Thanks! lol I'm not that great at it.... but I do it with a photo shop program... it takes a little time, but its fun to do.

Tom it sounds like you might have one real dominant bird in that little patch o' the woods. Take you a jake and a hen decoy and he ought to be a slam dunk opening day. Challenge that dominant one... and the woods will come to life with all those other sub-dominant birds fighting for the best roost trees closest to the hens. :rock: Great scenario to be in.

Going fishing/listening tomorrow morning too. Fishing more than listening, depends on how motivated I can get the old man. He is dragging his feet. Never seen a man who loved to turkey hunt and fish so much be so dang difficult to get outside. Might have to take the dog instead.

So hows the turkey hunting looking like for all you guys?

Things are a little slow here, but its also early in the year, I saw a nice tom yesterday strutting around right by our house, probably had an 8-9" beard... would have been a bird to get! Season does'nt open till April 15 though...

Just got back in from the Toronto Sportsman's. It was OK but but its always kinda the same except for the odd new product. Didn't buy anything but out 15$ for parking, 17$ for admittance, plus the cost of lady friends birthday present; she took the turkey safety course there so now I have a hunting partner for turkey.
She also joined the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and got a gift package, I'm hoping she'll give me the reel that came with it.
April 26th for us.

I couldn't raise my old man yesterday before I left work so I didn't buy any bait for this morning, not knowing if we were going to the pond or the river (need minnows for crappie in the pond, but use artificals for shad in the river). So, while I work in a place that sells minnows... I brought none home. Local bait shop (my folks live quite a ways from where I work) didn't open until 9 this morning... so I didn't get to really listen in earnest. Saw a field (not mine) with about 30 birds in it this afternoon on the ride home. One gobbler, out on the fringes, was noticably taller and bigger than all the other birds.

Brought home about 20 big specks and one 14" bass that unfortunately took the crankbait too deep and got it in the gills. Bled out dang near before we got him in the boat. Hate to keep a bass that size... but better we eat him than the turtles.

C'mon people! I know we are all waiting for seasons but lets keep our Team thread off the bottom of the page! Lets hear some chatter.
Hey Oneshotgilly, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Well.... juvie hunt is this weekend (I can't beileive it) but I can only hunt Sunday because I have to go on a mnadatory confirmation retreat on saturday. Oh well I guess I am just giving a turkey one more day to live.

Was out cutting brush Saturday and heard 4 different birds gobble a little on the roost. Getting clost but have to wait till Apr 19th. Later

Hey Tom,
I just saw that alternates are still being placed. You're the captain so I'll leave it to you, but VB40 has had plenty of opportunity to check in and has not.
A repeat would be easier if we were at full strength...

Trev - I'll send JW a note to see what they think. THanks

Tennessee youth hunt is the weekend. Can't hunt Saturday due to a mandatory school retreat. Sunday it is supposed to be scattered thunderstorms and rain. We'll see how it goes.

MC

Just got back from Hawaii for Spring break. gonna be driving out to scout around the public hunting grounds this Sunday.

Why oh why must TN loose. Stupid Michigan state. ANyway finally went out this morning. We saw a wjole lot of nothing. Got in there real early, et up where we thought the turkeys would be and well they werent they were 400 yards across a lake that we do not own. So we made a few fuitile attempts at em, but no luck. So better luck next weekend.

Bio
 

Okay lets try this again. I tried to do this a couple of days ago and it failed? So, I'm from Massachusetts. I have been hunting deer for about twenty four years. This will be my fourth year hunting turkeys. I have yet to bag one myself, and being on team #1 the defending champs the pressure is really on this year. Last year was the closest that I had come to bagging one. I called in six birds and just before they got into range they didn't like something and left. I called them in again still they would get close then leave. After calling them back in a third time from yet another direction same thing. This was the last I saw of them. I couldn't figure out what they didn't like until I went to get my decoy. Then there it was all messed up and twisted on its post. :bash: I have had the birds right in my yard once this year in the morning, and two more times in the evening I have heard them up on the hill a roosting time. Nothing gets my blood going like hearing them gobble. I have a really good feeling about this year, Go Team #1 :rock:

Team

As Peter posted above the TN youth hunt was a bit of a bust for us. He couldn't hunt on Saturday due to an all day school committment. I scouted that morning and watched 4 strutters, for about an hour. They gobbled their fool heads off from the roost until about 8:30. They were roosted on a ridge between a lake and small field where we had our feeder after deer season.

Sunday morning came predictably with wind, cool, and rain. We set up in the dark in the field edge where I watched them strut the day before. When daybreak came no gobbling on that ridge. Heard several turkeys off the property, or maybe on the property edge near the lake. Attempts to find them didn't work and we came home around noon.

