Post by featherduster on Apr 27, 2014 8:27:44 GMT -5
BLIND vs NO BLIND
EXPENSIVE DECOY vs INEXPENSIVE DECOY
At 5:55am this rainy morning I killed a 23.10 pound 25mm spurred Tom that only had a 4 1/4" beard. I killed the bird using a Benelli 12 gauge with a Primos Jelly Head choke shooting Remington Nitro 3 1/2" 5's. I shot the bird stone dead at distance of +/- 35'.
I shot the bird from within the comfort of a Double Bull blind that was set up along a fence line on the edge of a woods,I did not add any brush to the blind it was free standing right out in the open.
I used 2 hen decoys one was an expensive bird made by Floozie the other was a very inexpensive blow up decoy that kind of looked like a beach ball printed to look like a turkey, it was made by Sceery Outdoors and I am not even sure they are still in business.
The Sceery was given to me as a gift 4 days ago by the 2 brothers who's lease I have been allowed to Turkey hunt on.
Today was the first day I heard a bird gobble and the first day that I even saw a tom this year and luckily there were 3 of them and 5 hens roosted about 70 yards down wind of me on this very windy morning. The birds
gobbled for about 25 min before flying down into the wind and landing right near the inexpensive decoy with the toms landing at what I would call max. shooting range for me.
As soon as they hit the ground they took off walking away to a distance of about 200 yards when I decided to make the first call of the day. I laid it out real loud and the timing was perfect because all the birds came hustling back with the toms bringing up the rear.
The hens went right to the inexpensive decoy and started cackling away which drew the toms in,the hens didn't even care about the expensive decoy.
WEIRD things started happening first off 2 of the hens became angry with the decoy and went into strut something I didn't know hens could do,they put their tails up for a short period of time and even funnier yet was one had a jake type tail and the other a adult tom type tail however they were both shorter in length.
These hens were less than 8 yards from the front of my blind so I know they were hens.
WEIRD thing #2 was 2 of the 3 mature toms had no visible beards and the one which I choose to shoot only had a thick 4 !/4" beard.
Moral of this long story is if you hunt from the comfort of a blind you don't need to hide it in the brush or try to camo it up because as long as there is no movement from within, turkeys don't care.
Second of all the cost of the decoy doesn't make a difference.
To me there is nothing and I mean nothing more exciting than watching and counting every foot step of a mature tom turkey as he cautiously walks to within killing distance.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL.
EXPENSIVE DECOY vs INEXPENSIVE DECOY
At 5:55am this rainy morning I killed a 23.10 pound 25mm spurred Tom that only had a 4 1/4" beard. I killed the bird using a Benelli 12 gauge with a Primos Jelly Head choke shooting Remington Nitro 3 1/2" 5's. I shot the bird stone dead at distance of +/- 35'.
I shot the bird from within the comfort of a Double Bull blind that was set up along a fence line on the edge of a woods,I did not add any brush to the blind it was free standing right out in the open.
I used 2 hen decoys one was an expensive bird made by Floozie the other was a very inexpensive blow up decoy that kind of looked like a beach ball printed to look like a turkey, it was made by Sceery Outdoors and I am not even sure they are still in business.
The Sceery was given to me as a gift 4 days ago by the 2 brothers who's lease I have been allowed to Turkey hunt on.
Today was the first day I heard a bird gobble and the first day that I even saw a tom this year and luckily there were 3 of them and 5 hens roosted about 70 yards down wind of me on this very windy morning. The birds
gobbled for about 25 min before flying down into the wind and landing right near the inexpensive decoy with the toms landing at what I would call max. shooting range for me.
As soon as they hit the ground they took off walking away to a distance of about 200 yards when I decided to make the first call of the day. I laid it out real loud and the timing was perfect because all the birds came hustling back with the toms bringing up the rear.
The hens went right to the inexpensive decoy and started cackling away which drew the toms in,the hens didn't even care about the expensive decoy.
WEIRD things started happening first off 2 of the hens became angry with the decoy and went into strut something I didn't know hens could do,they put their tails up for a short period of time and even funnier yet was one had a jake type tail and the other a adult tom type tail however they were both shorter in length.
These hens were less than 8 yards from the front of my blind so I know they were hens.
WEIRD thing #2 was 2 of the 3 mature toms had no visible beards and the one which I choose to shoot only had a thick 4 !/4" beard.
Moral of this long story is if you hunt from the comfort of a blind you don't need to hide it in the brush or try to camo it up because as long as there is no movement from within, turkeys don't care.
Second of all the cost of the decoy doesn't make a difference.
To me there is nothing and I mean nothing more exciting than watching and counting every foot step of a mature tom turkey as he cautiously walks to within killing distance.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL.
