Bachflock

You bet, Ruth. Hang in there also. Taking a look in the Bible we don't have to look long to see how stress can "consume the bones..." (Psalms). Just so happens this morning I was reading I Peter chapter 5. Take a look. The way I understand it where Paul says "Humble..." its refering to surrending our cares and worries to God. Easier said than done, isn't it! Sometimes I get so busy trying to get things done and such that I forget to keep God in front of the line and start heading off on my own strengths, which compared to God's, are severly handicapped. When I find myself in that spot I stop and find even just a few moments of quiet to refocus my energy and attention to God's will. The burdens seem lesser when God's first on my list. Hope that helps...

Ditto buckee's post. Good odds! Prayers still going out for you.

Very nice. I've already determined if I ever shoot one with an 11" or bigger beard I'll have it mounted... now, finding the room to put it! LOL

And I'll be stuck at work... Was pouring hard when I got up for work but looks like it'll clear up. Should make for a wet but good morning of hunting. Monday I'll be out there for SURE!

There ya go! I can't wait. I'm headed out to two different places tomorrow to do some more scouting. I really want to start nailing down where the birds are going to be.

Oh yeah! Hope to see that at the end of my 12g in about three weeks!

Second day in a row... This morning when I went out I saw what I believe to be the same group but split up. I came across about 15 turkeys 1/2 mile, as the crow flies, on the same bike path I had seen turkey droppings the day before. All were about the same size of the turkeys I saw yesterday but never let me get closer than about 20 yards. Then in almost the same spot I saw the turkeys yesterday I saw a group of about 8 turkeys - two full grown hens and 6 (or so) poults about 1/2 the size of the hens. They were about 20 yards up into a yard feeding. The poults were smaller than any I saw yesterday - I would have noticed them unless they were up behind the boss hen hiding someplace.

I went out for a run this morning. Part of this mornings route took me down a paved bike path and I saw several areas of fairly fresh turkey scat - I figured late yesterday or this morning since it rained until after dark last night. I turned off the bike path up a sidewalk back toward my home, crested a hill and spotted a flock of turkey. I ran within 25 feet of them before they even started to shift. I stopped and they settled right back down. I watched the flock for a good 5 minutes and here's what I noticed: The poults were about 2/3 - 3/4 the size of the hens. If you weren't watching you almost couldn't tell the difference. When I first approached the flock about 1/2 of them raised their heads and watched me. Within 30 seconds all but 3 of the 20 birds went back to scratching and feeding. Two of the birds, appeared to be adult hens, watched me the entire time. One stood in the middle of the sidewalk, silent, stareing me down - hardly even turning her head. The other stood about 30 ft from the sidewalk backup into the people's yard - she was nervous. She'd softly kee-kee, then a kee-kee run, turn her head side to side, repeat. She did this 4 or 5 times the entire time I was there. Didn't move her feet or body but she was all but straight up in the air looking at me. There was construction equipment on the road about 1/4 mile up from myself and the flock so it was tough to hear much for vocalization outside of the kee-keeing hen. I heard a few common yelps but the rest was lost to the bobcat and the paver up the road. While they all were scratching most would scratch twice with both feet before looking down. I've read several times turkeys scratch once a look then twice and a look. This was a relatively brief observation but most would scratch twice with one foot, maybe a quick look, then scratch twice with the other foot and a good look. It was neat anyway you cut it. I didn't see any dominance behaviour but had to get going. I wanted to stay and watch longer but I was in the middle of a workout, sweaty, and it was 49 degrees outside. I took three backwards steps, crossed the road and ran past the entire flock. That old sentry hen never moved except she for her head - she was the boss if I had to guess. She never moved toward the flock and was the only one that kee-kee'ed. There ya go! My observations for the day!

Bottom line answer - use what works for you and that won't be the same from person to person. I've seen a number of discussion on this and it is a valid question. Last spring was my first ever turkey hunt and I was fortunate enough to hit a winning combination the first time around. I have learned that there are numerous factors that effect everything to make a successful hunt. The basic combination is gun/choke/ammo. Any one of those can change the performance at the target. For me it was my Winchester 1300 Ranger, Tru Glo GobbleStopper choke, and 3" Remington Wingmaster #5's. Right from the first round I was throwing GREAT patterns. Now, lets say I switched to Winchesters 3" #5s, there is a strong chance my patterning would change even significantly. The same would go if I used the same choke and ammo in an H&R pump or switched to a Carlson choke with the Winchester 1300 and Remington ammo. Its all an experimentation process. If you liked what you saw in the 3 1/2" rounds then pick up a box of 3" Federals and see how they work in your gun. If you don't like what you see then try the Remington's, etc. Sure, it can get expensive but all in all the ammo part of the equation is the least expensive if you think about it... that is unless you're buying the latest at $30 a box. I'm happy with my $6 a box Remingtons - worked GREAT. As far as 3 1/2" compared to 3" - its a matter of personal choice. I personally don't think 3 1/2" is necessary and the punishment dealt by a 3" is enough so why add that much more of a charge to your shoulder? A lot of birds have been shot with 2 3/4" and 2 1/2" over the years - long before all this fancy stuff hit the market. Technically you could take a turkey with .410 2 1/2" #6's with patience and good calling, right? So, its all a matter of what your comfortable with. Me? Well, I'd own a 3 1/2" but don't and presently have no desire to swap out my 3" chamber. It works great for everything I do.

