My Fall Turkey Season starts Saturday!

[Mark K]

There’s a reason Georgia doesn’t have a Fall season...we’d wipe out the population. Don’t know what it is with our birds during the Fall, but they become the dumbest birds known to man. I could do jumping jacks wearing full orange and the flock would just look at me. I can walk up on them to within bow shot and they stand there.
Come Spring they can see a person from 300 yards away and be in the next county before you could get to where they were!

 

[longbowdave1]

They definitely know they're being hunted up here in the fall. I think they are even more skittish due to all the waterfowl hunting going on for months at a time. They skedaddle as soon as they spot you. Had many a near heart attack when a flock busts out in to flight before I even see them while entering the woods on a bowhunt.

My Birthday hunt was a good day afield. I only saw 4 Toms. but none from stand. Same 4 jokers I saw last time I'm guessing. I did fill on tag on my dual purpose hunt, and the young'n will eat good.

 

[Mark K]

Well if it was turkey season we’d be set for tomorrow morning. 4 gobblers roosted above and around me this evening.
One was about 15ft above my head. He looked down and I thought, here we go...thought they were gonna bust out of there. Nope...limb hopped on up in some cover where he couldn’t see me and I couldn’t see him. His buddy flew to the pine next to him. Tried to get some pics but they didn’t turn out to well. The other 2 behind me stayed put. I left with no issues...tomorrow morning should be interesting though.

 

[longbowdave1]

Funny how critters know when they're being hunted or not.

 

[Mark K]

Funny how critters know when they're being hunted or not.

Yep!!! Introduced a buddy to it on his own land...he walked me through a clearcut and we sounded like a herd of buffalo. We finally got to an area and he stopped and loudly whispered we are here. I asked where “here” is and he said this is where they stay...my deer stand is right there and I’d see them all the time during deer season and they pay me no attention. Needless to say no turkeys were seen or heard that day. We ended up getting him a bird or two that year then he wanted to start hunting them on his own.
First call I got was, them dang things don’t act NOTHING like they do during deer season! I turned my head and that bird was still 100 yards away and he saw me and hauled tail!!
He has since become quite proficient at turkey hunting!!

 

[blt152]

Use to hunt them in the fall in Pa. The tag always came on your license. I've killed them a couple different ways in the fall. I've flushed them and called them back to me using kee kee calls and assembly yelping and I've just gone through and area I know that has birds and called until I make contact. They are not as vocal as in the spring and the gobblers generally just respond with gobbler yelps or clucks. I actually quit hunting them in the fall as I felt it was too easy.

 

[longbowdave1]

I hunted some Saturday. It was a COLD sit! At sunrise it was 33 degrees with 20 mph winds gusting to 30 mph. Did I mention the snow flurries? By 8:20 am I was thinking to myself, "This is crazy doubt if I see anything????" Never did see a bird but had two does standing at 10 yards, they got a pass. Looking for a nice buck or a Tom now. Still plenty of season for birds, the leaves should be falling soon here. That should make it easier to see the birds slipping though the woodlot. I promised that I would give to tail fan to my sister, from the next Tom that I get.

 

[longbowdave1]

Checked one of my cameras today. I found two consecutive pictures that made me laugh a bit. This was from last weeks afternoon hunt. It appears the four Amigos that I have been bumping the last few weeks were one step ahead of me , literally

Look at the date and time stamp.!

 

[XIronheadX]

Gotta walk a little faster, Dave. lol

 

[longbowdave1]

No birds sighted this past weekend. The next farm over, deployed a propane cannon to keep critters away from the soybean field. It worked so well it scared off critters by me too. They also had black/white wind socks as well. I watched a doe with 2 fawns, and a buck, turn tail and run from the wind sock/ cannon one, two, punch. Back at it next weekend!

 

[longbowdave1]

COLD TURKEY! Today is my last day of work, then I have the week off. Going to hit it hard on my buck and bird hunt. Had 7 " of snow here yesterday, and the bottom fell out on the thermometer. Going going to be in low 30's all week, with lows down to teens. Brrrrrrr. Hope to have some good hunting time in over the next 9 days!

 

[longbowdave1]

The birds are still staying one step ahead of me, no shots yet. I thought you might enjoy these pictures from the snowfall last week.

 

[XIronheadX]

Nice pics, Dave. Get em!

 

[longbowdave1]

Nice pics, Dave. Get em!

Im trying

 

[longbowdave1]

While making my way through some thick cedars, on my walk back for a lunch break, i busted out two Toms. Just about gave this old dude a heart attack! Looked like two B52's banking hard right. Maybe I'll run in to them this afternoon. 2-4" of wet snow coming in the am. So much for global warming!

 

[longbowdave1]

One my way back in, I jumped a flock of 8 Toms on the hillside. Caught me by surprise. Could of had my pick of the litter if I had my scatter gun. Going back on the hunt at noon tomorrow. We had 4 " of snow, followed by some serious cold weather. Going down to 7 degrees tonight. Warming up some for the weekend. Single digits are just no fun anymore. Ought to see some fresh critter tracks in the snow. Wouldn't mind painting the snow red.

 

[longbowdave1]

I had a few close encounters with birds but never got within range of the crossbow. I thought you might like this picture. There were plenty of tracks in the snow, some right over the top of my boot prints...

 

[longbowdave1]

Well, I'll be putting the xbow down and picking up the rifle/muzzleloader pistol for the 9 day Deer Gun season here starting Saturday. So far, they turkeys are winning the war, but I still have time to chase them. In the meantime, my son has been feeding the songbirds all fall and some backyard bullies have moved in. After another hunt didn't provide a bird, there were plenty right in my backyard.

There have been about 15 hens and 5 Toms visiting regularly.

 

[XIronheadX]

Good luck, Dave.

 

[longbowdave1]

Thanks. Maybe if i take one more deer, the freezer will be full, and then I can take the shotgun and focus on turkeys.