Big bummer

Statewide season opens Saturday. Hoping for better weather.

Sorry to hear about your luck with the youth hunt.

On another note, every time I try to use the contest avatar an error about an incorrect jpeg extension comes up. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong?

I saved it as a bitmap image to my hard drive then just loaded it in there on the control page

Please welcome your new Team member BigBuck95

welcome to our team! my season doesn't start till the 15th so I'll be waiting and watching too for a while.

weird... haven't had that problem yet... did you right click on the image and click "save image as"?

This is great!
For the 1st time this year I've seen a Tom strutting for two ladies (its warming up) so the flocks are starting to break up.
Then I check in here and find that we are finally at full strength.
Welcome Bigbuck95, don't be afraid to share a bit about yourself, glad to have you.

It was nice of Arrow to send us another substitute. Bigbuck is in, VB40 is out.

Welcome to the team BB

Two more days then the Tennessee statewide season opens and it will be on.

MC

What up gang?

I've been pretty busy this past week. Weather has prettied up some, so I've been hitting the pond right hard. The girlfriend and I cleaned 40 speckled perch (crappie, specks, sac-au-lait....) last Thursday. I took third place in Men's Bowhunter at the clubs 3D shoot on Sunday and Katie WON Female Bowhunter.

Yesterday (Wednesday 3/31) was a red letter day for me. Went to the pond again, but the water was very very muddy after all the rain the whole eastern US got over the weekend. We tried it anyway, and after pretty much getting shut out crappie fishing for an hour, we decided to target pre-spawn largemouths.

Katie had some trouble last week working jerk baits/super flukes in the wind. The baits were producing big time, and we probably caught 30 bass and an equal amount of pickerel last week on them. With the wind kicking up and the water being muddy, I decided to let her fish a blade bait, since spinnerbaits are pretty user friendly. I picked a Stanley Black and Gold with a white and Gold Skirt and gold blades (notice how detailed I am getting here... there is a point). I told her (truthfully) that I had caught quite a few nice bass on it over the years, some as big as 5 and 6 pounds, and it always seemed to produce the best when the water was a bit stained.

I started explaining where to cast, and where to keep her rod tip and blah blah and I made a cast to an old tree with a wood duck box on it, and something that I figured was probably the loch ness monster grabbed that spinner bait and went west with it.

"Oh my God did you get one already?" Katie asked.

"Yeah.... big fish." I replied quick.

When the fish breached... it reminded me of the first time I saw a really big (70#+) Cobia come tailwalking out of the water. I just couldn't believe the size of the thing, especially after spending two weeks catching nothing but 2-3# and under bass.

After a pretty quick fight (I wasn't screwing around), I netted the girl and Katie was actually jumping up and down in the boat.. having never seen a bass like this before. She took some pictures, we took a measurement or two and put the girl back in the pond to go make some more bass. She was 24" long, and the biologists tell me a fish in pre-spawn that long is about 12-13 years old and will weigh between 8 3/4 and 9 pounds. Wow. That fish aside, the fishing was actually pretty terrible and I think we caught like three bass and four speckled perch.





This morning, we went and listened for turkeys. We heard 5 different longbeards and at least three jakes. I have one bird pegged to within 15 yards as I've seen his tree and this is the third time I've heard him in that tree. With some luck, April 14th ought to be his day.

Afterwards, we went by the farm and practiced shooting a bit. Katie is getting there. I think she needs a sight on the 1100, but we'll get it done.

I finally got to shoot the 20 banger with hevi-13 #7s. At 40 yards, she printed 176 in a 10" circle. I drew a turkey outline on the target just for grins... but I don't think you'd be doing much grinning after supper... I was a little low right with the shot and dead centered the body... hurt my teeth just looking at it. I took a second shot and whalloped the head and neck and got 161 hits in the 10". At 30 yards, it gave me 213 hits in the 10", and thats probably going to be about where birds get shot in this wooded patch I am fixin to chase them in. Everything is go... just need another two weeks to go by!

I've been seeing piles of gobblers (in places that aren't mine... but so it goes)... out in fields while driving mostly... henned up and happy too. Could have used the 4Runner to put Team 1 on the board on Sunday as I had one scoot right across rt 10 infront of me while coming back from the 3D shoot. Had a nice rope on him. Watched one strut for the ladies that morning in a field just across the road... head looked like one of those firecracker popsicles you get from the ice cream man.

That is a monster bass. Awesome catch.

