Are you ready yet???

[scruffy]

Well, I'm going 2nd season in Iowa, April 16th-20th.  I talked to my turkey hunting partner last night and he laughed and said he'll have no problem getting off of work.  He's a steel construction worker and there's no steel so he's out of work.  His employer has something like 12 crews and only has enough steel coming in to support 2 crews, so the crews take turns working.  On the weeks he doesn't work he gets $300 unemployment.  With a wife, 5 year old, and 4 month old, he says it's tight.  He's had all his turkey stuff now for two months, since before he was effected by the steel shortage so he's able to go.  I told him if I get a turkey he can have it.  He said no, but I said I insisted.  I told him I had a pig butchered and the farmer, locker, and myself miscomunicated and I ended up with almost 100lbs more meat than I wanted.  Oh well...  :grin:  So my freezer is loaded!  I also told him that there is no way my wife and I will eat all of it so Saturday after we get done hunting I invited he and his wife down for grilled pork chops, ham steaks, etc, with taters, corn, rolls, etc.  But I said he had to eat alot of meat otherwise my yellow lab will spend alot of next year eating ground pork and such we don't get eaten.

Anyway, after that I got excited and pulled out my hs strut 360SL slate call and a fist full strikers.  I liked the acrylic the best, then hickory, then rosewood.  All gave slightly different sounds, although the wood ones were close, but hopefully different enough to sound like two different hens.  The carbon striker didn't sound that great.  Like fingernails on a chalkboard...

I pulled out my new vest and dropped in the slate call and strickers.  Then the box call chalk.  Then the slate scrubber.  Then noticed my Lohmans box call was too long to fit in the holder in the vest.  Pulled out the dremel, cut off 1", bevelled the edges, buffed (I like playing with the dremel.... :wink: ) and tested it's sound.  Sounded ok so I tried it in the vest, perfect fit!  I put 5 rounds of 3" #4 Remington Hevishot in one side of shell loops.  Then 5 rounds of 2 3/4" #4 Win high brass in the other side of loops.  Then I dug up a 5 round shell carrier that goes on a stock and put 5 rounds of 3" #2 Remington Hevishot and dropped it in a pocket.  It's legal in Iowa to use #2 non toxic on turkeys, but I don't plan to.  What I do plan, since it's legal for me to have the #2's on me, is if the gobblers aren't responding and we're ready to head back to the truck, drop in a #2 hevishot in my nef pardner and pull out the coyote distress.  Sorry, coyote hunting is my first love, which is why I use #4's on turkeys, always hoping for a coyote.  :wink:

Then I put my crow locator in the vest, coyote call   , and pulled out my jake and hen decoys.  I decided that they don't fit in the back of my vest so I'll be picking up some type of cammo bag to carry them in.  In addition the the decoys I'll also use the bag to throw cloths into as it warms up and I start pealing off layers.

Oh, have to remember to put my new nikon cammo binoculars in the vest!  :grin:

How's everyone else doing?  How heavy are your guy's vests???  Last year by the end of season 4th season (end of May) I was carrying a pocket full of shells, slate call, and shotgun, that was it.  I always start heavy at the beginning of season, end light....  :lol:

later,
scruffy

[22KHornet]

Seventies with a 30% chance of rain :grin: sounds like we are going to have a good weekend trying to call in a bird.  Good luck this weekend I will be gunning for my first turkey now that I found my slat and glass call :oops:  hate it when I put something were I can't find it :evil:

[scruffy]

:rain: Thanks for reminding me.  :rain:
I'll have to dig up my mossy oak rain poncho and put it in my decoy bag.  I also have to bring my black rubber mud boots up from the basement to the garage.  Pack a bag of dry socks (few pairs), shorts, t-shirt, "whity tighty's", and old tenny shoes to throw in the back of the jeep for those days when you get soaked to the bone and wrinkle up like a prune and want some dry cloths to put on before driving home or to lunch. :?

