Turkeys

[Josh Benjamin]

anybody getting ready for turkey hunting this season??
the opener is about a month away and i can't wait.

[Wayne Jordan]

I just ordered a few new calls and plan on showing Spanishfly and Klintd how it's done this year!:thumb:

[Itchy Dog]

Absolutely! My son is currently taking his Hunter Ed class so I can drag him kicking and screaming into the woods on April 15th! I can't wait- neither can he!

[Josh Benjamin]

good to hear...where are you guys headed??

[Wayne Jordan]

To be honest, I'm not really sure yet. This will be my first season of hunting turkeys in Washington.

[Josh Benjamin]

If you want some input, feel free to shoot me a pm.
last year was my first year and 3 of us killed 4 birds.

[Wayne Jordan]

Thanks Josh, I'll take any info you're willing to share. My biggest challenge will be locating areas to hunt that have birds and access. The calling and actual hunting part I have pretty much down to a science.

[Roper]

If anyone is interested there are lots of Merriams around our place in Oroville. Can't hunt on the property, but two miles up the road is access to thousands of acres...

There's liable to still be some snow up there come to think of it...

[spanishfly]

I just ordered a few new calls and plan on showing Spanishfly and Klintd how it's done this year!:thumb:

Whatever..... Dude! Your going with me I'll get you into a bird :thumb: I'll try not to spook them as they come struting in.... :rofl:

[Jmills81]

Ahhh....thank god i live in eastern washington...turkey's abound. Had one in my yard the a couple of months ago and i live in town (spokane). I heard some noise that E WA is one of best places in the COUNTRY to hunt for wild turkeys...and the season is two weeks longer this year...

My wife's birthday is the 16th.....so the opener might be a tough one for the rest of my life.....but plenty of time after that....and if anyone needs feathers, let me know

If anyone needs some clues to good dry side stuff, i can try to most certaily help out to clue you in

Thanks
Josh

[Itchy Dog]

I just hope that with the winter being what it was (or in some cases still is), they won't start their routine too late or too early for the opener. Two years ago in the area I hunt (near Davenport), they did their thing early and by opening day there were darn few birds to be seen. Last year did a cast and blast in Hell's Canyon so I missed the traditonal opener in Washington. In a few years there'll be good turkey hunting in even more areas than there is now...the population spread of birds is impressive to say the least. Talk about an ability to adapt.

Good luck all.

[johnmetcalfe]

Just North of Spokane in Colville is suppose to be awsome for turkeys!
Good luck.
Jm

[Brent Comer]

I'll be out for my first time this year. I'm going with a buddy with some experience. Is there any special Turkey hunting etiquette I should know about?

[Matt Burke]

Don't shoot the hunter using the Turkey call.

[Matt Burke]

BTW, I was thinking of another try at the Entiat this year for gobbler. By the time I went it seemd like it was pretty hunted out with only females left. I'm thinking it's too close to many little towns and Wetsnatchee.

[Josh Benjamin]

I'll be out for my first time this year. I'm going with a buddy with some experience. Is there any special Turkey hunting etiquette I should know about?
don't shoot anybody and don't stalk a gobbling turkey...oh and don't lowhole anyone either:thumb:
seriously stalking a turkey is bad news, illegal in some states, because people get shot. the hunter who is doing the gobbling if thats the case, sees something move and shoots. i personally know 2 people who got shot in new york turkey hunting(both at the same time when a hunter came upon one of their decoys and shot it, and them at the same time), and one old man who shot somebody. none of the victims were killed or seriously injured for that matter, but turkey hunting can be a dangerous sport.
Matt...i would think there's enough land in the entiat that if you hiked away from the road for a mile or so, you'd leave most of the other hunters and find some undisturbed turkeys. just a guess...never hunted turkeys there before.

[Roper]

Don't wear any blue hats or red bandanas, seriously.

