Spring Turkey

blinds

run down the list on ebay, most include shipping, ameristep is a pretty well known lower end blind, most are 60 or so inches square, one thing to look for is a top that can be opened up so that you can stand up and stretch and or look around, maybe even duck hunt with it. 600 denier is better than 300 denier as far as lasting longer, one other thing, don't use the stakes that come with its, buy some good one's that will stay in the ground, then get a swivel adjustable stool to use. all should come under $100

cheers
 
I got up and went turkey hunting this morning. I was crazy to go, as it was cold, windy and started raining as I was driving to the place.

Got there and it stopped raining, until I got all the stuff on my back and was heading to the field. Then the rain started blowing sideways. Had to set up at the far end of the field so that the wind was not blowing the rain into the window of the blind.

There was not a lot of activity to start with. The rain and wind slowed them down getting off the roost.
But then a Tom really started sounding off. I am glad there was some gobbling, because it was really cold and windy.
I never saw this bird, and after an hour or so he moved off.

I was sitting there with the rain coming down hard just waiting for it to let up so that I could load up. I was making a few calls every 20 minutes or so, when I got a strong gobble. It came from just over a rise in the field and I could not see the bird. The gobbles came every so often, over the next hour. Then two hens came into the field, and headed toward the gobbling. As the hens got to the top of the rise, I saw not one but 3 gobblers, or at least their white heads.

But the hens started taking them away. The rain and wind really got going, and I could see that the Toms went to the edge of the field with the hens, and got behind a group of cedars as a wind break. All I could see was the top of their heads, but I suspect that the hens got taken care of there and the boy were then just hanging out again.

Well, finally that started moving and it was looking really good.

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Then a hen came out of nowhere and walked right past my decoy. All three of the Toms started to follow her. I was trying everything to get them to turn and come the last 50 yards to me. They were just about to leave the field and I switched mouth calls, gave them some soft purrs and clucks, they all three gobbled at the same time and came running in.

I had all 3 of them in my decoys inside 10 yards. All three of the Toms were the same size. so I waited to take a shot where I would only kill one. Took the shot, and that 100 grain Magnus Bullhead pretty much took off his head.

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It was a fun and successful hunt, but I was crazy to be out there.

One of the better birds I have taken, 1-1/8" spur and 10" beard.
 
gsh lover said:
we used to hunt in a blind,but it limited my visibility to much.One time we had a tom at about 15-20 yds? gobbling his head off,my kid couldn't get a shot,so no more blind.As I get older,I am going to invest in a nice two man blind,any ideas on a good and cheap one?
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I have been hunting with a bow, and I am not good enough to take many turkeys without a blind.

I have a really nice Double Bull Matrix blind. They are pricey, but if you can find a used one, it might be worth a look for you. In cold, windy and wet conditions, a blind is great. With young kids hunting, it is nice to be in a blind so they can move around a little without being spotted by the turkeys.
 
Hey KB what's up? Have you had a chance to get out?Turkeys/morels?
Morels are done down here,not a good year for me,most of my spots where very late in popping,then just when it was getting started,we got 3" rain and flooded all my spots.The wife and I tried,and the first place we went had 18" of water in the bottoms.
Hopefully,when it warms back up,the turkeys will start to work again,so maybe we can still get together to talk to them old toms.:cheers::cheers:
 
gsh lover said:
Hey KB what's up? Have you had a chance to get out?Turkeys/morels?
Morels are done down here,not a good year for me,most of my spots where very late in popping,then just when it was getting started,we got 3" rain and flooded all my spots.The wife and I tried,and the first place we went had 18" of water in the bottoms.
Hopefully,when it warms back up,the turkeys will start to work again,so maybe we can still get together to talk to them old toms.:cheers::cheers:
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I FINALLY have 2 open w/e's coming up! I'll be sending you a PM soon.

My boys are really bugging me to get out.
 
Finally, a day off without storming skies.A little cool,but its on.See if we can get my son a bird this morning.
 
Good luck, should be a pretty good day for it.
Wish I could have gotten out, but I have to head to KCI to pick someone up for work.
 
I was hoping to get to hunt again this weekend, to see if I could meet up with this guy. I like the lighter colors on the tips of his fan. Think it would make a good fan for my decoy.


May13_55.jpg
 
My son and I went out for a little Turkey hunting this morning.

We got set up early and got to sit there and listen to everything wake up.
The Turkeys we set up on did not make a sound. We heard wing beats and then saw them land in the field 100-150 yard away.

Turned out we had 9 Jakes and 5-6 hens in front of us. The Jakes were chasing each other around, strutting, and breeding some hens,,,, but never gobbled. We did have a Gobbler hammering it behind us, but we never saw him.

Here are a few pictures from the morning. We did take one, and I got it on cell phone video.

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The strutter up front on the left is the one we harvested,
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That's awesome, Steve. I think this weekend we'll try to get one for my daughter. They have definitely not been at our little farm this Spring.:( Going to try up by Tuttle Creek and see if we don't have better luck getting one to play.
 
Toad said:
That's awesome, Steve. I think this weekend we'll try to get one for my daughter. They have definitely not been at our little farm this Spring.:( Going to try up by Tuttle Creek and see if we don't have better luck getting one to play.
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Did you have any luck with your daughter this weekend on turkeys?
 
