Turkey Hunting
Caught 2 poachers, but they got let go
Originally posted in http://www.kentuckyhunting.net Ever since we took possession of our farm in 2001, we’ve had trouble with poachers. I’ve caught a few, and let most of them go with a stern warning. Those are the ones I’ve met face to face. After one discussion of the issues involved, they don’t come back. I’ve called the tip line on a few others. I have also sent packets to the two wildlife officers that include letters of permission to visit, maps with property boundaries and summaries of the poachers doings. Up until today, I had not seen a poacher actually caught … More . . .
One of those mornings
Well, I’m back in– already. The temp stayed about 5 degrees warmer than they predicted– probably up around 34 F. I’ve been glassing the pastures, but there is nothing. I’ll go back out this afternoon and hunt between the strut zones and the roosts; I’m bound to pick up some action, since it’s due to warm up considerably. THis morning, I had a nice spot picked out with three gobblers all roosted within 200 yards. I sat down, made a few tree calls. They all answered and after about 5 gobbles a piece, they all shut up and disappeared. I … More . . .
So where DO they go after flydown?
The Ben Lee Catechism states that turkeys go to water after flydown. It also echoes the first book I read on turkey hunting. It simply said that you get between the roost and the closest source of water and ambush them– in fact, that was all it said about turkey hunting. I have tested that theory and it just does not seem to pan out– at least as a surefire thing. Once long ago, I was bowhunting on the last day of season in January and heard a flock come down off the roost and go to the creek. The … More . . .
Announcement: the shaman joins Heirloom
ANNOUNCEMENT: William “the shaman” Allendorf is now a member of the ProStaff of the Heirloom Turkey Call Company of Haughton, Louisiana. To have him tell it, Bill “the shaman” Allendorf, doesn’t claim to be much of a turkey hunter, but he’s the world’s expert at being a begining turkey hunter. It’s a long story. Most of Bill’s stories are that way. Our resident rattle-shaker knows what it’s like to start hunting without a clue. Bill has been writing for over 25 years, and quite a bit of it has been about his love of turkeys and turkey hunting. You can … More . . .
Where Turkeys Go After Flydown?
Yesterday was my first good day out scouting this year. I was able to monitor the flydown of four flocks on either side of a ridge. It was pretty much a typical morning for the turkeys. The gobblers gobbled a bit, the hens yelped a bit, everybody took their turn plopping down into the leaves and they all milled about squaking at each other. . . . and then they were gone. There is nothing quite so unexpected and sudden as the feeling you get when you realize that you are now alone in the woods. It is as though … More . . .
Scouting Report– Happy Easter
I rolled out of the rack at 0637, determined to make one more attempt to scout out a gobbler. Dressed in jeans, my barn coat and bedroom slippers, I threw on a pot of coffee, opened the back door and took a few steps away from the kitchen window so the sound of the percolator would not interfere. I made my first owl hoot. Nothing. My scouting was a failure. This was my third morning of trying to scout up a turkey. So far it was a dismal failure. I walked around to the front of the house and hooted. … More . . .
Was it the Calls or the Dekes?
From 24HourCampfire Poster: Simoneaud Subject: Re: what calls to use and when?? I made my first turkey hunt this past weekend. had great success, but I find that I don’t know what calls to use and when to use them. I bought a Primos Spring Hen box call and it makes all the hen sounds and I can make them good with this call, I find I sound just like turkeys do, but I don’t know what call to start with and then once a Tom or Hen answers, what calls to use to talk back. at one location I … More . . .
How to gobble? Have you tried Yelping?
The question of how to do a passable gobble keeps coming up on various forums. Can you gobble with your slate? Your mouth call? Your voice? Yeah, you can. I generally can’t. I have a 25 year old Quaker Boy Grand Old Master box call that gobbles just fine, so I did not do a whole lot of practicing on other stuff. The problem is why anyone wants to gobble in the first place. It’s a call, like the dominant buck grunt, that exudes the maximum testosterone. As such, either a gobbler is going to want a piece of it, … More . . .
