Post by: OneHorn on February 14, 2010, 02:32:27 PM
Post by: fishunt247 on February 14, 2010, 02:49:39 PM
Post by: saylean on February 14, 2010, 03:00:42 PM
anyone have a cabin I can hide out at?! :chuckle: :bash: :'(
Post by: turkey slayer on February 14, 2010, 04:02:53 PM
Post by: Huntbear on February 14, 2010, 04:22:50 PM
Post by: fishcrazy on February 14, 2010, 08:17:29 PM
Is there something I am missing??? :chuckle: :chuckle: :dunno: :dunno:
Yep, It's opening day for spring bear. If you draw a tag.
:chuckle:
Post by: Huntbear on February 14, 2010, 09:10:13 PM
Post by: Jekemi on February 15, 2010, 07:08:43 PM
Post by: Shootmoore on February 15, 2010, 07:13:40 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centurynovelty.com%2FcatImages%2F092-144_large.jpg&hash=c2ef2e92a6fc08f071aadc16af5121869ea2df5d)
Shootmoore
Post by: turkey buster on February 15, 2010, 11:01:27 PM
chuck
Post by: turkeydancer on February 16, 2010, 11:25:06 AM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on February 16, 2010, 11:34:32 AM
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 16, 2010, 11:36:22 AM
Post by: Dustin07 on February 16, 2010, 12:40:22 PM
Is there something I am missing??? :chuckle: :chuckle: :dunno: :dunno:
Yep, It's opening day for spring bear. If you draw a tag.
:chuckle:
so off topic, but the wdfw site is setup really well now to buy your tags online... i spend more that way. I logged on last week to apply for the spring bear tag. I didn't know you need to buy a bear tag as well? I just wanted to buy the raffle, figured I'd buy the tag if I got the raffle. oh well, so I go after my bear tag... which becomes bear + cougar combo. Then I have the $10 admin fee for not reporting crab on time... then there's the $6 lifetime residence license fee.
so basically I log on to buy a $6 raffle, thinking hey its cheap, lets buy it. 10 minutes later I'm holding a receipt for $50.
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 16, 2010, 01:09:47 PM
Quote
then there's the $6 lifetime residence license fee.:dunno:
I think that is for the drawing, and optional....
Post by: KimberRich on February 16, 2010, 01:14:51 PM
Heading up to my spot this afternoon, just to look for droppings....
Find anything??
Post by: KimberRich on February 16, 2010, 01:18:28 PM
I'm going to head over the first weekend of April to scout and with the weather being so mild so far I'm thinking the birds are going to be going crazy earlier this year. :twocents:
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 16, 2010, 01:20:59 PM
After I drop my Daughter off at dance class (2:30), I pick her and her sister up at 4:00, will let you know....Heading up to my spot this afternoon, just to look for droppings....
Find anything??
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 16, 2010, 06:48:38 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on February 16, 2010, 07:40:03 PM
couple grouse, some deer and coyote tracks..... :dunno:
Every year is a new adventure.... :chuckle:
Post by: strutnrut1984 on February 16, 2010, 08:19:15 PM
Post by: KimberRich on February 17, 2010, 04:01:14 PM
going to check out my area, tommorrow where i killed my eastern last year.
Eastern... :drool:
Post by: Dustin07 on February 18, 2010, 09:16:59 AM
Quotethen there's the $6 lifetime residence license fee.:dunno:
I think that is for the drawing, and optional....
there's nothing optional about having your plastic out and having someone wave a raffle for a lifetime license in front of you :P at that point it is mandatory. :P
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 18, 2010, 11:27:12 AM
Post by: Dustin07 on February 18, 2010, 11:35:47 AM
plus, i will buy the 2 pole endorsement this year for fishing, that's an extra $25.
Post by: Atroxus on February 18, 2010, 12:39:59 PM
Post by: uplandhunter870 on February 18, 2010, 06:21:23 PM
Post by: Dustin07 on February 19, 2010, 08:28:40 AM
cant wait. got the entire neighborhood trying to figure out what kind of bird is making that sound as i sit on the back patio and work the dust off my slate and listen to the echos off the houses to judge how good im doing
LOL nice, maybe I'll have to pull the box out. For the last three months my neighbors have been hearing snow geese. There are no snow geese in Enumclaw :dunno: LOL
Post by: Tom Tamer on February 20, 2010, 04:53:02 PM
Otherwise i'll spend the first four days chasing Easterns. that way once i get my butt throughly handed to me those Merriams will seem a whole lot easier.
