drrxnupe
Well-Known Member
Good luck Man. Be sure to let us know how it goes. It bewilders me that there are turkey in Shelby forest. I grew up camping with my church in Shelby Forest in the early 80's. We saw all kinds of wildlife except turkeys.
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Gonna hunt turkeys in Shelby Forrest
- Thread starter drrxnupe
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4onaside
Well-Known Member
I hate to even comment since I haven't been there in years. However, it was my destination years ago, as I lived in Raleigh and was quicker to get to from my home than downtown Memphis. Back in my day, there were a bunch of turkeys killed out Williamson Avenue, the road that goes due west to the river from the checking station. I wasn't much of a bottoms hunter, because I was always scared of snakes and I never cared for breathing mosquitoes. However, those that could get past those obstacles, did well on either side of the road between the bluff and Brinkley Bayou. I'm sure times have changed, but most of the turkeys stocked in Tennessee were taken off small fields at the base of the bluff with cannon nets. Also,turkeys frequented the bluff area in Preacher's house compartment, and on the north end of bluff road, the bluff was not safety zone between it and the bottom.
jbow
Well-Known Member
On river road if you are headed towards the boatramp where it turns west go past the private bean field that is on the right .7 miles. When you get to this point look to your left you will see a slue. Somtimes there is water and sometimes its dry. If you stay to the west side of this slue and walk in about 1/2 mile Turkeys are in the big trees flying down when I am deer hunting. I am not sure they are still there in the spring but I would think so. PM me I will give you my # if you need a better explaination. I also know one other spot but will have to look at a map to explain it. I havent been out to that area in a while.
jbow
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah forgot remember the mosiquito spray or thermacell they are as big as birds out there.
If history repeats itself, this slough should be a good bet for hearing a gobble or two. Another piece of advice about SF is gobbling activity at daylight is not always indicative of what gobblers are available nearby, nor how they will gobble mid day or late afternoon. I have two hunting buds that cuss those crazy SF turkeys for not gobbling much/at all in the first 2-3 hours. These same two guys always seem to strike a gobbling turkey and connect midday and even late afternoon, many times in the exact same areas they listened at daylight. This has been their experience over the last 3-4 years hunting SF. Hope this helps somewhat.Poser said:
4onaside
Well-Known Member
It was THE turkey spot for years. Then the river did a number on the nesting for several years in a row and the population nosed dived to the extent that, as I remember, they were actually restocking from other areas, which was a bizarre circumstance considering the history of the turkey population at Shelby.drrxnupe said:
You'd be correct, it definitely did not help in the bottoms as far as nesting goes. I doubt any eggs hatched and survived in the bottoms with the extended flood event we had last spring. The adult birds had the bluff to retreat to; some of the hens may have relocated, nested on high ground and raised some poults. If so, the adults and poults will gradually migrate back down to the bottoms in due time.Poser said:
4onaside
Well-Known Member
The long time area manager when I was actively hunting there told me that in years when the water covered the bottoms for extended periods that the birds would fly up in the trees and stay there rather than flying to the bluff. And, although this is hard to imagine, they would literally starve rather than fly to high ground. Of course, when you understand that these things have a brain the size of a walnut, and that they think that a rubber turkey is real even after pecking it, maybe it's not so hard to imagine.Andy S. said:
easy45
Well-Known Member
If you go into the entrance near the lake by the old ball park and go straight till it turns into a oneway road, it is safety zone on the left but the hunting zone starts about 50 or so yarss to the right, I use to work there and saw alot of turkeys going from safety zone to hunting zone through that oneway stretch
I would agree that some turkeys, maybe many at times, do fly up in trees and get stranded/die during extended high water events. I seen it firsthand back in the day when I hunted out of a boat at Upper Tully (Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge). We would flush turkeys out of trees where there was no high ground for thousands of yards with the water staying above flood stage for weeks afterwards. I cannot fathom that any of those turkeys survived.
4onaside
Well-Known Member
Did you ever know Willis Wheeler? He was the area manager at Tully before he assumed the same position at Shelby. He's the one who told me that.Andy S. said:
Definitely a beautiful day to be outdoors scouting. I was outdoors all day, just not scouting.Poser said:
Were you there at daylight to listen or did you just walk/scout during daytime and look for tracks, scratching, droppings etc? I would not count my chickens just yet based on one day of scouting, especially with your hunt five weeks away. Turkeys can do a lot of breaking up and moving these last five weeks before season starts.
tasaman
Well-Known Member
Ok so whats the good news? I drew and can hunt on the 19th. Want to hear something positive about the situation out there.
I never knew Willis but some of the old heads who got me into turkey hunting knew him well and spoke of him often back in the 90s.4onaside said:
