Turkey Season 2021.

[OkieKubota]

Today was the opener for our month long Turkey season so I grabbed my gear and headed out the door to the back of our property where I have had a trail cam on a trail since last fall and I have caught a few pics of a Tom and have found a lot of Turkey sign...

As I was easing down the old woods road I heard him gobble so I quickly got situated under a large oak tree with a thin cedar in front of me. I used my box call and got a response about 100 yards away but I knew he was hennaed up so I decided to go silent and hope they worked toward me since I was on a flat between 2 deep hollows and they had been scratching that flat up. After about 20 minutes I saw the Tom fanning his way through the woods and he had 2 hens about 30-40 yards in front of him. The hens kept coming and came within 10 yards of me but decided they didn’t like the big lump at the base of the tree (me) so they backtracked and turned to the east and skirted me taking the Tom out of range...once they got out of sight I thought they might be headed toward the south plot so I walked the side hill of the hollow on the west side and made my way to the plot hoping I was making better time than the turkeys. I got to the plot and all was good and I still had a ground blind up from deer season so I got in it to see if the turkeys would show up...about 25 minutes into my wait they popped into the plot in front of me...2 hens, 1 big Tom...I sat and watched these turkeys 20-25 yards away for 30 minutes while they ate clover and just decided to pass on the big Tom. I haven’t had any photos of any other toms and haven’t seen or heard any others so it just seemed wrong to take the only Tom Turkey anywhere around our area. I wanted him badly to breed With these hens so I just videoed them...here is a photo capture from the vid...

I sure hope some more turkeys move into our area this month...


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[g squared 23]

Wow. Catch and release. Not something I’ve ever done with a turkey. Cool.


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[DocHolladay]

I am sure he has bred them multiple times already. I have heard that a hen can hold enough semen to propagate enough eggs in case they lose a nest to predators. How true that is, I don’t know.


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[Native Hunter]

Great pictures and great hunt Johnny - and great conservation mentality!

 

[gut_pile]

Good on you for letting him do his thing. Far too many folks go the route of killing that one gobbler and wonder what happened to the turkeys years later.

Hopefully some of his friends will show up for you.

 

[lakngolf]

We are in same boat. So much that there is talk of limiting the season. With so few around you wonder if you might be killing the only gobbler. like I would have a chance at him anyway.

 

[Elkaddict]

Way cool Johnny. I’ve got tons of turkeys and love calling them in but have only taken a couple because I didn’t want to disturb the moment. My numbers are too high this year so I’m hoping to fill my tags, and help a buddy or two fill theirs (we can take 2 in the spring and one in the fall).

 

[Drycreek]

My buddy and I have to travel a half a day to get a shot at a turkey so we only go once a year. We usually get two each and it’s a fun trip. We have very few turkeys in East Texas although TPWD has been stocking them in certain areas. Too many predators that destroy ground nests here. I had seven hens on my place when I bought it. That dwindled to five, then three, then none in about a three year period. Good on you Okie for letting the Tom walk !

 

[SwampCat]

I have had turkeys on my place that I did not hunt with the hope passing them would increase the population. My neighbors, the bobcats, and the coyotes did not have the same conservation approach. The hens can hold viable semen for up to 45 days and the gobbler may travel several miles in a day - across many other properties. My advice - kill him before someone else does. I now have no turkeys - and I never killed a one, although I know several that did.

 

[farmer]

here’s a little bit of what went down here on Saturday. His dad called me on Friday night to ask if his son could tag along I gladly said yes. My boys have each killed several turkeys so they wanted him to have first shot. Was pretty cool morning.

 

[OkieKubota]

I have had turkeys on my place that I did not hunt with the hope passing them would increase the population. My neighbors, the bobcats, and the coyotes did not have the same conservation approach. The hens can hold viable semen for up to 45 days and the gobbler may travel several miles in a day - across many other properties. My advice - kill him before someone else does. I now have no turkeys - and I never killed a one, although I know several that did.

It’s no biggie if I don’t kill him...I like sitting on the porch and hearing him gobble. He is roosting on us and trail cams show him at many times during the day in our big clover field...

 

[DocHolladay]

here’s a little bit of what went down here on Saturday. His dad called me on Friday night to ask if his son could tag along I gladly said yes. My boys have each killed several turkeys so they wanted him to have first shot. Was pretty cool morning.

Your link isn’t working in my end. It tells me that the page can’t be found. I tried to find it several ways.


