Hope you get one talondale good luck!

Good Luck talondale! It is good to hear from you! We all hope you have some success!

I was out until around 3pm to day and no luck.. I did see one long beard in an area I was calling in earlier around 2pm as I was heading back out of there.. So I will be back in the morning. Hopefully he will still be around there someplace. We are going to get thunder showers tonight so maybe the birds will start gobbling again..

Good luck everyone that is still hunting..

Well I leave to head back to Kansas tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I will be able to add to my score to help out the team.

Good Luck swampbuster! I am hoping to as well. The birds are with the hens and are not responding good to anything here right now..

Sorry to hear that Phil, hang in there you will catch one in the right frame of mind eventually.

Same here. They gobble on the roost and then shut up. Don't know if it's coyotes or henned up. Called some last night and heard nothing. My field was cut yesterday and I'm hoping it will draw some birds out for bugging.

I had a nice 2 year old tom coming in this morning for a little while. Then he started to strut and before I knew he took off to the right of me in a hurry.. I have no idea why he did that little trick. I never saw anything else coming in around us. He has me stumped as of why but, at least I know he is there some place.. I will be back after him again in the morning and this is the second Tom I have seen there so hopefully one of them will give me a shot st em.. Again though no gobbling at at all..

I start my night shift tonight so I will be taking a nap shortly as we are having a shutdown for 10 days. It started Monday and I am hoping I can get at least Monday off for next week's hunting.. Good Luck everyone that is out hunting..

The season has ended here in Oklahoma. Unless I can find a place close enough at one of the neighboring states looks like I'm done. I'll be pulling for all that are still out after em.

Here's a spoonbill from thislast weekend. Not a giant but she will eat good.

Well I cant seem to find any toms, but I am finding plenty of jakes. Check this out. This is my hunt from yesterday morning before work. These 5 jakes put on a show about 10 yards from me. Sorry the video is kinda shaky. Awkward position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgPgqd7tuek

Nice spoonbill kellyquinn! They look to be a pretty decent fish to catch! I bet it put up a pretty decent fight as well when I look at the size of it.. Congrats!

Jepcho that is a nice video! Whether they are jakes or not! Here I have not seen any jakes once hunting season started.. I am not sure if our long winter this year had cut down on our turkey population or if it is still early for them. Our green grass is just now coming up out there.

Well guys I blew it this morning. I had a big tom coming in and it busted me.. It never came in close enough for a shot so it got away as well. Hopefully it will not be long before I get to connect again with one. I will be heading out after work in the morning again so hopefully I will be able to have some better luck then..

Phil got your PM I was signing in tonight to see how everyone is doing and give an update on my hunting so far.

Well my season ends this Sunday and with bad weather tomorrow I figure I will do my best this weekend and try to get out there both days.

The past week or so I will hear several birds on roast gobbling but once they hit the ground they are done.

But this year is the first year I have seen multiple hens just roaming around and feeding from good daylight up until about 10am or so. I have probably seen 30+ hens doing this in the past week. Which leads me to believe they are done breeding and the hens are leaving there nest to feed and when they are done feeding they go back to there nest.

I had 2 longbeards do the same thing the other day. One gobbled right next to me, I set up the decoys and gave him 3 very light yelps and used a small limb to rustle the leaves and he came up to a ditch seen my decoys and just strutted back and forth and would not cross the 6 foot wide water shed. I tried to call at him when he would go behind some thick stuff and he started to leave so I started to make rackit with the leave and he came back to the water shed and would not come in and he just left.

So I just went and setup for the morning and I seen a turkey coming down the hill and he got to the same water shed and would not cross it. It wasn't the same bird he was smaller than the first.

I am beginning to think I should try a different spot but I know there are several gobblers in there and I hate to leave it. I know the area where about 6 gobblers are roasting but they may be on one ridge one morning and another the next but close.

So if it where any of you guys would stick and stay or try another spot?

If you suggest I stay then give me some advice on what setup you think I should use when they stop gobbling and I go to hunt them from a set spot for 2-3 hours. Where I have been setting up there is an unreal amount of turkey scratch.

This has been one of the most frustrating years for me will all the near misses but on the other hand it has been the funnest years turkey hunting for me and I haven't even bagged a bird. I have really enjoyed myself.

I hope everyone has had a great season!!

Phil, Did you bag one yet?

Yes I got a decent Tom opening day and then missed a big tome the following day. It took 2 and 1/2 hours for him to come in and then froze up at 40 yards... How I missed him I have no idea.. I am going back out in just a few minutes.. ( working nights) The toms have been quite here as well. I am thinking they are henned up or because it is so cold here in the mornings? I did find out that some people were trying their calls on them 2 weeks before the season started and that does not help us none up here..

