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Turkey Season 2012

Field report.

Gobblers are everywhere but near me. They want nothing to do with my dekes. Yet....no sign of ole blue tip yet either...

R13 out.
 
I had one land in a tree not 20 yards from my tree stand on Sunday. It came in a the same time as I had deer wandering around. It sat there for a good 30-40 minutes before flying down and wandering off. It landed in a spot with a lot of ground brush so I could not get a good shot with the crossbow.
 
Been out for the past 2 days. Turkey season by me is only in the fall and open for shotgun for 5 days starting the Saturday before thanksgiving. Nothing so far. Not even a cluck.

Spoke to the ranger today who said so far nobody has claimed a turkey. Which is weird because they are everywhere lol.

I'm going out one more time this Tuesday. Going to do some small scouting tomorrow.
 
Only in the fall? omg...that blows. That's the hardest time to get em.
Keep us posted if you get one...or 2. ;)
 
ripjack13 said:
Only in the fall? omg...that blows. That's the hardest time to get em.
Keep us posted if you get one...or 2. ;)

Yeah it does. But when the spring comes around I'm going to head upstate where there is a spring season and see if I can do better!
 
My season ended the 14th.

I've never had much luck in the fall unless they just happen to pass by which they did a few times but not close enouigh for a shot.

I tried a little calling but they just don't respond like they do in the spring. They would respond to some clucks in the early morning when they are regrouping after a flydown but other than that, they pretty much ignored me.
 
No luck finding any Turkey. Seems to be the same for a lot of turkey hunters I've talked to.

Here's video of my failed turkey hunt.... still better than being in an office building:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73tpH3A8wOM[/youtube]
 
So quick question. I've never been Turkey hunting & was wondering how feasable it would be to use a stock 20" 590? My brother in law says he'll take me out next year. On a side note, would I need to get a slug barrel for deer or can I just use slugs in what I have? Thanks all.
 
A 20" barrel will kill a turkey no problem as long as you do your job when pulling the trigger.

But with the looser choke of your 20" (Likely a cylinder choke), your range will be more limited than using a longer barrel with a full choke, or even XXfull choke and will make it harder, so honestly, having a dedicated tight choke barrel wouldn't be a bad idea at all for turkeys if you're not going to be able to set up pretty close to where you think they're going to be. Around or within about 30 yards max is where I would be most comfortable with a cylinder choke barrel and #4 shot as an example.

Kind of the same answer with a slug barrel for deer, however, if you're hunting out of a blind or stand and within 50-70'ish yards or less, the barrel you already have, and a standard slug will piledrive deer all day and all night. Again, provided that you can put it where it needs to go, but that should go without saying.

So, I guess the short answer would be, if you can hunt fairly close, you could use what you already have, or if you're going to be taking much farther shots, you may want to consider a dedicated barrel accordingly.

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Thanks John, I'll have to do some research & see what is common here in Northern IL before I decide on barrels & whatnot.
 
My buddy has shot a lot of turkey with a fixed improved cylinder or modified ( i forget ) choke 20 guage.

Know your pattern and only take shots within the range you have a good pattern and you will be good to go.
 
MikeD said:
Know your pattern and only take shots within the range you have a good pattern and you will be good to go.

^this is some of what I was trying to get at.

My turkey this year was tagged with a modified choke 16 gauge and #6 shot. And I could just imagine all the sneers and jeers I would receive from even considering such a combination from most of the "hardcore crowd", but you just can't argue with Bang flop even if you wanted to.

In the same subject, it's always been my favorite "go to" shotgun for about everything. It's hard to argue with as much success as I have had with that old gun. It's killed more stuff than everything else in my cabinet COMBINED.
 
I have killed many birds with a 16 gage. It is an old Stevens pump with a really long barrel. It worked. When the 835 came out we all had to have one. So the shoulder punishment days began. Somewhere back in the mid to late 80s I think.
 
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