2024 Spring Turkey Hunt

Flare nare? I'm stupid and need to be explained to.
 
That's a nickname for the pen raised pheasants on this forum. Also known as pseudo-roosters. They look like pheasants, but they act more like domesticated poultry.
what about that turkey's tail feathers? they are raggedly short.
 
Nice pics.

Question: what is up with the tail feathers of the tom on the bottom? They have been chewed up somehow.
My guess is the gobbler was attacked by a coyote or mountain lion that got some of those tailfeathers?
We did have a mountain lion kill a deer in our pasture the month I took those gobbler photos.
 
Scouting this morning and heard 4 or 5 gobbles in various directions. Sitting in the truck now watching 5 hens and 2 toms in a field that used to have too many to count at this time in the morning. Kinda hard to get pumped up about throwing lead at them at this point.
 
Got this one early Friday morning at 6:35 AM which is the earliest I have ever shot a bird. I was set up on a picked bean field on public ground with an upright hen and feeder hen set at about 25 yards out. It was a quiet sunrise and only heard a couple of faint gobbles, so the birds were pretty quiet. I did some light calling around 6:10, then a few clucks with the mouth call around 6:20. About 10 minutes later I was watching a deer grazing the right edge of the field when I caught some movement to my left out of the corner of my eye. It was a tom in full strut working his way towards my decoys. Of course I had my legs stretched out and gun across my lap, so had to wait for him to turn away so I could get my gun up. He strutted all the way to the decoys for an easy shot. 21#, 1/2" spurs, 9" beard.
Turk 2024.jpg
 
Of course I had my legs stretched out and gun across my lap, so had to wait for him to turn away so I could get my gun up.

Based on this I am assuming you don't use a blind. You just sit on the ground in a full camo outfit, like a ghillie suit.

I am a blind guy. I like how it allows me the freedom of some movement like drinking coffee or looking through binoculars. Plus if it rains, I stay dry. And I can sit in a comfortable lounger chair. The only downside is that I am not as mobile.
 
Based on this I am assuming you don't use a blind. You just sit on the ground in a full camo outfit, like a ghillie suit.

I am a blind guy. I like how it allows me the freedom of some movement like drinking coffee or looking through binoculars. Plus if it rains, I stay dry. And I can sit in a comfortable lounger chair. The only downside is that I am not as mobile.
I was tucked back in the trees behind the bird in the photo and wear leafy camo so it blends in very well. I have a blind, but only used it for youth hunts with my sons, otherwise it's just another thing to carry.
 
I set mine up a day or two in advance. And stake it down so it doesn't blow away in the wind like a
Makes sense, but I hunt public ground so it's really not an option. I would definitely do what you're doing if I had access to private ground.
 
Makes sense, but I hunt public ground so it's really not an option. I would definitely do what you're doing if I had access to private ground.
I do the same on public ground. Only time on public ground I use a blind is bow hunting to conceal the draw. I prefer being mobile and sitting next to a tree. Just feels like turkey hunting.
 
Lock and load! Heading to the happy hunting grounds in western KS today to prep for tomorrow's opener which we will start with a pre-dawn set up. Due to a change in the location of the corn stalks our flock feeds in, we will move our hide and decoys fifty yards, utilizing some fallen branches for a makeshift blind in an open area. This shift will make our decoys visible to the birds immediately upon fly down.
 
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