Let's talk spring turkey hunting

I took a sizable Jake on Sunday at 7:30am. I had been hunting for 4 days in awful conditions. It was rainy, windy, and cold. If I hadn't been in a blind, I probably wouldn't have even been out there.

I was hearing gobbles every morning behind me on the timber, but those toms never came out. All I saw was hens every morning, and then finally on Sunday a lone Jake came walking out with a hen. I dusted him at 25 yards.

On Saturday morning I saw another hunter on the neighbors land. He was hunting with a bow and when it started down pouring, he SPRINTED to his truck lol. Apparently he wasn't using a blind.
 

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Congrats on your success gimruis! Around here the toms are really henned up. The weather sure has been lousy! Been caught in a few of those downpours myself🤣🤣
 
The weather sure has been lousy! Been caught in a few of those downpours myself
On Saturday it was seriously like a heavy summer down pour. And more than one day, the wind was howling so hard that I'm quite sure my blind would have blown to the Gulf of Mexico if I hadn't staked it down really well.
 
I'm young to turkey hunting in WI at 66. I've done well on public lands so far however THIS IS MY STORY! I met a gentleman several years ago hunting pheasant in Iowa. We became friends. We shared the same motel for 10 - 12 years. He is now in his late 70's. I mentioned I was going to start Turkey hunting for the love of HUNTINGl. A few weeks later I received a wing bone call in the mail that he made. Too cool. A sportsman sharing with a sportsman.I know some of you have experienced that connection. It is the ONLY call I use. Pretty much soft calling and have taken 6 birds in 4 years. That is NOT the success here. Its the beauty of finding a friend and using a homemade tool from nature to harvest something. I think that is sooooo freakin cool. Thank you Dale. Have yet to harvest a bird the last two days but seen mallards, deer, coon, couples song birds, and a few turkeys. Nature never disappoints. :)
 
I'm bragging some here, but I think my next bird will be # 40. I've never used a 3'' mag in a 12 ga. I guess because I hate hunting farm fields. I would rather hunt all morning in the woods and not see one than crawl around watching them out in the middle of a field. I mainly hunt with a sxs 20 now, 2.75 7.5s 30 yds and under. 3" win. super x 5s or 6s out to 40. All those years before that I would grab some leftover phez. shells. pull out my old 30" full Ithaca 37. (serial # 722), call em in close and shoot em in the face!!
+1 for the Model 37! Exactly what I use for turkey, has never failed me - 25 consecutive years hunting Merriam's in Colorado. Never a problem knocking them dead <=30 yards. In my early days, I used a Model 12 shooting 3" Mags, X full choke, and missed TWICE somehow. I do use #4 /#5 turkey loads in the Model 37, however.
 
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