Oh, I might have to go buy a waterproof blind...   :rain:  Hmmmm, how would I bring that up to the wife.... Hmmmmm.....

later,
scruffy

[22KHornet]

Do what I do, forget to mention it  :grin: that usally works until they ask when did you get that :shock: then you have problems.  Anyway my fiance bought me a pair of those waterproof pants from Frontier Outfitters 2 years ago and I found a jacket to go with it at the Bargin cave at Cabelas in KC this past summer.  Not sure how well they work compared to a poncho but for what they cost I better not get wet :roll: .  Anyway talked to Dad a little bit ago and he finally got his first turkey (ben going for about 7 years) and he is happy as a clam.  He said his biggest problem was that it was only 15 yds away :roll: .  Between the 12 point buck he got this year and his first turkey it sounds like the Encore that he finally broke down and bought have paid off for him.

Later

[scruffy]

Wow, sounds like your dad is being blessed by the hunting gods this year.  You know what this means.  This is the year to go on an elk hunt, antilope, mule deer, moose, bear, sheep, etc.  Gotta do it while the gods are smiling down on you! :grin:

I went to walmart tonight, no cammo bags, sold out...  :cry:   Well, necesity is the mother of invention.  I looked and looked and bought an extra large canvas mossy oak chair.  My wife looked like this  :shock:  when  I walked in.  "Why do you need that?" she asked.  Well, I pulled the mossy oak chair from the mossy oak canvas tube bag and stuffed two decoys in it, threw it over my shoulder, and asked how I looked.  She did this,  :roll: ...

I also found a "light" bag that'll hold my slate call, a couple strikers, a few rounds of shells, and cell phone (incase of emergency).  Should work great at the end of the season when that's all I carry anyway.....  :wink:

later,
scruffy

[turkeyhunter]

Ready yet?!  I am gunning for number 3 for this season.     April 3 was opening day here in Tennessee and I was able to call in a nice mature gobbler that weighed in at 21 lbs.  

I went out again this last Saturday but it was one of those days where everything went wrong.  I woke up late and it was raining.  I was going to take 2 of my kids out but since it was raining they just laughed at me and rolled back over.  I decided to go anyway and brave the elements but when I got to the field I was going to hunt in, there were 14 hens and a strutting tom!  I couldn't figure out what to do so I jumped down into a ditch and waded through knee deep water to get to the other end of the field.  I then crawled up the ditch on my belly with my gun in front of me and watched as the flock turned around and walked to the other end of the field.  By now it was pouring and I was literally covered in mud.  The turkeys did come back but I never had a chance to sneak into the field and put out my decoys.  The strutting tom never got any closer than 70 yards to me but I had two hens come about 15 yards from me.  I didn't pay much attention to them because I didn't want to move and scare the tom away.  Much to my surprise when these two hens walked about 70 yards away from me, one of them was a tom!  I hadn't even payed him any attention because he didn't strut or anything he just fed like the rest of the hens but when the dominant tom started to come toward him all of a sudden he started to strut and a 6 or 7 inch beard appeared.  I could have kicked myself but I figured I was just being greedy anyway.   :x

Oh well, I went back to the house, sat in front of the fire, and cleaned my Pardner.  Guess it wasn't a bad day after all. :wink:  :wink:

[WNY_Whitetailer]

My calls are all ready for May 1st but I have yet to verify the pattern on my gun as of yet...Just too much going on for me to get out to the country to fire off some shells.  My wife is getting sick of hearing me down in the basement practicing my mouth calls...But I don't think she wants me outside for fear of what the neighbors would think.

[scruffy]

I haven't gotten a bird yet, but it's been the most interesting season so far, some good, some bad.  I typed it all up, took 30 minutes, got disconnect, thought OK, reconnected, pressed submit on the post, the site here said I had to log back in, OK, logged in, was given an EMPTY post reply screen.  I used the back button to go back to my reply before I had to log back in, empty to, my long update, gone.

I'm not up to typing it all back in, so I'll just say it's been 30 degrees above normal temps with highs near 90, 20mph winds yesterday, 30+mph winds today, storms moving in later, had deer run off toms, buck and two does attack my decoys, they tried to run me off, I almost had to shoot one buck 6 feet infront of me, he was stomping and huffing his hatred of me (do deer get rabbies?) from behind a fallen tree I was sitting behind.  I was finally able to reason with him that the bush with glasses had a shotgun, a single shot shotgun, and there was no warning shot, the hevishot was going in his chest if he didn't back down.  He did, finally....  

