Nearing the Half-Way Point
With the Polar Vortex about to sweep down from the North, and the Super Bowl nearly upon us, I thought I would check in. I normally look at Super Bowl Weekend as the half-way point in the wait between the end of Deer Season and the beginning of Turkey. It really is not; I mean don’t go breaking out a calendar and start counting. It used to be that you had to have your turkey tag request in the mail by about now, or else Ohio wasn’t going to let you hunt in the spring. Thankfully those days are long … More . . .
KY Non-Resident Fees Hiked
From: 2019 Licenses on Sale FRANKFORT, Ky. (1/12/19) — Licenses and permits to fish, hunt and trap in Kentucky in the coming license year are on sale now. The 2019-2020 license year starts March 1. License and permit fees for Kentucky residents for the 2019-2020 license year are unchanged from the 2018-19 license year. Prices on some options for non-residents have changed and include: Annual fishing license, $55; One-day fishing license, $15; Seven-day fishing license, $35; Annual hunting license, $150; Statewide deer permit, $185; Spring turkey permit, $85; Fall turkey permit, $85; One-day hunting license, $25; Seven-day hunting license, $65; … More . . .
Turkey Poults in the Yard
This is just plain cool. I don’t care who y’are. Saturday afternoon, I was taking a nap when I heard a noise. I rolled over and found a hen turkey peaking in the bedroom window. This isn’t the first time it’s happened. They just walk right up to the screen. So I started to roll over, and this spooked the hen. She went putting off. I looked out and saw a bunch of turkeys, hens and poults running off into the back yard. Later, I checked the security cameras and found two videos. Here’s the same bunch exiting through the … More . . .
Turkey Season 2018 Post-Mortem
As you read in the last post, we pulled the plug on Turkey Season a little early this year. Before I put everything away and start thinking ahead, I first want to thank everyone for the kind words, thoughts, and prayers for KYHillChick. The surgery is tomorrow. We’re are hoping for the best. She is on 24HourCampfire.com, so you can email her over there or leave comments here. She has been really appreciating it. I also want to throw out a few items of gear that stood out this year. This season was all about staying warm and dry. First … More . . .
I’m Done!
It’s over. Turkey Season still has another week to go, but it is over at our camp. Angus tagged out. He pulled 2 gobblers off the west side of Gobbler’s Knob SuperCore was benched for the season with pneumonia. I never got a shot. I’m not sure a gobbler ever honored my call all season. I freely admit that I’m not all that great a caller, but I’m not THAT bad! Statewide, I expect the harvest numbers to be way down. Bracken County is off by a third compared to last year. Pendleton is down by a quarter. We still … More . . .
Angus Tags Out in 2018
Angus is making it look easy. This one flopped down from his roost and came running over with less than a half-hour’s legal hunting on Saturday. Angus said he was working a more mature gobbler that was back behind Broken Corners when this fellow flew down from the roost and ran practically up Angus’ leg. Angus shot him at under 10 yards. This was a 2 year old gobbler with 1/2 inch spurs and a 9.5″ inch beard. However, you wouldn’t know it. Angus’ shot gave the gob a quick beard trim. Me? I went birdless again this weekend. What … More . . .
Something Snapped
At 1630 ET last afternoon, I looked at the updated forecast and saw the following progression: Thunderstorms, high wind and rain before sunset Overnight wind and falling temperatures Low was to be in the low 30’s First light: Snow, wind, cold Changing over to wintry mix and wind Changing to rain by 1100 ET Something snapped. I’d just spent too many days this season with too much cold, rain, wind and wintry mix for there to be anything left in me. What’s more, I’d not seen a gobbler, nor had one honor my calls. My son got his gobbler in … More . . .
Angus Scores in Rainy Opener
Saturday was, hands-down, the best bit of turkey hunting weather I’ve ever seen for an Opener here in SW Bracken County. There was only one thing missing: turkeys. Angus and I stayed out to 1100. There were a half dozen shots all morning. Maybe a third of what I’d expect. Only one was relatively close. I had one gobbler honor a call shortly after flydown, but that was the last I heard of him. The other thing missing was SuperCore. He’s down with the New-Mown-Hay. (Pneumonia). This is the first Opener he’s missed in a decade. Bummer. The Shamanic Dream … More . . .
Turkey Camp 2018
I just thought y’all would like a pic of a truly beautiful day at the Thoughtful Spot. It’s on the cusp of Spring Gobbler Season. It’ll probably hit 70 today. There are gobblers gobbling like crazy. It also shows off my new panorama viewer. Views: 0 Related posts: Report from Turkey Camp — Wow! What a Ride! Turkey Season 2018 Post-Mortem Turkey Camp Wrapping it up Update from Turkey Camp. Report from Turkey Camp — The Action so Far Turkey Camp Reopens Return to Turkey Camp Turkey Camp 2014 — Post Mortem
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PODCAST: Return to the Honey Hole 2018
There is something that seems darn near-miraculous in the way an old turkey hunter can stroll out in the thin light of pre-dawn, over a ridge socked clean in with fog and come up a half-mile further on, set up next to an old log and wait, to be rewarded a quarter of an hour later with hearty gobbles from a host of turkeys that he left almost a year before. At least that is how it felt to this old turkey hunter, guided by nothing much more than a lot of faith and wee bit of moonlight peaking out. … More . . .
A Turkey Hunter Takes a Fearless Inventory
I finally stopped procrastinating and put together a log of the turkeys I’ve killed over the years. There were some surprises. For instance, I didn’t realize that I have averaged filling 1 tag /year since I took my first bird. That is a huge thing considering the number of years I went dry, because I didn’t have enough time off work to make a decent go of it. Other surprises: I have only bagged one gobbler in May. It makes sense. Most years, I’m tagged out, and though I’ve done a lot of hunting in May, it’s usually been as … More . . .
What’s It Going to Be Like on the Opener?
NOTE:Â The locations of the NWS long range predictions has changed I’ve written before about my love/hate relationship with long range weather forecasting. I can’t really believe it, but I can’t help watching. It goes back to my earliest days, reading the Farmer’s Almanac. It never seemed to be right, but everybody said it was accurate. I have to say that trying to predict the weather in April and May in the Trans-Bluegrass is a daunting task. I have seen everything from. . . well, I’ve seen it. I distinctly remember the forecast one day in April reading, “Intermittent … More . . .
What’s Ur Goto Call, Y’all
From KentuckyHunting.net KYBirdman said: As some of us feel the Ky. turkey population may be declining. I feel if I release my go to call the population may be in grave danger. I hear you Birdman. It’s a dark and somber time for sure. However, think of it as a historical thing. Someday someone may want to know what a real KY turkey hunter used. We owe it to posterity Me? If you’d asked in my first 15 years of turkey hunting, it would have been my Quaker Boy Grand Old Master that Dick Kirby put in my hand. At … More . . .
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