Crazy times

[gimruis]

15 minutes ago, IceHawk said:

Austin yes you will still be able to fish just using social distancing. Outdoor activities will still be allowed. 

 

Yes, they actually encourage people to "recreate" outdoors just as long as its not in groups.

[IceHawk]

This is about Turkey hunting you have nothing to add towards turkey hunting please move on and keep the crap out of here! Last straw!!!!!!

[Dash 1]

My son and neighbor would turkey hunt together, but not this year. I have not tried it yet but may this  year if things go well. Just a heads up that the NICS system is back logged and every gun I have tried to sell at work has come back delayed.  I work at Walmart ( yea I know all your Wally World jokes and understand some people’s resentment of it), so apparently my job is essential to stock food and necessities for everyone, and as long as we’re open people come in and buy guns and licenses as well, which they should be able to do I feel.  Just hope they don’t sneeze on me when I try to help them.  The delay should are taking anywhere from 3 days to 2 or moreover weeks.

[Austin12345]

Ok thats good I was scared this was like you have to stay at home kinda thing.

[whateverisbiting]

My parents have 20 acres in Scandia.  They feed the animals and have a large flock of turkeys come through every day.  The last two years now they have sand hill cranes that are strangely not at all scared of you; I have walked literally within 10 yards of them.  I have hunted both turkey and crane, but the thought of taking a bird off a residential property somehow seems not so sporting to me (yes and baiting is illegal but they still came around before feeding).  Plus I like to watch them.  I'll get my turkey at Cub!

[monstermoose78]

Well I got approved for a shotgun but the store forgot to call me!! It’s ok I will try to get it before the stay home stuff.

[monstermoose78]

2 hours ago, Dash 1 said:

My son and neighbor would turkey hunt together, but not this year. I have not tried it yet but may this  year if things go well. Just a heads up that the NICS system is back logged and every gun I have tried to sell at work has come back delayed.  I work at Walmart ( yea I know all your Wally World jokes and understand some people’s resentment of it), so apparently my job is essential to stock food and necessities for everyone, and as long as we’re open people come in and buy guns and licenses as well, which they should be able to do I feel.  Just hope they don’t sneeze on me when I try to help them.  The delay should are taking anywhere from 3 days to 2 or moreover weeks.

I will sneeze in my shirt I got you man

[Kettle]

2 hours ago, whateverisbiting said:

My parents have 20 acres in Scandia.  They feed the animals and have a large flock of turkeys come through every day.  The last two years now they have sand hill cranes that are strangely not at all scared of you; I have walked literally within 10 yards of them.  I have hunted both turkey and crane

Crane are definitely the most weary bird I have ever tried to hunt, you getting so close makes me question my hunting techniques

[Rick]

Folks,

I get it. We're all under stress. Let's remember that as we interact in here. Make your point and let it go. 

 

Be KIND to each other, especially now. None of you, including our Governor or even Dr. Fauci of the CDC KNOWS the best way to handle this. They are making judgements on best guesses.

 

In that spirit, no one should be making judgements about another persons activity especially if it remains within the scope of the law. Just admit, you really don't know anything other than directives sent to us by folks giving us their best guess. None of them know and they all admit it. So you surely don't. Even though you may believe you do.

 

We need to knock out this virus and get our economy rolling. So let's BE SURE to follow the directives given by the state or Federal Government and leave it at that. Please.

 

Be KIND and non-judgemental no matter what your beliefs are. You are not in the other person's shoes so don't preach or fight.  BE KIND!

 

So let's please stay on topic and be KIND to each other.

[gimruis]

14 hours ago, whateverisbiting said:

I have hunted both turkey and crane, but the thought of taking a bird off a residential property somehow seems not so sporting to me (yes and baiting is illegal but they still came around before feeding).  Plus I like to watch them.  I'll get my turkey at Cub!

 

That would actually technically be illegal because you can't use bait to take wild game.  But you're right, a butterball is definitely a lot better than a wild turkey.

 

BTW, what does sandhill crane taste like?  I've heard them called ribeye of the sky but I haven't confirmed that.  They have such a distinct and unique call, it sounds like a velociraptor.

Edited March 26, 2020 by gimruis

[Wanderer]

Hunting and Fishing are A-OK by the Executive Order from yesterday.  Just be careful out there.

[eyeguy 54]

Have heard they are delicious also but haven’t had the pleasure of trying it. Love looking for them in spring to try and get a few pics. Indeed the call they make is neat. One of my favorites. Butterball better than wild turkey? YES!  Lol. I did enjoy hunting them when I did but didn’t get the pounding heart that deer gave me so I lost interest. 

