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2018 Hunting Thread

MikeD

I'm Your Huckleberry
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Got a chance to do a little out of state hunting this year. Last week was my yearly Lake Erie fishing trip and was kind of a bust with bad weather and just no action so I made an impulsive decision and hooked up with some friends to do some hunting in KY (Sorry JohnA it was the other end of the state and was kind of a last minute thing else I would have tried to meet up.)

Got this guy the second evening of a short hunt. Two came in and we might have had a double but it happened fast and my buddy didn't even get a change to put down his call and pick up his gun before it was over.

He was 18 pounds with a 10 1/8" beard.

Got him with my 930 using Winchester Longbeard 3" #6's and a Primos Tight Wad choke. He was about 10 yards away when I shot him.

We weren't really even seriously hunting, it was more of a scouting mission to see where they were roosting for the next mornings hunt. He gobble behind us so I had to move around to get a shot. He then went silent so I thought I had been busted when all of a sudden I heard leaves rustling and he ran in with a buddy. They passed behind a root cluster of a blown over tree and when they stepped out on the other side I busted him.

My 930 ejected the round but failed to load the second I didn't realize this until I got back to the truck and unloaded. I realized I had the OR3GUN parts set up for really light loads so I wonder if it cycled to fast with the 3" mags due to little pressure on the bolt. I found the ejected casing about 15 feet from where I was sitting which leads me to believe it was ejected with a lot of force. I'll play with it and figure it out. My MI season does not start until May 7.

We had one close the next time out in the same area but I failed to fill my second tag. We are only allowed one in MI.

So far the hunting season is off to a great start.

As a side, the group that went out a few days after us limited out on Walleye in about an an hour two days in a row. The water temp increased a bit, the wind and snow died down and the water cleared up. We just missed that window.


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That is a huge turkey. Most don't usually get as big as that in my parts.

You done good on that one for sure.
 
Wow, nice bird!

The weather has been all over the place here. Either rain or snow or freeze warnings. That was right up to 3 days ago with the overnight freeze. It may yet dip into the 30s in the next day or so.

So far this year, my hunting has been during the winter. I’d rather hunt when it’s frozen than soggy mush and knee deep mud. I hunted every evening and night every weekend during the winter. I saw my fox twice and each time he looked right at me. I’m mostly an unsuccessful hunter but you know, blind squirrels and all... I did hear him running and barking the other night, he covered some ground pretty fast.

Turkey season looks like a bust this year, so scouting places for coyote. Thought I had something lined up with another guy but he’s dropped off the planet it seems.

In any case, I just do my thing to keep predators away from my own animals and it’s working. It seems to be less like hunting and more like shepherding.
 
Got my MI Thunderchicken today!!

My season started on Monday but this was my first chance to hunt. I got out well before light and got set up in the deer/turkey blind I have been using for the last few years. I had not had much time to scout this season so I figured I would hunt here this morning and adjust accordingly.

It was a pretty loud morning with lots of geese and cranes chattering all around the field, silenced only by the intermittent rainfall. I got out a bit before shooting hours so I had a chance to just sit and take in the sounds of the morning before I got into hunt mode. Once it got light I could hear an occasional gobble in the distance but nothing responded to my calls. I had two decoys set up. One was a hen and the other was a strutting tom with a real fan as the tail. I normally don't like to use this first off but I figured what the heck.

About 90 minutes had passed from the start of shooting hours and I was watching some geese in the field when some motion caught my eye and I looked up to see a tom checking out my decoys. By the time I saw him he was looking a little nervous but I was able to get a shot off before he decided he didn't like my decoys.

He came in totally silent so I do not know if he came into the call or the decoys, either way the plan came together. and after about 90 minutes of hunting I tagged out in MI.

He was only about 10 yards away, if that, when I shot him. I had run out and gram him as he did a fair amount of flapping around. I was covered in mud by the time he was done.

When I hunted in KY I used my Mossberg 930, for this hunt I grabbed my Remington 870, Longbeard XL #6's and a Primos Jellyhead choke. I've had that 870 since college but this was the first turkey I've taken with it.

He did not have very big spurs but he was a nice bird

MikeMITurkey_2018_001.jpg MikeMITurkey_2018_002.jpg MikeMITurkey_2018_003.jpg MikeMITurkey_2018_004.jpg
 
A little mud and dirt won't hurt nuthin' ;)

Well done indeed. Glad you got another one. You're really on a roll this year.
 
