Getting ready for another year

[petey]

Our youth season in PA starts this Saturday, then regular season starts the following Saturday. I've been seeing plenty of birds in my travels, and hearing them gobble from my porch in the mornings, but I got to admit, I haven't even stepped a foot in the woods.

I tend to let my honey holes alone until season. There's plenty of silly people out there calling them in before season and educating them. Why? I always ask myself, but more often than the good old days I'll hear people squakin on there calls while scouting prior to opening day. What good does it do to call a bird in prior to season and have him bust you? Common sense will tell ya he isn't gonna come to the sound of that call or probably any call for that matter from there on out..duh!!

I definitely got the itch again this year. I drew 5th season this year in IL, so I'll get to hunt my home state of PA prior to my trip to Southern IL. Normally it's the other way around. From there it'll be head to NY and bust my 2 birds there.

I'll have a grand total of 5 tags in 3 states. I never seem to have a problem filling them on a nice ol long beard and I love the taste of wild bird! Last year was another good year. 3 for 3 in my two states. I can't wait, each spring the gooblers have me fired up for another season. The birds are gettin hard to kill in PA (which makes for even more fun trying to figure out the best way to kill them) IL, well that's always fun working a ton of birds. It's a given as long as the weather cooperates. NY, it's been a few years, but they don't get the pressure we do here so there's plenty of opportunities to kill your limit in a couple days. I may bring the recurve out also, all depends on the situation I suppose.

One WONDERFUL note is that we are no longer required to wear orange this yeah. Yup, don't know who the dummy was that put that into effect here in PA, but they were smart enough to remove the law. That was another reason I believe the birds started to get call shy the past few years (among other reasons) But, it doesn't take a bird to much to figure out what's going on when hunters walk around in orange hats runnin and gunnin and calling. Hello! The can see color, in fact more shads of color than the human eye can see Welp that law is gone so it should be much better this year.

ANyhow, I'll keep everyone up to date with my hunts and be sure to post photos and video from the prostaff once we bust a few birds. Good luck to all the members and new hunters to the sport this spring.

Remember, pattern the gun and keep your head down before you pull the trigger.

[Lilred]

One WONDERFUL note is that we are no longer required to wear orange this yeah.

I do believe the state of Penn is offically losin their friggin minds...good that they repealed it..how thoughtful of them.

Season opened up here Saturday. I did go...but with poor weather and poor pre-season scoutin (my fault..sorta) I had no luck and really aint even hear a bird. The wind was howlin, it spat some rain and thunderstorms were tryin to blow in. Good weather fer movin birds...I reckon they were just movin faster than me.Seen a slew od deer though. We can hunt until noon but startin the frist week of May, we can hunt all day-so it aint all doom and gloom.
No huntin fer me this week...maybe again this Saturday. The bird population here is droppin....alot. While you look at the numbers on the website they aint half bad...but then you hit the same woods you been huntin fer 25 years and it seems like they have left the whole county. Other hunters say the same thing.
Dunno what's goin on...but good luck to all ya'll.

[petey]

I do believe the state of Penn is offically losin their friggin minds...good that they repealed it..how thoughtful of them.

My thoughts exactly! Overzealous power hungry CO's and law makers with their thumbs up their rears sitting in easy chair.

They are destroying our heritage of hunting in this fine state.

I miss hunting the Shenandoah National Park / George Washington Mountain Range in VA. Lots of climbing and them birds pitching from one mountain to the next. Gobbling into a hillside echoing off and confusing you as to where he really is. Ahhh yes, I'll be back again someday soon. A guy only has so many days in the spring though. 3 states is all and can muster this year.

[petey]

SuicidJky,

Oh it's addictive! I can't recall at the moment, but I'm in the low 70's for longbeards in a total of 9 states over my hunting career.

I think I might have broke 71 or 72 last year, but I'd have to check the log. If ya need any pointers just ask. Not that it would help...those darn things are still teaching me things every year.

They are carryin on like crazy here. Just chompin at the bit now!

Good luck in May

[Nulle]

Western South Dakota is over run with turkey again this year.
I got a bum shoulder but is getting better and should be in the woods this weekend with bow and gun.

[Lilred]

My season is just about over. I only got to hunt 2 Saturdays, and we can only hunt till noon (at least until the first week of May).
I chased 2 different gobblers that mornin, one wound up havin several hens with him and I couldn't get a shot to save my life. He had enough "problems" on his hands and they stayed in thick low pine that was difficult to move through, so I moved on to another gobbler that was kinda quiet for the most part. After an hour of stalkin barely 1/2 mile, i dont know what happened but I sat there to the last minute and he never came my way. It was funny cause I started debatin with myself, should I get up and go over that hill and sit...I wish i had of, cause I think he stayed in a long bottom and worked his way around me. I never saw him.
Oh well...we had alot of things goin on...so findin the time to hunt has been real hard to do. Maybe next year...

[multibeard]

My son and grandson came up on Sat to have there "guide" get them out turkey hunting. The grandson missed a jake 20 minutes out of the roost on Sat am.

We walked back to the truck where I heard a gobble across the road in an apple orchard. We set up in the apple orchard we were in and the long beard decided that he liked the cherry orchard next door better than the apples.

We see lots of turkeys in the cherry orchards as the trees are trimmed up high to allow the shakers to get around to harvest the cherries. The birds have over head cover but can see along ways under the trees as it is all mowed.

That was it until we went to my buddies place where the jakes went the other way around out of range of either of the guides CLIENTS. The guide ended up shooting one of them.

The next day we were back at the same spot, as my buddy called telling me he had 5 long beard in his yard 2 hours before dark. They ended up doing a loop and were roosted back on the other side of the road. After a mad dash my grandson and I (dad went back home Sat night) got set up only minutes before fly down.

It took some aggressive purring to turn the birds back our way after they started to head away. I saw two long beards head off to his left but could see three strutter's headed straight at him. When I looked he had his gun off to the left. All of a sudden a bird showed up right off his barrel at 9 yards.

The Ithaca super single 20 ga I bought him when he was 4 weeks old did the job for the third straight year. 22 lbs 10 inch beard 1 1/4 " spurs. This is the 6th bird taken by our group with in 3/4 mile of my buddies house.

For a kid that is being raised in down town Grand Rapids he is as cool as a cucumber when it comes to being able to make a move on a tom with out getting caught. This one he just let walk up to the barrel after he got turned 45*.

My almost 30 year combo of calls did the job again. Roger Latham True Tone Box and Perfection Super Double D diaphram. I was thrilled to see that Jim Clay was back making Perfection Turkey Calls calls again. the ones I had bought the last time I went to SE VA turkey hunting were just plain worn out.

After I get a few days rest I will be back out to try and get a bird in range of my 83 year old hunting buddy.