[Matt Burke]

Matt...i would think there's enough land in the entiat that if you hiked away from the road for a mile or so, you'd leave most of the other hunters and find some undisturbed turkeys. just a guess...never hunted turkeys there before.
And I drove that rode up a ways, but not to the falls. Serious 4wheel, even when dry. Saw lots of Varmint too. There is a rumor there are fish above the falls, if your rig makes it, but I don’t know. Instead of getting to it at the mouth, I was thinking of climbing the ridge from the west side, starting at the tribes and then down to the mouth. I’m not giving away anyone’s favorite hole, am I? I’d hate for that kind of crap to bleed over onto this forum. Hiking away from the rest of the pack sounds like a hell of an idea, with about thirty pounds of overnight crap. Maybe a rod and plenty of ammo. In case I get bored and hunt cans. Americans, Mexicans, Pakistanicans, etc.

[Brent Comer]

Roper, Josh, Matt: Thanks for the tips. I can see where turkey hunting could be a dangerous endeavor.

ps: Roper, it's beginning to sound like I should wear my upland bird vest. :D

[Roper]

Well, I wouldn't do that, but many folks don't think about a bandana looking like a big red turkey snood, blue also...and the snood is the X ring for turkey hunters...:eek:

[Itchy Dog]

If your vest doesn't have an orange flag attached that you can fly after you've made your kill (or as you're leaving the woods) get a piece of hunter orange and make a flag. Turkey hunting is no more dangerous than any other sort of hunting as long as you use your head. It's always "the other guy" you have to be concerned with. Like Josh said- don't stalk a gobbler. Call and stay where you are. He'll come to you (they're not always in a hurry if they're with some hens already). If, after a long time of calling you think he won't come to you, move to another place. He'll come to exactly where you WERE before you moved! Had it happen. Patience is the key.

[Brent Comer]

Thank you for the info, Itchy Dog.

[Itchy Dog]

Brent,

Also make sure when you set up that you're comfortable and have a good seated position to shoot from, with your back against a tree or bush. If you have time, place some brush in front of you as a small ground blind. Once you've started calling, have your gun at the ready. Once you can see the birds you can bet that they will see even the slightest movement if you're reaching for your gun or fussing around with your face mask, etc. When that bird comes into view you'll see why this sport is so addicting! Good luck and safe hunting.

[Wayne Jordan]

Turkey hunting can be pretty dangerous to say the least. Two of my buddies were shot in 2002 while hunting, and then to make things worse the shooters left the scene. I always try to lean against a tree that's wide to protect my torso from someone that may come in from behind and try shooting at either a real bird or my decoys. The only reason why my friend Rick is still alive is because the tree he was sitting in front of stopped most of the 00 bucksot the morons were using.
http://www.dextermaine.org/news/031803_2.html

[Itchy Dog]

There are morons everywhere- they can't be avoided completely, that's for sure. This happens everywhere, no matter what game you persue. Why they were shooting 00 buck is beyond me, although I must say I've never understood morons. Glad those guys got caught anyway.

[Wayne Jordan]

To make matters worse for the guys who shot my friend was the fact they shot an off-duty Marine Patrol Officer, so the judge threw the book at them. I haven't thoroughly read the regs yet for Washington, but it's illegal in Maine to be turkey hunting with any shot larger than #4.

[Itchy Dog]

There's nothing in the regs (that I can find anyway) that says shooting upland game with shot larger than #4 is illegal, but something like buckshot would obviously be a poor choice for many reasons. Turkey loads are generally based on heavy copper-plated 4, 5 & 6 shot.

[Wayne Jordan]

When I guided/hunted turkeys in Maine I always used 3" shells with #6 shot and had no problem killing birds at 40-50 yards, but it was always nice when they'd come strutting up to the decoys.:D

[Josh Benjamin]

