Grow the Hunt

Youth Turkey Season in Missouri a Huge Success

By Marti Davis

This past weeekend was the Missouri youth turkey season. Took Brandon, my
8 yr-old nephew, and Matt, my brother, to one of my spots. A storm rolled thru about 2-3am and the birds were awake and already gobbling from the roost as we were sneaking in. We set the Carry-Lite HD decoys about 10 yards in front of the shooting house.

The Knight & Hale White Liar, Glass Hammer and Prosecutor mouth calls must have had the right sounds to them. We had probably 9 or 10 birds gobbling all around us. Brandon saw the first long-beard on the ground about 125 yards out in front of us at the far end of the field.

Two jakes came right into the decoys and 7 long-beards with 7 or 8 hens were struting around at the far end of the field. I told Brandon if he wanted to shoot one of the jakes to go ahead. Those jakes walked around the decoys like they were attached to one another for 10 minutes. Brandon just kept the gun barrel pointed at them, waiting for us to say "shoot!" Finally, the front jake lowered his head and the back jake held his head up high and I told him, "shoot...SHOOT!" Brandon and the Winchested Xtended range 20 gauge #5's did their job!

I even got it on video for the rest of the family to watch!

Turkey Tips: Part 1

By Brandon Wikman

With a brain the size of a walnut, the wild turkey seems to continue baffling even the most seasoned bird hunters across the country. No matter who you are or how good you are, the feathered chickens of the forest are a different breed, literally. Below you will find a few tips, tricks and tactics to try on your next hunt to hopefully tilt the odds of success in your favor.

The Sneaky Roost
As the daybreak of morning illuminates the new born sky, hunters make their best efforts in closing the distance to the roost tree. Many hunters enjoy snuggling right next to the tree and awaiting the fly down before having a crack at a gobbler. However, this is how many hunts turn foul.

Turkeys have a very keen sense of both eyes and ears. To successfully walk within 50-75 yards of a roost tree is extremely difficult. Birds are typically roosting near others and all it takes is for one sneaky eyeball to catch your movement before the game is over. Remember, turkeys have a much better field of view from the tree limbs than you. They are able to see a lot more ground and hear a heck of a lot more noise than you. Get close… but don’t get too close.

The Hang-Up
Most turkey hunters have experienced the dreadful “hang ups.” This is when the boisterous bird gobbling his head off makes a distinct halt and waits for you (hen) to come the rest of the way. However, in our terms, it doesn’t work that way. We need the tom to walk into a mere 30-yards to splash a face wash of bb’s.   

The best bet when working in a bird that has hung-up is to wait him out. Patience is the name of the game when it comes to turkey hunting. They have their own mental clock that tick-tocks very, very slowly. I’ve had birds 80-yards away in a field strutting for hours before curiosity overwhelmed them; which brought them into a delightful 20-yards.

Many times you can always try changing the calling patterns slightly. Utilizing the comfort calls, such as clucks and purrs seems to always work well. Or you may want to even try raking your hand in the leaves to mimic scratching. These little tools make a large and significant difference in the world of turkey.

Moultrie Game Camera Captures Texas Wildfire Pics

A letter from a loyal customer...

We hunt on a ranch is West Texas in Robert Lee. We have 5000 acres that we hunt that was hit by a wildfire that to my understanding was started by a lightening strike. I wasn't there so I can't tell you if there is any truth to that or not but nonetheless myself and several other leasers were effected by the fire. We did lose several blinds, feeders, cameras, and other accessories to boot.

  We made a trip to the lease on April 16 after we had heard about the fires on the lease, not sure what I was to expect when I got down there. After I did, I couldn't believe the destruction that could be caused by mother nature in just a matter of minutes. If you look at the time and date stamp on  the game cam you can see that at 2:13 skies were clear as far as you could see but at 6:32 it took some pics of smoke and then at 6:33 everything was on fire. As quick as it goes up in flames, it would appear that it moves on.

If you look at the last sequence of photos that the game cam takes you can see that the camera starts to lean with every pic. The best I can determine is that the tree that the game cam was in was on fire and as it burned the camera fell to the ground, only to burn the lens of the camera. The outter case was burnt but the SD card seem to be fine (wish I could say the same for my cameras). I had 4 cameras up and this is the only one that did not burn up completely. In the aftermath pics you get just some of the idea of damage that was caused on our property. I know this is not much of a story but I all I have to go off of is the pics just like you. But as in many cases, these pictures say a thousand words.

Rick Bradford

 

 

 

Father & Son Turkey Hunting

By Rich Miller

This has been a great turkey season for me so far. I haven’t gotten to go as much as I would have liked; but the days I have gotten to go, it has been good. I have been fortunate enough to take several turkeys for myself and be with some good friends when they got their birds. Of course, one of the best ones was when my son got his.

