Team 4=SPUR COLLECTORS

[Gordie]

I'm holding out for record book gobbler ;)well at least one bigger than DonBo's

[Sorgy]

Stick,

Great story and photos. How come it was a solo hunt this year. Don't you go with a regular group out there every spring?

Awsom photos.

Great bird and a nice drive home

Steve

[sticknstring]

Thanks Steve. It was a spontaneous trip. Wasn't planning on going down this year but as you all know, once the season arrives, the turkey bug gets us all. A few of the regulars came down a day later but I had obligations to get back home to so I went early. I'm still hoping to get out for a few days during MN E season too. We'll see.

[dukhnt]

I am definetly getting the itch to go. May 4th can't come soon enough.

[Gordie]

yep and gotta love that itch I get to take my youngest this weekend for his season then May 15 cant get here soon enough.

[DonBo]

I'm holding out for record book gobbler ;)well at least one bigger than DonBo's

Aim high my friend. Aim high.

[Gordie]

but not to high

[Nightcrawler]

elwood ,had to move us out of the hole.

[rundrave]

its killing me that I didnt bag a bird. I thought the season ended a lot sooner but was informed it goes until late May.

I am gonna try my best to make it happen. Unfortunately I am in the process of moving so we will see. I might just drive out and make it a 1 day trip.

I am still holding out for hope, and a bird or 2

[Gordie]

elwood ,had to move us out of the hole.

hope to bag a bird but I gotta wait untill may 15th

[mrklean]

Well im starting to get my stuff ready i leave friday for kansas cant wait to get down there should be a blast

[sticknstring]

Good luck - should be a great trip. We're counting on you to put a bird on the ground. I start MN tomorrow... looks to be a nice cool week.

[dukhnt]

Stick - Good luck tomorrow. I will be heading out in the morning as well.

[Gordie]

Good luck guys and I hope do read BBD soon

[Nightcrawler]

boy-o-boy I feel good we got two in the woods with guns. go put them turks down.

[mrklean]

i shot the bow last night and got it sighted in again she was shooting a litte high and to the left

[sticknstring]

You taking the bow to Kansas?

I went out for a few hours before work this morning. Not much gobbling but I did have a jake sounding off on the farm I had permission on so I decided to setup nearby. As I was popping the blind up, a few birds lit up on the adjacent farm so at least there's still a few birds around yet. I never did see that jaker but at 6:10 a tom gobbled about a 100 yds out and I saw him working down the field to me but just prior to that I had a deer out in the field doing head bobs at me. Not sure if that buggered that bird or what but he wouldn't come in. He skirted me at 60 yds and wanted nothing to do with me. He couldn't see the decoy and all I threw out were some soft clucks and purrs so who knows. I've never hunted this property this late - I know they've been hunted quite a bit already so it might be a long 5 days. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

[dukhnt]

A few minutes after six this morning I had 18 birds in the field including 6 long beards. They were chasing each other around, strutting and gobbling. All 18 birds were in the field for about 45 minutes. The only two that came into my dekes were hens. It was still a riot watching them. I won't be back after them till friday due to work commitments. But I will hit em hard friday and saturday.

[mrklean]

yep my buddy and i are both going with the bows should be a good challenge

[sticknstring]

Awesome - bring a full quiver and plenty of broadheads!

Sounds like you have a honey-hole dukhnt. Best of luck this weekend.

[dukhnt]

Just to let you guys know, I harvested a jake yesterday. It was my last day so I decided to take whatever would come in rather than eat tag soup. Story and pictures to follow when time allows in the next day or two.

[Gordie]

bird in the bag is better than no bird at all. congrats on the bird

[DonBo]

No shame in taking a jake. Congrats!

[mrklean]

got my fiirst tom ever last night, 10 in beard maybe a little more, story and pics tomorrow. Got one more chane for another

[Gordie]

Congrats on the tom mrklean

[mknolls]

Sounds like you spur collectors are doing pretty good. Can't wait to see that 10 inch beard on some pic's. For a first turkey that has got to be feel pretty darn good. Did you jump up and down screaming ya ho? I know I would. Way to go. And yes a jake is better then tag soup. My soup was a little waxy tasting and left a me with a blue tong for some reason.

Mrklean how far was your shoot with your bow? And did he run far after the hit or did you drop him in his tracks? Can I ask what type of broad head did you use? Good luck with the next one.

[Borch]

Congrats MrKleen!

What an awsome bird for your first!

[sticknstring]

Nick work guys... 2 more birds to add up! Lets hear some stories and see some pics!

I finished up my MN hunt Saturday night at 7:45pm. It was a new experience for me. I didn't make it out every day but put in one full day, one half day in the rain, and a few hours on the others. Thursday was beautiful but that was about it - pretty lousy weather-wise. I hunted with the bow to start with but never had any opportunities. There were birds around but mostly on adjacent properties. If you touched the call, they'd go the other way. If they saw your decoy, they'd go the other way. Definitely not what I've experienced in the past during the first two time periods. I did have 3 hens and a strutter come in Thurs morning. The hens came in to about 15 yds and I thought the tom would follow but once I peaked out the porthole, he was a good 40-45 yds out. A little longer than I'm comforable shooting the bow at turks. That was it. Nothing else was even close. Quite a few single hens roaming around though. I was about ready to call it quits. I had early Mother's day obligations Saturday (last day) that kept me busy until 2pm. I decided to go back out for a few hours that afternoon and get payback if I got the chance. I took nothing but my mouthcall and my uncle's shotgun. He's got a turkey choke on it and it's been deadly. Worked birds most of the afternoon suprisingly but they mostly hung-up at 100 yds. They were fired up though. They'd walk back and forth at 100 yds gobbling their fool heads off waiting for me and eventually just leave. That happened twice from 3-6pm. I'm not used to the run & gun tactic. Finally in the distance, I spotted two toms. I gave them one short series of yelps, saw them turn my direction and I went silent. 5 minutes goes by... no birds. I scratch some leaves. Nothing. 5 more long minutes and I catch movement - they're coming. 2 longbeards making a very wary approach. At this point they were 80 yds. I was hunkered along a big oak with the gun up. They'd go 10 yds and stop and look for 2 minutes. 10 more yds and look. Finally the lead bird was in the clear within range and I squeezed the trigger. BOOOM - Bird flapping on the ground! That's the first bird I've killed with the shotgun since my first turkey - 10 years ago, but it sure was a lot of fun. After sitting in the blind the majority of previous 4 days, it was nice to get out and move around a bit. I'm pretty patient when it comes to hunting turkeys, but after awhile I get claustrophobic so that was a neat experience. It turned out to be a pretty nice bird... a hair under 22LBS, 9 1/2" beard, and 1 1/8" spurs.

[DonBo]

Good job Stick! Took me a while too to figure out the shotgun can actually be fun, and the payback after all that frustration is sweet!

[Hoyt4]

Nice bird stick.I also love taking them with a cheater pipe.I love to use the bow but sure is nice to get a little gun smoke in the air.Since I've started hunting with a bow 10 years ago, I still hunt them like I have a shotgun.I do not get myself tied down.If you like to move around you can still do that with a bow.All our birds shot in NE this year for the archery season all shot outside of the blind running and gunning.