It's called HUNTING
 

Rob and I had a tough time with the turkeys this weekend.....but our wives and us had a blast, nonetheless. We hunted morning and evening Friday and Saturday......and saw birds in every sitting. The two highlights being a NICE bearded hen that we saw at 100 yds.....and an encounter with a longbeard spittin and drummin at 18 yds. He came in in full strut.....and it's just one of those things about hunting turkeys from a blind. I didn't have a clear shot out of the blind. I needed him to come about 10 more feet. He didn't....and he bugged out after about 5 minutes.

They all came in silent.....and we actually had birds roosting right above us, last night. Again.....no shot opportunities.

I'll let Rob give the details if he wants (in his journal).....but we heard probably 12-15 gobblers on Friday morning......a few Friday night as we hunted in the woods. Same thing Saturday morning......and then we waited back in the woods where we'd heard the birds roost on Friday night. 4-5 gobblers last night.....but everything either skirted us or came in silent to roost above us.

I think they're henned up pretty good, right now.....and hopefully it'll get better as the season progresses.I hunted 10 times in the first week (10 separate hunts)! I won't get to do that any more....but I'll be after them again.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

So close but yet out of reach!! Did you have some brush between you and the bird, or why did you need him to come 10 more feet for ya to get a shot. 18 yards, that oughta be close enough! On edit, please tell me that the blind spot between wondow nets wasn't what kept you from getting the shot!

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Jeff, glad to hear you guys had a great time .... one week from Tuesday is our season opener ....that following Friday my Dad goes in for open heart surgery .....not sure how much I'll be able to get out .....

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

We had the blind cinched down on the sides and back so we wouldn't get silhouetted. The blind was cinched down pretty tigh ton the right side (the side the gobbler came in on).....with the netting down. When it looked like he wasn't going to commit the last 25 feet to the decoy......I saw him go out of strut and stand up. By the time Rob got the blind slid open a little more.....he was walking off. If he'd have come 10 more feet....I had a clear shot through the opening.

It was an exciting encounter for me. I'm not disappointed in the least bit. I've never heard one spitting and drumming at that range. It was awesome.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Keep after them Jeff. Turkeys can really be a hard bag if things don't go just right. When they are "hened up" I don't use any decoys. When I call and one gobbels I will only call again if I see him holding up and that is just soft purrs and clucks. Good luck next time out.

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Keep after'em Jeff, you'll get that big Tom!!!

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Hang tight Jeff, You'll get him! Good story. Thanks for sharing.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

that sux i havent even been out yet

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the encouragement.

Rob is still used to the run and gun (emphasis on "gun") tactics he's always employed. It HAS to be discouraging for him to have all the toms he had "hot".......and not be able to get closer to them (the boy can call....and he had 'em answering....they were just with hens and hard to get to come t us). To me......(and we talked about this)...it's a product of the way in which we've chosen to pursue these birds. If you're going after them with the bow.....and you've strictly chosen that route.....you HAVE to know you're gonna get disappointed, some. I wasn't disappointed this week, though. I had a blast.

PT....I'll be thinking about your dad. Good luck.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Most of the time things do not go as planned. Still you had some great excitement and memories for later years even though you didn't score on a gobbler.Plus lessons learned.
I'll bet Rob filled you with so much info you are still feeling bloated.LOL
Glad to here you had a great time. Stick to it and it will happen.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Well at least you and Rob had a good time anyways and thats what really counts. :)

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

good to see you had a good time

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

I forgot to mention that we had time, between hunts - Friday, to go to my local shop and shoot at the 3D range. 20 targets.....most in the 30+ yd range (Range will acommodate a 44 yd shot). I got smoked in rounds 1 and 2 (OK..in round 3, too:eek:;)). I shot my first-ever score over 200 in round 3 (204) and lost to a 208. To give you an idea of the range (how it was set up, Friday).......the opening shot is a 43 yd shot to a bedded buck.Target 20 is a standing jake @ 42 yds.