Post by: Turkeyman on February 20, 2010, 09:04:03 PM
Post by: the shootist on February 21, 2010, 07:50:25 PM
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 21, 2010, 09:59:04 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on February 21, 2010, 10:55:58 PM
Post by: Dustin07 on February 22, 2010, 09:10:15 AM
Heading out with dad tomorrow to investigate a new spot where the Mighty Easterns have been spotted. land locked area and we got permisson to cross the private land to get to it.
Otherwise i'll spend the first four days chasing Easterns. that way once i get my butt throughly handed to me those Merriams will seem a whole lot easier.
LOL no joke. after about 6 different outtings I was thinking Turkey's in WA were like the mythical Snipe until I spent a total of 12hrs one day in the K Falls area.
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 22, 2010, 10:00:11 AM
Heading out with dad tomorrow to investigate a new spot where the Mighty Easterns have been spotted. land locked area and we got permisson to cross the private land to get to it.
Otherwise i'll spend the first four days chasing Easterns. that way once i get my butt throughly handed to me those Merriams will seem a whole lot easier.
LOL no joke. after about 6 different outtings I was thinking Turkey's in WA were like the mythical Snipe until I spent a total of 12hrs one day in the K Falls area.
I had the same thing, 4 years hunting from Rochester to LeBaum and PeEll, all the way over to the Bald Hills outside of Yelm, hunting 3-4 days a week from a month before season,until it was over, and only seeing 4 hens and 2 Toms at the winery (Johnson Creek) and finding some feathers near Galvin, I was ready to give up.
Then a friend and I drove out to Kettle Falls, and saw 2 Toms and 10 hens before we got there. Then we set up camp and drank some whiskey, woke up late the next morning to 4 hens outside our tent!
We saw a whole bunch of turkeys in the next week, and even got one, then came back here and hunted for the rest of the season and saw none.
after a few more seasons here, I figured they all got killed or something) because the only thing I could call in were Coyotes.
Now 12 years later, I am determined to get on of these damn Easterns and finally have found a few that aren't as shy as they used to be, so I am hoping........
Post by: Dustin07 on February 22, 2010, 10:23:32 AM
Post by: turkeydancer on February 22, 2010, 12:21:54 PM
Takes a lot of shoe leather (scouting), but also some knowledge of what to look for as pertains to the 3 each "mini-ecosystems" that usually merge together to form their "home" (big timber, younger reprod, & forest openings). The toms like to fly down into forest openings (those big enough they feel they can escape from any preditors that might suddenly appear ... these also usually green up first and will hold the bugs that give them protein they need for the breeding season) ... the hens usually will nest on the edge of younger reprod (where they feel the nest is hidden and they can readily escape and draw any preditors off from) ... and while she's nesting, he'll either hang out nearby in the forest opening or the big timber (places he can be seen and/or heard to attract more hens, but close enough to rejoin his hens for late afternoon/evening feeding and flyup). You will also usually find them within a few hundred yards of a fresh water source. They also like to roost on the horizontal limbs that are open enough to fly up to or down from (usually on a hillside or over a bottom ... these will normally allow him to look down into the forest opening to ensure no preditors are present and to see his "harem" prior to him flying down to join them).
They also are usually "quieter" and don't "talk" as much as the other sub-species. You shouldn't either.
Good luck .... :drool:
Post by: Dustin07 on February 22, 2010, 01:17:27 PM
Your storie jives well with others I've heard. down on the river I've had a number of guys tell me they've seen turkeys walking along the shoreline outside of the onalaska area.
Post by: Wacenturion on February 22, 2010, 01:41:06 PM
Once you have found a group of birds, monitor their activity by checking for fresh droppings up till the opener. Then park you butt and hunt the sign......patience with a capital P. That doesn't mean you can't relocate given the situation....like an obstacle between you and the bird....fence, creek etc. Outside an obvious obstacle believe and wait, calling infrequently and softly. Those Easterns are killable. :twocents:
Post by: Dustin07 on February 22, 2010, 01:47:01 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on February 22, 2010, 05:38:39 PM
Post by: Phantom Gobbler on February 24, 2010, 04:39:56 PM
I will leave the Western Washington Phantoms for you die-hards to chase. May the force be with you this year! :chuckle: :chuckle:
I will be heading over to NE WA for the opener again this year to try for Mountain Merriams!
