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Spring Turkey 2015

Got all dressed up and didn't even hear anything today. Went out first thing, then back out about 11. Didn't get anything to call back. I'd like to get a photo of us with a Tom next time we check in. We're going back out tomorrow before church.

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I saw 12 birds on thursday. Several tomz and jakes. Non wanted to com within bow range

Saw 10 this morning. Had one so close i could hear the steps clucking and gobbling but would not come out in the open. I played with him for over an hour he just kept circling around but never came out where j could see him.

Damn I love turkey season!!!!!!.
 
Went out Thursday and had 4 gobblers probably 70 yrds out of sight. Couldn't get them to cross the stream so Friday I set up on the other side of the stream and had a gobbler and 4 hens out at 90 yrds and he just wouldn't come in. The best part was, when i set up after a hoot located him on the ridge I started a battle of calls with a hen and the tom and the hen was in the tree right next to me, she never got spooked when I walked in and set up!! The 90 yrder just kept strutting out on the ridge wanting me to come up the hill after him, and the next thing I know I had another right behind me at 20yrd gobbling his head off! Friday morning was over at 6:30 with the fat boy behind me 1.jpg 2.jpg 20 lbs 8.5 beard and 3/4 spur. Next week I've got 4 days in New York! I think I may have a better pict to upload when I get home.
 
Very nice.

I hunted all weekend. I saw a lot of birds up til Sunday afternoon. For some reason they just shut down. I'm not sure if that's the cold weather or what but they do not seem to be interacting with the decoys this year. None of the toms/jakes are giving them a second glance. I need to change something up just not sure what. Season ends next Sunday and I won;'t make it back out til Saturday unless I take more time off.

If I had been using a gun I would have tagged out the first day, but I just have not been able to get a good shot with my crossbow. I can't get anything closer than 40 yards this year.
 
Nice work Hock!

Cold and raining here this weekend. Nothing called back to us, only just saw a few hens a couple properties over.
 
Anyone else have problems with crows?

This morning we were calling in a Tom. He was a ways off in the woods when we first heard him but he came in very close behind us. Until the crows fired up for about a half hour straight.

We lost contact with the Tom after that and didn't get anymore response at all.
 
Fantastic.

And with a crossbow even.
 
And now the rest of the story:

I was a bit late getting to my blind. It was already light and I could hear a tom gobbling in the woods behind my blind. I quickly set one of my decoys about 20 yard out in front me and hit one of the box calls lightly a few times. I got no response so I hit it again a little louder but got no response. Not wanting to overdo it I decided to be quiet for a while and see what happens. A short while I heard turkey sounds and spotted two hens out in the middle of the cornfield about 200 yards out. I responded to them with a couple yelps and they started talking back. They weren't moving but they just kept yelping and cutting from the middle of the field. I stopped calling figuring that as long as they were making noise, it was much more attractive than whatever I could do.

They keep going on and on for 15 - 20 minutes when I spotted movement out of the other corner of my blind. A group of 6 hens and jakes started walking out to the field. I started to set myself up for a possible shot on one of the jakes when a younger tom stepped out to the field and went full strut. I continued to keep my eyes on him while still trying to turn for a show. After getting into position they were still walking around calmly so I double checked the yardage with the range finder just to be sure. He was spot on 35 yards. I watched him through the scope of the crossbow for what seemed like forever until he came out of strut for a second and let the arrow fly. He stumbled a bit and jumped back into the woods. The rest, clueless to what just happened, just started milling around anxiously. Some of the the hens followed the top into the woods while two of the small jakes stayed out in the fields.

I wanted to wait a bit just to be safe. I didn't want to push him in case the shot wasn't as good as i thought it was. After about 10-15 minutes the rest of the turkeys were no longer within sight so I crept out of the blind and worked my way along the edge of the field. I found the feather where I had hit him and lots of blood. I could see the arrow sticling out of the ground a few feet beyond where I had hit him.As soon as I looked up the tril to the woods, there he was crumpled up about 5 yards in. He was done and I had my first crossbow turkey.

8 7/8" beard
3/4" spurs

Shot at 35 yards with a Middleton DTM 355 crossbow using 18" Excalibur Diablo arrows and 100gr Ramcat Broadheads.

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After I dressed him I determined the shot missed the heart but nicked one of the lungs. It entered the chest and exited the thigh.

I had my video camera mounted to the bow but never even though it while it was all playing out. DOH!!

I had seen what I believed to be the same flock the night before on the far side of the field but could not get them to come in.
 
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Nice looking Gobbler.

And good shot too.
 
With a crossbow I love it Mike Great job!
I had 4 fabulous days in upstate NY with my cuz at my Uncles place. My cuz and I were up there for 4 days with nothing on the schedule but hunting!
We called a nice Tom with 1 inch spurs and a 9 in beard on Friday and my cuz had the first shot since I already had one in NJ.
We saw this guy at 340 yrds with no way of getting to him without being seen, so we had to set up on the opposite side of a knoll across the road. We started calling and saw him leave his hens and move down his ridge in our direction but quickly lost sight of him and not a single gobble?? We were calling for about 45 min without a single gobble from the time we spotted him on his ridge with the hens, so without knowing where he was and it being my turn to shoot, I had no other choice but to belly crawl up the knoll. When I got to the top there wasnt a turkey to be seen so being laid out flat on my belly and no place to go I let out a soft call and with that his head popped up 16 yrds right in front of me and BLAM! He had 3/4 inch spurs and no bear because beard rot from the serious winner.Another fantastic turkey season hunting with my cuz! moss.jpg
 
I was leaving after scoping out my spot for buddy...


Never fails...they are always where you least expect em....
 
I started hunting in Indiana's regular season on April 25. I had chances at turkeys from then until May 4. I passed one right off the bat because his buddies were too close. The next day I shot and knocked one flat. When I got to where he was supposed to be, no turkey. I looked for almost an hour. No feathers, no blood, no turkey. That afternoon I passed on a Long beard at less than 15 yards because it was after legal shooting hours. Missed another one on May 1. Less than 30 yards with a clean shot at the head. I think I shot over him. Even with all that mess I had a great season. I called in more turkeys that came in strutting and drumming than any other season, and I got 2 shots. I jumped a bobcat and saw a golden eagle, both rare in my part of the state. I fended off both a precocious opossum and a large blacksnake without firing a shot. And, I called in my son's first longbeard.
All things considered, it was a great season. I will work with my shotgun and be ready for the fall season.
 
I only got to go for a few hours this year.

Stupid bears.
 
I'm lovin the stories, the turkeys, and that video @ripjack13

We have until may 17 and I can use some advice.

My daughter and I had one on the hook Saturday. We went back and forth with him early in the morning, went back out again about 10 and he began answering right away. He advanced to us through the woods but stayed about 60 yards away just out of sight in the tree line. A hen came out to us and passed in front of us, within 10 yards or so with out seeing us. She didn't like being talked over and we may have been too aggressive on the calls. Every time I cut her off she started right back in more aggressively. After some time, she walked away and the Tom with her.

Here's where I could use some advice;
Were we too aggressive with a boss hen? Should we have backed off the calling in this case? At that point what would you more experienced guys have done to coax the Tom out?

Thanks for anything you can offer a rookie!

(For what it's worth, my calling sounded just like that hen but that her tone was a little lower)
 
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