[whateverisbiting]

For wild game what is most delicious is in my opinion is:

 

1) Grouse

2) Crane

3) Pheasant

4) Venison

 

We call crane flying cow.  No wild taste.  Tender and not dry.  Looks like beef.  My sister in law who is very picky and would never eat wild game actually liked it.

 

Regarding baiting yes of course that is illegal.  If I were to hunt I would have to ask them to stop feeding and I would wait a while.  They would still come around but probably not let us watch them like they do so I just enjoy watching them.

 

[eyeguy 54]

Always liked pheasant but stopped eating it quite a while ago. One bb in wrong spot and big dr bill. Venison is top of the list for me. I have tried bear a couple times and it was fantastic! Never have hunted bear. 

[Kettle]

Rough grouse for me, definitely not a huge fan of Spruce grouse or Sharptail as much as Rough. I'm sure most on this forum will agree that it's all in how the meat is prepared and I don't mean cooked, I'm referring to the butchering process. Heck, I've had terrible Angus beef that had blood clots and over it in the packaging. I feel like most of the game taste comes from bad prep and lots of blood. I eat a lot of diver ducks but just really prep them thoural

[Bigfatbert]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Hunting and Fishing are A-OK by the Executive Order from yesterday.  Just be careful out there.

in reference to “C” above and the ability to to go and fish that one must adhere to the 6 foot distancing . I would just like to remind all and in a friendly way , that it is impossible to adhere to this rule while driving in a vehicle with a passenger . Also this does apply to any travel whatsoever at this time . Now if the passenger is a family member you can still indeed travel together , but if the passenger would be anybody else (ie: a buddy ,friend , stranger ) it is not allowed to do at all . I spoke yesterday to a top DNR person and was told this is true , and even their DNR personal currently have to , and are at this time not having a passenger in any of their vehicles ,so they too are indeed following this requirement...   I am posting this for a heads up to all who may want to travel with a non family passenger at any time. So if one must go fishing with a friend you must travel to your destination in separate vehicles . Also if you need to travel to any destination with a friend , that traveling must be done with separate vehicles.. I hope this is informative to all that we’re not aware of this , and personally thank all who are doing their part during this troubling time in all our lives...

[Borch]

Bigfatbert, thanks for the heads up in the travel part.   Would also apply to being in a boat with said passenger.  

 

Hoping to get out this weekend.  Will likely be a solo trip or meeting someone at the lake.

 

[gimruis]

2 hours ago, Bigfatbert said:

So if one must go fishing with a friend you must travel to your destination in separate vehicles . Also if you need to travel to any destination with a friend , that traveling must be done with separate vehicles..

 

Didn't think of that, but since fishing in a boat or portable ice shelter with someone other than a member of your household would violate this, it makes sense.  Best thing to do now might be to just fish alone or take the dog with instead.

 

Borch beat me to it

Edited March 26, 2020 by gimruis

[gimruis]

4 hours ago, whateverisbiting said:

For wild game what is most delicious is in my opinion is:

 

1) Grouse

2) Crane

3) Pheasant

4) Venison

Never had crane, so can't comment on it.  I definitely would try it given a chance though.

 

I don't harvest enough grouse to keep them on the list but the ones I have had are good.

 

I harvest a good number of pheasants every year and they are good, just watch out for BBs.

 

Ducks are OK if they are grain eaters like mallards/woodies.  Divers that swim to the bottom and eat crap are strong and not good.

 

Vension is good if you harvest the right deer and properly take care of it.  A young, corn fed antlerless deer is ideal.  An old, rutted up buck is like leather.

 

Wild turkey is tolerable one time a year.  I wouldn't want to eat it regularly.

 

Goose is not fit for human consumption.  I'd rather starve.

[whateverisbiting]

2 hours ago, Kettle said:

 I eat a lot of diver ducks but just really prep them thoural

How do you prep them?  I have seen a lot of recipes and nothing works well.  Best I have done is to breast them, marinade in teriyaki, then grill.  Still, the dog gets half if my son is around with the dog!  My nephew smokes them and they are actually tolerable.

 

I eat what I shoot.  I walk out the cabin door down a few hundred yards and hunt them, but I stop at 1 or 2 so I don't have to eat them!  Mostly woodies and mallards.  Shot a merganser once...horrible!

 

I have been working from home and hoping my wife is doing the same next week...quality time at the cabin for a while!

[Kettle]

I breast them as most do, I have a 5 gallon pale I throw them into with holes drilled in it and a hose fitting on the bottom and run them through water for a few minutes to get them clean. Soak them on low in the crock pot in salt water for a few hours then dump that water out and clean the crockpot then cook them on low in barbecue sauce or barbacoa sauce and make either sandwiches or taco meat out of them shedding them in the crockpot on low for 8 hours or so. Biggest thing is getting the blood out of them before cooking. I don't mind duck, I'll even fry them in butter and eat them with eggs for breakfast 

[rundrave]

5 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

Always liked pheasant but stopped eating it quite a while ago. One bb in wrong spot and big dr bill.

