2020 Turkey Success Thread

[Cant hit em]

Daughters on the board with this pubic land Jake this morning

 

[Cant hit em]

Called this one for my best friend yesterday on BLM land . Two came in real close , he arrowed his I shot my arrow through my blind and into outer space

 

[MeatBuck]

Hence "Can't hit em"

 

[Cant hit em]

Hence "Can't hit em"

I have that issue sometimes

 

[SoDaky]

SoDak this AM.

 

[gsimmons2]

Shot my first turkey On my first turkey hunt on 4/5 here in Central, Texas. Just acquired this lease in January and had seen turkeys on it before so I figured I’d give it a shot. Bought a cheap slate call from Bass Pro and spent a lot of time practicing and watching videos.

Got out there about 15 minutes after daylight and could hear some gobbling coming from the neighbors property. Tried to do some light calling but the weather was dreary and misting so I didn’t get much of a response.

Sat til around 11 am and went and checked out my other properties and was back at around 2:30, by now the sun had came out and it was nice weather. Immediately heard a gobble coming from the same area but he went silent. Around 4:30 I took a nap and was woken up by a gobble at about 80 yards. This time I gave a few clucks and the woods lit up with 3 different gobbles. At this point I could see 3 jakes coming my way. They got to the fence line and seemed uninterested in crossing and stood there for what seemed like forever before walking off in the other direction. So I left the blind and ran up to the fence to try to call them back. 2 of the jakes responded and came strutting back in through the fence and gave me a shot at 20. This was my first time hunting turkey but won’t be my last. One of the coolest experiences I’ve had in the woods.

Any tips on getting them to cross the fence easier would be appreciated!!

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[novcie870]

My son was able to seal the deal on this tom this morning here in Idaho. It’s his last youth hunt, so it made this mornings hunt extra special!

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[FLS]

My son was able to seal the deal on this tom this morning here in Idaho. It’s his last youth hunt, so it made this mornings hunt extra special!

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Congrats to you and your son. I miss youth days with my two. They grow up too fast.

 

[Wyatt.Carter]

Killed my first archery bird opening day. Son and I sat the blind all morning with decoys out just hoping that birds in the next orchard would see them and take interest. Once the big group of hens broke up to nest late morning I was hoping that a gobbler would stroll the 200yds or so over to check us out. I threw out a few calls from time to time and eventually around 8am we could see the birds way north of us.
I hit the jerk string I had rigged up to my jake decoy which flips up the fan and called loud as I could. As we watched we could see athe gobblers heads go up so we knew they were seeing us. Now the waiting game was on. With little going on we threw on a few YouTube videos and kicked back until about 10 am when the cell phone battery died. About the same time we heard a noise towards our house and then our dogs let out a few barks. Immediately a bird shock gobbled to our northeast. So I quickly toss in my mouth call and let out a few yelps to let him know we were still there. No response so I got off my chair and went to my knees to stretch out the old back after a long sit. Maybe two minutes had passed and I look up and there was a longbeard in full strut at 75 yds.
I quickly turn and flip my seat back down and sat down but realized I might have to drop a window to shoot so I get back up, unstrap the window and let it down slow. I sit back down and grab my bow, now where's my rangefinder? Find it quickly and shakily range him as he moves in. 42yds. Ok set my rangefinder down and he moves in again. Grab rangefinder and hit another range. 35. Ok drop it and clip on and of corse he moves again as I draw.
I let out a small Yelp to stop him but he keeps moving so I do it louder and he stops. Settle the pin for 30 and let it fly. Big poof of feathers and he jams left and beds down. Stil with head up but clearly not doing well i decide to try a neck shot with a judo tipped arrow but I think my rangefinder picked up a blade of grass short of him because that arrow slid in under him and he flopped 5yds further out. I then grabbed the boys .410 and headed out after him. After a short chase I had my first archery bird in hand without having to fire a single shotgun shell.
He's just a two year old bird with a 9 3/4" beard. Confirming the fact that my sons bird was 3 yrs old not 2 like I thought originally. Comparing spurs it was obvious.
View attachment 165861

Beautiful bird!

