Anyone else get their hats handed to them by turkeys this season?

dannyb278

dannyb278

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What a season for me here in Minnesota. Cold and wet, my woods have been quiet. But I have been seeing turkeys and confirmed that a guy that regularly shoots 20-23 on the trap range, can indeed miss a strutting tom with a load of 12 gauge #5 at 30 yards. Buck fever I guess, shot right over the top of him.

I have one more chance this weekend, hoping for sunny skies and gobbling Toms.

coldnwet.jpg
 
In ancient days everyone was broken into two classes; hunters and gatherers. I'm a farmer, so that's my excuse for my ever increasing pile of un-notched tags. In my defense, my turkey hunting this year was measured in a few minutes time, there's a small chance I might get back out before the season ends.
 
yep, Season is over and I'm still searching for my first turkey. I did see two hens today with 10 poults each, they were tiny.
 
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I passed on a jake early on, but never got closer to another here in MT. In fairness, I did switch over to bear three weeks ago.
 
I stopped hunting turkeys like you should hunt turkeys...from calling them in to spot and stalk. They quit coming in to calls around here, or at least don't come in like they used to, many years ago. Could be coyotes, could be people calling them in before season, could be the season is too late here...but they just don't gobble like they use to. The hens don't even call like they used to. I just pattern them, figure out where they want to go and get ahead of them. Rarely hit the call unless I'm sure one will come to it. It ain't as heart pounding as calling in a strutting gobbling Tom but it works and is quite fun in its own right.
 
Yes. I only got to hunt 1.5days, and the weather didn't cooperate very well at 1/2 of that. I had one at 32yds, but he just didn't clear a small juniper for a shot. Called another tom out into a pasture, but with no decoys he was content to strut/gobble 90yds way in the open...
 
Yup. Only got out a few times trying to get my son his first bird. I didn't buy a youth tag this year and we had a big tom strutting around in the yard during youth season. A couple of weeks later I took the kids out and called in two birds...he missed. And that was it for the season.
 
My turkey seasons typically fluctuate between very hot and very cold on getting into birds especially in years when I don't put in the number of days afield. My last 2 years have been pretty good, but I've definitely had poor streaks as well. I love turkey hunting, but the number of days I get out certain varies a lot year over year more than fall seasons.

I feel like I can more consistently get into birds year over year in the Midwestern states whose seasons start second week of April rather than even the third week of April because the hens don't have the toms locked down quite as badly. Wind is hard to hunt through; consistent rain just means you have to pack a ground blind. The last week of April and first week of May are typically a grind and the toms often become more vulnerable again mid May if you are still in the woods.
 
Here in NJ there are turkeys everywhere....except where I hunt. Didn't see a bird until the week after my permit expired, on my way fishing. Flock of 25 with 9 long beards
Maybe next spring.
 
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