Anyway, I haven't been able to get a tom come in, talked to probably over a dozen of them, see a couple, can't get any tom to come in.  I did call a hen in from 300 yards....  She wanted my jake decoy....

I'm going back out in a few minutes, hit the back side of my place, then head over and set up an ambush for a tom we called this morning who wouldn't come in.  Where I'm hunting the most has probably a dozen or more toms and a couple dozen hot hens.  The hens run to a gobble to the toms love being chased and aren't interested in coming in to a call.

So my tactics are going to have to change.

wish me luck!  80's, 30+mph winds (gust up over 40 I'd guess), storms coming, toms that won't come to a call.  Sounds better than going to work!

later,
scruffy

[WNY_Whitetailer]

Good luck Scruff...Bring back that big tom...Let us know how it goes...

[scruffy]

No big tom yet.  We got rained on for a couple hours, winds peaked close to or over 60mph according to the weatherman.  We spooked two jakes on our way to one stand, grrrr, and called in one hen.  We ended up splitting up after the rain stopped to roost birds and didn't get any located, probably because with 60mph winds the birds just weren't roosting....  :roll:

Well, right now I can hear the weatherman say there's twisters on radar up north, the winds are still blowing strong, and a big storm headed my way, we're under a  tornado watch until early morning...  The good part is we aren't supposed to get alot of rain tonight...   :roll:

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 66 with 10 to 20 mph NW winds.  Sounds much better than 80 and 60mph winds!  :wink:

Oh, and my synthetic stocks for my pardner are in.  I'll get them on tomorrow afternoon or night.  Just in time for Tuesday's predicted rain!  

Hey 22khornet, did you get blown away today too???  :eek:

I should change my "signature" to - A bad day hunting is still better than a good day at work!  

later,
scruffy

[Xplorer]

Hey Good luck Scruffy,
Its tough waiting for the season to open, while reading about the exploits of the members here.  I am down to a 1 week wait, as the season here in MA opens next monday!  Also, just across the border in NY I have another opener next Sat.

Well, at least you are hearing & seeing Toms ... hopefully you will score one soon.

[22KHornet]

I gave it up at about 11:00 and headed home .  It was god awful yesterday with that wind.  I did get a shot a gobbler that dad and I walked up on at about 9:30 that morning but the shot was further than I thought and I blew it :x .  Nothing exciting happened to me anyway.  We called up a jake and a tom Saturday morning but they went around behind me and while I waited for them to come around to the decoys they just kept going.  
 
Saturday I ended up going fishing for a few hours, we have 5 ponds with fish and our big one is 7 acres so I went catch a bass or crappie if I could.  After persuading one of the bulls that he would not be very happy if he tried to eat a lure out of the tackle box I went on to catch about half a dozen bass (that I kept anyway) and then went back out for more turkey's.
 
Sure beat staying at home helping the fiance clean the house :grin:

[scruffy]

I meant to do some fishing during my time out but it seemed I was either turkey hunting or sleeping (and dreaming of turkey hunting...).  

Yesterday was a mess.  Rain all day, some place over a couple of inches total.  I almost got my jeep stuck a couple times...  We hit the same farm we had all season hoping our luck would change but no, no luck.  So we packed up around 1:00 and hit the roads.  We'd find a group of turkeys in a field, find the nearest farm house, get permission, and stalk in.  Some groups we had to pass on because we couldn't find the owners, but a couple we did and it's a very fast paced way to hunt.  On my last stalk the farmer told how to sneak up where they were at and it worked beautifully.  I was on one side of a timbered creek draw and a tom and hen were on the other.  I stalked up 50 yards from a fence row hoping he wouldn't cross the fence and would come out infront of me in range.  I box called him and the hen across and the tom (ended up being a jake) jumped the fence in the timber and strutted out in the field on the other side, 70 yards.  I was going to crawl up to the fence, through all the mud and wet forage, but the hen right when I was getting ready to move, comes out on my side of the fence 30 yards infront of me, exactly what I wanted to tom/jake to do.  With my approach cut off I waited.  I tried to do some calling on the box but the hen saw it and they took off....