 

[Jordan Budd]

Went out mid morning and glassed some birds up. Grabbed the blind and slipped down in front of them, set the blind up with decoys in front and called a little. After about an hour or so in the blind we slipped out to try and get eyes on the birds again as they weren’t responding. Of course, got about 25 yards from the blind and here they came. Tucked in behind a tree and they walked by at 20 yards.

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[rymacphail]

I missed one opening day with my bow that was absolutely heart breaking. I found a nice little pocket of public land that is basically impossible to get to unless you can access through private which I was fortunate to acquire. First time calling a bird in and not just running and gunning. Everything worked out perfect and a jake came in into 18 yards and I missed it. Went back that weekend with the scatter gun and was able to get a nice Tom to work in perfectly. Calling a bird in is something that was so new to me and I am absolutely hooked.

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[HuntInWild88]

First morning success for my son. His first turkey and easily the stupidest bird I’ve ever seen. He ran through a field next to camp while we were skeet shooting. We took off through the woods to cut him off and shot him while he circled us at 20 yards. Bizarro. What you see us wearing is how we killed him, no camo. My son did great. He was using a shotgun for the first time and I gave him 10 seconds of instruction while we were moving to get in from of the Tom. He made a perfect shot, standing unsupported. He is still on cloud nine! The Tom had a decent beard and full fan, but a very small body and skinny legs with no spurs at all. Not worn down, just nothing there. I think his egg got dropped a couple of times in the nest. My wife used everything, including the feet, to make turkey stock and we sous vide the meat and made some amazing turkey breast and roast veggies.

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Congrats on the bird.. looking at the head and based on small body and zero spurs, I would say thats a bearded hen...not a tom.

 

[Loco4dux]

I missed one opening day with my bow that was absolutely heart breaking. I found a nice little pocket of public land that is basically impossible to get to unless you can access through private which I was fortunate to acquire. First time calling a bird in and not just running and gunning. Everything worked out perfect and a jake came in into 18 yards and I missed it. Went back that weekend with the scatter gun and was able to get a nice Tom to work in perfectly. Calling a bird in is something that was so new to me and I am absolutely hooked.

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Ryan, it’s Schmidt man. NICE work! Great bird!

 

[MeatBuck]

G

Congrats on the bird.. looking at the head and based on small body and zero spurs, I would say thats a bearded hen...not a tom.

Good call, bearded hen all the way.

 

[TheCougar]

Congrats on the bird.. looking at the head and based on small body and zero spurs, I would say thats a bearded hen...not a tom.

That thought crossed my mind, but he had a wattle and small snood, plus the feather were definitely Tom feathers. Iridescent plumage and Tom tail fan.

 

[PurpleDriver]

Got my first spring bird! Shot fall birds before, but been skunked on spring birds for decades. Public land, hiked back in about a mile to a swamp bottom area. Bird gobbled on roost and then came in silent from over 100yds out. He caught me turning on the camera when he was at 30 yards, shot him as he walked off at about 40 yds. 410 TSS worked awesome. Did a lot of patterning at 40 with this pricey stuff, but it makes the 410 a capable turkey gun and it lets me and the kids use one gun interchangeably.

 

[MeatBuck]

That thought crossed my mind, but he had a wattle and small snood, plus the feather were definitely Tom feathers. Iridescent plumage and Tom tail fan.

Hen or herm, but that is not a tom.

 

[MeatBuck]

And honestly all you have to do is compare that hen/herm to any of the pics in this thread to see an obvious difference in appearance.
Hope it's legal to kill bearded hens there, surprisingly it is legal here in California.

 

[TheCougar]

Hen or herm, but that is not a tom.

Either way, it was delicious.

 

[MeatBuck]

Could have had a side of eggs to go with it.
My dad killed a bearded hen once. Cleaned it and found all stages of egg development in her. It bummed him out and I think it was the last bird he killed.