Well, took the kiddo out for youth Season opener Saturday. Both of us were pretty excited, hoping for him to get his second turkey ever. We headed up into the hills, and got there 30 minutes early. We were hunting a small patch of land, unfortunately right by the road, but hey, it has birds. I drove to the far side of the area, and not a single car to be seen. Sweet I thought, and as soon as I opened the car door, I hear a gobble only 150 yards away. Awesome!
Get the kiddo out in a hurry, got everything together, and slide down into a little meadow maybe 100 +/- yards from where the birds were. And, to top it off, hear another gobble that sounds like it's another bird in a second tree apart from the first. So we got set up, threw out a decoy and hid ourselves. I told my son that it was dark with the cloud cover, and that may delay their flydown, but they SHOULD work in this direction. We were excited. Sat for about 15 minutes, and saw one car drive by. Now, you can shoot according to what I found, at 6:15 legally. I lost the car in the trees looping around the road behind the roost tree, so I can't say if it stopped or not. However, at 6:13, BOOM!!!!!!!!! Followed 10 seconds later by a second BOOM!!!!!!! That's followed by a sprinkle of BB's falling all around us, as well as birds flying out of the roost, and what may have been wings flapping on the ground. I couldn't believe someone had just shot the damn birds out of the roost, in my opinion a couple minutes early, and when I couldn't even identify much out to 20 yards because it was dark from cloud cover, let alone tell if it had a beard. As I am sitting there nervously, in disbelief, a third BOOM!!!!! 3 minutes later. Even after that, I hear a damn gobble responding to the 3rd shot.
I was pissed, to say the least, and a tad nervous. If someone is walking in the woods looking for a wounded bird, pops out where we were and sees the decoy in the low light, we are directly on the other side of it. My son was nervous too, so after a few choice words under my breath, we picked up and moved 200 yards further away to a second meadow, with enough cushion we'd see the guy coming, but still close enough for that bird that was still gobbling. I threw out a decoy again, and we sat trying to settle down. Well, not 10 minutes later, out comes a lone hen and makes a straight line for our decoy. She comes all the way in, and then starts to eat in front of us. At that time also, we hear another truck stop on the road and some doors shut, so we know someone else ins joining the party.
So, that hen proceeds to stay within 40 yards or so of us for the next HOUR! It was really cool, my son learned a lot about limiting his movement, patience, and more importantly, it was an hour lesson on calling, because she was clucking and cackling the whole time. I told my son that I wasn't going to call much, because there was nothing better than an actual live decoy out there doing the work. Well, about a half hour into her stay, the other bird starts gobbling again. Only this time, we hear a responding call from where we had set up earlier. I could tell right away it was the hunters that we heard shutting the doors just after shooting time. So, for the next 30 minutes, we traded calls with the hunters and the actual bird in the trees, both trying to draw him out. After the hunt, we met the other hunters, great guys, and they knew we were hunters too. We all laughed about it, was pretty funny.
Anyway, after about 45 minutes of the hen being there, we hear a gobble that the bird is now coming out of the trees. I could tell that he was headed our way, but the other hunters were trying to work him hard. Well, I finally see a couple heads come out, one of them bright red. They're coming our way. But, he's walking pretty fast, and nervously. That'll happen with 3 shots knocking you out of your roost in the dark, and 2 hunters throwing calls at you, one of which (mine) is very bad.... LOL. So, he comes in, but at an angle. He3's looking at the decoy, but I am looking for a beard. I didn't have time, or the cover, to bring up my binos. Bright red head, but no damn beard. Finally, at 38 or so yards, his last couple steps before cover, we see only about an inch of beard sticking out of the feathers. Unfortunately though, my son wasn't aiming in fully, and with the bird's nervousness, he was out of the shooting lane, and we never got a shot.
So, like I said, met the other hunters, also got to meet Matagui (sp?) and his boy. All great people, had fun chatting with them all. My son didn't get anything, but he was excited over what took place after the initial disappointment, what we witnessed for turkey behavior, and what he learned. He's excited to go with me next weekend, even though I've still never killed a turkey......
Now, sorry for this being so long, especially for an unsuccessful hunt, but I was pissed and needed to vent. If it was a poacher, then you suck!!!!! If it wasn't a poacher, but actually someone with a kid, then you suck even more!!!!! Maybe it's just me, but you yourself, or you taught you kid, to shoot a bird before legal time, out of the roost, when there was no way you could see a beard on that thing. Maybe your watch was off, it was only a couple minutes, and the other stuff technically isn't illegal, but quite crappy and a horrible way to teach a kid to hunt. And before anyone thinks it's sour grapes, it's absolutely not. My son and I even laughed and discussed that the other hunters might get that Jake, it was all how the bird decided to react, but we were fine with it, and my son even wanted to go look at the bird if they did shoot. Also, I was hunting on a popular place, right near the road, where the birds are know to be, so it's not like I expected the spot to myself. It's all about how you did it and what you taught your kid if you had one with you. Again, I've NEVER shot a turkey in 10 years of on and off trying, but I would NEVER stoop to doing that. If you're on this board, which I highly doubt, don't come on trying to justify or defend yourself, it'll fall on deaf ears..... The best thing you did Saturday wasn't get a nice gobbler, it was teach my son how not to be......So thanks for that.....