On really slow days or when we're at a loss on where to go I'll definitely do this again.  Fly by the seat of your pants hunting.  When it's raining the turkeys don't like being in the timber so there were a bunch in the fields.  Also with the rain the farmers were at home to ask permission and get advice on how to sneak up on the birds.  And of the farmers we've talked to, no one turned down our request.

Late afternoon we quit and I had a late lunch at home with my wife (who doesn't approve of my hunting, thinks it's dumb....).  She made the comment that maybe God didn't make me a hunter and that I should just give it up.  I'm always the last to fill my tags, if they get filled at all.  I can take a friend out and set them up so they fill their tag within a couple hours many times, but for myself, luck is all bad....

My wife then got up and looked out the window.  She said "hey there's a turkey out there."  I said "very funny...." and continued to eat.  She said "no, there's a turkey in the yard!"  I replied "sorry, not funny...."  She gave me "the look" (yea, that one!) and I got up and looked out the window.  Right out infront of the house a hen walking out of my clover patch I planted last year.  We both sat there with binoculars watching her hoping for a tom to come out.  After she wondered into the timber out of sight my wife wanted to go out with me.  We went on the back side of my place and she worked my slate and box call.  Ten minutes into it started to rain again.  She stuck tight not wanting to go in.  For the next hour she hammered my all weather slate with a carbon striker, rain pouring down, no rain coats.  I told her a couple of times that we should go in since she was home sick but she refused.  She had every crow, owl, and hawk within earshot screaming at her calling.  I thought I heard a hen a couple of times over the hill and there was a gathering of crows harassing whatever it was, but with nearly two inches of rain in 8 hours at this point we couldn't cross the swollen creek.

When I finally got her back in the house she said it was awesome.  She was was on cloud nine for the rest of the day, even being soaked to the bone and very sick.  Later that night when I was recounting the season I told her that the best part of the season was spot and stalking a hen and jake and getting to within 70 yards of the jake, 30 yards.  Then I told her out of all my hunting experiences, taking my friends, taking young kids, hunting with family growing up, the best was hunting with her that afternoon.  Soaking wet in a thurnderstorm, not calling anything in, blew all the other experiences away.

Looking back I don't know if God made me a turkey hunter or not, but he told that hen to walk infront of the house at just the right time.  Maybe he made my wife to be a turkey hunter.  :wink:

I might have to go get a fourth season tag now.  And I'll have to go pick up that video camera the wife's been wanting to get.  If she goes out with me and we call in a tom and he starts strutting and she gets it on tape, I think she'll be hooked on hunting for life.  She may never (probably won't) ever shoot a gun, but she can still get her trophy.  :wink:

Oh yea, I'm still on cloud nine as well!  :grin:

later,
scruffy

[22KHornet]

Sounds like you had a good time anyway, I am not sure I will ever get the soon to be wife out with me.  She does like to go fishing though (almost more than I do) so that is nice.  Better go and get your tag for 4th season so that you can drag her out with you again :grin:

[scruffy]

Yea, I might go pick up my 4th season tag tonight.  I'm going to go out atleast a few times.  And with almost the whole month I don't have to hunt those 60 mph wind days or the 2" of rain days....

Hey, do you ever fish salorville?  Are there any other smaller lakes/ponds around there.  I mostly fish redrock, aquabi, and farm ponds, but am willing to drive to any good spot.  My wife loves to fish also (more than me!).  I love fishing for a few hours, breaking to fry up some of the fish breaded in crackers and egg and tossed in a small skillet on a grill, and then go back for some more fishing.  :wink:

Hmmmm, is it lunch time yet???

Oh, and on a turkey hunting note, have you found a locator that works???  I have real crows and owls cawing and hooting all morning just before light and no shock gobbling.  When I use my crow and owl call, nothing as well.  So far I've heard a redtail hawk screatch and a rooster chicken 'cocka doodle doo's that set off the gobbles, but nothing else.  I've never seen a "chicken" locator call, and I haven't found a hawk locator call.  I remember hearing you can use another call as a hawk locator call, maybe it was a crow locator, but I can't remember for sure and I can't seem to duplicate the sound with my crow call.

