1st time in years

Silencer · May 25, 2009, 04:56:40 PM

I cant remember the last time I didnt tag a spring gobbler

Seriously, this is a first for me. I only hunted 4 Wednesdays of the season and that usually is enough time but not this year.
Next year I'll be saving some vacation days again.
I did hear alot of birds, seen plenty of hens, a couple red fox, and one large bruin boar so it all wasnt a waste. ( got a couple new duck huntin spots with permish

)

alscalls · May 25, 2009, 05:37:16 PM

I hunted HARD......I missed one and passed one

I shoulda tagged out but it was not an easy year here either....Probably the worst turkey hunting I have seen yet.
Next year we should have some monster birds running around though...

there weren't very many killed this year.

KySongDog · May 25, 2009, 05:41:04 PM

I ended up with one jake and now I feel lucky.

The ice storm in Kentucky made the woods near impassable with out sounding like a train. Plus the birds would not gobble. At least not like they use to on my little patch of ground.

But on the bright side, there's always the fall turkey season and next spring to look forward to.

Bills Custom Calls · May 25, 2009, 06:35:35 PM

Tough season for me also

KySongDog · May 26, 2009, 10:49:13 AM

I remember when I first started turkey hunting back in the mid 80's. In KY, the only huntable population of birds was at LBL and they were few and far between.

So actually, today's times ARE the good 'ol days.

Silencer · May 27, 2009, 05:01:29 AM

Semp, when my dad started years ago I remember it was a real big deal in town to bag a bird. There were no numbers at all. That musta been the mid 70's, now the population is overwhelming.
The amount of hen to gobbler ratio is on the hen's side.
Gonna make sure we get some hens this fall.

canine · May 28, 2009, 07:44:46 PM

They were hard to come by all over. I hunted South Carolina, New York and Ohio. South Carolina sucked, hardly any birds talking at all. New York had plenty of birds but they were henned up bad and would not answer a call any closer than 80 yards. Ohio was tuff also, I did manage a 2 year old that had spurs and beard of a jake, I know he was two because of him being seen in this flock for 2 years until this year

Semp, we had a bad ice storm several years back, It made the turkey hunting worse, still is bad. I don't know how many times a bird would hang up beyond blown down tree tops, I know it's been plenty! I can't believe there not smart enough to just walk out and around them

Hope you all have better luck next spring!

JD

KySongDog · May 28, 2009, 07:59:26 PM

Quote from: canine on May 28, 2009, 07:44:46 PM

Semp, we had a bad ice storm several years back, It made the turkey hunting worse, still is bad. I don't know how many times a bird would hang up beyond blown down tree tops, I know it's been plenty! I can't believe there not smart enough to just walk out and around them

Hope you all have better luck next spring!

JD

I can understand what you are saying. The ice storm we had back in late January made a bad turkey season worse. No way to sneak around in that mess.

Looks like I might have to give up turkey hunting....... NOT!

BigB · May 28, 2009, 10:17:37 PM

It was tough for me this year in Kansas too. I did manage to get a strutter with my bow, but I wasn't able to call any toms in at all. They just weren't responding to any calls, and that was just 20 days ago. Late season they usually are a little more cooperative, but not this year. We actually had 3 toms coming our way, and when we hit the call, they turned and ran the other way. I know that they aren't pressured birds cause I'm the only guy that hunts this place. Hopefully next year will be better.

Brian

canine · May 28, 2009, 10:22:45 PM

Brian, It's weird, that's the kind of stories I have heard and seen across the country? In New York we hunted birds on a 1,000 acre place that hadn't been hunted at all this year. Never seen birds that as soon as their feet hit the ground they were off and out of there..LOL...they did the usual turkey thing....vanished...LOL

JD

alscalls · May 29, 2009, 06:51:09 AM

I passed one bird and missed another so I guess I should not complain but It was a very tough season.

iahntr · May 29, 2009, 08:36:57 AM

I called in a jake and passed.
That was the only action I had.

Seen a few, but nothing responding.
I talked to a friend of mine the other day,
he said he sold all his turkey huntin stuff.

Scott

alscalls · May 29, 2009, 07:34:14 PM

Most of you fellas are probably too young to remember this stuff.......

this aint the only tough year there has been........we have tried some desperate tricks.......And yes I do believe turkeys can smell....just not real well....... laff

Coulter · May 29, 2009, 08:13:20 PM

I gave my last ditch effort today in NY to no avail. I did get a shot off at one last week but missed. It just dawned on me today WHY I missed. As I leaned my gun against a tree today I noticed I still have my waterfowl choke in the gun

Well, I don't know for sure if that's why I missed, but that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Oh and that was way before my time Al...what the heck was that stuff supposed to do?

Steve

LORDDAL · May 29, 2009, 08:54:48 PM

OK AL you got me never heard of that so just what does turkey lure smell like

BigB · May 29, 2009, 09:03:46 PM

Here's an example of my luck. I've got a jake decoy at 20 yards, and a hen decoy at 40 yards. There are two longbeards out in the field that just walked right past me. I was calling, but they weren't having none of it. This happened at 30 minutes after sunrise. They weren't heading towards hens, because they left the hens (out of the picture on the right) and just went on their merry way.

Toms seemed to be really henned up still really late in the season. Every tom that I saw, had at least 3 hens with him. And none of the toms were alone. Seemed to have 2 or 3 toms together at all times.

We had cooler than normal temperatures in April, and I am wandering if that kind of delayed the normal progression of the turkey's springtime activities. Usually in May, a tom will either be by himself, or maybe with 1-2 hens. But by 10 am, they are on the prowl looking for 2nds.

Brian

alscalls · May 29, 2009, 09:39:01 PM

Quote from: Coulter on May 29, 2009, 08:13:20 PM
I gave my last ditch effort today in NY to no avail. I did get a shot off at one last week but missed. It just dawned on me today WHY I missed. As I leaned my gun against a tree today I noticed I still have my waterfowl choke in the gun Well, I don't know for sure if that's why I missed, but that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Oh and that was way before my time Al...what the heck was that stuff supposed to do?

Steve

Quote from: LORDDAL on May 29, 2009, 08:54:48 PM
OK AL you got me never heard of that so just what does turkey lure smell like

Charles:
Turkey...... :roflmao:

Charles and coulter:
The theory at the time was because of what we had learned about buzzards....tests were done on how a buzzard found its food and they would even bury a dead chicken and in a couple hours of flying around they would land right on it dig it up and eat it. so without seeing the food, they came to the conclusion birds must be able to smell.
So it only made sense that other birds must be able to smell as well....it never took of because it never seemed to make a difference to a horny gobbler what she smelled like.... :roflmao:
Just goes to show ya what desperate hunters in the past have been through.....Just think if it had worked....WOW.....that would have been something.
So watch out!! next time a gobbler watches you from 5 yds. for two hours he may get your wind.......

KySongDog · May 30, 2009, 05:39:06 AM

I've always thought that if a turkey could smell along with his excellent eyes and ears, well, the difficulty of killing him legally would go up by a factor of 10 at least.

canine · May 30, 2009, 02:35:38 PM

Cool pictures Brian, Looks like there is no shortage of birds for sure!

I agree semp...sneaky birds would be tuff to kill!

JD

BigB · May 30, 2009, 10:31:56 PM

Semp,

I agree with ya that they would be a ton harder to kill em legally if they could smell. But I think that the ole turkey hunters would eventually figure out a technique to kill em. Or the industry would develop something specific for the turkey hunters to use while turkey hunting, like the Tinks Turkey Scent that Al posted earlier. The clothing industry evolved for the deer hunters with the introduction of the ScentLock clothes, so I figure something similar would happen to the turkey hunters.

I'm trying to think how I would hunt them differently if they could smell really well. Obviously, I would have to deal with the wind currents and contemplate using ScentLock gear. But I may rely a lot more on decoys, less on calling, and would probably utilize more ambush style techniques with the terrain. Hunting would require a lot more scouting in order to learn their patterns. Baiting or supplemental feeds/attractants would probably enter into the equation too. The regulations would probably have to change and become a little less stringent. There's farmers around me that don't let me coyote hunt on their property, because they want the coyotes around to control the turkey population. One farmer told me this spring turkey season to take more than one turkey or don't even think about asking for permission for next year.

Turkey hunting would definitely be different than we know it today. It probably wouldn't have the lore and rich call/callmaking history that is has today.

Brian