Talking Turkey

Shot this bird opening morning. He came in with two other Tom's. This one weighed 18 lbs. with a 10 1/4" beard and 1" spurs. Share your birds for all to see.

This is how we do it in the East. My second bird with my son-in-law and my first double. Both birds weighed 18lbs. 10" beards, 1 1/8" spurs.

Congrats on the birds.

I've been out twice since opening day (April 30th). Heard a bird on Saturday but it wouldn't cooperate. Put a bunch of miles on to get another bird to respond but they just weren't talking. I heard one yesterday morning...it went the other way and someone whacked it.

Hoping to have better luck if/when the weather starts to cooperate.

Hammer

I dont even know where to begin to hunt turkey around here without having to pay $1,000 dollars.

How did you hunt those turkeys? Did you put them to bed the day before? Did you use a blind? What calling dod you use to fool the toms? Did you use Decoys?

1000 dollars...you kidding me. Here in PA they are part of our $20 license we buy each year and for an extra $20 we can shoot a second bearded bird.

I don't usually put them to bed. I have done it before but I find it hard to get them to gobble at night. I get up early and go to where I heard them while I was scouting before season. When I hear them...I move in and try to set up as close as possible. Basically all is use is hen yelps and decoys maybe 25% of the time.

I'd be sick if I couldn't hunt them. It's my favorite time to be out and prolly one of my favorite seasons. I love hunting crows too.

Hammer

OOh the tags dont cost that much... I would guess that 90% of texas is privately owned and if you want to hunt on a turkey property..it costs a premium. Public land is few and far between and I would be more afraid of being killed on public land in TX then anywhere I have ever hunted.

I hunted turkey for one season before I moved to TX... I loved it so much I could feel it in my bones, it makes me sick every time turkey season rolls around, then rolls on by.. I can't afford the turkey leases out here.

I love dove almost as much as goose hunting, then turkey, then crow. Honestly I would rather just call crows then shoot em..

Like Hammer our turkey tags (2) come with our big game hunting license. Hammer; try the ole crow call about 20 minutes before dark. Three or four loud burst of caw,caw and caw. If he is within earshot he may let you know which limb is sitting on so you're next mornings set up will be an easier decision. The double taken on the first morning was a classic. I knew the field these birds frequented, so on Friday afternoon about an hour before dark I drove by the field and sure enough, there they were in the back corner getting ready to fly up to roost. We waited for them to get settled and then put up our ground blind about 300 yards from where I thought they would fly down. This was the first time I had used a blind so two people could possibly get a chance at a double. Picture perfect! I never call first thing in the morning until I hear the bird gobble, then I start talking to him with some soft yelps and purrs and clucks to begin my call series and to end it. Once he flies down then it is soft purrs and clucks for me. That's just what went down here. Three toms flew down with four hens. They strutted around for about five minutes, saw my decoy set up, which consisted of two hen decoys, one feeding and one alert and a jake posted close to the alert hen, and then they came in on a string. We counted to three and boom two nice birds were down. The number three bird is still out there somewhere wondering what happened to his buddies.

Want to let everyone know that Kansas is one of the hot spots for turkeys. And I do mean "hot". Just returned from Kansas hunting the three-toed-ghost, driving 3,050 miles round trip. Got ready to go out last Monday afternoon to hunt and my truck thermometer read 101 F. It never got out of the 90's the whole week. BUT, even as hot as it was the Rio Turkey's were gobbling and in good numbers. I had the pleasure of taking my son along on this trip. (Nothing better than a father/son road trip). He is an avid bow hunter and wanted to try his luck shooting a turkey with his new Mathews Extreme Z7 bow. We managed to fill three out of four tags but came up short with the bow. For those who do not know, killing a turkey with a bow is not easy and a lot of prep goes into it. Check out a few of our pics.
If anyone is interested in a good guide reference, let me know and I will pass it along.