Well team we are currently in first place now! While I am not sure if we can hold onto it or not it surely feels good to be able to say we are there for now! Great work at getting things done. Whether we stay on as #1 or not does not really matter to me as the other teams still have some seasons opening up on the 1st as well. The main thing is to stay safe and enjoy your hunting..

Congrat Phil on your bird!

Have they updated the standings so that you know we are in 1st?

I've got us another bird....details to follow!

Well I'm back from my trip to southern Iowa and we had a blast. The birds were working great. I scored on the first day. I'll post the story, pics, and score when I get home from work today! Do I just have to post the stats on here then?

Congrats to you Phil and jepcho. Glad to see that y'all got a bird.

Congrats jepcho! I am glad to hear you scored as well !! We are definitely in number 1 position right now! Way to go team! Yahoo we are getting it done!

My story of yesterday... I was driving up to where I was going to set my blind up and around a mile from where I park my truck 2 hens started walking into the woods. This section of woods is around a 1/4 mile long and 150 yards wide. There is the pipeline on one side and a power line on the other side of it. So I stopped and watched the hens for a minute as it was light rain coming down. So I figured what the heck and tried my luck at calling. before I knew another hen showed up with a tom close behind her. I grab my shotgun and got out of the truck and they took running. So I walked back down the road and over to the power line and tried calling some more. In about five minutes I was watching the hens when one saw me. They started to go in a different direction. I looked around for the tom and spotted his tail moving up and down from behind a small ever green sapling. I waited until his head showed up with the only problem he was around 60 yards away. I thought about it as I knew he was going to go with the hens. I figured I may as well give it a try and the old goose gun dropped it like a pile of bricks on it's head. So it really is not very much of a story but a good bird none the less.

My story of this morning has me confused.. I went in and set up my blind. I was late getting there. I figured what the heck I wanted to hunt out of it so I was going to. After setting it up and setting 2 hen decoys out I sat there and tried calling. After setting there for around 2 1/2 hours I got bored and decided to take a walk up the road farther.

Once I got out of my blind a huge turkey came out around 400 yards up the hill from me. So back in my blind I went. I stood there watching him as he strutted a couple of times looking like a bear cub from where I was at. So I called a few more times and he turned and started coming my way. I lost sight of him a few times and called a couple of more times. He kept on coming into my calling. No gobbling or anything. It took around 20 minutes for him to come in to around 40 yards from me. He would not come in any closer even with my hen decoys. Just no way could I get him to come in for me. So numb one here decided to take a shot. I missed him and off he went. I can not figure out how I had missed him at all but I did. This was a bird I tried all hunting season to get a shot at and there he was.. He was huge and no doubt the biggest I have ever seen up in these parts..

Now I am wondering if he will be back again or not? I am hoping so and now wondering whether I should keep my blind there or move it? Any thoughts on this one. I also believed he hung up because of the wind blowing on my blind making noises..

Sorry blackheel I have over looked it.. Congrats again first of all!

No they have not updated it yet so I have been following the teams to see what happens. For as far as each team member getting birds and the weight of them we are right now in first place! There is no doubt about it and now jepcho has sealed the deal I hope! I am not sure about the weight of combined birds as of yet. But I am thinking with yours and jepcho we are now!! Great job everyone and I will keep routing and trying to help seal the deal! But it goes by the best weight of each bird a team member gets and not all birds from that team. ( the best bird one bird from each member ) If we can hold onto it is the question.. As of right now though it is ours!! There is still more hunters on some of the teams who will be starting Thursday and Saturday and they can make a game changer on us. But for now any ways we are shining! I think we are going to win it and we can see by the number of birds and the average weight we are really laying the smack down! There is 7 of us now counting jepcho that has nailed a bird so far. I am not sure what jepcho has as of yet but so far our best bird average is over 55 ( closer to a score of 57 or 58 someplace) that will be hard for the others to beat unles a few multi beards show up.. Or a team gets a few more members getting birds.. But, some of these guys has the season closing soon so who knows who will win it? We do! That is who!