SetterNut said:
Did you have any luck with your daughter this weekend on turkeys?
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Sorry, I meant this coming weekend.

School's out at the end of this week, and I have some vacation next week, so we are prepared to keep after 'em if we don't score this weekend.:thumbsup:
 
Tagged my second bird yesterday afternoon.Had to do a little sneak job,but got the job done.10" beard,1 3/8" hooks.My first limb hanger.Figured it must be a 4-5 year old bird,didn't weight as much as my first tom,21 lbs.
Still 4 more toms in this field,hope to get my son a bird now,since track is done,should have more time.Only 5 more days.
 
rio's

good thing ya can't eat beards and hooks cause where i hunt in n.w. kansas they are all pretty small, don't think i have ever truely seen a 10" beard and most of my spurs are 1" or less and in the course of a year i see hundreds and hundreds of birds.

cheers
 
This group of birds is from a strong gene pool. We have been harvesting birds from this flock for several years,always leaving the jakes to mature.Several years ago,there was a particular bird that we where trying to harvest,this guy was a field general,never would come in close enough to shoot.Always hanging up.One day we where waiting for flydown,and we caught this nasty smell.Well,this tom never gobbled,or did not fly down with his hens.Needless to say,we found out what the smell was,all we found was bits and pieces,but one leg still was in one piece.This guy had 1.5" spur,still have it somewhere.
We figured it was a bobcat,carcass was drag into the cover,to bad,that would of been quite the trophy bird.
 
The birds in the eastern 1/2 of the state are mostly Easterns, and I think tend to be a little heavier at given age. At least only Rio I have taken was not as heavy a bird for its age and size.

Beards can get broken and dragged off, spurs are a better gauge of age / quality of a bird imo.
 
i hunt in the NW NC areas of the state of kansas & i have seen some dagger spurs out west they are actually the best spurs of any turkeys i have ever shot ive taken a few 1.25 inch needle sharp spured birds & my dad a 1.3/8 last yr they were pure strain rio grande limbhangers... seen a guy bring 1 in to a taxidermist this yr with at least 1.3/8 spurs i think they were well over...

as for the beards rios do tend to have smaller beards my biggest was 9.5 & not very thick but i have seen some birds with beards like a horse tail out west...

the weight thing is spotty i mean i have seen huge huge KS turkeys that could barely fly!!! in KS wear i hunt they have life real EZ they have corn & soy beans to eat & even a few acorns in the fall they dont really ever have to migrate to winter any wear other then wear they were hatched from a egg a few hundred yards away... we have shot some 21-24 pound rios out west in KS but easterns to tend to be bigger weight & beard thickness wise i think them easterns are more homebodys then the rios that like to walk around more maybe that keeps them easterns fat & happy???
 
beards and things

small munsterlander owner said:
i hunt in the NW NC areas of the state of kansas & i have seen some dagger spurs out west they are actually the best spurs of any turkeys i have ever shot ive taken a few 1.25 inch needle sharp spured birds & my dad a 1.3/8 last yr they were pure strain rio grande limbhangers... seen a guy bring 1 in to a taxidermist this yr with at least 1.3/8 spurs i think they were well over...

as for the beards rios do tend to have smaller beards my biggest was 9.5 & not very thick but i have seen some birds with beards like a horse tail out west...

the weight thing is spotty i mean i have seen huge huge KS turkeys that could barely fly!!! in KS wear i hunt they have life real EZ they have corn & soy beans to eat & even a few acorns in the fall they dont really ever have to migrate to winter any wear other then wear they were hatched from a egg a few hundred yards away... we have shot some 21-24 pound rios out west in KS but easterns to tend to be bigger weight & beard thickness wise i think them easterns are more homebodys then the rios that like to walk around more maybe that keeps them easterns fat & happy???
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might be a bid difference between n w and n c kansas in birds, type, feed, weather whatever. surely there are some big beards and hooks in my area, after all i haven't killed them all, just trying too, but out of the more than 50 birds i have seen in the bag so to speak, hooks are 1" and beards are 9.5 and a few are weighing in at 23 -24 lbs. one thing is see is a lot of bearded hens and sometimes in small bunches, some of this is food for thought but good luck with the hooks and beards though

cheers
 
im sure some of them old 3+ yr old rios out in NW KS put out a nice over 1 inch spur??? its not a genetic thing or regional thing its just age i think... even rios in rocky dry arid western OK put out a spur over 1 inch after 3 yrs they dont have any crops out there...

most birds tagged each season are JAKES or 2 yr olds ive shot a few KS birds over the yrs i hunted in KS it takes about 2.5-3 yr old bird to get to a 1 inch spur out west in rio country if they are younger then 2.5 there spur is under 1 inch around 3/4-7/8 inch & small in diameter by the time there 3.5-4 they put out a spur over 1 inch if the spur is not broke or damaged while fighting ETC...

got to shoot them old timers to get a limbhanger or spurs over 1 inch lol as with you mustistuff most the turkeys ive seen taken in KS have about a 1 inch spur & about a 6-8 inch beard 20+ pounds...

there was way to many hunters in NC KS this season so i think i will be heading out to the NW part of KS next season? less turkeys overall population wise but i assume less hunters also overall so its a fair trade off for me plus many more camping options out in NW KS ill see what kind of spur them birds put out for sure lol
 
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