|
|
|
Welcome to Outdoor Life
Subscribe to Outdoor Life
and enter to win $5000
Recent Comments
Categories
Recent PostsArchivesSyndicate   Strut Zone |
Four longbeards now stood at just 5 yards. A single hen too. Herald knew a couple of the turkeys might spook at that range as he drew the bow inside his Double Bull blind, and several did, but one didn’t, the big strutter, now behind the B-Mobile. Thwack, the arrow passed through the wing butt and came out the gobbler’s hip, anchoring it. Good bird? The spurs measured 1 and 1/2 inches. Day 2, I shot my bird not far from there with my latest traveling go-to shotgun, a Remington 870 SPS ShurShot Synthetic Turkey 12 gauge. (Check it out at: www.remington.com/) Our buddy Eddie Stevenson fell next in line on Day 3 birds that didn’t roost where they had been. What did he do? Came down the path from where we’d raised birds the afternoon before. There was no gobbling early, as a cold front with some rain moved through during the night and into first light. The first gobble came at 7:25 a.m. or so as Stevenson and Jeff Budz who manages the property made their way through the woods. Budz, with 50+ Grand Slams to his credit (no typo!), knows the game . . . The long and short of it went like this: Eddie had to slip into the hip-deep water of a canal to reposition on a gobbler that sounded off on the other side of a field near the woods. He snaked up over the edge. A bull bellowed in the cow pasture. The turkey gobbled—one of two there. Once in position, Stevenson’s feet in the water, his body on the berm of the canal, trying not to think of cottonmouths, a soft yelp lifted the head of the nearest gobbler. The rain-wet beard, once stuck to its chest, flopped free. Soon it was lights out for that bird. Spurs: 1 and 5/8 inches (see photo). Beard: 10 and 1/2 inches with one strand measuring 11. Guys, this never gets old. [ Read Full Post ] AdvertisementMarch 25, 2009 Ahhhh!!...Florida-16byMarch 24, 2009 It Makes Turkeys Gobble—Period-7byMarch 22, 2009 ’Bama's Slamma'-7byMarch 20, 2009 You Sexy Thing-13byA spring gobbler is a lot like you. He wants a safe and comfortable place to sleep. Much of the time his mind is pretty much on one thing: sex. He wants it, and will do almost anything to get it. Most of the time he doesn't. Get it? As a result, pulling that strutter in range is easy, right? After all, he's 20+ pounds full of springtime desire. Sometimes, yes. You just have to act like a hot hen enough, and he'll come running. Not always though. Often, no. Don't go wild just yet. You have to do five other things well too:
1. Find where he likes to tuck his head under his wing and spend the night. You should sit down in the dark nearby before fly-down time. You can't spook him by crowding him, nor should you be too far away either. 2. Find what path he takes following his hens as they go to feed after fly-down. This requires some time with those turkeys you're hunting, day in, day out . . . often you acquire this information as you hunt. 3. Find where he struts for that group of girl turkeys. That strut zone is key, where both the hens and that dominant gobbler feel comfortable. The female turkeys often lead him there. It's often where they breed. Make your own analogy guys. 4. Once these three aspects are figured out, you have to employ calling strategies to pull him into range, away from live hens. You have to give that gobbler no choice but to come to your calling setup. Sweet soft stuff or rowdy come-here-and-get-it calling might work given the particular day. 5. You have to close the deal with one sure shot when that wary gobbler is in range. Sometimes that's the toughest part. Often you just pull off one or two of these things on your hunts. You want to call that gobbler into range as much as that tom wants to breed a hen. Success often happens when you manage all five. Success relies on his mistakes. Find a way to locate that roost, slip in nearby, pattern those turkeys to the strut zone, call that gobbler into range and shoot him dead. Always keep in mind what he wants: a ready-to-breed hen turkey in his comfort zone. Simple right? Next stop for me: Florida. Stay tuned, Strut Zoners . . . [ Read Full Post ]March 16, 2009 Listen Up-12byYou've all been there. You cluck and yelp. The bird gobbles back. You think he's coming but he doesn't show. At least you don't think so. After 45 minutes you stand up to stretch. Amazingly the strutter flushes right behind your setup, and sails away like a Stealth Bomber. Busted. Not him, but you. How can you rewind this frustrating scene and do better the next time? Here's how: Had you listened for close-range drumming, the pfft-dumm sound a gobbler makes when he struts, you might have killed that turkey. Like the gobble, this sound attracts hens. Clucking, the pock sound when a turkey is close, asks: "Where are you?" If a gobbler goes silent, listen for that call too near your setup. Hunting gobblers that aren't gobbling adds to the degree of difficulty, for sure. Woodsmanship, a sense of the terrain you're hunting, and how turkeys might move in it, can also put a turkey in your vest.. Check out fields, old cuts, and power lines to make