Nice picture - any idea when it was taken? Those poults are small...

One week from tomorrow and you'll all be in trouble! :D:D Congrats on the results so far!

LOL Fred. Well, set me up with a goose/duck hunt and I'll see what I can do on my end!

I was chatting with one of the guys that's on the fire department with me. Out of the blue he says "Oh I have turkeys on my land almost every day - mostly in the late afternoon and evening." He was very nonchalant about it - he doesn't hunt turkey! We chatted a bit more and I asked him if he'd ever let anyone hunt there and he said "no problem." SWEET! Opens up my options a bit more! I'm going to head out there next week to start taking a look around but I'd better get busy - season opens in less than a month.

I honestly have no idea since this will be my first fall season. However, my intent has been to take a jake and a hen decoy along. If the situation presents itself I planned on setting up only one or the other - make it look like a solitary lost bird so if the boss hen sees it and hears my kee-kees and kee-kee run, maybe she come over and try to get the decoy to follow. However, in my short experience, hens pick up on the decoys being fake quicker than gobblers. I'm planning on being very careful about using them in the fall.

There ya go! I haven't seen a long beard since early June. In fact I hadn't seen any significant groups of turkey until about a week ago and I've seen 4 or 5 different groups of 7-10 and 10-20. No beards that I could make out though.

Get out your decoys and set them up in the room when your watching the game or a race! LOL

I got out a bit later than I had originally planned. The sun was a solid 10-15 degrees above the horizon and casting some pretty long shadows. I believe it was about 7:40-7:45am when I hit the fields. The land owner was just home from work so I was able to chat with him a bit about the layout of the land etc. He said its been 2 weeks since he's seen a turkey - I haven't decided if that is good, bad, or indifferent yet. So, I headed off across a clover field toward a stand of willow and mixed brush and that all bordered a small soybean field. 10 steps in I encountered my first barrage of either hungry or angry mosquitoes, not sure which, but they thought I was a likely meal and did everything possible to take advantage. I saw a TON of deer sign. Found two puffball mushrooms - one the size of a softball and the other, without exaggeration, the size of a basketball. If I was shroon hunting I might have picked them up but I was 15 min into my scout and didn't want to lug them around or walk them back to the car already. Before it was all said and done I covered about 1/2 of the land that will be available to hunt. It included soybean, clover, and hay fields, and mix stands of trees and brush today. I didn't make it over by the corn. Wanted to but 2 hours into it all I couldn't hack the mosquitoes any longer. At one point I was in a stand of beech and such and the buzz from the mosquitoes was, literally, so loud I couldn't hear anything else in the woods. You ought to see the welts on my temples and cheeks! Final scouting report: Already mentioned the two large puff ball mushrooms. Two different species of warbler - haven't identified them yet. Two gray squirrel and an immature bald eagle. I was done once the eagle flew out of the tree about 45 yards from me. I knew I wouldn't see much. Cool thing about that deal was it wasn't overly concerned about me and made a big, slow circle around me never getting more than 50 yards away and only maybe 30 ft up in the air. He circled around and flew over the tree he had been perched on and headed west toward the Lake Michigan which is about 2 miles, if that, from where I'll be hunting. It was neat to watch. Turkey sign - not a ton but I didn't leave disappointed. I found two wing feathers and a tail feather from a gobbler, my guess a jake. It didn't appear to be full size but the coloration was the same. One wing feather appeared to be from an adult and the other was much smaller - likely from a bigger poult. The feathers weren't all together - all in different areas of the land I covered. In one stand of woods I found a large scrap area and some turkey droppings. Again, not a lot but enough to give me an idea. I found acorns, wild grapes, feral crab apples, and even quite a few old beech nuts laying about not to mention the fields this is all in between. I'm hopeful but being realistic about all this. The turkey's will be there but getting myself there at the right time will be the clincher. Suggestions or advice welcome.

Congrats!

It isn't - LOL! Doubt we'll ever see one here in MI!

Congrats Ruth. Moon and I have a later start - his later than mine. I'll have to wait until Sept 15 but we'll catch up. Saw the craziest thing at an Alabama rest stop on our trip. There was a gray squirrel under this picnic table. The was flat out on his belly eating a nut/acorn or something. I thought he was hurt or sick at first but when I walked toward him he scurried off only half convinced I posed any danger. Only thing I could figure was he was cooling himself in the shade on the cooler cement. It was, oh, "only" about 96 degrees that day.

I don't have a deer tat but I did get my family crest last century sometime.

Very cool. Haven't seen a beard in about a month and a half.

Heartfelt thanks.

Belated but prayers. What a blessing, however, they didn't have to replace the hip. We'll be certain to pray for a speedy recovery and to help your family through the loss.

Bummer, Josh. We'll be praying and keep us posted.