Turkey Opener 2015

ilovesprig

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Aug 3, 2012
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Got up to Henshaw Friday and set-up in old cabin 13.......Starting Friday the boys started showing up.....Even got the famous Bearclaw (Zeke) and MJB (Mark) showed up.......Great food both Friday night & Saturday.......Elk chili, elk steaks, white-tail tenders provided by Fowlplay (Tom), pheasant tamales provided by Mark, and bear provided by Zeke.......WHAT A FEAST!.......Oh, and my daughter brought German chocolate cake for her and my birthdays...... ;)



Now to the turkey hunts.......Drew #1 at MCC and really thought we'd (Stefanie, Jacob, & I) were going to be on the X since I've hunted this spot a number of times......As dawn starts to break......Nothing......Finally right before flydown, we finally get a gobble a few 100 yds from our spot......We change locations, but nary a gobble or any evidence of turkeys......Let's go......Leave MCC and head for the private stuff......Get set-up at about 9:30 and soon get gobbles from across the valley......No visual and they would not budge. They finally just faded in the opposite direction......3 hours later with little action, I get a hit.....I have both Stefanie & Jacob get around the other side of a big split oak and start in on him.....He took his sweet time, but he finally shows up out of the thicker stuff right to the left of them both.....20 yds......Only problem was, instead of coming on down to the trail, he stays to their left. Between them and him is a big manzanita bush.....No shooting lanes at all.....After at least 15-20 minutes, he gets boarded and starts walking up and out of the area......As he does this, I can see he's going to go thru a small opening that by me rolling to the left. I would have a shot.....When he showed himself, I let fly and down he goes......Really felt bummed that Stef or Jacob didn't get this bird......8 1/2" beard, 1", beard, and 20-2 lbs.



Sunday, We hunted the same spot, but got there at dark-thirty.....Mind you these birds have roosted in the same spot for at least 5 straight days......Not this day.....Birds gobbled, far and wide of where we were set-up. After flydown and at least an 1 1/2 hours, we moved. Put a visual on 4 hens, 3 longs, and 3 jakes going the opposite direction......That was the highlight of the day......Called it at about 2:30 pm.



Hunted with friend Phil this morning......Got to our MCC spot early and never heard a gobble or saw a turkey. Packed it in early and went to a different location.....Right off, I got a gobble, but the guys on the private prop seemed to try and scare him away.....It worked.....Last gobble I heard.......Back at it tomorrow........ ;D
 

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Nice sounds like a good time Steve. I got nothing out of a limited draw hunt dfw holds every year.
 
Nice Steve....

I went by the Henshaw cafe sunday afternoon hoping to catch you guys, ran into one guy that said his nephew got his first bird there on MCC earlier that day

My only action was Had one hung up about 70 yards out, wouldn't budge, then some Dude shot my Brand new Jake decoy, (glad i was setup high) im like Really... the guy Apologized up and down and Paid me but i still can't believe it happened... :-[

Still had a nice time out
 
wiley said:
Nice Steve....

I went by the Henshaw cafe sunday afternoon hoping to catch you guys, ran into one guy that said his nephew got his first bird there on MCC earlier that day

My only action was Had one hung up about 70 yards out, wouldn't budge, then some Dude shot my Brand new Jake decoy, (glad i was setup high) im like Really... the guy Apologized up and down and Paid me but i still can't believe it happened... :-[

Still had a nice time out

What a Crazy Day There Wiley. I have only heard of guys blowing away a deek, to have it happen to you! You must have crapped your pants..
What the hell did you say to the guy when he showed up? Was the Deek totally wasted? Did you give the guy the Deek? Hey Nice shot man...take it home and cook it...Wild brother that is just wild!
 
I can laugh now but i was pretty pissed at the time, i never seen him or heard him, just pow and Jake goes flyin.....the guy was really scared and embarrassed and paid me for it and he took it home...lol, It was brand new just picked it up friday from bass pro

He said he thought it was the bird he put a stalk on... ::)
 
Wiley,

Glad your OK.......Like was stated a number of times.......Using a jake decoy on public land can be dangerous......ALWAYS CUT THE BEARD OFF....... :-[
 
wiley said:
Nice Steve....

I went by the Henshaw cafe sunday afternoon hoping to catch you guys, ran into one guy that said his nephew got his first bird there on MCC earlier that day

My only action was Had one hung up about 70 yards out, wouldn't budge, then some Dude shot my Brand new Jake decoy, (glad i was setup high) im like Really... the guy Apologized up and down and Paid me but i still can't believe it happened... :-[

Still had a nice time out
That's crazy!
 
ilovesprig said:
Wiley,

Glad your OK.......Like was stated a number of times.......Using a jake decoy on public land can be dangerous......ALWAYS CUT THE BEARD OFF....... :-[
Risk of getting shot during turkey season is the number one reason I joined MCC. There were just too many guys walking around in the woods, and even though I always put blaze orange on the back of the tree or rock where I was sitting, I still had guys walking in on my set up. Sorry to hear about your close call Wiley, but glad your decoy was the only casualty. Thanks for posting; and thanks Steve for the comments. Now I understand why not to use jake decoys on public land.
 
yea, i was warned, thats why i setup high above the decoys just in case,

but in reality I thought what are the chances of it happening my first time out using it on a Monday, plus when i got to this spot I was the only one in the parking lot, boy was i wrong.....

yea, this has me looking serious into clubs also, MCC has my attention as its only an hour from my house..

gonna call them today

Sorry to hijack the thread
 
Great time Steve......thanks for hospitality & all the turkey talk......great chili by the way
 
This may be out of bounds as a closely kept secret, and if so I apologize for asking, but is there a publicly available price for MCC?
I looked into it a few years ago and it seemed like $3K per year. I could be way off (high or low), but I just thought that I'd ask in case it is open info that I haven't seen.
 
DanSanDiego said:
This may be out of bounds as a closely kept secret, and if so I apologize for asking, but is there a publicly available price for MCC?
I looked into it a few years ago and it seemed like $3K per year. I could be way off (high or low), but I just thought that I'd ask in case it is open info that I haven't seen.

$3,000.00 a year for the membership.....That includes 3 turkeys, 1 buck (3 points or better), doves, varmints, rabbit, band-tails, quail, ground squirrels, duck hunting on Lake Henshaw (Sunday is for members only), and fishing the lake for free.
 

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