I also saw approx. 20-25 deer in my 3 day turkey hunt. We saw a group of bucks on Friday evening that showed one promising guy already growing antlers. He came in with 3-4 others and right before a group of does. I saw 9 deer on Thursday evening....about 100 yds from my honey-hole.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Can't say a whole lot more then what I wrote in my journal. It should be up in a day or so once HNI approves and posts it but needless to say, My wife and I had a fantastic time in NC with Jeff and his wife.

As most of you know, I hunted with Jeff in his hot spots last fall for deer and I was overwhelmed with the number of deer I saw. We even had a ton of deer moving in and out of some of our setups.





Now, When Jeff talks of all the birds he has wondering around his haunts you can rest assured they are there. We heard a ton of gobblers off the roost and we had them talking most of the time we spent in the blinds. Other than Kansas, blind hunting with bows is very, very new to me. I'm used to running and gunning with my shot gun (which I love to do) and sitting tight in a blind takes a lot of patience. One of the reasons I was there (other than enjoying time with a great couple) was to share as much turkey knowledge and calling with Jeff as I could. Most of the information I was relaying to Jeff was shotgunning and how I would hunt a particular bird we heard if that were the case. Moving in tight to some of these birds was out of the question. We needed to sit tight and use the calls. We were very successful as far as I'm concerned. Right now it was tough to find a gobbler that didn't have hens and when we did, we had him strutting, spitting and drumming at 18 yards.

I'll be honest, I think I messed up that particular set. Once I had him strutting in front of the blind, I called hoping to make him sound off. Something Jeff mentioned he never heard a gobbler under 50 yards and believe me, it's different and awesome. It simply makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when they pound close range. Anyway, as nervous as that bird was, he simply stood up and walked away from us.

I struggled with the blind trying to get it open so Jeff could shoot. He was at full draw and I just couldn't get the blind open in time. The beautiful gobbler walked off...[&:]

After he moved off, semi spooked we gave him some time. I fired him up again and we relocated on him. We had him gobbling his tail feathers off and I told Jeff, I gauranteed that if we were shotgunning, moved in front of him, he'd be a dead bird, easy because he was HOT! Hunting with a blind is tough to do just that.

We got into a laughing spell prior to the gobbler coming in. Jeff nicknamed me the heninator....I called hens in, in every setup...unfortunately none of them pulled any gobblers along with them, which easily could have happened.





I even got Jeff napping prior to the gobbler action. This was shortly before the gobbler walked in.



Anyway, if you get the opportunity to check out my journal once J and the HNI staff get it posted, in the words of the great Paul Harvey, you can read the rest of the story!

http://www.huntingnet.com/fieldjournal/fieldjournal.aspx?id=58



This Saturday, PA's opening day comes in and I have the birds here at my house. Matt/PA will be joining me the first three days to hopefully collect on his first ever Spring Gobbler. I'm already looking forward to that.

I'd like to thank Jeff and his lovely wife Lisa for a fantastic weekend. The two of them make a wonderful couple and my wife and I had a blast.

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Thanks, Rob.

Thanks for posting the photos.

Here's one of (from L-R) My wife Lisa.....Rob....and his wife Jenny...shortly before departure back to PA. We'll do it agin, next Spring (and deer in the Fall, again).

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Sounds like you guys had a big time. Some of the best memories come from times when nothing was killed.

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Exactly Jim....exactly. :D

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And if you guys ever need a hen called in.....you'd do good to call on Rob.:D

I told him, Saturday morning......that all the birds he was trying to call in were "tommed" up...LOL:).

OK.....that was mean[&:].....but we were both CRYING we were laughing so hard...about 15 minutes prior to that stutter showing up. I think he was giving us a courtesy look!

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

That turkey will make a mistake...and when he does, you'll get him! Best of luck...

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Jeff, sounds like you all had a great time. Best of luck killing a gobbler the rest of the season.

Rob, your KS turkey hunt/journal was great, awesome photos etc.. Good luck the rest of the season. Nice work indeed.

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Thanks Troy, as soon as J get's my NC one up, should be good too. I appreciate it.

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

Come on buddy, it's been up for a few hours already. I'm working on Troy's latest right now. :D

RE: It's called HUNTING
 

You are good J, as soon as I posted that, I did notice it....thanks and again, good!