Post by: bow4elk on February 24, 2010, 05:02:45 PM
Heading out with dad tomorrow to investigate a new spot where the Mighty Easterns have been spotted. land locked area and we got permisson to cross the private land to get to it.
Otherwise i'll spend the first four days chasing Easterns. that way once i get my butt throughly handed to me those Merriams will seem a whole lot easier.
LOL no joke. after about 6 different outtings I was thinking Turkey's in WA were like the mythical Snipe until I spent a total of 12hrs one day in the K Falls area.
I had the same thing, 4 years hunting from Rochester to LeBaum and PeEll, all the way over to the Bald Hills outside of Yelm, hunting 3-4 days a week from a month before season,until it was over, and only seeing 4 hens and 2 Toms at the winery (Johnson Creek) and finding some feathers near Galvin, I was ready to give up.
Then a friend and I drove out to Kettle Falls, and saw 2 Toms and 10 hens before we got there. Then we set up camp and drank some whiskey, woke up late the next morning to 4 hens outside our tent!
We saw a whole bunch of turkeys in the next week, and even got one, then came back here and hunted for the rest of the season and saw none.
after a few more seasons here, I figured they all got killed or something) because the only thing I could call in were Coyotes.
Now 12 years later, I am determined to get on of these damn Easterns and finally have found a few that aren't as shy as they used to be, so I am hoping........
Good, I'm not the only thick-headed Western Washington Eastern hunter around here :chuckle: I called a big 'ol Tom into about 5 yards and never saw him until I stood up to move. If you think grouse rattle you, try a 20 pound gobbler erupting out of the salal. How he got in that close is beyond me. He never gobbled or made a peep. I was hunting on sign alone - one wing feather, a few random tracks, and a couple "J's" in the road. The bugger is the only turkey I've physically seen in years of hunting them on the west side. Still looking to tag my first bird...
Post by: STIKNSTRINGBOW on February 24, 2010, 05:32:29 PM
Post by: jackelope on February 24, 2010, 05:43:42 PM
This Phantom Gobbler will be chasing Phantom Easterns in Western Kentucky this year. :) Wish me luck!
I will leave the Western Washington Phantoms for you die-hards to chase. May the force be with you this year! :chuckle: :chuckle:
I will be heading over to NE WA for the opener again this year to try for Mountain Merriams!
I think you will find that the eastern kentucky birds are far from phantoms...they're everywhere!! you should have a great hunt. we were there one year and drove to a shooting club and there was turkeys in every field along the way.
Post by: Phantom Gobbler on February 25, 2010, 09:21:18 AM
This Phantom Gobbler will be chasing Phantom Easterns in Western Kentucky this year. :) Wish me luck!
I will leave the Western Washington Phantoms for you die-hards to chase. May the force be with you this year! :chuckle: :chuckle:
I will be heading over to NE WA for the opener again this year to try for Mountain Merriams!
I think you will find that the eastern kentucky birds are far from phantoms...they're everywhere!! you should have a great hunt. we were there one year and drove to a shooting club and there was turkeys in every field along the way.
Still looking for my first Eastern so I'm looking forward to chasing some in Kentucky. It will be the last week of the season so it should be challenging....................... :dunno:
Post by: turkey slayer on February 25, 2010, 10:07:30 AM
Post by: KimberRich on February 25, 2010, 12:53:49 PM
Good luck buddy. I have basically 2 or 3 areas where I've been told people have seen Turkeys, or heard them. (Easterns). I have seen the J hooked scat in capitol forest, but thats it. I will probably give it another go myself, but time is a little more limited this year, so I'm going after the 'sure thing'.
"Sure thing" ??? Hope your not talking about the birds on the eastern part of the state.. Definitely not a sure thing.
Post by: Phantom Gobbler on February 26, 2010, 10:30:56 PM
Sounds like you just have to pull the trigger Phantom, should be fun chasing around those big ol eastern long beards
Sure wanted to pull the trigger on a gobbler last spring hunting in the Smokey Mountains....................but I'm the one who ended up gettin "smoked." Those wiley Eastern Ridge Runners can be super elusive! :bash:
Post by: ridgefire on February 27, 2010, 10:50:55 PM
Post by: Phantom Gobbler on February 28, 2010, 09:36:59 PM
good luck phantom when r u going to florida to try for the osciolla (sp)
Maybe someday if the economy bounces back. Guided hunts in Florida for Oceola's are the most expensive both in travel costs and outfitter fees. Only one place to get the Grand Florida Swamp Tom....... so it's limited supply and big demand to get the Slam.
:cryriver: