Team 5!!!
 

Hey everyone, I'm getting restless waiting for my late April opener in RI, and early May opener in CT... Where is evereyone hunting and how long until your seasons start... better yet, any birds on the ground yet? I think I was on Team 5 last year with one or two of you guys. We came in 2nd, lets kick some tailfeathers this year!

RE: Team 5!!!
 

Im in PA so i get to start late april....some guys say they have seen them puffed up recently in this warmer spell we had but i dunno i havent seen it yet, hope to score on one this yr , there is a smart tom on our farm that has gotten by us the last couple yrs....

RE: Team 5!!!
 

I'm from Michigan, my season starts May 8 and goes to the 31st. They are strutting around here already.

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PA and WV. i usually whack a big one every year so hopefully i can continue my streak.

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hi guys iam from ma. my season begains apr.24-may 20;)

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Hey fellas. I'm from SE Minnesota and my season runs Aprill 22-26. Cant wait!

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Hey y'all... I'm from Washington.. HopefullyI can bag at least one Merriam, Rio, or Eastern for the team...

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Hate to hafta flip through pages to get to the posts im interested in, so I'm bringing this one back up to the top. Where's the rest of the team at? Also, any suggestions for a team name? We should probably think of something soon and maybe get a banner or avitar made, whatever's allowable this year.

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got one for team 5, this was my 3rd day hunting him....

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Hey guys, I'll be hunting them here in PA. I may wind up doing some guiding again this year, but I'll be sure to takeone formyself. I'll be out with the spotting scope over the coming month -with any luck I can find a good scoring bird to key in on.

Looks like there are a few other PA hunters here,and since we're one of the last to kick the season off, we'll be in good position to add some points late.

Congrats on the bird, huntnma.Those are some beautiful hooks on that guy.1.5"+ spurs arevery rare - you shouldsave those or put them on a placque or mount. I have a really goodeasternmounted at home that has someimpressive hooks - they only come once in a lifetime. Go to NWTF.org and look up theFlorida records - your bird's longest spur (1.5")will put you in the all-time record bookin a tie for about 11th place among typical turkeys, if properly scored by an official NWTF scorer - if it is indeed a true Floridian subspecies. http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/turkey_records.php

I've followed some of you guys' past posts, and I know we have some experienced, successful hunters on this team. I'd say going in that we're one of the teams to beat in this contest.

RE: Team 5!!!
 

Hello fellas. Just found out I'm on the team. I'll be hunting here in Missouri and maybe Kansas. Been a few years since I've been hunting but I don't see me having any problems getting a bird this year. Good luck to everyone and be safe.
Brandon

RE: Team 5!!!
 

Hey everyone,
I will be chasing them in Northwest Oklahoma, our season starts April 6 and ends May 6. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

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quiksilver, what counties u turkey hunt in? greene, fayette, and washington for me. maybe we could go huntin sometime

RE: Team 5!!!
 

JH - I doall my PAhunting in Greene, Fayette, Westmoreland and Warren. For spring birds, mostly Greene and Fayettenam. I'd be up for doing a turkey hunt one day. I have to save one Saturday for one of my buddies from my Bowhunting team, and one Saturday to guide a guy.

Are you hunting WV this year? I might be hunting WV or OH, but I haven't bought the licenses yet. Waiting to see what happens with work.Lots of balls up in the air right now - this year will be tough to juggle it all. Once upon a time, there was enough time.

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Hey guys, I'm in NY and our season lasts all of May. I've been watching this huge tom last year and this past bow season. Hes got easily a nice 10 inch bearch maybe longer. Lets hope I'm able to bag him for the team. Lets kick some a$$.

RE: Team 5!!!
 

Z - Keep an eye out for that tom - he'll probably come back to his same spring breeding area from last year.

Brandon - Good luck with those big Missouribirds. I wish we grew 'em that big around here. 22-23.5 pounds is about as good as you'll find in my neck of the woods in the spring.

Okie - Man, I wish out turkey opener was in the first week of April! Keep us posted on thescouting - you only have 2 weeks left!

JH - I tried to PM you, but it didn't work. Do you have PM's shut off or something?