Finally we are on spring break! get off tommorow and all next week.:party0005: So this means I get turkey hunt ALL next week. Maybe we will get better luck then. (I hope) :s13:

Today was my last day so i have the ability to scout/look around :woot:

Awesome fish Swamp. A good friend of mine is in the pond management business. If you want to grow big bass he is your guy. Despite the urge to keep that big girl for mounting you did the right thing - those big mommas are the Queens of the pond and essential for the long-term productivity of the bass population.

Peter and I went listening at the "new to me" club I recently joined. Peter heard 7 gobblers from where I put him and I heard two more elsewhere. Perfect morning today, warm, sunny and still. Unfortunately we have thunderstorms rolling through here tonight with the possibility of them still hanging around at flydown time, then the rest of the morning should be pretty good.

It all starts tomorrow. Game on.

Hi Team

Suggestion - Post the date when your season opens.

Tennessee opens tomorrow.

MC

I wish I was in tenn. We have to wait till the 19th here. 16 days and counting. Already scheduled vacation for the first two days for sure. Later Team and good luck.

April 26 till the end on May.
I'll be out there 5 weekends for sure, if nothing happens by the third I may arrange to use some vacation time.

Well this a little late but who cares. Anywho opening morn (Sat.) we get down there at about 5:30. its raining and windy. Well isnt that fantastic. So after everything quits and we start to get goin it is about 6:45. As we are packin up ready to start moving I hear one sound off. (Dad didnt but he is a little, uh "seasoned") After I tell him and he gives a round of crow calls he sounds off again. Well maybe a little salvation to a bad morning is what I am thinkn. So after flollowing a ridge and going through a pine thicket we get to at the most 200 yards and he is in the middle of the prettiest, mature growth bottom you have ever seen. When we set up and actually make turkey sounds we dont hear from him again. :rant: Well we think we spooked him.:bash: It's early season and there is no leaves on he trees so we guess he saw us. Needless to say we walk aorund trying to get on another one but no such luck. Oh well I have all week. Maybe a little better luck.



P.S. I am just kidding dad you are an exellent turkey hunter and one of the best I will ever know.

My season opens this weekend.... hopefully the weathers good to get the birds moving and making noise! I've seen some nice toms, but we'll see how things go. debating weather to try with the bow or gun!?

sorry i've been mia....hopefully everyone is out killin' turkeys...i came close twice but they both hung up at 75yds...i may get another chance for an osceola tomorrow otherwise i have to wait until thursday when i head up to sc...hope everyone had a wonderful easter sunday!!

HOG, Go with a gun! But if you do go with the bow ou should get five poins added to your toms score for style!

Really? They give out points for bow hunting this year? or thats what they should do?

It depends on if I hunt public or private land... I probably will go with the gun, because I think we are going on public land.

They Should hog, btw. Well I guess I am the updater for El padre and I, So Tuesday nothing much we half get on one but he has hens so it was not a good day.

Wendsay we go out to a place in Hardeman county and we walk to a place to listen. We hear one against the wind and start after him after we walk 250 yards he gobbles again and he is close. So we set up. Perfect setup, up to a tree that is on a road and a field. I cover the field if he flys down that way dad has the road if he flys down to another field and walks down the road. After we sit down he gobbles once an never again. We never see him or hear him fly down or anything. No idea were he went. So we go to the back corner of the property were I killed my first bird, and nothing. Then we split up. Dad has everything west of a creek that goes through the middle of the property I have everything east. I walk to this powerline and prepare to set up. Just as I am doing that I hear a gobble, move my dekes, look up there is one standing 400 yards away lookin at me. I crawl into the woods and don't spook him. Turns out its at least 2 gobblers and a few jakes. I call them all the way down to the creek I talked about earlier. They were about 50 yards as a crow flies but as one walks about 100. They would not cross the creek. I tried everything, kee-kees, fighting purrs, cuts, clucks, purrs, they did not want to cross the creek. so they just took a left and well left. So that was pretty much it.

At least you are seeing birds! I don't know how its gonna bee out here for the opening day... I guess we'll have to wait 1 more day and find out! lol hopefully it good! good luck to everyone

I'm still weeks away, And its sounding like I'll be out of town working for a lot of the season so may be reduced to weekends only and not many sneaky mornings or early knockoff afternoons like I usually am able to pull off.
On the bright side my pattern is sweet, and its warming up here and birds are spreading out. Guns are sighted in and been practicing with the vertical bow. Still have to pull out the crossbow and sight it in. If the bolts go past the foot stirrup may pick up a guillotine to try with it because we can't use gun on sundays.
Good luck and have fun to all that are out there already.
Cheers

Does anyone else hunt pubic land? I realized that I have the third season in Illinois and not the second. The birds will most likely be scattered a bit after being shot at for two weeks. What is the etiquette for scouting during someones season. I don't wanna walk up on someone and ruin their hunt.