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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 8, 2020 17:26:17 GMT -5
Only two and a half months till spring gobbler 🦃
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Post by rem700 on Feb 9, 2020 6:56:16 GMT -5
It's a long ways off but it's never to early to be thinking about spring Turkey.
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Post by ridgecommander on Feb 9, 2020 8:21:10 GMT -5
The turkeys are already thinking about it around here. They were gobbling last week. If this weather pattern hols up, early April will be the prime time. Oh yeah. I forgot. We have one of the latest starts in the country. They are hunting spring gobblers in Minnesota before we are in Pa.
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 9, 2020 9:32:06 GMT -5
Gotta love the chalange. 😁
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Post by ridgecommander on Feb 9, 2020 13:46:10 GMT -5
Gotta love the chalange. 😁 Have you ever shot one with your crossbow in the spring? |
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 9, 2020 14:09:09 GMT -5
Gotta love the chalange. 😁 Have you ever shot one with your crossbow in the spring? I have no desire to |
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Post by ridgecommander on Feb 10, 2020 7:49:56 GMT -5
Have you ever shot one with your crossbow in the spring? I have no desire to I didn't either until I committed to doing it and gave it a try after my buddy talked me into it. It was quite frustrating initially but I finally made it happen. I had two different gobblers in range the first couple of weeks the first year I tried it but couldn't get it done with the crossbow. I think it was the third week that I scored my first bird with the crossbow. With a shotgun it would have been game over on the opener. It certainly adds a twist to the hunt and an additional challenge. |
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 10, 2020 8:49:51 GMT -5
Congrats on your harvest. Aparantly the Pa. start date hasn't affected your success. To each their own.
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Post by davet on Feb 10, 2020 9:34:27 GMT -5
I've taken two fall birds with my crossbow. I've missed several as well.
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Post by ridgerunner on Feb 19, 2020 21:44:16 GMT -5
Yep, spring turkey season is coming and it can't come soon enough for me. This past weekend, my wife and I were upstate in PA and near our cabin we saw three very nice gobblers working their way through the woods. Needless to say, that got the juices going!
I have a question: I normally use a semi automatic shotgun for my turkey hunting, but I have wondered about using my o/u shotgun where there might be some advantage of having two different chokes to choose from. Anybody here use an o/u shotgun? Any thoughts?
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Post by timberdoodle on Feb 19, 2020 23:20:29 GMT -5
SHOt my first spring turkey with an Ithaca 12 gauge double barrel,# 6 shot 2 3/4" choked modified & Improved cyl. about 20 yards as I recall.. and the gun wasn't even camouflaged.
I soon learned the error of my ways and discovered that one needs a 3 1/2 " heavy shot load of 4 5 6 an 8 shot and a super double full choke
I'd go with the o/u just to poke some of the pros.
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 20, 2020 6:36:04 GMT -5
IMHO, use which ever shotgun you like. It's not the gun or the shell. Call the bird close enough and make a good shot. I shot my first bird with a 16ga, 2 3/4 in, mod. choke.
That was 47 yrs ago. Alot has changed since then. Special chokes, and special shells that can cost as much as $8.00 a piece. They are designed to increase the kill range, which decreases the skill of the hunter. I have no problem with that, to each his own. Take the gun you want, and enjoy the hunt.
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Post by Loggy on Feb 20, 2020 7:09:10 GMT -5
The modern day turkey guns & tighter chokes require the shooter to use more marksmanship skills especially on close shots. Many hunters are topping their turkey guns with chokes to assist in putting the tight patterns on target. With many set-ups relying on a wide typical scattergun pattern is no longer the case.
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 20, 2020 7:20:39 GMT -5
The modern day turkey guns & tighter chokes require the shooter to use more marksmanship skills especially on close shots. Many hunters are topping their turkey guns with chokes to assist in putting the tight patterns on target. With many set-ups relying on a wide typical scattergun pattern is no longer the case. Slow down your typin there Loggy. I think you meant toppin their turkey guns with "scopes", not chokes. |
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Post by redarrow on Feb 20, 2020 7:32:33 GMT -5
Every Turkey I have killed has been with a Stevens 311 side x side 12ga and either 4 or 7 1/2 shot. Only three have been spring gobblers and one of those was a jake. I have missed few in archery season-I swear those things can duck an arrow. I've tried to kill a gobbler that I called in a few times but I have never had one to fan out at the right time to draw my bow unseen. I got to start to draw twice on spring birds and was picked out right away both times. I don't have an interest in sitting in a ground blind.
There has been a flock of gobblers in our back yard several time since ML season ended. 8-14 birds at a time and no hens. One was fanned out and strutting in front of my trail cam on the hill Tuesday afternoon. I haven't hunted spring birds for 5 or six years but I'm giving it some serious consideration this year.
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Post by Loggy on Feb 20, 2020 7:36:01 GMT -5
The modern day turkey guns & tighter chokes require the shooter to use more marksmanship skills especially on close shots. Many hunters are topping their turkey guns with chokes to assist in putting the tight patterns on target. With many set-ups relying on a wide typical scattergun pattern is no longer the case. Slow down your typin there Loggy. I think you meant toppin their turkey guns with "scopes", not chokes. Glad you're sharp enuff this early in the day to figure that one out G-Man!!! LOL |
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Post by ridgecommander on Feb 20, 2020 7:50:44 GMT -5
I like this for turkeys. 1 1/4" to work with.  |
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Post by good ole boy on Feb 25, 2020 16:37:13 GMT -5
Noticed em startin to flock out in the pastures.Seen some all fanned out on the neighbors spread today.Seems a little early but it is almost March.
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Post by turkeykiller on Feb 25, 2020 17:34:30 GMT -5
I heard 3 gobblers soundin off this mornin.
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Post by redarrow on Feb 26, 2020 7:16:45 GMT -5
I was out collecting some maple sap at daybreak and it certainly feels like early gobbler season. I was surprised to not hear a gobbler.
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Post by fleroo on Feb 26, 2020 7:51:54 GMT -5
That's because there apparently are not many left ? At least here in eastern Wash. Co. SOMETHING is happening. It's been a couple/few weeks since I've see a Turkey, and I'm on the road every day for many miles.
The last few I did see, had 3 gobblers fanning for a couple hens.
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Post by redarrow on Feb 26, 2020 8:11:00 GMT -5
I saw fewer this archery season than most years.
Two Saturdays ago my wife and I saw a flock of at least 75 birds spread out across a picked over corn field a few miles away.
The flock of gobblers that's been around our yard for a little over a month shows up anytime I put corn out. Putting it out just before dark helps save some of it so that the deer get a shot at it before the turkeys clean it up.
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Post by bowbum on Mar 5, 2020 8:45:42 GMT -5
A day like today, (sunny and warm), really gets them talking and struttin. We've been hearing them since early February on this kind of morning. This morning they were scratching for dropped seeds from our bird feeder and this guy, along with 22 hens, was here for 45 minutes. Attachments:
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 5, 2020 9:21:28 GMT -5
Turkeys are doing their spring thing around here. The flock I have been watched added another strutting Tom this morning. Now there are 4 toms courting the ladies. Forsythia is budding here with a yellow tinge already.
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Post by turkeykiller on Mar 5, 2020 11:03:00 GMT -5
You know the ole' sayin, the early bird gets the hen
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