Ethan Givan

Good looking deer already, should be a stud with another year or two of growth.

Nice potential there!

I would let him walk.

It was a tough year here too. Seemed like the birds were really just starting to get hot when the season ended. Never heard a lot of gobbling, and gobblers were henned up the whole season. I got my cousin his 2nd bird ever, and I helped dad get his 2 birds, but I ended up eating tag soup. Didn't get out a whole lot though. Maybe next year.

Turkey hunting is challenging, and it takes a lot of patience. Don't give up, every time you go out you will learn more and more. Once you get that first bird, the rest start coming a little easier. If birds are shutting up once they fly down, then they most likely have hens with them. Try to figure out where the birds are going after flying down, and set up there. Another way to deal with henned up gobblers is to hunt late morning (9-12) when the hens begin leaving to go lay. Gobblers that had hens when they flew down can become lonely, and very vocal later in the morning.

I completely understand they need to be thinned out, I have killed plenty of coyotes myself. I don't care if people want to kill the pups, no need to justify that action to me. I understand that, and fully support that decision. I was just saying I couldn't, not saying it was wrong too. I don't buy into 70 fawns a month at all. That's around 2.25 fawns per day... No way that's occurring. The deer population would be wiped out in no time, considering the number of female coyotes per square mile. Around here, I would guess that farmers cutting hay and harvesting wheat claim almost as many fawns as coyotes do.

Well good for you. I couldn't do it, they look too much like domesticated pups to me. And I don't know how many actual fawns a coyote gets a year.. I think they do get a few, but Id say they rely on rodents, rabbits, and carrion more for food. I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be thinned out, I trapped them hard for 2 years at the big farm I deer hunt on.

Awesome pics. They sure are cute now, but problems later. I honestly couldnt kill them as pups like that. I would have to wait till they growed up haha

We have a 1984 Ford F-250 that we use for farming that is 3 on the tree. We have always referred to it as 3 on the column instead of 3 on the tree. It takes a little getting used to but its not bad to drive. I love driving a 4 or 5 speed manual transmission. Give me a Jeep Wrangler with 5 on the floor, and thats just fun right there!!

Congrats to all on those great birds. Multiple beards on a bird is rare, but killing two in the same morning is just crazy. It sounds like a great show watching your bird smack around that jake decoy. I love using my pretty boy decoy, and watching toms fight it. Makes for a very exciting hunt.

Roosted was roasted this morning. Went out last night with my cousin to roost birds for this morning's opening day hunt. We heard several birds gobble, but there was one near the middle of the farm that we focused in on. Got him to gobble several times last night, and we knew the exact spot he was in. Got in there early this morning, well before daylight. It was cool at 38 degrees, clear, and calm. We set up about 125 yards from the bird we had roosted the night before. He had roosted in a large oak tree on the edge of a woodline, next to a large field planted in wheat. As it begin to get daylight, we heard alot of birds gobbling all around, and the one we had roosted started to really get with it as well. A little after 7am he glided down out of the big oak into the wheat field about 100 yards in front of us. He was in a low spot in the field so all I could see was his tail fan when he would go into strut. He had no hens with him, so I started calling to him fairly agressively. He gobbled several times to the calling, and strutted in circles. I stopped calling altogether, and after about 5 minutes of silence he started our way. He crested over the hill at about 80 yards, and saw our decoys. From there he came on a string, full strut the whole way. He came into the set up, did a full circle around Pretty Boy, and my cousin dropped him at 15 yards at 7:30am. This was my cousins first longbeard. Killing a bird you have roosted the night before, right off the roost the next morning, doesnt happen very often. What a great way to kick the season off!! Didnt have a scale to weigh him, but Im guessing it weighed 23+ lbs. Double beards, 11 inch and 9 inch. 1 1/8" spurs. A real nice bird.

Yep its all messed up on mine too.

Only bought one custom box call before, and it sounds great. I dont carry it while hunting, for the fear of damaging it. It sets up on a display cabinet with about 7 other box calls that my dad has collected. If its as pretty as you describe, I wouldnt worry how it sounded, because I wouldnt have it out in the woods to begin with.

Congrats on a great bird!

I check the forums almost on a daily basis, but Im usually just in the Lounge, Bow, Deer, or Turkey Hunting rooms. Try to post when I think I can add something to a thread, or when I have something cool to share.

All of the theories make good sense. Might be a combination of everything. I have seen smaller bucks carrying antlers in April before, but I have never seen one that big still carrying this late.

We have seen the same thing here. My brother hunted here at the house quite a bit this year and he saw about the same amount of bucks as does.

Now that is interesting.

Its pretty wild, I guess they will drop when his next set starts growing!

Pulled cards from a couple cameras behind my house tonight that I had set out for turkeys. Got a big suprise on one of them. I dont know why they are still carrying antlers on the 26th of March, but this may explain why I cant find any sheds!!

Same for me, owl hooter in early morning or late evening, and crow call during the day. Sometimes a bird will not shock gobble, regardless of what you use.

True. I started out wanting a degree in Agriculture, then once I started college I changed it to Biology. I loved biology courses but I also knew that jobs with this degree are limited. I then switched my major again to Environmental Health. This is what Im graduating with in about 2 months. The degree is about 50/50 natural environmental health, and occupational safety and health. State jobs are ok, but they dont pay well. I could get a job with the state of KY fairly easily in their Division of Air Quality or Division of Water. But I could go get a factory job and make the same money. The best advice I can give, is dont worry about declaring a major yet. Go take all of your general education required classes, get a taste of everything and figure out what you like. Then you can make a more informed decision. Take into account what you enjoy, and job availability.

Very good tactics there for sure. I agree that those techniques will work anytime. I use the Red Hot & Ice cold and the Enter His Comfort Zone techniques the most. My favorite way to kill a bird is to beat him to his strutting zone in the morning. Get him fired up after he hits the ground, then go quiet and wait for him to show up. It works.

Congrats on both the bird and the fish. Sounds like it was a real fun weekend.

Looks good!!