This past Saturday, my wife was out of town on Saturday and I already had plans with my buddy Greg to go chase some long-beards around. We decided that we would take the boys with us because Greg has a four year-old little boy, also. The plan was that they would hit one side of the farm and we would take the other. I was a little concerned because when Tye got his bird last week we were in a blind, and that is a huge help when hunting with a four year-old. When Saturday morning rolled around, Tye hit the floor bright and early and was ready to roll. He was really excited and had been talking about the hunt non-stop since I had mentioned it to him. 

We got to the back of the pasture on top of a hill where I had planed for us to be well before daylight. He was pretty quiet getting in there. As the sun stuck its head out and the crows started their morning ritual, we had yet to hear a gobble. That was discouraging because where we were I thought we should have heard one a mile away if he had opened his mouth. We brushed up an area to sit on the edge of the pasture and settled in to do a little calling and just wait to see if anything would start gobbling. 

After a while of still nothing, we get up and decided to head back to a hardwood ridge that the turkey use a lot and set up there for a little while. We hadn’t been a hundred yards on the old logging road from our last setup when we walked up on a hen. Luckily, I spotted her before she saw us and we went immediately to the ground. She must have seen us move and putted a few times. As soon as she did that we heard a gobble come from the ridge where we were headed. I called back and got an instant response. We sat back and worked the bird for about twenty minutes and he gobbled pretty much every time I called to him. 

A couple of times, we thought he was headed our direction but slowly he was headed to the pasture we just left. Quietly and quickly as we could be, we moved back to our original position and put a Pretty Mama HD hen decoy up in the pasture. The big tom kept gobbling for a little while and eventually stopped. I didn’t know if he had gone out of hearing or just shut up. It was coming up on 8:30 in the morning and sitting still Tye had all he could stand and dozed off laying against me. 

I guess fifteen minutes had gone by with nothing from the gobbler or me when another hen came into the pasture from the opposite direction.  She fed all the way to the decoy and hung around for a while until eventually heading off. Another ten or fifteen minutes went by and out of nowhere there was a gobble from behind us again; but this time it was a lot closer! I yelped back real soft and got an immediate response. After that I just shut up and set him do his thing. I nudged Tye to wake him up and told him to be really still; there was a big gobbler coming to us. 

The turkey continued to gobble and got closer each time until I saw him step in to the pasture. The way Tye and I were sitting, I didn’t want to move so I just let the turkey strut his way to us. When he stepped in front of my gun I didn’t have to move the gun at all to let him hold the load of #5’s I sent his way. As soon as I shot, I looked down at Tye and he was standing up with his eyes wide open and a smile from ear to ear. He ran out to get the turkey but it was still doing the death dance so he stood back and waited for me. 

We were both super excited and it was really special to have him with me and get the chance at a bird two weeks in a row. One thing about it, he had got to see turkeys act like turkeys the few times he has gone after them. The best thing is it seems to me that he has as much fun hunting when we don’t kill anything as when we do. I know I do, and I hope we get to keep doing this for a long time. I know as he gets bigger my days behind the gun are going to get fewer and farther between. 

Greg and Dillon had a great hunt that morning, also, and heard a lot of gobbling but never did get one close enough for a shot. Dillon and Tye are like two peas in a pod and are both eat up with hunting already. I just don’t know where they get it from….  

Turkey Chatter: Part 2

By Brandon Wikman

As you read yesterday in “Turkey Chatter: Part 1,” spring time unleashes some of the most majestic sounds of the forest and field. I broke down the very basic fundamentals of the gobble, fly-down-cackle, and alarm call. Today, I want to take it a step further to express a new buffet of sounds you may hear while under the forest canopy.

TREE CALL
The tree call is a very distinct and strategic call that asks for the hunter’s attentive ear. While on the limb, during the break of day, turkey will chirp a soft muffled yelp or cluck to others birds nearby. The monotone sound of a handful series of yelps or clucks is made ever so quietly.

Birds will both cluck and yelp just at first light before they fly down to calm the flock and ease any nerves.  Wily hunters will take advantage of replicating this type of call to spark the response from others hens on the roost. Not all hens will answer the tree call accordingly, but I encourage you to at least try breaking the call out to hopefully confirm other locations of birds. This could be a valuable tool that will provide you a needed edge afield.

PURR
One of the most overrated calls in the vast field of turkey vocalization is the purr. Many people don’t take advantage of using the purr while in the field because they’ve watched too many hunting shows where the hunter sparked chaotic gobbles by orchestrating powerful cackles, cutts, and aggressive yelps.

The purr can be one of the best calls you will ever produce while in the turkey woods if used correctly. The purr is what I call a “finishing call” once you have a respondent gobbler out of range. The soft purr is a rest-assured, calm, and nerve-free type of vocalization that coaxes gobblers in that are on edge. 