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QS - yeah oops i didn't realize it was off. it should work now

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ok ok i'm back and i saw i was on team 5 .i from south carolina and our season has done started in some parts and opens in the rest of the state on april one .o yeah i got one bird already back on the 15th but i aint postin him i think i can get one bigger .so team 5 finished 2nd last year well that aint happenin this year .yeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaw lets get ready to rumble .i watch to much restlin .

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Hey SC, glad to have u on the team. I think we can post more than one bird, just the biggest will count. Anyway, make sure you keep the stats of that bird you shot just in case... I'm still waiting on April 27th... I ticked off some bosses at work, they had me lined up to do some stuff on the 27th but that ain't happening!

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ty RISTRUT , i dont blame you about being off for opening day . i dont have to worry about my boss i know him real good ( its me im my own boss ) .i hope we can posy more than one i have four tags left to fill here in SC .i wish you the best of luck .

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FOUR TAGS!!! I'm moving.

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Guys , i have a huge tom on my farm , prolly 11 inch beard or so , over 20lb bird with huge hooks , but the last 2 seasons i have hunted this guy i can get to within about 70-80 yards and he always hangs up , but by the mid to end of season he usually wont gobble unless its on the roost , other then that he shuts up , i know the 3 major areas he likes to work but everytime i setup on one of them he seems to know im there somehow and goes to one of the others , do you have any ideas on a way to fool this old guy , i thought of maybe tryin to get within 60 yards of his roost way early , but when i tried that b4 he flew down uphill from me and worked away with some hens , he is a truely awesome looking bird and they have spotted him at the barn already eating out of the horse poop pile. i was wondering if anyone had a plan for hunting an old smart bird....

Also there are a few smaller toms and jakes , but when season rolls around they are never seen , we usually will see the big guy and maybe one other tom the first week then it seems that he runs them all off, what do yall think?

RE: Team 5!!!
 

DL55-

It sounds like he's already got a pretty nice harem of hens with him, so he's not going to be too aggressive in seeking out additional hens. For those older birds, you'll want to scale down yourcalling aggression, and resort to a more cunning, ambush approach. He doesn't get that old by running to every turkey call that he's ever heard, and he probably hangs up and makes the hens come to him, staying out of shotgun range.

If you're going to call him, I'dgive a "float calling" setupa try, which is a two-man setup thatputs a shooter between the tom and the caller, and the caller dropping maybe 40-60 yards back, leaving the shooter out where the tom usually hangs up. This way, he'll keep lingering back at his normal "safe" distance, but he'll be none-the-wiser to your presence. He might just be unpleasantly surprised by some #4 shot. We got a big old bird using this tactic on a guided hunt last year when the tom kept hanging upalong a field edge.

I think your best bet may be to get in tight on him on the roost, put a couple decoys out, and wait for the hensto flydown. Then, using very soft clucks and feeding purrs (or no calling at all, if he's that call-shy)try to lure the harem of hens in close. If you can get one hento start responding, you're in business. Call tothem, not him. He'll follow. This is tough to do before the foliage comes on heavy, because turkeys can see pretty well in the early daylight, and the lack of leaves really leaves you in the open.

Another tip would be to try surprising him by swinging in from behind, or an abnormal approach angle. Old turkeys get wise to hunters coming in the same way and using the sametechnique all the time. Swing around behind him in the dark, and approach from behind.If you can get within 75 yards of a roosted bird, you've got a solid shot at killing him,you've just gotta hope they head your way.

He sounds like a limbhanger.

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quicksilver ,if you would move for 4 how about 5 tags we get 5 tags a year i have already used one this season on openin day of the lowcountry season here in sc . i aint goin to say how many deer can take a year or u would move .lol.

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DoubleLung- Looks like quicksilver has some good stratgies. I was gonna suggest the two man approach, but he already had that covered and then some.

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my plan for henned up birds: go scouting the evening before the first day and locate the flock. wait til about 15 minutes before their usual fly up time and charge the flock. they'll all scatter which makes for an easy call-in on the first day. worked last year and hope it does again this year :)

the gobbler flew over to the next ridge and i was waiting on him when he woke up the next morning. called him right in for my friend.

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yeah im checking in too. I bagged at least one bird for the last three years in a row, so you can count on me getting one around early may. Hunting in colorado and back on my moms farm in indiana. good luck team

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I would also suggest trying new calls and different calling techniques. The bird might be educated to your specific calls.