Frustrating.  Locator calls make turkey hunting look so easy on TV....  And without a working locator call it's very hard roosting the night before.  Actually, if I don't hear them fly up, and since I can't get them to shock gobble, it's been impossible to roost a bird.  The one and only bird I roosted second season I heard fly up....  :roll:

later,
scruffy

[22KHornet]

I have been using the Primos The Gobble Shaker call.  Basically you take off the cap shake it like crazy and it sounds like another gobbler.  I have a owl and crow call but have never had anything answer to either one.  My gobbler seems to always get a response early in the morning when I am walking in the timber.  In fact on Saturday dad ask if I had an owl call, I tried it, nothing.  So I took out my gobbler and had 3 gobblers roosting answer back right away.  Of course by then we were to close and when they came down they headed in the other direction :cry: oh well at least that is one call I can work right, idiot proof  :wink:  
 
I have never fished Saylorville but we do go out to Big Creek every now and then, it is about 5 min past saylorville on the otherside of polk city.  Not sure how the fishing will be this year but if it  is good I will let you know.  We usually go down to Afton and fish the farm ponds.  I can throw out a line for catfish and fish for bass while Lori yanks bluegills out by the dozens.  I even had to go buy and electric fillet knife last year because she would have 20 or more bluegill from one afternoon.  Her dad used his one time and after that I NEEDED one :grin: .  Not sure when we will both go down south again but it probably will not be until after Turkey season :grin:

[scruffy]

Hey, I have the same gobble call!  I never thought to use it as a locator!  I picked it Monday when my very old box call went south and I picked up the primos gobble call and a new hs strut box call.

Thanks!!!  I'll definitely put it to good use as a locator!!!  I thought it was just used for toms that were hung up.  :wink:

later,
scruffy

[scruffy]

oops, went back and checked, my gobble call is HS also, no biggie as long as it works as good as the primos.

4th season is almost here, opens Wednesday, just in time for the weather to turn south again...  The forcast I saw today said nice on wednesday (when I have to work) then rain and thunderstorms and cold thursday through sunday...  Well, I have the holes in my rain gear cammo duct taped closed so I guess I'm ready to go!!!  :evil:

And I picked up an HS strut Lil Duece double class call.  Man it's light, a little over 2 oz.  My partner used it with good success 2nd season when we went.  I'll use the carbon striker that came with it and a rosewood striker I have laying around.  I'll use my big slate in my vest, but I'll use the lil duece in my small calling bag on those hot days, spot and stalk, or under my rain gear.  Heck, I might just use it all the time if I like it more than my 360sl.  I still have my doubts on whether the lil duece can make the volume the 360sl can.  We'll see.

Hey whitetailer, are you ready yet?  :wink: Counting the seconds?

later,
scruffy

[22KHornet]

Hey as long as it is not as windy as it was Sunday of second season I will be happy :? of course rain could be worse.  Oh well still better than work .  I am going to try out my Cody glass call this go around.  It is my first glass call and I had roughed it up a little with that stone that came with it but still could not get it to work right.  I saw a glass call laid out while I was killing time at Frontier Outfitters yesterday and noticed that they had used sandpaper to rough it up.  So I went home rubbed mine with some course sandpaper and it works like a dream, just goes to show you how much you don't know.  

Anyway good luck and I will be gunning for turkey #1 still. :grin:

[fuzzy]

hey scruffy i have a crow call if u blow through the mouth peace side way`s sounds just like hawk rich

[scruffy]

Hey fuzzy, I'm not sure what you mean by "blow it sideways"?  Do you bite the call between your back teeth (moellers)?

If my crow call (I think an hs screeming crow or something like that) can imitate a hawk that'll definitely help!!!  That'll give me two locators!

I've also read (on hs web site) of using a coyote howler as a locator.  I might try this as a last resort.  I agree it might get them to shock gobble, but I'd think it'd make the toms more wary thinking a vocal coyotes in the area.  :?

later,
scruffy

[fuzzy]

scruffy my call has two wood pices with a reed in between going to the tube by blowing between wood pices side way across the reed sounds like hawk done this lot of times make crows think theres a hawk around hope i expland it right rich