Post by: HoofsandWings on May 01, 2010, 12:39:44 PM
It should be better than seeing 500 of my closest friends over in the Colville area.
Post by: Wacenturion on May 01, 2010, 12:56:29 PM
Post by: Wayne1 on May 01, 2010, 01:29:19 PM
Quote
It should be better than seeing 500 of my closest friends over in the Colville area.
Hmmmmm.. Not sure how to take that..... Woudering if I ought to be Happy you never knew me or not ? lol
Post by: Austrian Hunter on May 01, 2010, 03:12:39 PM
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 01, 2010, 08:20:22 PM
I am not sure how high the turkeys are, so I am looking at likely food.
Apparently it is prom night around here and even though I was on a remote logging road.
Several vehicles, one with a couple of cases of beer went by me along with a car full of girls.
This was after 7pm.
Hopefully they won't keep the turkeys up all night.
Post by: yelp on May 01, 2010, 09:01:13 PM
The wind will be an issue!
Its windy over here..trying to decide what to do tommorrow.. good luck get that eastern!
Post by: carpsniperg2 on May 01, 2010, 09:29:19 PM
I have found some areas protected from the wind.
I am not sure how high the turkeys are, so I am looking at likely food.
Apparently it is prom night around here and even though I was on a remote logging road.
Several vehicles, one with a couple of cases of beer went by me along with a car full of girls.
This was after 7pm.
Hopefully they won't keep the turkeys up all night.
that might be a good time to locate them with all the howling going on :chuckle:
Post by: JoeVon on May 01, 2010, 09:45:42 PM
I have found some areas protected from the wind.
I am not sure how high the turkeys are, so I am looking at likely food.
Apparently it is prom night around here and even though I was on a remote logging road.
Several vehicles, one with a couple of cases of beer went by me along with a car full of girls.
This was after 7pm.
Hopefully they won't keep the turkeys up all night.
This cracks me up! It is prom night tonight from what I heard, and if things haven't changed I'd imagine your turkeys might be sleeping in tomorrow morning! :)
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 02, 2010, 03:54:24 PM
they had left town by shooting light time. :bash: And then there was this one very lonely grouse that was performing a mating call continuously for an hour at least.
Post by: Magnum_Willys on May 02, 2010, 04:15:13 PM
Post by: buckhorn2 on May 02, 2010, 04:17:38 PM
Post by: turkeydancer on May 02, 2010, 05:32:23 PM
:dunno:
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 02, 2010, 09:30:40 PM
There was a lot of wild turkey being passed around toutle during elk season :chuckle: but I've never seen a bird near there in the spring. You've actually seen a turkey near there ?Were you hunting at river level?
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 02, 2010, 09:32:11 PM
Had the same coyote experience right after a very loud explosion toward the Arden area, but amazing enough it made the toms gobble even more ... was able to move in and setup. Go figure ....Easterns don't gobble. At least I have never heard one. Just hen talk.
:dunno:
Post by: dawei on May 03, 2010, 08:24:55 PM
Easterns don't gobble. At least I have never heard one. Just hen talk.I've heard Easterns gobble many, many times; bothy on the roost and through out the day.
Post by: NWTFhunter on May 03, 2010, 10:30:52 PM
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 04, 2010, 06:31:08 AM
I did not say they don't gobble. It is just that I have never heard one. I may have heard one some years ago over by Olympia while scouting in early April. Now that it is May, I don't expect to hear a gobble.Easterns don't gobble. At least I have never heard one. Just hen talk.I've heard Easterns gobble many, many times; bothy on the roost and through out the day.
Post by: mtnseth on May 04, 2010, 11:44:24 AM
The other was this year, and he didn't gobble until he got to within 10 steps over my right shoulder. I busted the hen he was with (because they showed up without a sound - I don't think I called them in, I was just set up where they happened to walk by), and she started to putt, which made him gobble. (I about dumped a load when he thundered right in my ear at that range!) I never actually saw him and I didn't get a shot at that bird. Both of these were within 1.5 miles of a busy gate.
This year I've been scouting deep in the woods, miles and miles beyond the gates. I see hens every time I go out, and they're alone ALL DAY, in singles, sometimes pairs. I've been in three times well before daylight and haven't heard a peep. I've perched up on a clearcut with 360 degree views of several drainages to listen and it's been quiet. I've tried getting shock gobbles midday and nothing. I saw lots of tom sign before the season and now I'm only finding hen sign. What gives? Where did they go?
I'm starting to develop a theory about these easterns. The ones that have big open fields or farms nearby seem to be more vocal. The deep-in birds who hang out in the thick timber and cruise the logging roads from time to time seem to be a lot more quiet. I'm not sure why this is. A skewed tom-hen ratio with less competition for hens?
I know there are guys that hunt deep and hear birds, but I believe different flocks act differently and you have to have perfect conditions to have them gobble, and even more perfect conditions (no wind, less dense timber) to hear them when they do.
Post by: NWTFhunter on May 04, 2010, 01:47:25 PM
Post by: turkeydancer on May 04, 2010, 02:55:06 PM
I always have heard gobbles during the season, but they are a lot quieter than our other subspecies as to frequency and volume. The brush also tends to "eat" sound, so I use a game ear to help me pick it up when they do gobble.
Bottom line: If it was as easy as Merriams and Rios, we would have wall to wall hunters out here and the prize would not be as sweet.
:twocents:
Post by: mtnseth on May 04, 2010, 03:16:03 PM
The bird I nearly killed this season was roosted probably 150-300 yards away and never made a sound on the roost. He gobbled on opening day at 10:30 a.m. (three times, then shut up according to my partner who hunted there) That Friday he gobbled once at 8:30 a.m. about 100 yards away (never showed). On Saturday, he never made a peep until he showed up at 8:30 a.m. behind me and gobbled when his hen putted at me.
I went back the following Thursday and he never showed and never made a sound, and I stuck it out from 4:30 to 11 a.m. I was ready for him that time, but to no avail.
But that was all in a popular area not from the gate, and the bird roosted on private land near some buildings. The fact is, I don't care if they gobble or not. If I could find evidence that one is currently in the area I'm hunting (the spot 6 miles in the woods), I've learned enough about them to sit still and stay quiet. What I don't understand is how there could be all these hens around and I've not once spotted a tom or jake. The four times I've been in there hunting, I've called in at least two hens every time!
It's as if a big flock or multiple flocks used the area extensively up until the season started, then split up and the toms have found a hidey hole and the hens sneak away and visit him (maybe as much as a mile away) and spend the rest of the day feeding by themselves. The problem is I've searched every nook and cranny of the area and I can't find the hidey hole.
Post by: Wacenturion on May 04, 2010, 04:59:28 PM
Post by: turkeydancer on May 04, 2010, 05:31:15 PM
Hear that ..... I'm going Friday afternoon thru Sunday pm to let them kick me to the curb a few times ... missed going last year.
Post by: HoofsandWings on May 09, 2010, 09:00:27 PM
I meet a couple of older ladies blocking the road. I wait and wait and they don't move. I move forward and finally they move only a couple of yards backward. This is up in the timber. Unknown why they are even there. At about 3 miles from the main road, I find a burn barrel tossed probably this morning or the day before. Why way up there I do not know. I find holes where someone had dug into the bank. Shovel marks still clear. Oh and while walking downstream on a small creek, I come across several cases of beer cooling in a pool along with a bottle of Jack Daniels. I am sure you late season hunters run into this kind of thing all of the time.