 

40 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I harvest a good number of pheasants every year and they are good, just watch out for BBs.

 

One tip when cleaning pheasants is after you cut out the breasts hold them up to a ceiling light from where your standing and you will see any bb's in the meat.  I suppose that would work the same with turkeys if you were a little low on your head shots if you harvest one with a shot gun. 

 

I have shot many many pheasants over the years. I will say that going to a steel shot has reduced the number of bb's left in the meat as I rarely get any. I used to get a lot with lead but I never shoot lead shot any more.

Edited March 26, 2020 by rundrave

[Wanderer]

Got home from work while it was raining.  It finally slacked up around 5 and I took a walk around the yard, picked up some stuff, trimmed a few trees and stretched out a little further to figure out a few blind sets for turkey season.  As comfortable as I am with the ground around me, it was worth the scout.  I figured out 3 spots that I hadn’t considered before.  
 

It was definitely refreshing to be outside again and now I can at least have some anticipation for the upcoming season!

[Dave S]

On 3/23/2020 at 8:12 AM, gimruis said:

 

On the decoy subject, I have found that sometimes NO decoys work better when hunting pressured birds too.  Calling too much can be a hindrance too.

Totally agree on the no decoys. For pressured birds, I will use 2 hen decoys at most, if at all.

For birds holed up in a flock, there always seems to be that one bird that says "SCREW IT" and will break and come into a call. I'm not a big fan of over calling but the last 2 years, I relentlessly scolded a tom in for a friend. It has also helped in difficult situations to focus on the hens and argue with them, looking for a fight. If all else fails, an immature but legal jake will follow her in.

[Wanderer]

I’ve cut back on decoy use too.  None when shotgun hunting in woods especially but still use 1 or 2 for bow hunting.  This year on two of my possible sets I plan to put out 3 but not in a group; spread out instead and see how that goes.

[Borch]

For be if I use a decoy its usually an undersized strutting jake all by itself.  I will occasionally add a hen or use an alert Jake.  If I'm in the woods I rarely use a decoy.  I like that tom to be looking for his girlfriend he heard earlier.  I've had too many big toms hang up out if range using just hen/s.

[IceHawk]

I'm a decoy nut. I have 2 hens a Jake and a full  strutter in truck at all times. The birds I hunt aren't that pressured I hunt 4 big Private pieces with minimal hunters if any, and I hunt a lot of open ground so visuals play key part in my success normally. I do agree in a woods I rarely use one got burned two many times with one. Better off making that lonely Tom look for you. My normal spread is a alert hen feeding hen and Jake combo.  If after a Dominate Tom the full strutter comes out. But there is a time for decoys and a time for none birds will let you know real quick. 

[monstermoose78]

I like decoys but I am a crossbow hunter. I wonder if a huge spread would draw them in like ducks?

like in this photo

Edited March 30, 2020 by monstermoose78

[gimruis]

I hunted the same core "flock" of turkeys for about a decade on the same piece of private land.  At first is was easy.  The first 3 out of 4 years, I harvested a turkey (2 toms, 1 jake) relatively easily using traditional hunting methods of calling with decoys.  Heck, the very first season I hunted in my life was here and it took me an hour to fill my tag with a nice tom!  I would move my blind around on the piece of land based on where I saw the most activity.  I also shot these turkeys using traditional turkey ammo that had a max range of 35 yards.  Well after a few years of "easy" hunting, the birds wised up - especially the males.  I noticed that they were much more cautious coming towards decoys.  The hens would walk right past but the males would hold up about 50+ yards out.  Then extended range turkey ammo came out so I started using Winchester Longbeard XR and was able to harvest two toms in 2 years, one at 51 yards and another at 62 yards.  Well then the males started staying 80 yards out.  So I completely stopped using decoys and calls and just sat in my blind waiting for a turkey to walk by within range.  Eventually the entire flock of turkeys avoided the whole piece of land I had permission to hunt.

 

I was able to harvest 6 turkeys in 10 years on this piece of property, which is still a 60% success rate, but I think the birds finally learned that they should avoid the area to prevent getting hunted.  I've now got several other pieces of land to hunt, but my experience with pressured birds over a long period of time proved that turkeys can learn to avoid blinds, decoys, calling, and even specific areas of land where they've been targeted.

Edited March 30, 2020 by gimruis

[Borch]

Last spring for the first time we noticed birds being blind shy.  We're really gonna need to brush blinds in this spring to see if that makes a difference or not.

 

Been hunting these birds for 15+ years and last year was the first time we noticed this.  Funny though,  they had no issues walking a few feet past our parked trucks.