visual confirmation of silent strutters, especially near roosts or food sources. Footsteps near your setup might materialize into a bird. First think that another hunter might be moving through the woods, simply for safety's sake, but be on the alert for turkeys approaching your position too. Listen to crows concentrating in one area. They may be harassing turkeys. Squirrels barking might indicate a gobbler's approach. I've found turkeys under both conditions, and have killed several on different hunts when squirrels chattered as gobblers came silently to my setups. All the turkey sounds are important, not just the gobble. Problem is we rely heavily on the primary vocalization of male birds in spring. It's important to key on hen calling. A strutter might be right behind her. Kill him. [ Read Full Post ]March 12, 2009 Easy Longbeards-19byMarch 9, 2009 Should You Move On A Turkey?-14byTrue enough, in some states like. Pennsylvania it’s illegal to stalk spring turkeys, so don’t. In other places where it’s fine, we call it “repositioning.” It can be done where legal, despite the turkey’s inherent paranoid disposition. Yes, either way you look at the possibility, safety is an issue. How can you override the fear factor of busting birds with your movement? You can use terrain to hide your approach. You can move through the woods slowly to get in range. You can do it on daybreak spring mornings when the leaves underfoot are damp from the previous night’s rain. You can move when that gobbler spins its full-fan tail toward you, obscuring the view of your stalk. Why do it? Because some situations—when a spring gobbler is hung up and won’t budge for instance—warrant it. Strut Zoners, what's your take on moving closer to hung-up strutters? What safety concerns do you have when you do it? Let us know about any memorable hunts where moving on a bird put it in the back of your turkey vest. [ Read Full Post ] March 5, 2009 What's The Toughest Turkey?-17byA southern acquaintance in the big turkey hunting circle I keep said on video with his Texas drawl: "The Rio Grande gobbler has to be the toughest of 'em all." "Maybe," I thought. "But not compared to some of the unkillable Easterns I've chased over the years." Look, I love 'em all. I hunt them around the country each season. But how do I rank the four major Grand Slam subspecies on degree of difficulty? 1. Easterns: Hunter pressure in tight habitats make this subspecies the most difficult in the country. More turkey hunters roam Eastern states than any of the others. An Alabama Eastern three-year-old longbeard might be the most difficult turkey of all. In my experience, you sometimes hear the spit and drum right on top of you from birds that might not gobble first. I once hunted 'Bama hard for five days, mornings, and afternoons, and missed the only strutting shutmouthed gobbler that swung into range. Still want that one back. 2. Osceolas: Bearded-bird-only Florida fall seasons result in a lot of hens around come spring. Hens that steal your gobbler from you, even as it works to your calls. These Sunshine State turkeys feel the pressure from Grand Slam seekers every year. They can be silent like 'Bama birds, and wary, roosting above gator-filled swamps, flying to dry land, and moving like ghosts all day until they wing back to those trees. The last Oscie I pulled into range required that I empty my call vest at him first. Tough. 3. Merriam's: In Merriam's country like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and the like, getting to the birds, be it by truck, ATV, hiking in, or all three, surely adds a degree of difficulty. So does spring snowfall. Flocks are often huge, and more eyes spells increased wariness. Yeah, some turkeys feel less pressure in wilderness areas, and might come right to your calls. Others surely don't. After all that mountain climbing, an easy one is okay by me. 4. Rio Grandes: Roosting habitat is often sparse, and ranges from live oaks to manmade structures. Since it's often easier to find and roost gobblers in Rio country, I have to give them a No. 4 ranking. Texas' estimate population of turkeys, some of which are Easterns in the eastern part of the state, sits at 600,000. That's easier than trying to kill one of 20,000 or so turkeys (only approximately half of which are gobblers) in states like Massachusetts or Maine. I love Texas Rios for one reason. If you mess up with one gobbler, there's often another one somewhere nearby you can fool. How 'bout you? What's the most difficult turkey subspecies in your experience? What about the toughest bird you ever killed? Spring turkey starts soon for some of you . . . Hawaii's spring season is underway for their island Rios (March 1-31; 2 bearded birds). Florida's for Osceolas begins Saturday, March 7 (South Zone: March 7-April 12; Central/North Zones: March 21-April 26; 2 birds; one per day). Others open in a matter of weeks. Stay tuned here at the Strut Zone for field reports and my live posts from hunts around the country. [ Read Full Post ] |
|
OutdoorLife.com is part of the Bonnier Outdoor Group Network
Copyright © 2009 Bonnier Corp. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
