2023 Turkey Hunting Thread

[outrider58]

Nice image, you look pleased. Congrats!

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

IDK. I expected muddier boots...

 

[Doco Overboard]

Boys cant get enough done this year.
They should start guiding hunts I told them.
Sika, Deer Turkey Duck/goose, even fishing/crabbing if they want to.
Too busy raiding my fridge I guess.

 

[outrider58]

Boys cant get enough done this year.
They should start guiding hunts I told them.
Sika, Deer Turkey Duck/goose, even fishing/crabbing if they want to.
Too busy raiding my fridge I guess.

Lol. Looks like the rest of this season I will be guiding/calling for others. It's every bit just as much fun.

 

[lazarus]

Yep. It was my buddy's farm. We were actually out on the bay fishing when the three friends called us just after it happened. They slapped them with hunting turkey over bait(complete ********), hunting without written permission(we cross each others lines all the time), one guy got hunting without a license(he had accidentally left it back in the truck). Of course, they all had to go to court for the BS. I think most of it got dropped except the hunting without a license 'on him' and paid a small fine. It was all BS.

Dang. I thought MD generally didn't charge hunting without written permission if the landowner confirms that the hunter has verbal permission? IE, the written permission is what it says and is good to have on hand, but not actually required.

I mean, what the heck judge is going to actually convict you if the landowner tells them/DNR that the hunter had permission, just nothing in writing? Seems stupid. Of course, I could see an NPR officer not bothering to ask the landowner, and DNR/judge putting the onus on the hunter to get the landowner to tell DNR/judge that the hunter did in fact have permission.

 

[lazarus]

Lol. Looks like the rest of this season I will be guiding/calling for others. It's every bit just as much fun.

If I wasn't working 60hrs a week (including this morning, ugh) I'd give you a call. Every spring, I keep wanting to really get out there and get Turkey hunting. My biggest issue I think is self confidence that I am making the right calls and stuff. Even recording them, I am kind of tone deaf. So it helps when someone can tell me "yeah, you are doing it right. That sounds good".

I got out a couple of days 5 years ago in Patuxent and heard a few, but couldn't call one in. I've not had the time any year since. I probably could have made the time a couple years, but I just didn't. Now I want to turkey hunt more than ever, and work has me putting in 9-11hr days, plus Saturdays and some Sundays and will be till probably June. Heck, I haven't been to the range in >3 months because I can't even find 2 hours to take off and do that.

Of course, plenty of turkey's I've seen while deer hunting. A few on my property too, but the only ones I've seen in the spring have been hens. Also, I for sure can't use a shotgun on my property for turkey and I don't have the right crescent heads for my crossbow.

Maybe next year. *sigh*

*I was up in Vermont for a couple of days off plus a weekend to take my kids skiing and see the state. I think I know where I am moving in retirement...man there were so MANY Turkey's just everywhere on every farm. And they weren't some farmers domesticated turkeys :-)

 

[lazarus]

Well, even though Dr. Chamberlain's research suggests it may not directly help my extremely local turkey population, I am still trying to reduce the raccoons out here for the good of our birds other prey animals (and my garbage cans)...and damn damn those coon cuffs work well! After making some bait adjustments, I caught 3 in 3 days using just 4 cuffs! Turns out they love koolaid powder with a little water added to make a paste, mixed with dog food and marshmallows. Can't say I blame them! Longer term, getting more cover is a big part of the overall management plan for the property.

I've not heard any gobbles yet or seen any turkeys driving around. I usually see them in my neighbor's horse fields.

We have so many here in my neighborhood. I have game camera pics of half a dozen all around my deer feeder at about 1am almost every night. Near the end of the season they'd finally figured out how to actually get on the thing (it is suspended between trees, and I think they were leaping the 5 feet from the closest tree trunk on to it). They weren't able to get much out, but the bigger ones could reach down over and spin the feeder a little.

If I put a game camera on my chicken coop, I can find the same 5-8 crawling all over the chicken coop at night sometimes too. But they've realized they can't get in, so it is usually only about once every two weeks I'll see the Racoon Party try to crash the chicken party.

Pretty sure I'll try to trap a few of them once the season opens Nov 1. See if that dissuades the rest of them. I don't have the time or energy to camp out in my tree stand with a suppressed 10/22 and big light all night long to catch them at 1 or 2am.

 

[lazarus]

Patuxent I think it’s called , off 97 . Talked to guy lives around there says he sees birds but hasn’t heard them . I would not chase a gobble there . Would assume a lot of people would be going after same bird . Literally didn’t want to get shot . Was a new experience for me . Nice land . Apparently they run dogs there for fox hunts also. Place is not for me.

I haven't tried Patuxent off 97, but I hunt Patuxent towards the top of the park around Long Corner down to 94. It has been 5 years since I've been there for Turkey, but it wasn't too bad when I was. Not empty, but maybe 5 or 6 hunters in the 1000 or so acres of that part of the park (and only ran in to any of them near the parking area). A couple of them scored gobblers the first day I tried. Second day ended up being a rainy mess and there was only one pickup parked there. Based on deer hunting, the further south areas of the park seem to get more hunters than the northern part. That said, I have noticed Patuxent has been getting more and more hunters each season for deer. So Turkey it might have gotten really bad.

Hunting during the week is always significantly more empty than on weekends. Like 1/3 to maybe 1/2 the number of hunters.

 

[outrider58]

If I wasn't working 60hrs a week (including this morning, ugh) I'd give you a call. Every spring, I keep wanting to really get out there and get Turkey hunting. My biggest issue I think is self confidence that I am making the right calls and stuff. Even recording them, I am kind of tone deaf. So it helps when someone can tell me "yeah, you are doing it right. That sounds good".

I got out a couple of days 5 years ago in Patuxent and heard a few, but couldn't call one in. I've not had the time any year since. I probably could have made the time a couple years, but I just didn't. Now I want to turkey hunt more than ever, and work has me putting in 9-11hr days, plus Saturdays and some Sundays and will be till probably June. Heck, I haven't been to the range in >3 months because I can't even find 2 hours to take off and do that.

Of course, plenty of turkey's I've seen while deer hunting. A few on my property too, but the only ones I've seen in the spring have been hens. Also, I for sure can't use a shotgun on my property for turkey and I don't have the right crescent heads for my crossbow.

Maybe next year. *sigh*

*I was up in Vermont for a couple of days off plus a weekend to take my kids skiing and see the state. I think I know where I am moving in retirement...man there were so MANY Turkey's just everywhere on every farm. And they weren't some farmers domesticated turkeys :-)

We can get together sometime and give it a try. It only takes a couple hours one morning to get lucky. If not, I'm more than happy to give you a listen and provide some guidance. I don't claim to be a professional turkey caller, but I manage enough. Even on years I don't kill a bird, I have usually called in birds for others to kill.

 

[lazarus]

We can get together sometime and give it a try. It only takes a couple hours one morning to get lucky. If not, I'm more than happy to give you a listen and provide some guidance. I don't claim to be a professional turkey caller, but I manage enough. Even on years I don't kill a bird, I have usually called in birds for others to kill.

Sounds like a plan, thank you!

 

[outrider58]

Sounds like a plan, thank you!

You have my number. I'm off every Monday...

 

[lazarus]

You have my number. I'm off every Monday...

Aren't you off every day now? Lol.

 

[outrider58]

Aren't you off every day now? Lol.

Not yet.

 

[lazarus]

Not yet.

Oh, damn. I am sorry. I thought you had retired.

 

[outrider58]

Oh, damn. I am sorry. I thought you had retired.

It was supposed to happen in mid May, but is looking more like June. 46+ years, I can hack another month.

 

[lazarus]

It was supposed to happen in mid May, but is looking more like June. 46+ years, I can hack another month.

Good luck! I've got 17 more years to go and I spend most days thinking about retirement.

 

[dmills]

Hey everyone, I’m a new shooter and very new to hunting this turkey season has been my first season hunting anything. I’ve been hunting the public land in patuxent state park in Howard county. I’ve managed to call a couple birds in and gotten close to a handful, but am yet to successfully bag a bird. They seem to be becoming more and more shy every day the season goes on, and there are less and less birds where I can find em. I come from a very anti gun upbringing and don’t have any friends who hunt. Only have a couple friends who own guns at all, and those guys are only interested in the “tacticool” stuff they don’t even take them to the range . I was wondering if anyone in the area with some experience would be down to go hunting with a newby and help me bag one of these Toms I’ve been chasing the past week. Any advice on how to better call and hunt on these public lands would also be much appreciated!

 

[outrider58]

Hey everyone, I’m a new shooter and very new to hunting this turkey season has been my first season hunting anything. I’ve been hunting the public land in patuxent state park in Howard county. I’ve managed to call a couple birds in and gotten close to a handful, but am yet to successfully bag a bird. They seem to be becoming more and more shy every day the season goes on, and there are less and less birds where I can find em. I come from a very anti gun upbringing and don’t have any friends who hunt. Only have a couple friends who own guns at all, and those guys are only interested in the “tacticool” stuff they don’t even take them to the range . I was wondering if anyone in the area with some experience would be down to go hunting with a newby and help me bag one of these Toms I’ve been chasing the past week. Any advice on how to better call and hunt on these public lands would also be much appreciated!

Hunting turkey on public land can be challenging. They get called to constantly. The less calling you do there, the better. If the tom shuts up, you shut up too. Give him a half an hour before giving up on him. He might be sneaking in on you. Learn feeding 'calls', such as purrs, soft puts, clucks, whines, etc. These are done very softly. Mix your calls up too. You don't want to sound like a broken record. Try and get a feel for the bird's mood that is responding to you. Is he aggressively gobbling, or just gobbling sporadically. If a tom seems to be headed your way, go easy on the calling. Just give him enough to let him know you are still there. Keep in mind, toms normally call the hens to them(look up strut zones). You are trying to get them to do something out of their nature.

Calling turkey can be very frustrating. You can do everything right for days with no response, then one day it works.

There are thousands of youtube videos on turkey hunting and calling.

 

[Mini14tac]

Bearded hen was just out behind the house.

 

[outrider58]

Bearded hen was just out behind the house.

AFAIK, legal to shoot bearded hens(unless you are in a tranny bar).

 

[Mini14tac]

Ha Ha, a buddy texted me and said it must have had a few Bud Light’s!