Hens will purr while at rest or simply feeding. They use it to defray any fear among flock members. Next time you are facing a gobbler that is uneasy and just out of range, be sure to slip a few purrs his away to enlighten him that everything is A-okay.

YELP
The most infamous call of them all… the yelp. Every hunter whether they are a newbie or seasoned professional have heard of the yelp and have most0likely used it in some way, shape, or from. The yelp is a "love connection" call between the hen and the gobbler. Yelps come on all styles and form, but the basic hen yelp of stringing 4-5 calls together will be a killer call to take with you into the woods.

Turkey Chatter: Part 1

By Brandon Wikman

The spring season unveils the most inspiring sounds of the forest and field. From the very limbs of the canopy to the forage-rich forest floor, turkey vocalization is at its peak. As you will find, the first few months of spring provide an acoustically soothing chatter of clucks, purrs, and gobbles. Today, I want to give you the chance to learn a little more about the wild turkey’s vocalization.

GOBBLE
A male turkey, referred to as “tom,” will ignite a shrieking gobble to express social status or dominance. Tom’s are eager to declare their territory and ranking via limb. You are more likely to hear a gobble while the bird is on the roost early in the morning.

Most gobbling occurs during sunrise and sunset as toms are still grasping a limb in the canopy. There are several reasons male turkey’s gobble, but the most important is the communication relayed to a hen in hopes to breed. A tom will hope a hen will come to him. As hunters, we desire the exact opposite results. Mother Nature has distinctly injected the “hen moves to the tom theory,” whereas turkey hunters yearn for severely different results.

FLY-DOWN CACKLE
Upon a turkey’s departure from their morning limb, they will fly down from the roost making a ‘cutting’ type call. Turkey hunters try to resemble a “fly-down cackle,” but realize how difficult it truly is.As turkeys flap their wings en route to the forest floor, their wings contract their chest muscles and the bird exhales, which is what you and I hear. The powerful wing beats showcase a staccato-like cluck sound.

ALARM CALL
We have all seen it, witnessed it, or had it happen to us… the dreadful “putt.” When a hen or tom becomes aware of danger – which includes predatory animals or hunters – they’ll produce both a loud and sharp putt. The call is a sign of danger and warns all birds near them to scatter. Hunters should never use this call as it will severely limit your odds of bagging a bird.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2....

Turkey Hunting Is Near

By Brandon Wikman

The whitewashed prairies and forestlands are nothing more than a simple memory in most parts of the country as the sun melts away the blistery chills of winter. Mild temperatures warm the lands as the echo of gobbles near the heart and soul of bird hunters.

Most parts of the country are preparing for their turkey season opener, while some lucky states are already chasing birds. My very own state, Wisconsin, opens its inaugural dates of spring slaying around mid-April. Seasons around the U.S. typically run April 1st to May 31st. However, several areas across the southern U.S. open generally earlier.

I am currently putting together a last minute hunting schedule that will put me face-to-beak in front of several boasting birds. I am hoping to head out west first, where I will test my luck at hunting both Merriam’s and Rios. The beauty of hunting both of these bird species is that they are vast in numbers in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. With enough luck and patience, I will hopefully find myself in a flock of feathers.

For those of you who have not booked, scheduled, or planned your turkey hunts, it is not too late. There are plenty of outfitters, guides, or public land areas to find. The nice thing about turkey hunting is that in most states you can shoot two birds. For this reason, is why I choose to hunt Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Kansas, just to name a few. As I said before, most seasons run all the way into late May. So as we sit a month away, please by all means begin your search and find a few turkey hunting destinations that will ‘’spur’’ you some luck.

Please do remember and keep in mind that you are hunting turkey, not deer. In other words, and in most cases, you don’t have to spend six tireless days in a tree stand or blind to kill a bird. This is a great thing considering work or job arrangements conflict with hunting schedules. You may simply plan a quick 3-day weekend getaway and jog to a nearby state to hunt a different kind of bird species. This is good news for those of you who are like me and can only slip away every now and again due to college classes and work.

Today, after this blog, I will be finalizing my route across the Midwest in hopes to begin my weekend-warrior style journey of gobbler bashing. I wish all of you good luck and begin eyeballing your calendars to fit your hunts accordingly.

My Son's First Turkey!

By Rich Miller

Believe it or not, opening day of turkey season finally got here! Just like every other year, I had a sleepless night and was wide awake and ready to roll when the alarm went off.

My Dad had plans to go fishing this year so we weren’t going to hunt together on opening day like we have been doing for years. I don’t know what got into him to want to go catch a fish instead of go turkey hunting! 

