VA Turkey hunters, how is it going?

[RodBuster]

I came down from Corning NY to hunt in SE Virginia. Saturday was OK with lots of birds gobbling. Today was a bust with the gale force winds.

Anyone else doing anything?

[Johnny Reb]

The only chance I've had to hunt was Saturday.  I didn't hear the first bird (Bedford Co.)  I'm hoping this weekend will be better.  The winds have finally died down and the temps are supposed to be in the 60's and 70's through the weekend.   I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Tcallbuilder]

We had a great opening morning in the sw part of the state.
winds were calm sky cloudy.
I had a great day..called in three toms....they gobbled all the way in.....one of them aint gobblin no more!!!

What a differance a year makes,  last year I cal-lin a lot of birds, but heard very little gobbling
this year (opening morning) atleast it seemed they were sounding off everywhere!

TCB

[SHOOTALL]

sat. was wet , heard 1 gobbler near blackstone va. , yesterday saw 4 gobblers in my back yard , they come to a clover patch the 1st. had a jake with him (2) , then one with a hen , then one with 4 hens . they are all colored different enough to tell them apart , as of yet they will not respond to a call ( to many hens ) all but one sighting was after 12 so lucky birds !
last year i got a bird with a 12 1/2 inch beard and one with a 11 1/2 inch beard near my home ( no gps #'s are not for sale )
i live on the edge of several large housing projects over 4000 houses total to be built and they have been pushing game our way for the last couple years , sad part it won't last much longer , so we will enjoy it now ! you should see the deer !

[huntswithdogs]

Last Saturday(opening morning),in Franklin Co. It rained pretty good and the birds were vocal for a short time before shutting down entirely. This past Saturday,I heard 3 birds gobbling that were all on the same roost. They hollered their heads off til around 6:30am. The hens came from all over to these 3 birds and took them off in the opposite direction of me. I heard one other bird around 10:30 on a piece of property I can't hunt. I was there til noon and finally just went home and mowed my yard.

HWD

[RodBuster]

The first week got better as it went on. tuesday I ended up with a real nice tom. Then Thursday my brother called one up for a guy who took an 80 yard shot...don't ask.  then we got into them again Friday and saturday.

I do love hunting SE virginia. No "billy goating" ( running from mountain to mountain) as we call it up here. I used to do a lot of billy goating when i hunted in the western part of the state too, around Buena Vista. There arre some real mountains over there.

Good luck to all the rest of the season.

[SHOOTALL]

rodbuster  i like billygoaten , i hunted around ferrum in my younger days , never could figure out how i could leave the truch and walk up hill the whole time i hunted ! now i hunt around nottaway , i think the gobblers are still flocked up with hens ?

[RodBuster]

Shootall,

Where is Nottoway? it sounds familiar.

There is a mountain we hunted just outside of Buena Vista called Bankes mountain. Every year I said I was going to make it to the top. Never Did.

We had a least five diffeent gobblers come in without hens. i think they are henned up one day, and not the next.

We watched one gobbler service SIX hens in a field. he must have been tired after that, because he walked off away from our calls after that.

[SHOOTALL]

It's the county around Blackstone , next to fort picket .

[Hopalong7]

I,m hunting in Botetourt Co.  Arcadia to Peaks of Otter area....mostly on the head waters of McFalls creek.  This a very large, very popular section of National Forest with lots of birds.  For the first three saturdays of the season from before daylight 'til noon, I've heard the sum total of 1 - bird before coming off roost, 1- bird after coming off roost (both in the distance), 2- shots fired.  For this area, this is just unheard of.  I know several other veteran hunters using the same general area and their results match mine.  We don't know what's going on.  I've had it pretty easy the last few seasons and I know I've gotten spoiled, but I'm sure get'n humbled this season.  I just want to hear the woods shake real good one time.    Walt

[huntswithdogs]

Walt,

This past Saturday,I didn't hear one bird. There wasn't any strange weather or anything of that sort. JUST SILENCE!(at least from the turkeys) The crows and Pialated(sp?)(them big ole redheaded buggers) woodpeckers were mouthier than usual and I heard a number of hawk screams, but no gobblers. This is private property and receives little to no pressure during the spring season. I di have 3 different birds sneak in on me though. One of these days I'm gonna learn to BE PATIENT and sit longer than 30 minutes in one spot. On each bird, I walked up on them when moving to another ridge. All were coming to the call, just quietly.

I did hear 2 birds getting rowdy as I was leaving the woods. I started down the mountain at 11:45 and they started gobbling 2 deep hollows and 2 high ridges over. There wasn't enough time left for them to come to me and I sure wasn't going to run over to them.(I'm seroius about the depth of those hollows) I left 'em gobbling and eased on out.

Maybe the Fish and Game dept will get off the dime so we can hunt on Sundays soon!

Better luck next go round! Ya'll be careful out there.

HWD

[Johnny Reb]

I finally heard some good gobbling last weekend, in both Franklin and Bedford counties.  My buddy missed one in Franklin on Friday morning.  The bird gobbled 6 or 7 times at about 30 yards (just over a knoll) and then popped over the knoll (15 yards away, and about 15 yards to the left of where he had been gobbling.)  My buddy tried to adjust his aim, the bird spooked and he missed.  Hearing one gobble that close really gets the heart pounding.

[Hopalong7]

huntswithdogs,
  Yea, I've been gett'n a double dose of that SILENT treatment. And I agree, set up in a good spot and just stay there is the way to go when they 're quiet, but I have a hard time doing that unless I have an awful lot of confidence in a particular spot.  Patience IS quite a virtue.

Johnny Reb,
  I've been meaning to get back to you for some time.  We are probably closer neighbors than you think, I live in Stewartsville as well.  We changed our address to Moneta for tax purposes(we were spending a lot of time at our place down at the lake).  I've had a residence on Blankenship Road for almost 35 years now.

  In general, I think I've got to get out of my early season runnin' & gunnin' mode and sit still most of the time and I'm sure it would help to hunt on some other days besides saturday too.  I think the birds have got me patterened instead of the other way around.  GOOD SHOOTIN', Walt