Mad_Angler - May-06 Mobile live hunt from WI
Turkey
Contributors to this thread:
5:13 AM LIVE from WI*
I'm back...
I drove 12 hours to hunt Kansas a few weeks ago. I killed a nice tom about 30 minutes into the hunt. I hunted the rest of the week and never got my second bird within bow range.
Today, I am 2 miles from my house. Wisconsin had 5 zones and 6 one-week seasons. Today is opening day for season number 4.
5:14 AM LIVE from WI*
I got here at 4:45. I heard a few gobbles getting set up. Now, I'm in my blind with my decoys out.
The birds are chirping. I hear a few distant gobbles. Life is good...
Yes life is good. Good luck to you!
5:32 AM LIVE from WI*
A little foggy this morning...
6:07 AM LIVE from WI*
there are three hens around me. Each is about 100 yards away. Hopefully, the toms with be coming soon
6:24 AM LIVE from WI*
Now, there are two Jake's about 50 yards away...
6:34 AM LIVE from WI*
Now,a Tom is about 50 yards away...
The Jake's were coming in before the Tom showed up
6:36 AM LIVE from WI*
But he is very cautious/wimpy. He won't strut or gobble. He is very low to the ground and sorta hiding. He's definitely not the boss
6:58 AM LIVE from WI*
The timid Gobbler is still out front. He has been half heartedly strutting about 100 yards away for about 10 minutes. Now,I just heard a solid gobble about 50 yards behind me...
Things are happening. It's foggy here as well and I was wondering if you were hunting in it. Nice time to be in the woods. Spotty showers off and on.
7:30 AM LIVE from WI*
Two Jake's came in to about 15 yards to check out the decoys
7:33 AM LIVE from WI*
The tom is definitely not the boss. The two Jake's walked towards him. He came out of strut and walked away
7:35 AM LIVE from WI*
Then, they chased him out of the field. The tom was waking funny. It looks like he has some sort of leg injury
7:42 AM LIVE from WI*
bnt, you seeing anything? The fog is clearing up here
7:45 AM LIVE from WI*
Still have 5 birds in my field and I just heard a gobble...
No I wish I was out. I'm hunting through you. So you better shoot one. LOL
8:17 AM LIVE from WI*
Now, it is raining pretty hard. The blinds can be a bit confining but they sure are nice when it I'd cold and raining
8:38 AM LIVE from WI*
Rain stopped.
Two toms came out. Their beards were just a bit bigger than jakes'. They saw my spread and jogged away.
Then,5 Jake's came out to the field. They glanced over and then walked out in the field to feed...
8:38 AM LIVE from WI*
9:05 AM LIVE from WI*
I saw a lot of action today. Lots of good signs for next year. (Two winters ago, it was very harsh and we lost a lot of birds. It seems that all the males a saw today were from last spring)
I think I'll walk around a bit with the heads up decoy and then call it a day...
Enjoyed tagging along, Mad....keep the reports coming.
Seriously, one week seasons?
10:28 AM LIVE from WI*
I saw some birds in a valley that I have permission for. I grabbed my bow and the heads up.
I walked out of sight and came up at about 200 yards. I saw a full strut tom and two hens. When the Tom saw the decoy, he folded up and walked away.
I crawled to within 50 yards of the two hens then they walked away.
Did I do something wrong? Or was he just a wimpy turkey?
There's a King bird around there somewhere if all those birds are so timid...
GRoe's Link
Mad_Angler
Sounds like a good set up to have them come in. I am not sure what makes them charge on one day and do what they did to you the next. Last spring I had them do the same thing. Then this year...same property...multiple charges over the course of several weeks. Then nothing.
We experiment with turning the fan so the "rear" is towards them. Use of jake fans. Gobble at them.
The best thing I can say is that some days they just don't like it...and other days you can't beat them off you.
Thanks for giving it a try. It will work for you.
GR Heads Up Decoy
Thanks GR.
I assume it is a just a dominance thing.
