TURKEY TOMORROW!!!!!!

[chrome_junky]

whos gonna go try to crush a longbeard tomorrow? i have to work friday saturday and sunday then monday and tuesday im taking the bow out and gonna try to put the hurt on a gobbler.
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[hulapopper]

still a bunch of snow where i go. but i am headed out for five days next weekend ! can hardly wait ! good luck chromejunky and all the other guys here !
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[Wombat911]

Good luck to you chrome junky. I too will be heading out soon.
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[the_cactus_kid]

Went out this morning near Southwick. Got some turkeys to gobble back, but nothing came in. [crazy]

From what I hear, the hens are nesting already. But they're out there!

Had a coyote inquire as to what I was as I was sitting there with my box call. He stood within 25 yards for several minutes just staring at me. I should've taken my target practice, but I didn't... this time!
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[TheGrovBone]

I've been thinking about doing some turkey hunting up by Couer D'Alene, my normal spot I have been having trouble finding birds. Has anyone hunted turkeys up there? Any info would be great! My brother is flying back from med school in Tennessee for the weekend and I was hoping to show him a good time next weekend. Let me know, thanks guys!
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[iwantabuggy]

I'm gonna try to mess with a bird in the morning, but my expectations aren't very high. When I did my scouting the birds will still very low and there was still a lot of snow which means that the hunters will be very concentrated.

Who said the hens are nesting already? What does that mean, to you? To me, nesting means they are laying eggs and that might be the case, depending on where you are. Some may be laying eggs already, but not most of the hens in the areas where I hunt. If you mean they are setting on a nest, I say NO WAY!. I'd be pretty surprised if they were setting on nests already. From what I can tell the birds are about 1-2 weeks behind normal and the birds around here don't go to setting until almost May.

Good luck, guys.
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[the_cactus_kid]

buggy, by nesting I just mean laying. The landlord on whose land I hunt said the toms were really strutting hard and heavy a few weeks ago. Since then turkey activity has been scattered. I could be wrong - feel free to correct me - but when the hens go to lay, doesn't that mean less tom/hen activity, and harder hunting? And how do you see the difference between laying and setting on a nest? I'm asking as a relative newbie to turkey hunting.

I'm hunting in the Southwick area, and to my knowledge there hasn't been any real snow there for awhile. I didn't have much time to scout this year, so I don't have a great idea as to what stage the turkeys are in. I'm just reporting the hearsay from that landlord.

All I know is that I went out there today, and got a few gobbles responding, but couldn't quite lure them out of the deep dark woods.
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[iwantabuggy]

Like I said, the hens could be laying, but it would be a bit on the early side, IMO. Here's how I see it.

Most of the turkey won't go to laying until after they leave their wintering area. Some will stay there all year round, but most will move off to lay and then later, set. I doubt very many, if any, have began to lay yet. More likely they are looking for a good nesting site. Once they begin to lay, I think the turkey hunting gets better, not worse. When the hens start laying, they'll pal around with the tom in the morning, then go lay an egg or two around mid morning to some time in the afternoon. Late afternoon they'll group up again before they fly up to roost. If you can find the tom's after the hens have gone off to lay, you have a lot better chance of getting one to come to the calls. Otherwise, you have to call in the flock, hens and all. I've done it, but I makes getting a shot and staying concealed really hard when you have 20 eyes on you instead of 2. I really like it best once the hens have begun to set. Then the toms get really lonely and might be alone all day.

Let me define setting as this: The incubation of the eggs. They sit on the nest, night and day, and will only leave for very short periods to get water and eat just a little bit. They do this during the egg incubation. If the eggs cool off too much, for too long, the unborn chicks will die.

Since you are new, I'll tell you, it is tough to call in a hen'd up tom. Best bet is to call very very sparingly (and quite) and hope to call in the hens too. The more you call, the more likely they will be to go the other way. I'd say 20 minutes is kind of a magic number. If you call more often than 20 mintes, it is likely too much. Not that you can't call in a bird by being aggressive, but just as a general rule, I've had much better luck by waiting. It also helps if you know where they are wanting to go. If you setup in that path, they will be more likely to come your way (obvious enough, but often we try to do it the other way around).

Let me know if there is any other help I could give. I'll be up around Kooskia hunting turkey around the end of the month. Looks like southwick isn't too far from there.

To aid in luring those toms out of the woods, I'd recommend no decoys, set up on the edge of the woods, call every 20 minutes for about an hour, then go completely silent. Wait at least 1 hour and stay awake (that's the hard part for me). I predict the tom will begin to gobble a bit more frequently and come to the edge to look for those hens. Even is he is gobbling, resist the urge to call to him. Stay silent, he will come.
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[the_cactus_kid]

Sounds like great advice. Thanks much!

Let me know when you hit Kooskia.

Good luck all!
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[iwantabuggy]

God blessed me this morning with a great turkey hunt! My son and I have both been sick all week and my son backed out this morning at the last minute. My wife asked if I was taking my rain gear and I said "No, if it rains hard enough that I need it, I'll just come home. I don't need pneumonia".

I didn't expect much as I was going into a new area that is public access and is normally hammered with people. I found a gobbler on the roost and moved into within about 150 yards. The lay of the land and the vegetation was perfect for the direction I was coming in. By the time I located the bird I was past him, so I had to come in from his back side, which was good. I'm pretty sure they get called to from the other side a lot, but not too often from the back. I was worried others would hear the gobbling and move in on me, but it never happened.

So I set up about 150 yards away in a bit of a dle and I had a plan for him to come in from around some brush. As normal, the turkeys didn't do what I wanted, so when they flew down, they headed through the brush and came in behind me. I could see them coming through the brush, but I couldn't move. When the birds came in close, I had both of them at 10 yards, right behind me. The tom saw my jakester deek and started putting in an inquisitive way, but they didn't run off. I waited..........

I heard him drumming, so I knew he was strutting, but I could also tell that he had moved off a bit (but I couldn't see them because I didn't dare turn around), so I decided I needed to make a move. I rolled to my right and turned around. The hen was still there, in sight, and inside 20 yards. I was BUSTED! But she didn't fly?!? The tom must have seen her looking at me and must have heard my clothing ruffle as I turned, because he popped up over the hill at about 30 yards. I gave him a full load of 6's and the rest is history.[][][] It started raining just as I got to the truck.[cool]..



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[hulapopper]

good job ! that didn't take you long !
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[iwantabuggy]

Honestly, with my internet issues this morning. It's taking me longer to put the pics on the net!
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[the_cactus_kid]

dammit, buggy, you make it look too easy![:p]

nice bird!
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[iliketofish]

Nice bird there sir!
My buddy came up from SE Idaho for the weekend for some gobbler shooting. I just got back from the second successful hunt, we ended up getting him two really good birds, and had some awesome close encounters with some other really hot toms.
I hope everybody else gets 'er done too!
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