am going to try to get out Friday morn and Saturday morn but the weather looks pretty iffy again. They are predicting 40 mph winds again and more rain Sat and Sun.

If thats the case kelly, then try to find a lower field treeline. Not sure of your options down there though. But you can always try stalking???? Only so many days in a hunting season so good luck to ya if you get out!!

There might be a few places to go out there to get kinda out of the wind but for the most part it is wide open prairie with some wooded draws and a few creeks. Its like 30,000 acres but is spread out over 100 different units. Most of the roosts are on private but i can get to within a couple hundred yards of in the morning. As long as the wind stays low at night I should be able to get them to come my way (I hope...lol) At this point a bearded hen or jake is taking a dirt nap if it comes within 30 yards.. ;)

I like that attitude:happy0001:

Bad weather and wind definately sucks!!! But use it to your advantage, it means fewer hunters and also means the birds will concentrate more in certain areas.If you have a huge area to hunt bad weather should help you eliminate a big chunk of it. If its dryer, less windy and easier to move around for you, its the same for the birds.
Again, I know it sucks hunting this crap weather we are havng this year and i salute all who still are goin after em spite the weather!!

Anyone have an idea what the standings are right now?

I tried to figure it out the other day and we are just a little over 300, 303 and some change i think, wich if i figured it right keeps us in first by a descent bird or so

I just got off the phone with Iowa Jaybird, He's still hard at it in Kansas, tomorrow is his last day there and this morn he got on a real good bird, watched him nail a bunch of hens, and thinks he's got him figured out for his a.m. setup. Hope to hear from him again tomorrow with some good news!

If i get a chance later i'll try and re figure the score and find out for sure where we stand, it's kinda tough to do tho cause a lot of guys have shot birds but their captains have not reported them on the scoring thread, but will do my best to figure it out.

Ok Mottz here ya go
not 100% but pretty sure this is right, lot of birds not reported yet but i think i got em all

1st-Team 10-316.0625
2nd-Team 13-260.16
3rd-Team 9-255.848+1 bird with no stats
4th-team 1-230.875
5th-Team 4-224.125

so its really close, team 9 should really be in 2nd and their missing bird stats have to only be over 60.2 to take the lead

Thanks for the update j! Its a close race so whoever is still hunting (me included) need to get some birds down. Keep having fun though, thats what its all about.

Go figure, the weekend comes...and so does the wind & rain. Might take tomorrow off and get some deer mounted in the shop, then give it a go on Sunday. Next week looks like nice weather, might have to burn a few vacation days. Good luck to everyone still chasing birds.

Just talked to the land owner of the prop i'm takin a buddy of mine to on sunday, looks real good. I got a feelin we are gonna have turkeys all over us cause i shot that jake early and am done!! Will prob be kickin myself for not holdin out for somethin bigger, but oh well, will have the video cam so maybe i'll get some cool footage!

Well got out this morning and had a jake in the sights but.....I got greedy. It came in with 3 other birds and I was trying to make sure that there wasn't a long beard in the bunch. By the time the last one stepped into view the first one noticed jake-mobile and started putting and dancing a jig in the other direction. Since then we have been having 50 to 65 mph gusts and its not going to slow down till about 3 am. Hopefully I can get it done in the morning cause it looks like tonight is going to be a wash and I have to be home by 2pm tomorrow....bosses orders ;)

Welp I'm headed out to where they were roosting during deer season. Easily had 300 birds there but I think it got hit pretty hard early in the season cause I only saw a couple there a few weeks ago. Hopefully they have made there way back.

Yer gettin close Kelly! Any closer and you will be forced to post a bird!!!!!
Guess me and my buddy are gonna hit em in the a.m. instead of sunday, should be a much better day weatherwise.

Don't get too greedy kelly. Tag soup does not taste very good. I know from experience:nonono2: Best of luck to you getting on them.

j, hope you and your buddy have a good day also. Let us know how it goes. I'll be working on my addition tomorrow. Trying to tear out the patio now. Can tell 1 thing. Concrete back in the 80's was cheap. This thing is over 6" thick.:nonono2::nonono2: And the muck dirt underneath explains my sometimes leaky basement. This addition started out real swell. Hope it goes a little smoother tomorrow. But anyway, I'll be heading out Sunday morning to sit right where I got my last bird.

If any of yall turkey experts are still on I need a little advice. I have a dilema. This evening I watched 8 hens a jake and a Tom all bed down. The problem is it is on private that buts up to public and the birds are roosting about 30 yards in on the private side and did not cross onto public. The Tom would not leave the hens for anything. I even got to watch him breed one of the hens which is a first for me!

My question is would you go after the tom on this unit or go back after the jakes that I had this morning on a differant unit. I'm not real sure if a Tom beds down with the hens if you can call him off of them in the morning.

