Comes in Monday morning and right now don't have any intention on going, the way the weather has been Iam going to hold out till the second week. It will be the first time Ive ever miss a opening morning must be old age I don't get excited about it like I use to ::).
Turkey season here is the month of May!
My son is taking his 2 youngest boys out turkey hunting tomorrow (21st) for the special "youth hunts" which is open before the regular season!
They may get lucky, turkeys smarten up quick!
Turkeys are mighty smart critters. If they are in the field and I go to the door,they will run off. Same way in the back of the house. I can go out and watch the deer,but those turkeys are long gone.
I got my first (and only) turkey two years ago. A nice big 21lb tom. Didn't have a chance to go last year. And this year I think I've decided I don't want to bother largely due to the fact of how much the state wants to charge me for it. (weird reason I know) Hunting/fishing license $42, spring/fall turkey tag $20 (allows one male in spring and one male or female in fall), additional spring male $20, PLUS (this is where they lose me) $5 for each bird tagged.
I will buy the hunting/fishing license anyway so that doesn't bother me but...potentially $55 for 3 turkeys?! :o ??? I'm pretty sure I could raise a half dozen in my backyard for not much more than that. I enjoy hunting (alot) but when I need to do a cost/benefit analyst it loses it's luster. :(
JM
I feel the same as you John!
That wild turkey is mighty expensive for what you get out of it!
This time of year lots of grocery stores run specials on turkey's!
Better eating too.
The season has been in for almost a month here. Saw 5 gobblers today bugging in one of my pine plantations.
Well in some aspects the big birds are smart but in most cases they do have a bird brain .Come flirting season I've seen the Toms' get right in the middle of a road intersection and fan out and strut that strut trying to romance the passing automobiles or something .Well they are turkeys you can't expect them to be Einsteins .
if you do a cost analysis on the things we hunt, going to store is always the cheaper route by far. i don't hunt for the meat, thats a bonus for me its the time spent in the woods with nature and or with family and friends.
turkey season is going on here, the last 2 weeks we have gotten over 15" of snow, not exactly ideal hunting conditions for those have to hunt that season
Regardless the game, it's about the hunt, the friends and family, the early mornings, coffee, breakfast, the sounds nature waking up, the smells and the sounds, and last but not least the exercise we get from the stalks which hopefully is satisfied by the feed at the end of the day. david
Our Spring Gobbler came in last Saturday and runs through May 18th. Doesn't cost me anything.
Well, the boy's turkey hunt didn't last long!
They got cold and called it quits!
Regular Spring turkey season here is the month of May!
I couldn't take it and got up and went,it was cold and the turkeys were not on the property I was aloud to hunt so I just sat there and enjoyed the coming of daylight, turned into a dandy day.
I'm not even certain if we have a turkey season in the county I live in .That suits me just fine because I really think the turkeys which were transplanted need to get back to their natural wild ways before they have a season on them .
Saw 5 gobblers and a hen today. Turkeys everywhere.
Al every county in Ohio is open to hunting,WDH I sure would enjoy living in your neighbor hood I get the biggest kick out of watching turkeys :D
Sorry, only saw 5 gobblers, not 54 :) Too many thumbs when typing.
I've seen more turkeys than I can count in the past month or so, you cant drive literally more than a half mile without seeing at least 2 its unreal. I went out a few weeks ago to call a little bit and had one longbeard going and saw probably 30 or 40 hens and what were this years poults so I was pretty excited to get out and take one down. Then I finally get out and didn't even get a gobble. Oh well I was just glad to be in the woods and my brother got one so I was happy for him :)
Here they seem like there henned up and it's suppose to turn cold again tomarrow that won't help any.
We have had nearly 32" of snow in the last couple of weeks, but most of the guy's are getting their birds.
My mom told me she saw a flock of at least 20 Monday. All out in a field, probably chasing insects.
These turkeys seem to be of several breeds .Most are the traditional black type but a few I noticed are a brownish color with a certain amount of white mixed in .
Now I've never seen any on my property but just down the road I've seen them several times .Walking around in peoples yards just like they owned the place with not a care in the world .This is a wonderfull habitate for turkeys with all the oak trees .I'd well imagine though that given a chance they would be content with the farmers wheat ,soy beans and corn also .
Quote from: clww on April 23, 2013, 08:26:37 PM
My mom told me she saw a flock of at least 20 Monday. All out in a field, probably chasing insects.