Sorry, done venting.......
Get the kiddo out in a hurry, got everything together, and slide down into a little meadow maybe 100 +/- yards from where the birds were. And, to top it off, hear another gobble that sounds like it's another bird in a second tree apart from the first. So we got set up, threw out a decoy and hid ourselves. I told my son that it was dark with the cloud cover, and that may delay their flydown, but they SHOULD work in this direction. We were excited. Sat for about 15 minutes, and saw one car drive by. Now, you can shoot according to what I found, at 6:15 legally. I lost the car in the trees looping around the road behind the roost tree, so I can't say if it stopped or not. However, at 6:13, BOOM!!!!!!!!! Followed 10 seconds later by a second BOOM!!!!!!! That's followed by a sprinkle of BB's falling all around us, as well as birds flying out of the roost, and what may have been wings flapping on the ground. I couldn't believe someone had just shot the damn birds out of the roost, in my opinion a couple minutes early, and when I couldn't even identify much out to 20 yards because it was dark from cloud cover, let alone tell if it had a beard. As I am sitting there nervously, in disbelief, a third BOOM!!!!! 3 minutes later. Even after that, I hear a damn gobble responding to the 3rd shot.
I was pissed, to say the least, and a tad nervous. If someone is walking in the woods looking for a wounded bird, pops out where we were and sees the decoy in the low light, we are directly on the other side of it. My son was nervous too, so after a few choice words under my breath, we picked up and moved 200 yards further away to a second meadow, with enough cushion we'd see the guy coming, but still close enough for that bird that was still gobbling. I threw out a decoy again, and we sat trying to settle down. Well, not 10 minutes later, out comes a lone hen and makes a straight line for our decoy. She comes all the way in, and then starts to eat in front of us. At that time also, we hear another truck stop on the road and some doors shut, so we know someone else ins joining the party.
So, that hen proceeds to stay within 40 yards or so of us for the next HOUR! It was really cool, my son learned a lot about limiting his movement, patience, and more importantly, it was an hour lesson on calling, because she was clucking and cackling the whole time. I told my son that I wasn't going to call much, because there was nothing better than an actual live decoy out there doing the work. Well, about a half hour into her stay, the other bird starts gobbling again. Only this time, we hear a responding call from where we had set up earlier. I could tell right away it was the hunters that we heard shutting the doors just after shooting time. So, for the next 30 minutes, we traded calls with the hunters and the actual bird in the trees, both trying to draw him out. After the hunt, we met the other hunters, great guys, and they knew we were hunters too. We all laughed about it, was pretty funny.
Anyway, after about 45 minutes of the hen being there, we hear a gobble that the bird is now coming out of the trees. I could tell that he was headed our way, but the other hunters were trying to work him hard. Well, I finally see a couple heads come out, one of them bright red. They're coming our way. But, he's walking pretty fast, and nervously. That'll happen with 3 shots knocking you out of your roost in the dark, and 2 hunters throwing calls at you, one of which (mine) is very bad.... LOL. So, he comes in, but at an angle. He3's looking at the decoy, but I am looking for a beard. I didn't have time, or the cover, to bring up my binos. Bright red head, but no damn beard. Finally, at 38 or so yards, his last couple steps before cover, we see only about an inch of beard sticking out of the feathers. Unfortunately though, my son wasn't aiming in fully, and with the bird's nervousness, he was out of the shooting lane, and we never got a shot.
So, like I said, met the other hunters, also got to meet Matagui (sp?) and his boy. All great people, had fun chatting with them all. My son didn't get anything, but he was excited over what took place after the initial disappointment, what we witnessed for turkey behavior, and what he learned. He's excited to go with me next weekend, even though I've still never killed a turkey......
Now, sorry for this being so long, especially for an unsuccessful hunt, but I was pissed and needed to vent. If it was a poacher, then you suck!!!!! If it wasn't a poacher, but actually someone with a kid, then you suck even more!!!!! Maybe it's just me, but you yourself, or you taught you kid, to shoot a bird before legal time, out of the roost, when there was no way you could see a beard on that thing. Maybe your watch was off, it was only a couple minutes, and the other stuff technically isn't illegal, but quite crappy and a horrible way to teach a kid to hunt. And before anyone thinks it's sour grapes, it's absolutely not. My son and I even laughed and discussed that the other hunters might get that Jake, it was all how the bird decided to react, but we were fine with it, and my son even wanted to go look at the bird if they did shoot. Also, I was hunting on a popular place, right near the road, where the birds are know to be, so it's not like I expected the spot to myself. It's all about how you did it and what you taught your kid if you had one with you. Again, I've NEVER shot a turkey in 10 years of on and off trying, but I would NEVER stoop to doing that. If you're on this board, which I highly doubt, don't come on trying to justify or defend yourself, it'll fall on deaf ears..... The best thing you did Saturday wasn't get a nice gobbler, it was teach my son how not to be......So thanks for that.....
Sorry, done venting.......