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[farmer]

Hmmm
I’m not sure what to do. I’m not real technically savy

 

[OkieKubota]

I am out again for hunt #2...seasons been open 6 days and from the gobbling I am hearing this morning the Tom is still kicking. I am on my clover plot so let’s see if more birds come in this time.

 

[Merle Hawggard]

Great job on the conservation!
Chuck took his oldest this weekend for the youth hunt. He took a picture of tracks, but decided after about 40 minutes he'd rather bass fish in the pond.

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[OkieKubota]

So far the only turkeys I have seen are the same 2 hens and same lone gobbler...looks like not killing one this year.

 

[farmer]

Been a great year. Got to watch my son kill his 3rd ever bird, makes the 7th I’ve watched die this year. Been fortunate to take 3 youth and all 3 killed along with 2 vets were able to kill 3 birds and I got in on the action and doubled up with one of them.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Its amazing how quickly a hunter can go from sitting on stand hoping to get a shot at something to sitting there wishing they had their big game tag back!
Just like many of the deer hunters here, I feel that it's ethical to let a turkey grow to maturity before harvesting them, therefore I've never taken a shot at a jake. Well, never until 8:30 this morning, that is. Pennsylvania's 2021 spring turkey season opened up on this cold breezy first day of May, and my son and I were both out at the crack of dawn hoping to hear some gobblers thundering in the early light, and I quickly zeroed in on a pod of 3 noisy gobblers just talking it up.
The problem was, they were across a road, and I knew that if I tried to work closer it wouldn't work out well, because I was already sitting where the birds usually ultimately seemed to go after they're done strutting their stuff. Circling across the road would probably end up with me behind the birds, following them right back to the spot where I started from. However, every time I thought I had them started in my direction, something went wrong, one time a vehicle went on the road, and another time when I called a flock of bluejays came screaming in to give me away. Finally I decided to go for a half hour walk to warm up and look for an easier bird, but eventually I came back again, and things seemed to be going in my favor for a change, it sounded like the stubborn toms were working closer.
Then, as I was sitting there after a short period of silence, I detected a turkey working a half circle about 50 yards out, aiming to get behind me through some pretty thick brush and saplings. Sure enough, my 53 yrold eyesight determined that he had a very red head, and I caught a glimpse of a beard, so when I got him in an opening at 40 yards I shot and knocked him down with a 3"load of 20 gauge Federal Heavyweight #7's. However, after flapping around a bit he managed to get airborne, and I knocked him out of the air as he took off overhead, then, as I walked up to him I realized exactly how lucky I really was. My first jake in 34 years of turkey hunting, a nice plump bird with only bumps for spurs, and a 4" beard. These tender marinated turkey breasts should be very tasty, and hopefully that flavor will serve as a reminder that a longbeard usually gobbles as he is coming in.

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[Hoosierhunting]

Today was the opener for our month long Turkey season so I grabbed my gear and headed out the door to the back of our property where I have had a trail cam on a trail since last fall and I have caught a few pics of a Tom and have found a lot of Turkey sign...

As I was easing down the old woods road I heard him gobble so I quickly got situated under a large oak tree with a thin cedar in front of me. I used my box call and got a response about 100 yards away but I knew he was hennaed up so I decided to go silent and hope they worked toward me since I was on a flat between 2 deep hollows and they had been scratching that flat up. After about 20 minutes I saw the Tom fanning his way through the woods and he had 2 hens about 30-40 yards in front of him. The hens kept coming and came within 10 yards of me but decided they didn’t like the big lump at the base of the tree (me) so they backtracked and turned to the east and skirted me taking the Tom out of range...once they got out of sight I thought they might be headed toward the south plot so I walked the side hill of the hollow on the west side and made my way to the plot hoping I was making better time than the turkeys. I got to the plot and all was good and I still had a ground blind up from deer season so I got in it to see if the turkeys would show up...about 25 minutes into my wait they popped into the plot in front of me...2 hens, 1 big Tom...I sat and watched these turkeys 20-25 yards away for 30 minutes while they ate clover and just decided to pass on the big Tom. I haven’t had any photos of any other toms and haven’t seen or heard any others so it just seemed wrong to take the only Tom Turkey anywhere around our area. I wanted him badly to breed With these hens so I just videoed them...here is a photo capture from the vid...

I sure hope some more turkeys move into our area this month...


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Really like hearing stories like yours where some one puts conservation ahead of their harvest goals. I passed a nice Tom on my first sit but for different reasons. He was just following hens and wasn’t really responding to my calls so didn’t feel like I’d earned him.


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[Bowhunter]

My 2021 opening day video from this past weekend.