None of the birds on the unit with the Tom were talking at all. I called to a dang jake that was on private and he just turned and went right back where he came from.

I'm no expert but if I was in your place, I'd get as close to the roost as possible. Maybe on the fenceline bordering the properties. I'd use a single hen decoy within eyesight of the others at 1st light. If you can get 1 hen to fly your way then the others may follow bringing the tom with them. Thats me though. Go with what you feel comfortable with.

Been kinda quiet on here today. Hope that means everyones out having a good time.

We are back from NE, had an awesome trip. DTC Jr sure made me proud this weekend. He killed 3 merriams on the first day we were there. They all were 2 yr old birds, he really liked NE and wants to go back next year. He pulled his very first double and then got to double up with his cousin about 4 hours later. I will help him post pics tomorrow.

Well this will more than likely be my last morning hunt. I couldn't get them to come over to public for nothing. I did go back there this evening and on a bright side there were more birds there but the Tom went to the other side of the private green field. I did have 5 jakes and 15 or so hens roost about 30 yards from where I was sitting.

I'm gonna try to get as close as I can and try to catch them when the come off the roost If nothing by 8 or so I'll high tail it back to the other spot and try to pull one as they leave the hens.

I may not get the bird this year but it has been a ton of fun striking out.. Got to hear a tom drumming for the first time and watched one breed for the first time. And I almost forgot had a hawk attack she-mobile. If it can fool him it is good enough for me...

Good luck all who are still out..

Hate to see you may not get a bird this year kelly, but if you're satisfied with your season then I'm happy for ya! I have never heard a tom drum and I've never seen them mating. Maybe someday. Hoping the best for ya if you're still heading out!

DTC, that son of yours got more birds in 1 day than I have in the last 4 years:cool2: Happy for him!!

Hey Kelly, It's a bummer if ya don't connect but sounds like you have had a very exciting season!! That's what it's all about! Close encounters that don't end in a kill are what keeps us obsessed with the sport and wanting to keep doing it! Good luck on your last trip out!

DTC, you and your son are somethin else!!! You guys are quite the killin team!! Congrats....once again to JR!!!!!!

Well my first hunt as camera man was interesting to say the least! I seen some new things and learned a few! I learned that I am an awful caller and an eaven worse camera man!!! I also come to realize that my homemade struttin jake decoy that i showed ya guys pictures of has been on its last hunt with me!!!
That thing has spooked 2 birds now this season!!
We had em gobblin hard off the roost, responding really good to my calls and one finally hit the feild and started to cut across in front of us, noticed the dekes and then acted really weird as he spooked. It was like an alarm put but he was gobbling still, either way, he headed out and disappeared just out of sight over the hill, gobbling the whole time. He stayed just out of sight still hammerin away, then some more showed up on the hill in the distance and he ran over to them, picked a fight then stayed with them. At first i thought he was intimidated by my deke or something, but then he charged right into a flock of em and did started scrappin. I don't know was weird. But here is the bad video of when he first came to the feild and spotted the dekes, The bad callin wasn't till after he was already actin funny.

http://s676.photobucket.com/albums/v...rent=003-2.mp4

This one is of the group when i noticed the one, looks like he is breeding a hen, but i can't see it. Do they lay really flat when getting bred???? Or is he just all horned up dry humpin the air????

http://s676.photobucket.com/albums/v...rent=005-3.mp4

No bird today. Sat up where I shot my jake last week and they weren't there. Heard some further north but thats the way it sounded like they went. Seen a couple about a 1/4 mile away so I tried to catch up to them and either they seen me or just got somewhere before I could see where they went. These birds are weird this year. Once they hit the ground they don't make a peep so its been hard trying to even locate them. Plus I'm starting to feel a little burnt out. Been a long season with little to show for it.

Your calling wasn't that bad. Sounded a heck of alot better than mine..lol

That dude looked like he was breedin but didn't see a hen. The one I saw the other day was at for about 10 to 15 minutes and I didn't hear the squealing hen until after it was over. So still not too sure I'd want to buy that call...lol

Hey Mottz, ya broke your dry spell!!! You should be happy with yourself for that!!! Didnt you say you had all of may to hunt still? If so take a long well deserved break from em and give it a try in a couple weeks. If it ends like it is now, you still had a successful season and should be proud about that. It's been a rough season all over the country by the sounds of it with the weather and all. I think anyone who got to squeeze the trigger this yr had to of had their chit together to make it happen!!
You did good and congrats on a successful season!!!

Well I'm back from my last hunt of the season. Here is how it went.

I decided to sneak in to where I had roosted them the last 2 evenings. There are several trees in about a 100 yard area and I was able to get in the middle of them on the public hunting side. As dawn approached the hens started doing their cuttin when wouldn't ya know it a big flash of lightning and clap of thunder and gobbles started going off all around me. Luckily the thunderstorm moved off quickly and pretty much just left the sprinkles of rain with an occasional clap of thunder in the distance. Especially since I had just walked a little over a half mile to get in there!