The 2 guys i know that got shot in new york were sitting so the shooter was forward a ways from the caller, with a decoy in front of the shooter. well this guy came walking up over the top of a little hill and saw the decoy and shot at it. he hit the shooter in one side of his face and the caller in the other side of the face. they all walked away from it, actually all 3 walked out of the woods together. how they did that without beating that guy i'll never know. the guy who did the shooting was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. the 1 hunter who was shot was an off-duty cop in a small upstate new york town.
the guy i knew who shot somebody turkey hunting was an old guy who'd been turkey hunting and everything else hunting his whole life. he was calling in a bird and shot at movement in some brush thinking it was the bird he was calling in. the guy was not killed or seriously injured, just kind of peppered. nobody really knows what got into him. he was kind of a local legend in the hunting world back there. stuff can happen to anyone i guess.
Matt...if i said something giving away your secret spot or something, i apologize. i was not being specific when i said "get away from the road". i've never even been in the entiat, not even sure what road i would have been talking about. if i stated the obvious, well then i guess i didn't need to say anything.
:beer2:

[Matt Burke]

No worries Josh. I was worried about giving up someone elses. Doubt it though, there were tons of people up there hunting last time I went.

[TheShadKing]

There's nothing in the regs (that I can find anyway) that says shooting upland game with shot larger than #4 is illegal.

I don't know Washington, but max shot size in Idaho for turkeys is BB in lead and T in steel.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/hunt/rules/turkey/turkey.pdf, top left of page 10.


Rolland

ps. there are no turkeys in the panhandle, and certainly none in northwestern Montana. OTOH, Montana wants $118 for an out of state turkey tag so maybe I can admit to seeing a few there. :p

[Itchy Dog]

Took my son over near Cle Elum yesterday for his first turkey hunt (first hunt period, since he just took his Hunter Ed this spring). Spent Friday scouting for birds and chose a spot to set up this morning. Hiked in at 5AM, got situated, and waited. A bird was gobbling from his roost one draw over from our location, and when he got out of his tree, he continued his racket. We responded with some yelps, and he came in without much hesitation. Actually passed by our blind within 15 feet as he made his way to the decoys. By 6:20 my son had bagged his first gobbler. Everything went down just like one always hopes it will (but seldom does in my experience).

Today ranks right up there as one of the best days in my life!

[Wayne Jordan]

What a great bird and story! I had the pleasure of calling in both of my brothers first birds when they were 10. It's awesome when everything is just text book...
Congrats!

Next weekend it's our turn...:D

[spanishfly]

Took my son over near Cle Elum yesterday for his first turkey hunt (first hunt period, since he just took his Hunter Ed this spring). Spent Friday scouting for birds and chose a spot to set up this morning. Hiked in at 5AM, got situated, and waited. A bird was gobbling from his roost one draw over from our location, and when he got out of his tree, he continued his racket. We responded with some yelps, and he came in without much hesitation. Actually passed by our blind within 15 feet as he made his way to the decoys. By 6:20 my son had bagged his first gobbler. Everything went down just like one always hopes it will (but seldom does in my experience).

Today ranks right up there as one of the best days in my life!


Congrats Itchy you must be one proud Dad! Sounds like a text book hunt!

[TheShadKing]

Took my son over near Cle Elum yesterday for his first turkey hunt

Awesome, congrats!

6 more days until it opens here. I think I can live that long.:rofl:

[Itchy Dog]

The only thing left to do now is convince the boy's mother that the hide/fan really should grace the walls of his bedroom. She seems to think that it belongs in the garage.

Good luck to everyone this weekend if you get out. Post your reports when you can.

[Josh Benjamin]

Itchy Dog...thats awesome. i didn't even think about the youth hunt this weekend until i saw your post. tell the kid congrats and he did great.
as far as the fan/beard in the house...i can't help you with that...all my stuff is confined to the garage.

[DanTennant_22]

Good work young itchy dog! That is a good looking bird and a fun sounding hunt. I am getting pumped up for the coming weeks. With my first turkey I made two wing bone yelpers out of its wings. very good looking calls, and they sound good too. buy another tag and go play!

[Old Man]

I know that you are talking about turkey's in Washington. But the season has started over here by me and I have yet to hear anybody shooting them. Last year in this area there were few turkeys and this year there are about 40 of them big birds.

I know this won't help but I thought that I would just put it out there. I saw the males out in the fields struting around yesterday.

Jim

[Brent Comer]

Nice!

Today ranks right up there as one of the best days in my life!