A Ninety-Niner’s Look at Turkey Hunting
Back last August, I felt compelled to write a Ninety-Niner’s look at Deer Hunting. A Ninety-Niner Speaks Out About Deer Hunting In case you are wondering, a Ninety-Niner is a fellow who goes the full 99 weeks on federally-mandated unemployment compensation and then falls off the back end, still without a job. Back then, at the end of the summer, the term was just coming into usage and I though it interesting that I had become an unwitting and unwilling part of American culture. I was too young to be a Flower Child. I was too old to be a … More . . .
How to Work a Gobble Call
A quick lesson in how to work a gobble call.
More . . .Show a Little Compassion
One of my shaman buddies is all into compassion right now. I was watching his thread over on Facebook, talking about compassion. ” Compassion, compassion, compassion!” It hit me: how does compassion fit in with Turkey Hunting. You have to wonder some days why we go out and hunt turkeys. Our friends are right: it really is cheaper to go to the market. Turkey is about as cheap as it gets.  It would seem just a little stupid to go out there and brave the cold and the rain and sleet and later the heat and the mosquitoes when there … More . . .
The Tipping Point
Every year I face a tipping point when all of a sudden I stop thinking seriously about deer hunting and start contemplating turkeys. If you had asked me a year ago where and when I might have that moment of transformation, I would have offhandedly said it would be at my laptop, looking out the dining room window at home on a cold frosty morning in January. That is where it usually happens. Something snaps inside of me and my inner serial killer starts thinking about birds. If you had told me I would be laid up at a Super 8 … More . . .
The Role of Personal Ethics in Hunting
It seems that every time I go and knock Ted Nugent, I get blasted for being un-American, against the sport of hunting, and a general waste of good air. So when I decided to comment on Ted’s latest missive on D&DH Ethics Shmethics, I figured it was time to take a new tack. In order to bang through all the hero worship and blind fawning from his acolytes, I figured it was time to try and put out something positive. Everyone hates complainers that don’t have a solution in mind. I need to pick up the ethical shovel and craft … More . . .
What Makes a Great Turkey Gun?
First off, turkey hunting is by its nature not all that demanding on guns. This is not wingshooting. This is not duck hunting. You make a shot, fill a tag, and that’s it. A cheap gun will do as well as the most expensive. Of all the systems I’ve tried, the pump is probably the best in my mind for weight, ease of operation and overall usability. I hunted with a semi for years. I’ve hunted with a bunch of others. Pumps have their problems, but they seem like the best for the job. Think cheap. A $150 pawn shop … More . . .
SuperCore Tags Out
For a textbook kind of morning, it was a cold one. 35F. It did not seem to bother the gobblers though.   We were pretty well bundled up as we checked into the blind overlooking the Mother of All Honey Holes. Yes, we’d been there before. Yes, we had not seen much action out there so far this Spring. However, I figured that one side faced East into a pasture that got a lot of early morning sun. If the gobblers needed a spot to warm themselves, there was not any better to be had on the farm. SuperCore was looking … More . . .
SuperCore Scores in a downpour
When I got up this morning, I was hard at work trying to convince myself it just wasn’t going to happen. The lady on the weather radio told me it was raining, winds gusting to 25 mph, and 52F. That is not my idea of turkey hunting weather. I went out on the porch and got hit with stinging drizzle– not even the dogs wanted to go out. SuperCore was not all that enthusiastic either. After a strong cup of coffee, we decided it couldn’t be all that bad going out to Midway. At least there we would be in … More . . .
The Blind Squirrel Gets Ambushed — A Pre-Season Tale
I got to thinking about things as I was walking out this morning. This is still a week before the Opener here in Kentucky. You’re not allowed to use calls. Of course, you can’t carry a gun either. Still, this is getting to be one of my favorite times of season. It becomes a matter of “by woodsmanship alone” that a hunter gets in close to turkeys. For some of y’all, that might be anathema, but there are a lot of facets to this sport that are not to everyone’s taste. In the pre-season, one of the keys is that … More . . .
And a Good Time was Had By All
There is not a whole lot you can complain about when you finish off a season like this one. Angus had a good time. I had a good time. The turkeys had a good time. Nobody got hurt. I am starting to count down the number of KY Yute Seasons I’ll be hunting. Angus, soon to be 12, is my youngest. You can only hunt as a Yute until 15. #2 son, Moose, turns 18 this year and has to sit on the sidelines with the rest of the grown-ups, waiting for the adult Opener. Every year we go out. … More . . .
What Is the Hardest Part of Turkey Hunting?
From Turkey and Turkey Hunting The hardest part for me? That’s changed over the years. It used to be just finding birds. Then it became finding the time in my life to get out and hunt. Then it became making sense of what the birds were doing. That right there takes you through the first 20 years or so of my life as a turkey hunter. Now I have my own land, I get to hunt a minimum of about 10 days a year, and even though the turkeys still laugh at me whenever I go out, I am starting … More . . .
Finally!!!
I just sent SuperCore home. He was down this morning scouting with me. As you remember, SuperCore is the longtime friend that I coaxed into deer hunting turkey hunting. This is his first season. KY’s Spring Gobbler season doesn’t start until mid-April. I just wanted to take him out and let him hear some real turkeys. As it was last weekend, the morning flydown was a complete bust. We heard a few gobblers, but they were a long way off. About 9, we knocked off and came back to the house to warm up and get some coffee. Morning … More . . .
Disappointing Scouting Trip
I originally wrote this last Monday after my first weekend of scouting for the KY Spring Gobbler Season. Since then, I’m hearing back from folks that the general consensus around these parts is that the turkeys are out there, just not up on the ridges and they’re not hot and vocal as they usually are this time of year: March 22, 2010 This is my second weekend down at turkey camp this year. We’re in SW Bracken County, KY, up in the Trans-Bluegrass between Cynthiana and the Ohio River. I spent two fruitless mornings– only a few gobblers sounding off … More . . .
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