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thanx a ton guys , the two man thing seems good , we did try that on him last season and it was working good , he was comin in on a string to my shooter i was calling for , he was at the closest we ever had him , 50 yards or so and we could see him through brush strutting his stuff our way , then all of a sudden i heard calling above us , next thing you know i see some idiot in no orange come walking down the hill , thats when all hell broke loose , there were turkey flying in all different directions.....

I also think now that i was getting way way way too close to the roost , i was getting to almost shotgun range of him on the roost , and then i was calling to his gobbles from the ground , so i think he caught on that his hens were still up and i was on the ground. im gonna try to just go in early , get fairly close , and then wait on him ....if only we could hunt after 12 in PA i would already have him , he roosts in the exact same tree every night , and i have already had him within slingshot range trying to roost them for the next days hunt. i have a good feeling about this being my yr....

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man we gotta keep our post up on page one , i just had to dig into page 4 to find it!!

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I cant belive some of you guys get 4-5 tags (lucky)we get 2 in ma. one for spring tom and ether sex in the fall, went to check one area i go to today all i seen were old scracthes, suppose to check out this land this lady owns, my friends saidshe has 100acre and nobody hunts there has fields and hardwoods theres got to be some birds there i hope.good luck guys and ladies

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hopin to get to use one my other tags or 2 in tomorrow .

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I'm hunting in Alabama. We can take 1 per day with 5 per year limit. I've gotten 2 for the team so far. I missed a nice one opening day (Mar 15th), had a brain fart and left a gold SHINEY fish hook on the bill of my cap. He putted............I shot over him..........I think he jumped the trigger.:eek: I'll be back out Monday, Tuesday, Fri, Sat, and maybe Sunday next week. They have just now started gobbling here in central 'Bama. Good luck to everyone else.

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To bad he jumped the shot. Good luck this week!

RE: Team 5!!!
 

well guys i called in an absolute MONSTER of a bird this morning. had season been in i would have gotten us alot of points. had him at 10 yards so i got a good look at him. he has to be at least 25 pounds and had the biggest beard i've ever seen. it was really thick and about 12-13" long. didnt see his spurs but he's definately an old timer. im going to leave him alone until season so hopefully he'll stick around that long. our season doesnt come in for 4 more weeks yet [:@]

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Good luck with that bird Jhalfhill. Quit callin to him or you just might find out he's alot tougher when the season opens than he is now! I just got out scouting for the first time today, checked out 3 spots. Was able to locate a couple birds, had them shock gobbling to my crow call. Unfortunately, they were on public land, the private spot I hit today I heard nada. Well, there's almost a whole month before the season starts, but it was sure nice to hear some gobbling. I have to firm up some more spots here in RI and in CT in the next week or 2. Glad to hear we have a few birds down, congrats to those that have scored already!

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What is everyones call of choice (type/brand)? Do you have one standby call that you go to when the goin' gets tough?

I'm still trying to find that "one" call. I have a slate "ole yellar" that I like but I'm still looking for something unique. I got a gobbler this past fall and had a wingbone call made from him, but darned if I can get that thing to sound right!

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ever hear of Preston Pittman turkey calls? they're mouth calls that are a little harder to use then most brands, but once u get used to them with some practice they work like no other. the ones i use are the 'lightning' and 'black diamond'. especially the lightning. get your hands on one and give ita try.

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i use calls from mad calls my all time fave is highball mouth call i have called in lots of birds with it . but have great luck with my new heavy metal pot call this season if i just quit shootin innocent trees i have only 1 bird so far this season .

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MN- Like scmt, I like those M.A.D. calls too. My all time favorite is called the Shippwreck - Don Shipp won the NWTF title with his homejob, so he patented and mass-produced the design. I just like it b/c the frame's made with a non-plastic material that doesn't slide around in my mouth when I'm purring with it. They seem to fit my mouth pretty well, too - no trimming required. It purrs and cuts nice.

For friction calls, I like the aluminum ones best. I think mine's a quaker boy, but I prefer to use a MAD rosewood striker with a small dowel diameter.

JH - glad to hear you've got the drop on a longbeard. We'll be sure to get out one day this spring. I'll keep you posted. I was out in Greene County scouting last week. Found a nice shed and saw a couple longbeards. It won't be long, and you'll be after them in WV.