Team 4 check-in.

[DrJ]

Way to go..Patients does work sometimes DrJ

[2044Mustang]

Great job, great story, and that's one big bird. Way to go!

[nbadger23]

Great work Fish! Were you calling at all while the birds were in sight or did you wait until that lone tom broke off? I wonder what would have happened if that decoy hadn't landed in the upright position :-)

[ANYFISH2]

Thanks for the congrats guys.

badger, I called some right at flydown, and when a tom would come visable. I called maybe 5 or 6 sequences in the 3 or 3 1/2 hours.

I probably wouldn't have called that much if the hens wouldn't have answered back. If I could get the boss hens to come to me the guys would follow, was my thought. It may have worked against me, maybe the hens lead the toms away.

I sure did learn a lot of different calls and sequences from the real hens yesterday! I think they helped me call and get the attention of the tom, by mimicing the calls they were doing.

The tom I shot was definaitly interested in the call, but like I have experienced before, he didn't seem to want walk up-hill blind. I can only wonder if he would have come in if the decoy would have landed differently. Maybe it was coincedence, but he sure got excited after the decoy was out of the blind.

[nbadger23]

Fish, thanks for the info. I've had very little interaction with hens in my hunts so I was curious what would be the right thing to try in your situation. In the reading I've done it seems like the hens can react by coming to investigate "the new hen" thus dragging the toms along OR they can hear the other hen as a competitor for their Tom and go the opposite direction so as not to lose their "hook up" :-)

It seems that light calling, as you did, would be a good idea as it would let the toms that were there know that once they were done breeding there was another hen in the area to go after or it may have drawn a subordinate tom in that was lurking.

I have a lot to learn about turkey communication so it's nice to read stories such as yours as it's additional knowledge to put in the memory bank.

[ANYFISH2]

I have called in every lone Tom or small group of males, that had just broke off of thier strutting zone/morning hens. Some have hung up out of range but they really seem callable mid-to late morning.

Other than flydown, 10am-2pm is my favorite time to call and hunt.

[ANYFISH2]

I have a lot to learn about turkey communication so it's nice to read stories such as yours as it's additional knowledge to put in the memory bank.

I am pretty sure ALL of us have alot to learn about these birds. I am sure we all learn something every season in the field, if not every day, if we are listen and really paying attention to the birds.

Borch, DonBo, and archerysniper just to name a few, are full of knowledge and seem very will to give advice. They(and this forum in general)have been pricless in helping me learn how to hunt turkey over the past 4 years.

[sticknstring]

Quote:

I am pretty sure ALL of us have alot to learn about these birds. I am sure we all learn something every season in the field, if not every day, if we are listen and really paying attention to the birds.

Well said! Soon as you think you've got them figured out, they do something completely unexpected!

[Borch]

After a while you learn to read the birds at bit better but every situation and bird can be very different. One thing that's worked for me is you have a hen answer your calls mimick her calls back to her matching her intensity. Usually the most talkative hen is the dominate bird and if you can get her to come and try and run you off the tom is likely to follow. Otherwise the light calling and leaf scratch can be a dynomite way to get more submissive or educated birds to close the distance. I try to fire birds up early and have them look for me as they close the distance. If a google gobbles hard for a bit and then stutd up, set down the call and get ready to shoot. He may take a while but they often will come in silent and catch you off guard. One of my early lessons learned the hard way.

The early morning off the roost time can be exciting but is usually less likely to close the deal. The past few years the afernoons have been very good to us. Later in the season I would say the best part of the day starts about 10 am and gets better as the day wears on.

Lastly be safe and have fun! Killing a bird is icing on the cake but hunting them is what it's all about.

[Cheetah]

Abndoc, are you taking your son out again this season? I thought in WI the kids get to go early and then can also hunt their regular time slot that the tag is good for? maybe...

[Cheetah]

Kinda quiet in here. I am leaving for SD this evening and should have a first-day report tomorrow.

[ANYFISH2]

Good luck cheetah, will be looking forward to your reports.

Good luck to the others that are hunting season C here in MN also.

I'll be waiting for some pics and stories.

[Cheetah]

I missed one today with my bow at 35yd. Thought I hit him but no blood on the arrow. Must have just gone through feathers. Chased a few other flocks in circles all day with no shots... I have a big flock located for the morning and am going out with my bow again.

[2044Mustang]

Good luck tomorrow Cheetah, I can't wait for Saturday. I haven't been seeing a lot of birds and it's a new area for me. Hoping to get lucky though. May your arrow fly true!

[Cheetah]

Slow morning. Huge flock right where I wanted and I got my blind in a nice clearing near them. One flew down to me but left when he realized the flock was going the other way... Gonna wait em out for a while yet since I figure some will circle back through this spot like they did yesterday.

[ANYFISH2]

Good luck! Can't wait to here of your success.

[Abndoc]

Ya Cole will be back out in 2 weeks.

[Cheetah]

I left the blind and went walking to find birds. Ended up finding the flock up high. Called in a gobbler to 20yd but he saw me grab for my bow and putted off. I instantly called in two more gobblers and a hen and they caught me moving too. Sure is a lot easier when you can sit there with a gun and just blast them without moving.

I saw a couple big gobbler fights and the hens went at it too. Had a few hens and 5 or 6 gobblers strutting above me but I couldn't get them to come down to my level and I couldn't sneak any closer and have any chance of a shot with the bow.

Oh well, can't say I didn't have opportunities. I'll head back out in a couple hours and hope they circle back through where I have the blind on their way to roost tonight.

[sticknstring]

Run & gun with archery tackle is no easy feat! Good luck this afternoon in the blind!

[Cheetah]

Yea I should have had those birds today but I was dinking around with the call when I should have just been ready to shoot when I heard them gobble so close. It was tight quarters in the sapling pines so I couldn't see them coming until they were right on top of me.

[Cheetah]

Had some gobblers come by while I was in the blind but they wanted nothing to do with me. There was a flock nearby that they made a b-line to. I'll take the bow out again tomorrow and give them one more day to make me feel bad. After that the boomstick comes out.

[Cheetah]

Still no luck with the bow... Frustrating.

[DonBo]

You seem to always get-r-done Josh. Keep at it, keep us posted.

[Cheetah]

Missed another... Gun time tomorrow.

[ANYFISH2]

Good luck today cheetah.

[Cheetah]

Boom.

[DonBo]

Boom.

Atta boy!

[Cheetah]

Pretty standard sized Black Hills Merriams turkey. I sure wish they could get a little bigger around here. Every bird we see in these flocks look identical for the most part. None have long sharp spurs, and none look any bigger than the rest. Need a corn field or something so they can put on more weight.

18.5lb, 8" beard, 11/16" spurs. I figure it for another 2 year old.

My uncle still has a tag in his pocket so I'll go back out this afternoon to try to get some good photos and video as he puts an arrow in one.

[ANYFISH2]

Way to go cheetah! The suspense was killing me

I hope to some day hunt merriams, beautiful birds. Just haven't figured out where or with whom would go with me.

Congrates again Cheetah.

[sticknstring]

Great bird Cheetah - congrats!