If they are not crossing the water is there any way you can set up on the other side? Water acts like a boundary for them at times.. It appears they are unwilling to cross it.. Are you using just hen decoys? If not try with just a hen or 2.. Then he may take a chance and fly over to you.. keep the tom and jake decoys out of it. The toms may not want to go into an area to fight as they already have what they want? If not you may want to try a new location? That is a tough one to call seeing how they are stopping up at the waters edge. Good Luck with getting one..

Went out this morning and didn't hear a peep. It was a beautiful morning just the same. Mosquitoes were out with a vengeance. Time for me to start packing my thermocell.

Got another one this morning! I'm all tagged out in Iowa. He wont score as high as my first but will add to our team total. I'll post stats and pics when I get home from work this evening.

Phil I only use hen decoys and I was using 2.

I know the gobblers are in the area so I go in about 15 mins after day break and just wait and see where they are at and go from there on what to do next.

Congrates jepcho, I also shot one this morning and am tagged out in Iowa. I set up about 150 yards from him on the roost but he was across the river from me. I've called them across rivers and creeks before so wasn't afraid of my set up. Took him forever to fly down but when he did he was still across the river so I just picked up my calling a little and he flew across. Strutted and gobbled to 20 yards then pulled the trigger. Just had one hen decoy out. He is a good one.
24 lbs. 10 1/2" beard. L&R spur 1 1/2". Eastern
Will send pics to captain Phil to upload and post as I still can't get it done on my phone.
Off to neb now to start filling those tags.

Congrats jepcho!

Congrats camokenny!
Sure thing camokenny and we will get that updated.. It sounds like it will be your best bird as well! That should help both of the team scores as well!

I never saw anything this morning except for a few hens. I will be out again in the morning to give them another try! This is my last night shift coming right up so I most likely will update the scores in the morning before I head out..


Any one else have any ideas on helping bigc870 out with bring those birds over? About the only other thing I can suggest is to try calling them just before roosting time to try and get them to roost closer..

Talondale.. I have not heard hardly a peep for the past 2 weeks.. But, I have been seeing a few.. The weather has been a mixed bag of things and those birds are not being talkative at all hardly. But I have been finding out that they are there.. So I will keep at them and hopefully be able to connect again..

Just back home from Kansas, and I tagged out this morning. Yesterday we didn't have any luck but this morning we killed three by 10:30. Just had to check in and see how the team was doing

Congrats swampbuster! Great to hear that!!

camokenny's turkey!! Congrats again camokenny!!

Your score is 24 + 15 + 15 + 21 = 75

I am in need of the time shot as well as the state if possible. Thanks Phil

This bird also replaces your bird which brings our team up another 14.25 points. We now have for the best bird per hunter score of 446.19 !! I have no re-done the totals birds again yet.. We still have time to get some more birds.. Good luck everyone out there hunting!

Congrats to everyone who has taken a bird the past few days! How are we looking at the standings?

Yes Conrats to everyone that has recently gotten birds!!!


Right now I have not got every thing figure out yet as I have been working nights and trying to hunt during the morning hours. For as far as where it counts being the best bird per hunter we have that still. I hope I can help get it to stay as we will be the winning team!! The over all scores I will check tomorrow when I have more time.. ( no Sunday hunting allowed here.)

I still need info and everything from the other birds that have been shot as well..

Well my 2014 turkey season is over. The Lord blessed me no doubt. Now I am left with nothing more to hunt until next fall. I feel like I should be outside doing something but there is nothing left to do. It's now open season for my family!

Shot my bird at 6;10 am in Iowa. Eastern

Thanks camokenny...

Bigc870.. When you scratch the leaves do it lightly.. Go with a 1 scrape then 2 slightly quick scrapes. That maybe of help as a turkey scrapes with one foot once and then the other foot twice. That maybe all it takes to convince him to come across? while I can not really say for it will cross the body of water. It would help to attract him to crossing..

Here is a short video off my trail cam this past winter of a hen scratching. It is someplace between the 10 to 15 second mark..

http://s820.photobucket.com/user/Phi...tml?sort=3&o=3

This will show you how a hen will scratch using 1 foot and then the other foot. Try and mimic how the hen does it in this short video.. I hope this will be of help to you..

jepcho, When you get a chance post up some info on your bird so we can get it added with the team scores. I will add them all up again tomorrow to see where we stand against the other teams. While I am still guessing team #6 still may be in the lead for overall birds.. I am also thinking we are closing the gap in this area as well.

Keep at em guys I have a good feeling about this years contest!! I am thinking we will all be on the team again together next year!! So hopefully we can keep the momentum going.. Good Luck everyone out hunting..

Good luck to every one! All I can do is cheer you on at this point. Hopefully we will all be on the same team next year!

Alright, here is the story and stats for my bird yesterday morning. The plan was for my dad to pick me up and we would fit a quick morning hunt in before work as we work at the same place. It was one of those mornings where things didn't seem to go right, and we were running behind, it was cold and really windy. Honestly my hopes werent really high. Since we were running late and plus the direction of the wind we really couldnt hunt the exact spot we wanted so we headed to a spot we had been to a couple times. Last time we were there we walked too close to the roost and setup 40 yards from a big bearded bird on the roost. There have been 4 gobbling and strutting jakes in this roost sight as well. We got there and got started in, sure enough, jakes gobbling on the roost. This time we got in and got to where we felt we needed to be set up. After listening to jake gobbles while it got light out, the birds, along with some hens pitched down about 80 to 100 yards away but out of sight. Shortly after I heard one of them gobble and I told my dad, that sounded like a tom. I called a few times quietly, and I could tell the birds were getting closer. I couldn't see them because of a brush pile 25 yards away but could hear them spitting and drumming and the jakes gobbling. I was pretty sure they were all jakes, but based on that one gobble that sounded better I was trying to stay optimistic. When I started seeing the lead birds head through the brush I got my gun readied towards my decoy. As he was getting closer, I was pretty sure I saw a beard through the brush. Sure enough the longbeard stepped out and came right to the decoy in full strut the whole time. I shot him at 14 yards. This turkey was really cool too. I believe he is a melanistic color phase bird. He is almost completely black, with no brown, bronze or any of the normal colors. The white on his wings was barely there and his tail feathers were just black, except for one which was normal color. Very unique. I was happy with him.

Stats:
Iowa Eastern
May 9th 6:00AM
23.5 lbs
9 3/4" beard
13/16" spurs
23.5 + 8.125 + 8.125 + 19.5 = 59.25

I agree, I have really enjoyed this team this year. Great group of hunters! It's been fun

Nice bird jepcho!

We are doing great! Yes, we have a great team this year and hopefully we will be the winning team this year. From the way it is currently looking we will be! Still though we can not let our guard down as anything can happen..

With the last 2 birds added we have now got a total number of birds score of 899.375! Way to go team! However I need to run a couple more totals on the other teams right now.. I am thinking we are now in the lead in this area as well!!
I also messed up on my adding as our Best bird per hunter score is actually at 445.625 rather than 446.19. We surely are still in the lead in this area!

I am putting the totals we currently have under our team scoring post to try and make it easier for us to keep track of..

Ok guys we are in the lead in both the best total per hunter as well as the best total of all birds combined !!! Congrats team !!

I am hoping we can stay in the lead all the way threw this contest.. It is looking great for us right now! I will be out very chance I can get to try and boost our score up some more as well! Just remember there is others on every team still hunting so lets see if we can get it won!!

Ok guys this is where our team is currently at.

Best bird per hunter = 445.625 ( 7 Birds )

Total number of birds score = 899.375 ( 15 Birds )

Ok guys team# 6 is still the closest with no change as of yet.. 833.3375
Then followed by team # 1 with 766.125 ( These are total number of birds scored per team. )

Congrats team!!! With the way the birds have been acting we may very well have it already won?? It will not be that far away and we will be finding out!

I still have until May 31st to pick up another bird for us.. Hopefully I can connect and push us into a better position to win this contest! Next this coming week I will only have Friday and Saturday to hunt in and then the following week 3 mornings and 3 days to hunt in. I am hopeful to fill my tag this coming weekend..

Congrats jepcho great story and great bird!

Hey Phil I will try to get pics sent to you and story posted this afternoon. It will be a busy Mother's Day for us

Well team it will be a pleasure hunting with you all next year as we will still be together after this contest.
First bird down in Nebraska is a giant. Watched him go to roost last nite so got in on him this morning pretty tight and early as he had a hen with him and I wanted to get a hen decoy set out without being seen. Started raining with lightning and thunder right before daylight. He gobbled three times on the roost then flew down about 70 yards out. hit him with a short series of yelps and he came in on a string. Shot him at 15 yards at 6:05am.
Eastern
Southeast Nebraska
6:05am
Mossberg 835 12ga.
24 lbs
beard #1- 11 1/4"
beard #2 - 9 3/8"
beard #3 - 8 1/8"
beard #4 - 8 1/8"
beard #5 - 8 1/8"
R spur 1 5/16"
L spur 1/2"

I still have two more tags to fill out in western Nebraska. Will probably go out there in a couple of weeks.
Phil I will be sending you more pics if you would kindly post them for me (us).

Congrats camokenney that sounds like a heck of a beard can't wait to see the pics of that turkey. That very well might have been the nail in the coffin!

Hoot!! Hoot!!!! That is one heck of a bird you have there camokenny!!!!! Hoot!! Hoot!! Now I think we all can start the celibrations!! Hoot!! Hoot! We are most likely on the same team next year!! I believe we now have this contest where we wanted it.. If anyone does not want to be on this team next year... To Bad you most likely will be!! I will be posting the pics shortly!!!

camokenny's Turkey.... Shall we all say turkzilla!! Congrats On a very nice bird!!


Your score is 24 + 13.125 + 5 + 90 = 132.125







I am not sure if I have the beards in the right order or not.. Here they are though..
Beard # 1

Beard # 2

Beard # 3

Beard # 4

Beard # 5