If he's used to being the top dog, he'll come running to kick the newcomers a$$.
If he's used to getting his a$$ kicked, he'll walk away.
wayniac, I'll keep looking for that king bird...
Like writer said... I have a whole week...
Most of the Toms I have encountered in WI this year have been very timid. It's almost like it's almost like they all are super pressured and decoy shy. Even during first season on private land.
I think they are just kids. The winter of 2013/14 killed a lot of toms. Now, we have a whole crop of teenagers that are scared of their own shadow.
It didn't kill all the toms though. I already guided two shotgunners to nice birds on this land. Those two birds jogged right in to the DSD just like you'd expect. Hopefully, the area has more than those two boss toms.
But next year looks really good...
I agree Mad_angler. Young birds. Hunting only ten minutes from you, I'd agree with the lack of mature birds due to winter loss.
Rut, they acted decoy shy from day one. While texting with Mad_angler on my opening day, I pulled my decoys at 11:40 am, telling him i regretted putting them out in the dark. Shot my wimpy 2 year old at noon at 8 yards, yep, 20 minutes later. Of course coincidence was likely the factor, but I had thirty birds feed right past me. Hearing the same story from many of my fellow Wisconsinite turkey hunting friends.
And for sure, decoys work well, and sometimes they don't? Something in the air? Lol. I use them far less than I used to.
Pete-pec, I agree they are very decoy shy this year. I have a buddy that no matter how many times he witnesses turkeys spook at his dekes. He still insists on using them. His theory being that the DSD's look so real they shouldn't scare turkeys. I'm taking him out tomorrow. I told him the decoys stay in the truck or I take his benelli;)
First, more data for young birds... I was driving this morning. I finally see a normal flock. It was about 8 birds with one in full strut. I pull out the binocs. It was about 3-4 hens and 3 jakes. The full strut bird... he was a jake too. You could clearly see the notch in his fan and lack of a beard.
So even the boss of this flock was a jake...
Now for dekes... I guided two gun hunters.
The first one was my daughter for season one. A tom came around a corner at about 100 yards. He jogged right over to the DSD jake. No hesitation. he was greeted with 2 ounces of #5 shot.
The second hunter was a buddy. He had never killed bird. We set out the dekes. We had hens walking around the DSDs. We had a tom breed a hen about 80 yards away. After he was done with that, he jogged over to the DSD jake. He was greeted with shot too.
Both turkeys showed no hesitation to coming to the DSD jakes.
Yesterday, I had two jakes walking around my DSDs.
Each day is different Mad_Angler, and jakes don't count. I assimalate them to a 3 month old golden retriever....nearly brainless! ;-) LOL
6:57 AM LIVE from WI*
Sorry... I resorted to the shotgun....
6:58 AM LIVE from WI*
One of my favorite ways.... I saw them roost last night. It was the same flock of 8. It had at least one long beard. But a Jake was dominant. He kept strutting and chasing the Tom around.
6:59 AM LIVE from WI*
So I got up at 3am and walked about a mile from my house.
I stopped about 100 yards away from the birds and got my decoys set. Then, I quietly carried the decoys and set them about 10 yards from the wood's edge.
I crawled back about 5 yards into the woods. I was all set up by 4. Shooting light is about 5:15
6:59 AM LIVE from WI*
Around 5,I could see a Tom almost directly above me. About them, the Jake started gobbling.
7:00 AM LIVE from WI*
Around 5:15, they were getting antsy...
7:01 AM LIVE from WI*
The tom flew down first. He landed about 5 yards away from my decoy. I greeted him with 2 ounces of number 5 shot.
7:02 AM LIVE from WI*
The Jake flew down, ran over to the Tom and started pummeling him. I felt bad and went out and chased the Jake away...
I was back home by 6:00
I felt bad for the dead tom which I killed. How bad did you feel when you killed him? LOL
Pec, I know it sounds silly. But it just seemed like he should get some respect at least in death. The jake had probably been beating him all winter and spring.