How Individual is the Individual?
This is in reference to my entry the other day : Is Turkey Hunting Really All That? Scott aka ProTurkeyhntr From Quaker Boy Forums Had a response to what I said, and I thought I’d pass it along. It gave me something to think about. It’s always dangerous when I get to thinking. 03-14-2008 08:10 PM proturkeyhntr Well said Shaman, the only thing I will challenge is your statement below… “Last, the bird you hunt today is nearly identical to the bird you hunted yesterday, last year, a decade ago. The first bird you hunt is basically the same as … More . . .
What’s the Best Owl Hooter?
Long time ago, I was futzing with my latest owl hooter, trying to get it to work. I was down hunting with some serious turkey hunters in Mississippi and they were laughing at the Yankee and his pathetic owl hooter. “No turkey is gonna hear that.” said my buddy. “It’s too soft.” “So what do you do?” “We just call using our own voices.” He showed me. It didn’t sound much like a barred owl, but the cadence was dead on. The next morning he was doing it. A couple of the other guys were doing it. I did it. … More . . .
More on the Return to Turkey Camp
There’s a thread over on the Quaker Boy Forums about my arrival back at Turkey Camp. I’ve been keeping it going for over a year now- just me. palmettoswamp Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Floral City, Fl. Posts: 36 I’ve never seen anyone anwser their own posts…hats off to you buddy They say talkin’ to yourself isn’t a dangerous thing unless you start answerin’ . Then again, I’ve been hunting turkey all by myself for twenty years. It had to happen sometime, I guess. The fact of the matter is that the top one there was POST #1 on … More . . .
Is turkey hunting really all that?
from KentuckyHunting.Net Forums Yesterday, 07:56 PM Fivehourfrenzy Is turkey hunting really all that? Everyone makes it sound like turkey hunting is so unbelievably intense and demanding and difficult. I’ve never been. Is it really as hardcore as everyone says it is? __________________ Here is my answer: Turkey hunting IS that intense. I class it as a second religion. I consider myself a good Methodist boy. I am also a turkey hunter. It’s just that strong. Why? One reason is the method. If you go after turkeys with a rifle, they’re about as easy to pick off as groundhogs. If you … More . . .
Quaker Boy Forums
Calling all Turkey Hunters! You know that when the ol’ shaman tells you about something, he means it. It’s been going on 25 years since a man from Quaker Boy put a Grand Old Master box call in my hand and told me to go out and try turkey hunting. A few weeks later, I was standing atop a brushpile in Hocking Hills waiting for the sun to come up and I cranked out a yelp and had a gobbler answer back. I was hooked, and still to this day Quaker Boy calls take up a good deal of space … More . . .
Report from Turkey Camp 2008
Near Neave, KY 01 March, 2008 0923 ET Tom T. Hall “A Headstone for Harry” playing on the audio stream — World Wide Blugrass Network. The big addition to Turkey Camp this year: A Verizon Air Card– broadband speed off the cell towers. I can now hit my favorite forums from my turkey blind. We showed up at 2030 ET last night. The neighbors had blocked the road with a couple of old pickups, but we were able to get through. Items of interest: One frozen dead mouse on the kitchen floor. A deck of cards on the dining table … More . . .
Turkey Hunting is Just Like Work
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More . . .On the level about Gobblers
Do turkeys like walking up hill or down hill? Most of my turkeys roost in creek bottoms of the little side hollows against the ridges. That means a) They have to go up hill every morning if they want to go anywhere besides down. b) Some time during the day, they have to walk or fly back down to their roosting tree. That is an over simplification. I actually have seen them pitch down in the morning, head down to the mouth of their hollow and roam the bigger bottoms fairly frequently. The point is, turkey go up and down … More . . .