Just Just saw this Mike very nice birds much respect fir you turkey hunters !! Love some good honest mud on that shotty too. Well done.[/QUOTE]
Got my MI Thunderchicken today!!

My season started on Monday but this was my first chance to hunt. I got out well before light and got set up in the deer/turkey blind I have been using for the last few years. I had not had much time to scout this season so I figured I would hunt here this morning and adjust accordingly.

It was a pretty loud morning with lots of geese and cranes chattering all around the field, silenced only by the intermittent rainfall. I got out a bit before shooting hours so I had a chance to just sit and take in the sounds of the morning before I got into hunt mode. Once it got light I could hear an occasional gobble in the distance but nothing responded to my calls. I had two decoys set up. One was a hen and the other was a strutting tom with a real fan as the tail. I normally don't like to use this first off but I figured what the heck.

About 90 minutes had passed from the start of shooting hours and I was watching some geese in the field when some motion caught my eye and I looked up to see a tom checking out my decoys. By the time I saw him he was looking a little nervous but I was able to get a shot off before he decided he didn't like my decoys.

He came in totally silent so I do not know if he came into the call or the decoys, either way the plan came together. and after about 90 minutes of hunting I tagged out in MI.

He was only about 10 yards away, if that, when I shot him. I had run out and gram him as he did a fair amount of flapping around. I was covered in mud by the time he was done.

When I hunted in KY I used my Mossberg 930, for this hunt I grabbed my Remington 870, Longbeard XL #6's and a Primos Jellyhead choke. I've had that 870 since college but this was the first turkey I've taken with it.

He did not have very big spurs but he was a nice bird

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Just finish my fall turkey season. Saw a few, heard a lot but never got a shot.

Saw a few nice deer during the early archery season but nothing that presented a shot.

Can't believe our firearm deer season starts Thursday. The field where I hunt still has standing corn. My view is limited to a 5yard by 45 yard hallway along the edge of the field.

I hope they cut it one of the weekends I hunt. Maybe they will push something my way.

Either way I'll be out with the 450 or the muzzleloader trying to tag one.

Actually if they dont cut the corn I night just keep hunting with my bow.
 
Mike you poor thing i am so sorry your forced to deer hunt over standing corn, the horror. Tell ya what come on south il set ya up in some nice Pine thickets wont have to worry bout that awful agriculture;)
Me and @John A. can go deal with them corn fed deer. ;)
 
Mike you poor thing i am so sorry your forced to deer hunt over standing corn, the horror. Tell ya what come on south il set ya up in some nice Pine thickets wont have to worry bout that awful agriculture;)
Me and @John A. can go deal with them corn fed deer. ;)

I think I'll survive. My biggest deer to date was shot from the same blind the last time they planted corn. ;-D
 
Ended early fall archery for turkey with a handful of butt feathers from a hen. I aimed for her hips and shot just enough left that the arrow passed through her tail feathers. I called in a group of toms that came in gobbling and strutting. The rangefinder said 47 yards was the closest they got. Oh well, I should have brought along the shotgun too. We still have the late archery portion to go so it's not over yet.
No deer yet. I have seen a real nice buck twice from the same tree, but have not gotten shots yet. The firearms portion is open now. I am taking my son next weekend, so hopefully he can get the buck and I can find a nice fat doe.
 
Sounds like you're right in the thick of it.

Dang bears have destroyed my hunting grounds. I'm not even wasting time hunting this year.
 
After a LONG uneventful season I finally connected on a doe on NYE. I haven't seen a deer in a month. It was raining and I made it out late to my blind with only 90 minutes to the end of shooting hours.

About 40 minutes in I start to see some deer along the far edges of the field. Then I see some walk out right in front of me ranging 15 to 40 yards. Tbere was a buck and 5 does. I had opted to use my muzzleloader to fill my late season do tag so I targeted the largest doe and droped her in her tracks. Had I taken my crossbow I could have tagged the buck. Oh well, once its in the freezer you cant tell the difference.

I hit her broadside quartering away slightly. I could not find her heart and the lungs were pretty tore up. This was the first deer I have ever dropped like that. After the smoke cleared a saw a couple of twitches of the tail and it was done.

I could have hunted on the 1st but decided to just relax a little. Its been a long hard season.
 
Congratulations Mike.

I went up to our cabin just before Christmas to put out some corn because it's going to be a hard winter for the deer. Moderate temperatures keeping them moving and little to eat equals low numbers next year.

I was distraught to see that there are still leaves laying all around where my deer usually tramp and scrape and mark their territory. I fear the worst for the deer herd on and near our property.
 
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