Since he had other plans, I made plans to go with my cousin, Greg, and maybe we could double up on the season opener. The birds started gobbling about 7am and they gobbled until about 10 and then they shut up. We had 11 jakes at our Bob’n Tail Tom decoy at one time, but never saw a long beard all morning. We could hear them but we just couldn’t get them to leave them hens. 

After lunch, my little boy got out of school and the first thing he did was call me and say that he was ready to go turkey hunting. We had gone the Saturday before for the youth hunt, and struck out, but he was ready to get back after them. It was about 2:30 when we headed to the blind that I had already set up for us in a food plot. He did a good job sneaking in and not making too muck noise getting there. When we got in the blind and got it zipped up, I turned around to tell Tye something and the Good Lord must have been looking out for us because two hens and two jakes came walking into the food plot!  

To explain this a little bit, all Tye can talk about is hunting - whether it is deer or turkey - and he knew that turkey season was opening. For the last couple of months, we had been practicing with a gun that I got when I was a kid. It’s a .410 single shot that is cut down for a kid. I used it growing up, then one of my good friend’s son used it to kill his first turkey, my nephew used it to get his first turkey, and now Tye is using it. Now Tye will turn 4 in May and he is still a little small to shoot it by himself. So we have went through several boxes of shells to get our process down pat. He stands in a chair and I stand up to hold the front and the butt of the gun while he leans over to look down the barrel to aim and squeeze the trigger. I just help him hold it up and he does the rest. With all the practice he had been doing, I felt like if we could get one inside 20-yards we would be in the money. 

When the turkeys came in the food plot, we didn’t have anything ready and they were already headed to our hen decoy. The way they came in they were looking straight into the blind so it was a slow process getting setup for the shot. One of the jakes stayed right with the two hens but the other one came over to our decoy, which worked out perfect.  As we got the gun up and got it cocked they never really got spooked.  I still remember the first turkey I took and it was a long beard but this Jake in front of us had me more torn up than I’ve ever been. I told him whenever he was ready get the bead on his head and let it rip. It didn’t take long and the gun bucked in our hands. As I looked up, the turkey was on the ground trying to get back on his feet. After what seemed like thirty minutes I made it out of the blind and chased the bird down. I think I was in shock because Tye said several times “Daddy, I got a turkey” before I ever responded. We checked him out and I showed him the beard and spurs before we got on the phone to call Mom and all the grandparents. 

We ended up with a crowd in the food plot taking pictures and telling how he just smoked his first turkey. That was a pretty quick hunt for us but he had a long hunt the week before during the youth hunt in the cold and rain still didn’t want to go in. I couldn’t have been more happy or proud of how he did with it all. When everyone was talking and laughing in the food plot he told them, he and Dad had to leave and go clean the turkey!

I think I have created a monster now because every time he see’s my camo or hunting gear in the truck he wants to know where I am going. That’s fine with me, though, because I wouldn’t have it any other way!

2011 Nebraska Big Buck Classic

By Brandon Wikman

If you eat, sleep, and breathe whitetail deer; The 3rd Annual Nebraska Big Buck Classic is where you need to be. The event, held in March, is a family fun experience that you will remember for a lifetime.

I geared up, loaded the truck, and prepared to head out to Omaha, Nebraska to set my booth up at the Qwest Center in Omaha, NE. The show is one of the most exhilarating outdoor shows ever held west of the Mississippi River. Three days of anything-and-everything to do with hunting and the great outdoors.

Show owners, John and Jason Schendt, who were born and raised in Nebraska, both share a deep passion and respect for the outdoors and enjoy sharing this passion with those around them.

John and Jason have watched as states surrounding Nebraska have promoted and made deer hunting a more popular sport and decided that it was time that Nebraska does the same. With many states seeing decreases in the number of people enjoying hunting and fishing today, John and Jason want to do their part to ensure Nebraska deer hunting is promoted and taken to the next level.

Below you will find just some of the attractions held at the
Big Buck Classic:

• Antlers, Antlers and More Antlers.... Over 200 feet of display area for all of the trophy deer mounts and antler sheds that attendees will bring in to have measured and displayed for all to see.

• Nebraska’s Big Buck Contest.... Hunters can bring in their deer mounts or antlers to be officially scored by Pope and Young and Boone and Crockett scorers. Many categories to enter into including Archery, Firearm, and Muzzleloader for Youth, Men, and Women for Non-Typical and Typical Whitetail and Mule Deer for the most recent season and the Historical category for seasons of the past.

• Antler Shed Contest.... The North American Shed Hunters will be on hand managing the Big Buck Contest and holding a contest of their own. Bring in your antler sheds for official scoring and display. The NASHC will also have over a hundred Shed antlers on display that you won't want to miss!

• Top Professionals of the Industry will be on hand to pass along their advice and opinions on many different topics.