Hey guys! Sorry I havent been posting on here much. First off congrats to everybody who has tagged birds this spring, and those that havent but have been out there having fun! I've read through all the posts and think we really have a great team this year!

I have been out a few times with my little brother this spring but finally got out this last weekend for Iowa's 3rd season. Everything worked out for me this last friday the 25th. I got a chance to go to southern iowa and hunt with my dad which was great. I really wanted to focus on getting him a bird, although he wanted my little brother to shoot one. Well we got on a hot gobbler on the roost the first morning, and it didn't take long after flydown for me to work him into range. He spotted something he didn't like and started to booger, thats when I told my dad to kill him. He had to swing his gun and ended up shooting and missing as he was starting to take off. He was pretty upset and I quickly tried to pump him up. We grabbed the decoys and headed off to find another hot gobbler. We snuck out to a field and spotted 3 toms with 2 hens. After moving on them a few times, during which I was yelping to keep them located, I suddenly realized that they were coming into my calling pretty fast. We had to set up really fast and only I was able to get setup facing the right direction. All three came in strutting and gobbling. When the got into 20 yards and I went to put my sight on the lead bird, I realized my scope was completely fogged up because of how wet everthing was that morning. Luckily I was able to get my finger up and wipe it off just enough to get my crosshairs on one of the birds red head and drop him!! Such a fun morning. The next morning we got on two toms with 4 hens on the roost and watched them fly down about 200 yards out. We watched them strut around the hens for 2 hours, calling occasionally. I told my dad and brother that we just had to wait them out. Sure enough, after those two hours, the flock broke our way and here they all came right in. One of the toms got 5 yards behind us, gobbling and spitting and drumming, while the other came into our decoys about 8 yards in front of us. My little brother shot and missed and my dad backed him up and dropped the bird. It was a great weekend, we were on birds a lot more just couldnt close the deal for my brother. I have one more tag for Iowa's 4th season that starts tomorrow. I should be able to fill that tag as well. Anyway, my birds stats..

Eastern in Iowa
4/25/14 at around 7:00 AM
20 lbs
1 3/16 spurs
10.375 beard
Your score is 20 + 11.875 + 11.875 + 20.75 = 64.5

If you need anything else to get his score posted let me know

First of all congrats on a very nice bird!!!

jepcho, you may have to show measurements of both beard and both spurs as proof if someone complains. Meaning that you should if you can put a tape rule or ruler showing the measurements if some one wishes to see them...

I am going to post this for you as is...

Yes we have a great team of guys on our team that is for sure..

Hey guys this makes 7 of our team members scoring birds! We are doing great in this area.. That is where we will end up winning.. and That is where it counts.. Keep up the great work guys!

For as far as over all bird tally we are still behind team 6.. They just keep getting them.. But it mostly all the same ones getting the birds.. But that does not matter to much anyways..

Once you get your pics up blackheel I will get it posted for ya! Congrats!

Phil, how many more birds you able to shoot? I'd get back after that big one you missed.

Jepcho congrats on a great bird!

Just checking in I have been away a while.

First and foremost congrats to every one that has bagged a bird or birds!!!!!!

For me it has been a big goose egg. Had one on his way in around 11am and once he seen my decoys he turned around and got out of there. I guess he had been there and done that!!

I have heard alot of birds but once they hit the ground everything goes silent real quick.

I was walking around yesterday looking for a place that looks like the feed alot since they won't work, I thought I would go with the deer hunting approach and wait them out, and found a pretty good spot.

I spooked one off roost at 9:50am. I can't for the life of me figure out why he was still on roost, I was the only one within about a mile or two.

I still have until May 11th so don't count me out just yet!!!!!

Anyone got any advice on what is the best way to hunt turkeys that are not gobbling once they hit the ground?

jepcho I am allowed to shoot 1 more bird so I am trying pretty hard to get it done.. I am heading back out this morning and may leave that big bird alone for a couple of days. If there is one big bird there must be another big bird around some place.. That way if I do not have any luck I can try him again after a few more days.. I have until the last of May to try and get him.. On the bright side.. I have not seen a jake as of yet.. Just 2 and 3 year old birds or older.. I am hoping to better my score but if not a 50 or better will be a nice bird for the team..

bigc, I have not heard a gobble as of yet either as it has been rain and wind the first day and wind on the second day go figure.. I think I am supposed to have showers on the next 2 days.. I hope not but no one can make their own weather.. I am hoping to hear a gobble today. If not it is what it is.. But I can say where I am hunting there surely is turkeys and no bugs biting me as of yet..