In praise of my Sling Bag
As I wrote last year, I’ve quit the vest scene and gone to this: You can get one from www.Wibags.com for $12. My reason for switching was simply weight. I attach a foam pad for my butt and carry a separate over-the-shoulder bag for decoys as needed. Three separate pieces load out at a third of the weight of the old vest. I spent 10 years with a vest, and I’ve gone about 7 with the sling bag. The reasons I like this arrangement over a vest are as follows: 1) I mentioned the weight thing. When I was in … More . . .
What’s in your vest?
I could say toilet paper and get a laugh, but after 3 the trail of must-haves starts to thin. I’ve only been checked once for #1, but I was awful glad I had them to show the warden.
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What is your Dream Turkey Gun
I shoot a Mossberg 500, taken from the scratch and dent bin at Dicks back in 96. I mounted a scope on it, because my eyes were starting to go. It is a reasonable turkey gun. I’ve used others. Win Model 12 Trap: Heavy Rem Model 1100 TB: Heavy H&R Topper : Light and brutal Mossberg 395 bolt-gun: Light and simple. I really have not ventured to far from the Mossy since I got it, but I can tell you what I think a dream gun would be like: 1) Of all the actions, I think pump is about right. … More . . .
Pot Calls — make your own
My experience has been that every day and every turkey seems to demand a different call. I’ve got probably half a dozen friction pot calls that are store-bought. It’s always a guessing game. I take a couple with me each day. Some days they like one, the next day they won’t honor it for anything. It’s the same with boxes, mouth calls, or anything else. One thing is for sure: what goes into my pack at the start of season, isn’t what comes out at the end. This past year, I started making my own, partly to see what went … More . . .
Do you hunt turkeys in a blind?
I’ve only had turkeys in the blind with me a couple of times, and I’ll tell you that it makes for a very cramped situation. . . . oh, nevermind. I try my best to hunt out of a blind. When I’m out scouting in March, I’ll find a few spots that are prime ambush sites and I’ll come back just before season and run a piece of camo cord around 3 or four trees and then clothespin a 12′ piece of die-cut or burlap to that cord. I hunt a lot with a kid in the blind, and it … More . . .
Turkey Season looms
Been busy as all get-out since Christmas: 1) Found a Ben Lee Super Hen call– I’ve been wanting one for 20 years. Ben Jr. is now making them 2) Traded for a Transfan gobbler decoy— first gobbler deke I’ve ever had. 3) Ordered neoprene socks from Cabelas– I’m tired of having wet feet early in the morning 4) Ordered a Flock-in-a-Box scratch box call. It’s easily one of the more versatile calls I’ve ever encountered. 5) Placed an order with Shipley’s for the parts to make 4 new pot calls and 3 new pegs. Two are for me ( a … More . . .
Friction Calls
My experience has been that every day and every turkey seems to demand a different call. I’ve got probably half a dozen friction pot calls that are store-bought. It’s always a guessing game. I take a couple with me each day. Some days they like one, the next day they won’t honor it for anything. It’s the same with boxes, mouth calls, or anything else. One thing is for sure: what goes into my pack at the start of season, isn’t what comes out at the end. This past year, I started making my own, partly to see what went … More . . .
Before there were Turkey Targets
Instead of a fancy store-bought turkey target, I still like to do it the way I was taught before folks had such things: Take a Dixie cup and put it upside down on a stick about 18″ high. Use a backing board with newspaper. Back up to the chosen distance and let fly at the bottom rim of the cup. The rule of thumb is that two pellets in the dixie cup will kill a gobbler at that distance. I’ve never known that rule to be proved wrong. Keep placing newspaper on the backing board to see the whole pattern. … More . . .
The shaman returns to camp
He’d been late getting out of town, and after an endless drive it was cold and still and dead. The shaman noticed that the place had shifted again; the door didn’t stick as much as it had. He walked in and for a moment all he could see was his frozen breath. His nose told him that somewhere inside was a dead mouse. In the dark, his boot found an empty box of D-Con in the middle of the floor to confirm it. His eyes adjusted and there before him was the dining table. An orange vest hung off the … More . . .
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