Post by: Elkpiss on March 15, 2012, 11:46:08 AM
Post by: yelp on March 15, 2012, 02:43:37 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on March 15, 2012, 09:52:42 PM
Post by: Limhangerslayer on March 15, 2012, 10:08:20 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on March 15, 2012, 10:23:15 PM
Post by: WABONEHNTR on March 15, 2012, 10:26:50 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on March 15, 2012, 10:34:05 PM
Post by: lokidog on March 15, 2012, 10:43:33 PM
Post by: Tom Tamer on March 16, 2012, 11:03:04 AM
Post by: turkeydancer on March 16, 2012, 11:07:45 AM
:bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:
Post by: Elkpiss on March 16, 2012, 11:55:25 AM
Post by: Phantom Gobbler on March 17, 2012, 11:10:11 AM
Post by: MtnMuley on March 17, 2012, 03:41:15 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on March 17, 2012, 06:17:29 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on March 17, 2012, 06:29:08 PM
Go get the easy Merriam first. Then get the rather easy Rio. This can be easily done in a week. Spend the rest of the season on the Eastern, which is closest to you anyway. If you've scouted an Eastern and feel you have a decent chance, then give him the first day. :twocents:
I would suggest just the opposite. Get the Eastern first. They are in my opinion, easier to kill at the front end of the season. Many years they could care less in mid to late May. My experience anyway. If you get the Eastern first, you have a chance, but as we all know, it's still turkey hunting.
However, MtnMuley's advice can also work. Either way, you'll need some good ol' luck somewhere along the way. :chuckle:
Post by: Elkpiss on March 20, 2012, 07:07:45 AM
Post by: Wacenturion on March 20, 2012, 10:06:16 AM
Ya i think that would be the best way, get the easy ones out of the way first.. :chuckle:.. then get the Eastern... You have to Kill your Marriam and Rio pretty dam quick to give yourself a good chance at the Eastern.. Ive killed a few Easterns and hunt them every year and have honestly seen a decline in numbers in the last 5-8 years.. I still have some good spots, but killing a Eastern Tom is the equivilant to killing a 180 Mule Deer, 350 Bull, 60 inch bull moose, ect.. You get the point No Easy task.. :twocents:
Interesting comment......................
"Ive killed a few Easterns and hunt them every year and have honestly seen a decline in numbers in the last 5-8 years."
I would also suggest that the time frame you mention is just about right for the habitat they prefer and are using to change enough for them to move somewhere else in proximity that replicates what they were in the previous several years. It always amazes me how quickly an Eastern honey hole can disappear and reappear somewhere over the hill or down the valley due to changes and growth in the habitat they are using. :chuckle:
Of interest is the harvest in the Turkey pamphlet. Looking at the western Washington Eastern areas, P40 and P50, you'll see harvest is actually increasing, particularly in P50, the southwest areas . Figures below are 1996-2010. Considering the difficulty to take an Eastern in Washington, and the probable increase number of those trying, it appears they are still doing their thing. Only it may just be as I said...over the hill or down the valley.
P40 4 1 1 0 1 2 7 9 15 10 8 9 3 5 10
P50 26 36 40 46 48 47 54 52 54 53 77 62 50 65 89
Post by: turkeydancer on March 20, 2012, 11:31:54 AM
I agree wholeheartedly.
But I kind of wonder if due to the recent economy causing more hunters to stay closer to home if the numbers might be slightly skewed. Maybe not as much as I think, because I see more sign and more birds each year (especially since I first started hunting them). Then again, maybe I'm getting better at knowing where to look and finding their sign ... ie: even a blind squirrel can occasionally find a nut or two.
:tup:
Post by: Wacenturion on March 20, 2012, 03:54:54 PM
I have said for years that Washington's Eastern Wild Turkey is the hardest turkey to kill in the country, but at the same time it is also the easiest. Folks with multiple Eastern kills in western Washington know what I'm referring to. Just ask Turkeyman. :hunter:
What I mean specifically is that if you spend the time, burn the boot leather, find droppings, kick them off the road so no one else see them (called being paranoid), stay on them until the opener, and have the patience to believe in and hunt the droppings without sight or sound of a turkey, you will become experienced enough to eventually kill one.