Hey Chief, I just got curious and looked up to see if FLOCK of Turkeys is correct. Well it is. But I did not know they are also called a RAFTER of Turkeys. I never knew it. :)
I've hunted them since 1980 and I'd never heard that term for a group of them either. :)
My favorite is for owls. These are referred to as a "Parliament".
A gaggle of geese ,a murder of crows .
A flotilla of ducks if they are just floating on the water ,a paddling of ducks if they are swimming around .If they are walking around although I've never heard a term perhaps a waddling of ducks .
Quote from: POSTONLT40HDquote]
Hey Chief, I got got curious and looked up to see if FLOCK of Turkeys is correct. Well it is. But I did not know they are also called a RAFTER of Turkeys. I never knew it. :)
Evidently for a group of chickens also because when the hen house caught fire the rooster said let's get the flock outta here .--or so it's been said . ;D
I believe they've closed the turkey season along counties where the flood waters have them out of their habitat. I had driven up the levee to see where the water was when about 15 turkeys flushed off the inside and flew back into the tree tops. But one jake refused to fly but he ran as fast and far, looked maybe he could have been winged or injured in some way. Lots of nests destroyed by flood waters, think they'll nest again?
I'm not sure about your area but here they will nest for quite awhile when the nests get broke up. I've seen some really small chicks pretty late in the summer, ours are just getting a good start at it and spreading back out but we've really had a cold spring so far.
I saw a tom out back this morning all fanned out. Never saw one outback do that. See them across the road in the field quite often doing that,but never behind the house. There was two other turkeys right up by the OWB looking for acorns from the oak tree. They are only about 30 feet from the house.That is no big deal. We have seen 10 out there at one time. Here's what he left for marks in the woods road.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/turkeydraggingsthecfarm2013.jpg)
I should of tried to get a picture of him through the window. Those critters are mighty smart. I go out the back door and if they are in sight of me,they are gone. I don't hunt,don't have nothing against it,just don't. Turkeys have not been on my land that long. When I had a house built here in 2000 there was none. Maybe 5 years later we saw a couple and then more and more after that.
I'd like to know how a bird that large can fly throuh a pine tree and take off from the ground like a helicopter and startle the day lights out of you .
We don't have any big pines here but in those northen Pa hills near the NY state border were I first encountered turkeys in the wild they do .Geeze three feet wing span flying through a 2 foot opening ,sideways .I think you'd have better chance of knocking down a quail than a turkey with a full head of steam .They can get out of range for scatter gun in about a twinkling of an eye .
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/100_3486.JPG)
I had a successful turkey hunt this morning on the last day of the second hunt period. I hunted 6 out of the 7 day period and it took until the last morning to get a gobbler in range for a lethal shot.
Nice photo Ron! real happy for you, been out this year due to the back surgery, but have the fall season to look forward to, you have several options there as to how you will prepare this wonderful hunk of breast, country fried, bacon wrapped and grilled, just happy for your result, takes allot of work and patience, david
Congrats, Ron! Nice bird. 8) Even if I did feel like paying for a license I couldn't go with this new job I got, maybe next year.
Quote from: Al_Smith on May 05, 2013, 10:15:17 AM
Geeze three feet wing span flying through a 2 foot opening ,sideways .
Al, they can jump ya and it is pretty amazing how birds that size can move in flight. When my chickens try to fly they look like a bag of socks being thrown by a lawn mower. Just ugly. ;D :D
JM
One early morning during this turkey season, I was calling on a large tom that was giving me problems by his calling on a couple hens nearby. All of a sudden the two hens started making an excited alarm call. I then saw a coyote sneaking up on the hens when they ran behind the large tom for security. The tom then took after the coyote and the coyote beat it back into the woods.
Needless to say, it messed up my calling that turkey in range, but it's the first time I've ever seen a turkey put the run on a coyote out looking for a meal.
My period for turkey season is over, but had a few visitors at the lower level window the other morning. They like their reflection - all five of them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/May_3.JPG)
Great group of toms, and where were they during your hunt season?
Ron
Two of them, I think, were across a field at about 50 yards and out of my bow range. Only managed to get one day of bow hunting in due to the rain and windy weather. I'm a fair-weather bow hunter... ;)
Am thinking I need a drop weight above this window that they like so well. Just need to rig up a good release. :)
So far Ive draw a blank I still have another week but Iam back to logging so maybe I'll have to wait till next season.