Turkey Time...

[yoderjac]

It is getting to be that time of year again. Spring is in the air and turkeys are gobbling here! We taught a Turkey Hunting Workshop at Quantico today. Our new format of push-pull-interactive seems to be working pretty well. We push basic information out in short concise videos and then have a Q&A session where students pull the specific information they need from our instructors. As topics become more complicated, we use interactive presentations. We mix in hands on sessions like calling with the class broken out into groups. We had just under 20 attendees. Experience levels go from never hunted turkey to fairly experienced. Each workshop seems to have a different mix of experience levels. This push-pull-interactive technique seems to work well with the broad mix of students. The basic push videos are concise enough as to not bore the more experienced folks and address the needs of the newbies. We provide youtube links for these videos to the class so the newer folks can go back and review them after class if they like. The Q&A sessions encourage both novice and experienced folks to pull the specific information they want from our instructors. The hands-on demos and interactive sections keep things from getting too boring with attendee participation.

Now for the real test...The season is just around the corner...

I'm seeing hens and gobblers from time to time at my retirement property despite the new home construction activity. I'm hopping to harvest my first mature gobbler from the retirement property this year. I harvested a jake one spring here. Most of my turkey hunting has been at the farm.

Anyone else starting to see good activity?

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Yup, saw a group of about 3 Tom’s, 1 Jake and a couple hens a few days ago crossing the road

 

[yoderjac]

I've been watching a mixed group on the property next door. I've still got a couple weeks before our season opens. Given my new knee, I hope to put up a blind here. I was at the farm today. I grabbed the pictures. Plenty of turkey there as well.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Good deal, hope that knee heals up right quick

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

When does your turkey season open up?

 

[yoderjac]

We have a youth/novice day on April 5 & 6, but with my new knee, I won't be taking a kid out this year. The regular season starts April 12th this year.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Good deal, what kind of weapon do you use?

 

[yoderjac]

I've used a bunch of them over the years, both for myself and for kids I've taken out. For the class we taught, we use a push-pull-interactive method. Our students have a very wide range of experience. The push videos concisely deliver basic information quickly. They are followed by a Pull Q&A section where the students can pull the specific information they like. The more intricate sections are taught interactively using typical powerpoint slides. We also have hands-on break-out sessions for calling and such.

I say all that only to let you know that all of the firearms I've used for turkey you can actually see along with their performance here in this push video DIY section:
Turkey Hunting Workshop - Equipment - Firearms video

Beyond that, I've harvest one with a compound bow before my shoulder got too bad. I've harvest several with a crossbow in the fall. This thread has a picture of the crossbow: https://deerhunterforum.com/threads/what-is-your-“go-to”-weapon-for-deer-hunting.6873/page-2#post-126708. One fall I also shot one with a muzzleloader in the fall.

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Cool

 

[Catchin’ deer’s]

Glad to hear that your helping the next generation

 

[yoderjac]

Glad to hear that your helping the next generation

There comes a point in the development of most hunters where they focus more on giving back. The smile on new hunters face far surpasses anything I hang on my wall.

 

[yoderjac]

I decided to put in an early spring plot at the retirement property to see if will be an early season draw for hens while the Tom's are henned up. I stopped at the coop and grabbed a couple bags of spring oats and a bag of crimson clover. If the weather permits, I plan to spray, broadcast the seed, and cultipack tomorrow morning. They are calling for rain later in the day. That will give me almost 2 weeks before opening day for germination.