At about 8am or so I decided to do what I had planned and got up grabbed my deke and started to head out to the other spot where I had called a few in. (its about 25 miles from there). I got about 100 yards down the fence and heard 5 quick gobbles that sounded like they were a couple hundred yards in on the private side. I set the deke right on the fence and sat about 15 yards further down the fence line. After around 15 minutes of playing with them I had a hen come by about 30 yards out and then went right to where the toms were. I waited about 15 more minutes and started yelping and had the hen start right back. Eventually I guess she had enough cause here she came looking for the sick hen (which is what I'm sure I sounded like) and the the tom came right behind her. Instead of headed to my deke she headed right at me. She got about 5 yards before she noticed something wasn't right and started puttin. The Tom stayed about 40 yards out and when she started puttin he turned and started back to private.......BUT he never made it :)

The curse has been lifted. He's not a giant but with how hard I had to work at it the last 5 years he is a trophy to me. Next year I'll try not to wait till the last minute of my season to get it done..lol I'll get the measurements and photo here in just a few.

KELLYGUINN!!!!!!!!!!!! Awsome job!!!!!! So glad to hear ya got one!!! Congratulations on a well deserved gobbler!! The last day of the season makes it that much sweeter!
Nice work!

Got whupped in Kansas, and couldn't find a Gobbler on my Iowa private. I think I killed the only one. I've got around 3 days for Iowa left, so hopefully I can upgrade. Just not sure where to hunt. Will post pics of bird 3 today. Congrats to you guys putting down birds. No matter what happens, we made noise in this contest. Well done.

Here is the pic. It is a Rio

17 lbs
3/4 right spur
3/4 left spur
7 1/4" beard

For a score of 46.5

Make some noise we did!!! Kellyguinn's bird puts us up to 363.5625 It's gonna be close i think! Great job guys!!!!
Kdsberman's last day is today, hope we hear from him tonite.

:cool2: What a difference from last year.

So when can we get to see your hunts on the outdoor channel j? You did better than I ever would have. I can't hold a camera steady if its on a tripod.

AWESOME kelly!! What a nail biter of a season for ya! Glad to see that everything came together before the end.

Great job Iowa! Even if you don't score on the rest of your season, you had one most could wish for. In my book you are the turkey whisperer!

I did finally get one this year but I still want more. But I think that I'm going to approach it a different way. Maybe an afternoon or evening hunt. Doesn't help with starting an addition. Too many things on my plate. But I will make it out every weekend til close. Then I have 3 1/2 months til deer season. But checking cams takes that time to a shorter wait.

We definately made our prescence known here. In chat, views and birds. Still have time to make this a record book year for us:happy0001:

Thanx You Admin

Atta boy Kelly!!! Nice bird & on public makes it that much sweeter. You certainly busted your butt this year and deserve every bit of that bird.

J76, that isn't too bad of footage. I tell you though, your Jakes have some balls. I normally don't hear Jakes strut & gobble that much...and no less breed a hen. The bird that came in is what I call young & dumb. He knew something was up, hence the putting....but he was so horned up he had to keep gobbling. Nice footage regardless.

IAJaybird, it has been weird here in IA. I shot my bird last week on a text book hunt. We hunted the same farm today and didn't hear a single gobble. We seen 4 hens, but not even 1 male bird. I don't know where they went. Glad we aren't the only ones seeing this. Heading back out tomorrow.

Thanks Zubba, think they have balls because there just don't seem to be many mature toms around, I never did see a mature bird at this spot in the 2 times i hunted it. When i shot mine it was 4 jakes with about 8 hens. Thought it was odd to have a group like that with no toms. But next yr will hopefully be pretty good there, Should be tons of 2 yr olds out there and all those jakes seem to be really big for our area, mine was 17 lbs, and they all look about the same size as that one, the descent toms we have taken in the past few yrs only average a little over 18 lbs.

I forgot to put this in my story. It was a 1st for me. Right at daylight I had 2 deer come right to my decoy. 1 spooked but didn't run off. So those 2 are still right by the decoy and 2 more deer jump the fence and mozy towards the other 2. They looked at each other and all of a sudden all 4 got up on their back legs and started throwing hooves. I thought I was watching the deer version of Michael Jacksons "Bad" video. Then they all stopped and just stared at me. I figured I didn't want them to spook any birds so I threw my arms in the air and they split like there was no tomorrow. That was fun to watch.

Bird 3 and not an upgrade. I have all the measurements if you need, but being it wasn't an upgrade not sure if it is required.

Cool Jay, Thanks. Don't need nothing else, I posted the score right after you called me with the numbers :D

The biggest bearded turkey has been shot. Good bye Osama. Not going to miss you 1 bit:party::party: