sneaky_pete000
Active member
Great, I guess it won't be long before we start seeing people "feeding the birds" in the back corner of a field.
non-stop adrenaline
- Thread starter sneaky_pete000
- Start date
Escout711
Active member
Honestly, I wish they would make feeding birds of any kind illegal. Obviously that’s never going to happen, but it gets a bit frustrating when you struggle to find a bird to hunt and then drive past a residential street with no hunting access and see all the birds gathered on the lawns.
sneaky_pete000
Active member
You're walking a fine line between harmony on earth, and a senior citizen revolt....
sneaky_pete000
Active member
Friday morning I went out before work. I was in a small maple patch between a few fields, and had birds gobbling on either side. It was calm in the woods, and I heard something coming through the leaves, and saw a small flash of black at 40yrds. I got myself pointed in that direction as it went down into a dip. When it hit the top, it would only be 15yrds, so I had to be ready - however, when it hit the top, it wasn't a turkey....it was a skunk, and he was coming right at me. I had to decide between 2 options:
1. Do something so he knows I'm there, but risk scaring him since he was only 15yrds and closing fast.
2. Sit tight, and hope he walks right by me
I decided I would go with option 1, but without moving. I said aloud, "Hey skunk". He didn't hear me. I said it louder, "HEY SKUNK" - he didn't care. By that time, I was pretty nervous and he shuffled by me at less than 5yrds as I prayed to the gods of tomato juice and peroxide that he'd keep moving. He did, and I escaped without smell.
As I sat there thinking about it for a couple minutes, a front moved in, and the wind started to blow pretty hard, and I was running out of time. I stood up to try and trim 50yrds off between me and the tom, but when I stood up, he was standing there looking at me. I went home and drank coffee.
1. Do something so he knows I'm there, but risk scaring him since he was only 15yrds and closing fast.
2. Sit tight, and hope he walks right by me
I decided I would go with option 1, but without moving. I said aloud, "Hey skunk". He didn't hear me. I said it louder, "HEY SKUNK" - he didn't care. By that time, I was pretty nervous and he shuffled by me at less than 5yrds as I prayed to the gods of tomato juice and peroxide that he'd keep moving. He did, and I escaped without smell.
As I sat there thinking about it for a couple minutes, a front moved in, and the wind started to blow pretty hard, and I was running out of time. I stood up to try and trim 50yrds off between me and the tom, but when I stood up, he was standing there looking at me. I went home and drank coffee.
sneaky_pete000
Active member
Another update with a grip and grin -
Saturday morning wasn't going to be a day I hunted. My anniversary is in October, but as everyone on this board knows, thats a tough time of year to go away for a weekend.....(My wife is very understanding of my obsession) So it was planned for this weekend, even though its turkey season. I figured we could have a couple in the freezer by now, and I guessed right.
However, Saturday morning, Ethan was going to head out alone, and I decided I could squeeze in a short hunt with him and still be back in time. At the first spot, even thought I KNOW there are some birds on the ridge, it was silent. As Jake and some others have said on here, don't fart around with turkeys that won't gobble. So we moved to spot #2. We got out of the truck, hit the owl call, and way at the top of the ridge, atleast 400, maybe 500yrds away, we heard him and decided to give it a shot.
We walked in a semi-circle to get up to his elevation without walking directly at him. I called and it was quiet. I called again, louder and more aggressively on the slate, and he answered. Its hard to judge distance in the woods now with the leaves on, but I figured we could get in tighter without busting him. We hauled ass another 100yrds and set up. I called, he answered - I called one more time, but turning my body around and facing the other way, and he answered again, so we shut up.
Not long after, 2 hens came down off the hill. One was feeding, oblivious to what was around her, and the other was constantly peeking. They were both under 40yrds, and I was sure we'd get busted. The tom came right behind them. He was also very nervous, never gobbled, and constantly stood with his head extended up, frozen and looking. We never got a look at his beard, so I was telling Ethan to hold his fire until one of us had a good look. At this point, all 3 are under 40yrds, and finally he took a couple steps uphill and I could get a good look. I whispered to Ethan "I see it - its about 8 in......BOOM" - I didn't even finish my sentence and the turkey was flopping.
Ethans 2nd VT bird of the year, and I was home in time for the anniversary trip...
Saturday morning wasn't going to be a day I hunted. My anniversary is in October, but as everyone on this board knows, thats a tough time of year to go away for a weekend.....(My wife is very understanding of my obsession) So it was planned for this weekend, even though its turkey season. I figured we could have a couple in the freezer by now, and I guessed right.
However, Saturday morning, Ethan was going to head out alone, and I decided I could squeeze in a short hunt with him and still be back in time. At the first spot, even thought I KNOW there are some birds on the ridge, it was silent. As Jake and some others have said on here, don't fart around with turkeys that won't gobble. So we moved to spot #2. We got out of the truck, hit the owl call, and way at the top of the ridge, atleast 400, maybe 500yrds away, we heard him and decided to give it a shot.
We walked in a semi-circle to get up to his elevation without walking directly at him. I called and it was quiet. I called again, louder and more aggressively on the slate, and he answered. Its hard to judge distance in the woods now with the leaves on, but I figured we could get in tighter without busting him. We hauled ass another 100yrds and set up. I called, he answered - I called one more time, but turning my body around and facing the other way, and he answered again, so we shut up.
Not long after, 2 hens came down off the hill. One was feeding, oblivious to what was around her, and the other was constantly peeking. They were both under 40yrds, and I was sure we'd get busted. The tom came right behind them. He was also very nervous, never gobbled, and constantly stood with his head extended up, frozen and looking. We never got a look at his beard, so I was telling Ethan to hold his fire until one of us had a good look. At this point, all 3 are under 40yrds, and finally he took a couple steps uphill and I could get a good look. I whispered to Ethan "I see it - its about 8 in......BOOM" - I didn't even finish my sentence and the turkey was flopping.
Ethans 2nd VT bird of the year, and I was home in time for the anniversary trip...
sneaky_pete000
Active member
It had a full fan and an 8" beard with 3/4" spurs, but he only weighed 14.1lbs. Everyone would always like to shoot heavy birds only, but I'm not a very good judge of turkey weight when they aren't hanging from my hands. Ethan was thrilled, we both got another solid adrenaline rush and a great memory of a beautiful spring morning.
Mountain Hunter
Active member
Thanks for sharing. I'm a huge fan of your hunting adventures with your sons. Keep up the good work!
NH Hunter
Well-known member
Well done and congrats!!! I shot a bird identical to that 6 or 7 years ago.
sneaky_pete000
Active member
Thanks dude - your adventures with the kids are right around the corner....don't blink, and don't be afraid to throw your responsibilities to the wind...you do NOT want to miss this stuff. Its awesome.
sneaky_pete000
Active member
I need another fix....
Its going to be foggy, which I haven't had good luck in before, but we're headed to the NH side of the river in the morning, EARLY. I heard a gobble at 4:25a last week on a sunny day. I want to get right under them because I'll have limited time before work. It should be wet leaves and quiet, fog and dark for cover, and I'm hoping to be at the bottom of a tree napping at 4am, waiting for them to wake me up.
Its going to be foggy, which I haven't had good luck in before, but we're headed to the NH side of the river in the morning, EARLY. I heard a gobble at 4:25a last week on a sunny day. I want to get right under them because I'll have limited time before work. It should be wet leaves and quiet, fog and dark for cover, and I'm hoping to be at the bottom of a tree napping at 4am, waiting for them to wake me up.
tobydog
Member
good luck