megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Got back Wed from the first 5 days of the season. Probably the fewest birds we've ever had on the main farm since 1993... only 7 LB's on 900 acres. BUT, I had probably my most incredible hunt in 20+ years Monday morning.
Opening Morning set up going in blind in a usual strutting zone. Had a couple of LB's gobbling on the roost around 300-400 yards away, eventually called the hens to me with 2 LB's in tow. Both were 2 yr old birds, so I passed on them and just enjoyed the show. Hens were completely uninterested in the gobblers, no breeding going on yet on that farm.
Never got close to a bird Sunday, although I did get a gobbler to close the distance from 900 yards to around 400 yards until a hen cut him off.
Monday morning I set up with a friend in a sinkhole in a wide open field. Birds often roost in the wooded hill around 150 yards away, but pitch off the roost to a little rise in the field 40 yards in front of the sinkhole. I set up 3 gobbler decoys on the rise and a hen decoy to my right. Have to get set up EARLY in this spot not to get picked off by birds on the roost. Around 6am, heard a hen cluck on the hill. I told my buddy, "it's on now... get ready this will be fun". Called to birds and got 3 or 4 to gobble back on the roost. A few jakes also half gobbled as well. When the first bird flew down, I cutt loudly and he turned mid flight and landed in the decoy spread. Turned out to be a jake. 7 more pitched into the decoys and a LB pitched to our left around 35 yards in the open field. I told my friend to go ahead and take the LB, but he moved into the decoys/ jakes too fast and headed over the rise going away from us before my friend could shoot.
Gobblers were still firing off on the roost when 3 hens pitched in and landed around 20 yards away. They started cutting to the hen decoy and began to walk past us. I told my friend to get ready, the big boys would come over the hill any second. We then saw the tops of 4 full fans coming over the rise. When the 4 gobblers got over the rise and saw the decoys and jakes, they ran to them and all hell broke loose. Spurs flying, decoys flying, jakes flying, fighting purrs and 12 male turkeys moving in a malestrom. It really was quit comical to see this at 25 yards away, but a little frustrating, as it was impossible to pick out a longbeard without killing 5 or 6 turkeys at once. Finally a LB broke away from the group just enough for my buddy to kill him. I then picked out another LB and killed one also. Just like that, done by 6:30 that morning.
I hunted other farms Tues and Wed, since I won't kill another bird off the main farm this year. My personal limit is 2 birds/ season, but I never take more than 50% of the available LB's off the main farm. Since we've only got 7 birds on the main farm (5 now), only one more is available for harvest, and I'm saving him for a friend. I called in some jakes on the other farms and just about connected on a nice mature tom, but the fellow who rents the land for cattle drove up on me unknowingly while I had that mature bird coming at 60 yards. Oh, well, he'll probably still be there for me to chase when I return next weekend.
This pic is the view from the sinkhole to the setup and the birds dead to the left of the decoys
This is the view of the sinkhole from the decoys. It's an incredible spot, as only your head is visible and your body is below ground level. This is the 5th time I've hunted this spot, and now I'm 4 out of 5 hunts having birds pitch right into the decoys at flydown.
Opening Morning set up going in blind in a usual strutting zone. Had a couple of LB's gobbling on the roost around 300-400 yards away, eventually called the hens to me with 2 LB's in tow. Both were 2 yr old birds, so I passed on them and just enjoyed the show. Hens were completely uninterested in the gobblers, no breeding going on yet on that farm.
Never got close to a bird Sunday, although I did get a gobbler to close the distance from 900 yards to around 400 yards until a hen cut him off.
Monday morning I set up with a friend in a sinkhole in a wide open field. Birds often roost in the wooded hill around 150 yards away, but pitch off the roost to a little rise in the field 40 yards in front of the sinkhole. I set up 3 gobbler decoys on the rise and a hen decoy to my right. Have to get set up EARLY in this spot not to get picked off by birds on the roost. Around 6am, heard a hen cluck on the hill. I told my buddy, "it's on now... get ready this will be fun". Called to birds and got 3 or 4 to gobble back on the roost. A few jakes also half gobbled as well. When the first bird flew down, I cutt loudly and he turned mid flight and landed in the decoy spread. Turned out to be a jake. 7 more pitched into the decoys and a LB pitched to our left around 35 yards in the open field. I told my friend to go ahead and take the LB, but he moved into the decoys/ jakes too fast and headed over the rise going away from us before my friend could shoot.
Gobblers were still firing off on the roost when 3 hens pitched in and landed around 20 yards away. They started cutting to the hen decoy and began to walk past us. I told my friend to get ready, the big boys would come over the hill any second. We then saw the tops of 4 full fans coming over the rise. When the 4 gobblers got over the rise and saw the decoys and jakes, they ran to them and all hell broke loose. Spurs flying, decoys flying, jakes flying, fighting purrs and 12 male turkeys moving in a malestrom. It really was quit comical to see this at 25 yards away, but a little frustrating, as it was impossible to pick out a longbeard without killing 5 or 6 turkeys at once. Finally a LB broke away from the group just enough for my buddy to kill him. I then picked out another LB and killed one also. Just like that, done by 6:30 that morning.
I hunted other farms Tues and Wed, since I won't kill another bird off the main farm this year. My personal limit is 2 birds/ season, but I never take more than 50% of the available LB's off the main farm. Since we've only got 7 birds on the main farm (5 now), only one more is available for harvest, and I'm saving him for a friend. I called in some jakes on the other farms and just about connected on a nice mature tom, but the fellow who rents the land for cattle drove up on me unknowingly while I had that mature bird coming at 60 yards. Oh, well, he'll probably still be there for me to chase when I return next weekend.
This pic is the view from the sinkhole to the setup and the birds dead to the left of the decoys
This is the view of the sinkhole from the decoys. It's an incredible spot, as only your head is visible and your body is below ground level. This is the 5th time I've hunted this spot, and now I'm 4 out of 5 hunts having birds pitch right into the decoys at flydown.