Once you have done that, you realize that because of what you have invested, you are essentially hunting without competition on a pod of birds, that tend to be in small bunches here and there and you have their number. i prefer soft infrequent calling with the mindset of initially for the first hour or so trying to convince any turkey within hearing distance that I'm are the real deal...a turkey. Eventually and more times than naught, this will pay off sometime during the day if you don't screw it up. You may have to relocate, improvise, go to your bag of tricks, etc., just like with any turkey hunt. When it does happen all you generally see is two black sticks walking through the brushy understory coming torward you. Harvest usually occurs at point blank range. Of course that varies by terrain and cover, but this has been my experience. Maybe I just like close encounters. :tup:
Post by: Elkpiss on March 20, 2012, 04:13:17 PM
Post by: yelp on March 20, 2012, 05:19:01 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on March 20, 2012, 05:42:55 PM
Easterns are easy! 8) In 1998..I went out to a spot sat down called one in and shot it?????? Just saying..I am batting 100%. I haven't been back yet. Someday. Wacenturian keeps telling me of the cougar hole I don't know if I want to go back! :yike:
Yeah....but you almost left early and blew it if I remember right....been awhile. :chuckle:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on March 20, 2012, 05:57:27 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on March 20, 2012, 06:12:33 PM
yeah it seems the easterns were pretty easy back in the 90s especially around the early 90s ... They have gotten alittle tuffer now ... I think a few of those birds shot in the early 90s were banded ....but not sure :dunno: :twocents:
No they weren't easy back in the 90's. Not many banded ones that I recall except for one or two harvested by other folks. Even then, those banded birds I was aware of had been out there for a couple years. Took tons of time as I explained above. Hope I'm not taking it wrong but somehow I sense a note of sarcasm, like someone was hunting planted birds. Perhaps you didn't mean it that way and if so I apologize. I just get defensive as I've heard it all over the years, most of it untrue jealous rhetoric from people who don't know what the hell they are talking about. :twocents:
Post by: BrushChimp on March 20, 2012, 06:25:15 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on March 20, 2012, 07:02:09 PM
Post by: yelp on March 20, 2012, 07:47:59 PM
Finding fresh sign and strutting area's is the key then have a ton of patience trust your set up. soft calling is better you don't here eastern hens calling loud. i cluck and purr allot with a slate if its raining use a glass call. make a blind or use a ground blind it will allow you to stay longer. Try to find birds that aren't getting pressure makes things easier. :twocents:
Squeal a lot too...right?
Post by: yelp on March 20, 2012, 07:50:15 PM
Easterns are easy! 8) In 1998..I went out to a spot sat down called one in and shot it?????? Just saying..I am batting 100%. I haven't been back yet. Someday. Wacenturian keeps telling me of the cougar hole I don't know if I want to go back! :yike:
Yeah....but you almost left early and blew it if I remember right....been awhile. :chuckle:
Noo!??? I knew what I was doing! LOL Actually I thought it was a dog barking. As got closer I could make out the gobble. The salal and understory sucks up the sound for sure!
Post by: Turkeyman on March 20, 2012, 08:01:22 PM
Post by: Turkeyman on March 20, 2012, 08:05:41 PM
Post by: yelp on March 21, 2012, 08:24:11 PM
Eddie Salter would be proud of you Yelp. You are now a pro squealer on video :chuckle:Not sure I am a pro..but I wish they would have edited in some running turkeys!
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on March 22, 2012, 05:25:51 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on March 22, 2012, 05:28:22 AM
Post by: mtnseth on April 12, 2012, 08:39:53 PM
But I put a lot of miles (and two seasons of tag soup) to get that eastern, so overall, it's the hardest piece of the puzzle. I've come close the last two years on easterns, but couldn't seal the deal. In 2010 I had one gobble behind me at 10 feet. I have still have the stained shorts to prove it! Last season I passed on a bird and helped a buddy get his eastern on opening day after 17 years of trying (he went on to get the single season slam). I spent the rest of 2011 staying on the west side hunting one bird. I named him the 1 o'clock gobbler, since he never made a peep all day until 1 p.m. Then he would gobble his head off. This behavior went on for 3 or 4 days. I finally had him patterned, but blew it by getting up to move closer as he was coming in silently. I just saw a pair of legs and a long beard bookin' it into the timber. Never heard another peep out of him for the rest of the season.
This year I've done some scouting and have seen plenty of sign in the same area. I know where I'll be on Sunday morning.
Post by: The Gobble-stopper on April 13, 2012, 07:12:55 AM
Post by: turkeydancer on April 13, 2012, 11:04:37 AM
Hi MtnSeth : Long time no see. If you get the other two and just need the Rio, I may be able to send you to a friend who has 600 acres with a few hundred Rios on it.
:drool:
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 13, 2012, 05:21:12 PM
Easterns are easy! 8) In 1998..I went out to a spot sat down called one in and shot it?????? Just saying..I am batting 100%. I haven't been back yet. Someday. Wacenturian keeps telling me of the cougar hole I don't know if I want to go back! :yike:
[/quote
Yeah....but you almost left early and blew it if I remember right....been awhile. :chuckle:
Noo!??? I knew what I was doing! LOL Actually I thought it was a dog barking. As got closer I could make out the gobble. The salal and understory sucks up the sound for sure!
That dog barking thing kills me...We saw a tom on some ground we could not hunt. We were calling to him, but I kept hearing that " distant do barking"...until I noticed the toms tail move evrytime I heard the " bark" We couldn't see his head but he was no more than 250yds from us. When I realized what the " bark" was I instantly got pissed...because like I told Dad if we realized now how many Toms answering our call and we just left the area in past years. Never understood why a dog that sounde a mile away would always answer a turkey call ;p"
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 13, 2012, 05:29:57 PM
Eddie Salter would be proud of you Yelp. You are now a pro squealer on video :chuckle:Not sure I am a pro..but I wish they would have edited in some running turkeys!
Now that's funny right there LOL. Just as long as you use tape on the footage and get a cheesy edit break in the run.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on April 13, 2012, 05:48:54 PM
Post by: Tom Tamer on April 13, 2012, 09:01:05 PM