Are you using a tom with your decoys? If so leave the tom out of there. Hens should draw one in and sometimes the birds do not like a tom or a jake and will simply go away. An aggressive bird will tackle either a jake or a tom in a hurry while a passive tom will just walk away. He already has hens and does not want to mess with another tom or jake.. Sometimes that is the way they do it.

Set a hen out where the tom has to come by you in order to see it works sometimes. that one will work and do not over call him. He maybe used to calls and is call shy. What I did yesterday was just give a couple of calls and wait for a half hour and give a couple of more. Fortunately for me I was able to see him and just watched him coming towards me and only called when he had stopped up for a while. With all the wind I had my doubts on seeing anything at all.

I am going back into there to day only a little farther up the road and will leave my decoys at the blind on this trip and just hide in the rocks or a set of small bushes near an opening in the wall. I know that the turkeys are there so I will do my best.. I will let you know how things work out.. After all the object is to try and get him to come in looking for the hen.. So if the hen is not there he is going to have to look harder.. This may not help you in your situation but worthy of a try. Just becarefull of over calling them..

I will try to get pics up. I am in a bad cell area so trying to get them up to photobucket is really tough.

I got my last tag of the spring filled this am in the pouring rain. First double bearded bird of my life! Unfortunately he looks like a drowned rat as hard as it was raining and he flopped into a puddle after the shot.

It has been a very blessed spring!! Good luck to the rest of the team as their seasons continue.

For those that are having trouble with birds shutting up on the ground, try to figure out where they are going after they hit the ground. Being a good woodsman/woman can kill a lot more turkeys then a world class caller!

Phil I had 2 hen decoys out and very little calling. I don't hunt with with male turkey decoys too many people around for that.

Where I hunt the birds are pressured alot. I think that is why they won't work and stop gobbling quick. Only thing I can think of to do is just setup and due very little calling and hope one will walk by. There are several gobblers in there. I usually hear 15 or so first thing in the morning but they are not close enough to go after since they only gobble on roost.

bigc870 - Try no decoys. Public or private land? Also if you know where they are roosting, push in fairly close extra early if you can. If you are hearing 15 different birds, you should be able to get one. Also, once you get him to gobble, he knows where you are. If you keep calling and firing him up, his gobbling may attract hens and shut him down.

Bigc870 I think you are experiencing henned up gobblers or pressured birds or maybe even both. Hunting deer hunting style is all you can do( I hate hunting turkeys that way). I would try to see if they are roosting any were close to the same area. I know its frustrating. Good luck

Congrats on all the birds guys. Well, we've had heavy rains and thunder for 3 days now. I was able to go by Walmart and pick up the last two hen decoys they had. Turkey Thugs, which are better than the old decoys the bear ate. Inspection of the blind revealed 4 broken rods and a 1'x2' L tear in the roof with several claw punctures and small tears. I guess he stood on it with his front paws. Not sure I can repair it. I may try sewing a patch that covers that quarter of the roof. Have to see how much rods would be shipped. I can find another similar hub style for $99 but that's not in the budget for this season. Looks like I'm going to be going ghillie suit for the rest of the season. Thankfully it's warmed up some. Tomorrow morning looks like raining in the morning so I won't go out if it is. Friday, I may be able to get in an hour before work. We can hunt all day, starting tomorrow, so some evening hunts may be possible.

bigc, I do not hunt with my tom either right now and I am leaving my jake in as well. The only thing I am currently using is 2 hens. One of them feeding and one not. To date I have yet to hear one gobble for me or gobble at all. It has been windy except for today and still no gobbling..

I did see that bird on the way in this morning and I bumped him. He run down a small hill out of my sight and then flew off. I am very glad to see it none the less as it bothered me. Now I know he will be there for another day.

Talondale, I am sorry to hear how bad that bear struck your blind. I know that has to be a big disappointment. The claw marks in my roof I was able to put some camo tape on it. I am not sure how that is going to hold out for me. But, I figure I had nothing to loose and it was smaller than your damage. Hopefully you can get back out and have some success.. But none the less if you can get back out enjoy the hunting..

Congrats on the birds guys! I just went by and pulled my camera. No pics of turkeys but I did see a gobbler track in the mud. You could see the details in the track so my guess is that it's pretty fresh

If you are still having trouble blackheel you can pm me and I will let you text it to me and post it up for you? Just no giving my text number out..

Hey guy just got another one! Great hunt and great morning to be in Gods creation! Both of his spurs are broke off( to bad) send pic to you later Phil and post details. Got to get to work.

Congrats, you're on fire swampbuster!

Congrats swampbuster! Way to go!! Even without spurs he will still add on the teams total any ways.. I know it sucks as it will keep the score down though..

Congrats swampbuster! I can wait to get back out after them this weekend.

He would definitely be my best Arkansas bird if he at least had 3/4 spurs

Phil - I'll get pics posted in a few hours. They're now on photobucket.

Bird 1 - Eastern 4/29/14 5:57 am Shotgun 19 yds 22lbs Beard 10.1875 Right spur 1.25 Left spur 1.125
Bird 2 - Eastern 4/30/14 8:39 am Shotgun 33 yds 22.25 lbs Beard 1 10.5625 Beard 2 8.5 Right spur .8125 Left spur .9

I'll get pics and story up. I have done my part as I am now tagged out! Good luck to the rest of the team in the remaining season. Enjoy yourself in God's beautiful spring!

Alright blackheel!. I will score them no and get them posted why we wait for the pics!

Congrats on getting your tags filled as well. I am lost on you beard measurements ?? I put them in in fractions if I put it this way the .5625 does not measure up.. Do you mean .625? I went withe .625 until I hear any different.

1 st bird scores Your score is 22 + 12.5 + 12.5 + 20.375 = 67.375

I have for your second bird as Your score is 22.25 + 8.125 + 9 + 38.25 = 77.625 Any thing different let me know..
Also both birds in N. C. ? I am thinking so but wanted to clarify..

Both birds are huge! Way to go blackheel! Hopefully I can get another before our season ends!

Way to go team. Sorry about not being on much lately but we were moving into a new house so was really busy with that but its done so back to hunting for me. Will be out this weekend here in Iowa with the little lady so maybe we can double. Will be heading to Nebraska shortly to work on those 3 tags but that won't be a problem as it is open till the end of may. Congrates to all.

It is good to hear from you camokenny.. We all know what it is like to be busy that is for sure! The whole team is doing pretty darn good. I hope one or to more can help us along as well. But, I am thinking we will be winning this contest! balckheel and swampbuster has been laying the smack down! So right now it is still anyone's guess on the most birds and weights combined even though that one is most likely team # 6 as it looks right now. .. However we need not forget that it is based on the single biggest bird per team member..

Also guys I have started marking the guys with multiple birds the best bird they currently have to make it easier to keep track off. So if any changes on the best bird I will update as we go along. For those of us with one bird I left unchanged and will up date if any more come in..

What part of Nebraska are you going to hunt? I went to the pine ridge last year and I loved it. Can't wait to get back

Phil, thanks for all your work as captain this year. You have been a great captain!

I think I might have to go to Nebraska in the next spring or two myself. I keep hearing about how amazing it is. I've got a trip to Tennessee planned for next year and am also working on possibly Oklahoma or Kansas, in addition to my home state of Iowa.

I will be going to broken bow again this year. I have some very good private land there to hunt. I will save one of my tags for se neb to hunt with friends down there. its easterns there but they are big like here in Iowa. Went to Curtis area one trip last year and hunted birds that had never been called to ever , had a blast there. they were rio- Merriam cross. The little lady and I will bust a couple big easterns here in Iowa before we head out west.

I will get stories up tomorrow.

Bird 1

Bird 2 (Double beard) - Note the 2 drowned rats in the first photo!