[GTOMazz]

Now here is a guy's selfi Called two birds in together. This bird was 18lbs, 8 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs. First time I went hunting in 5 or so years. Got him my third day out. Now I am taking my neighbor out for his first.

[Alvin]

Congrats on your hunt spoils and not breaking the camera! JK!

Great year to bag Turkey as news has been all about the mass nationwide slaughter of chicken and turkey by the commercial poultry farms due to (bird flu?) disease.
Yours will taste extra special all dressed out come Thanksgiving time!

[GT182]

I've heard that once you taste a wild Turkey, no not the bottled kind, you'll never go back to a store bought bird.

Congrat5s on the score Mazz.

[slgenge]

Congrats buddy

[mrrat1]

we have about 30 that run up & down the street every couple weeks.
They dance & prance around the front yard & middle of the street. A female or 2 will hop the fence for the bird feed. The young ones too.

[The Boss]

Since the coyotes have been around - I haven't seen a single turkey!

[GT182]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Since the coyotes have been around - I haven't seen a single turkey!

Look up. They'll sit in a grove of pines on the branches just above your head as you walk threw. If you don't look up you'll never know they're there. There was a spot I go to to deer hunt up in Northern NY. I always walked threw this one patch of pine trees going in or out of my hunting spot. I looked up one day and almost crapped my pants. There were about 10 turkeys sitting above me in the branches just watching me pass by.

[pontibeast]

Originally Posted by The Boss

Since the coyotes have been around - I haven't seen a single turkey!

That is a big reason why I coyote hunt. Since they showed up on the farm we hunt the turkey and deer population has been cut way down, as has the feral cat's the farmer relies on for rodent control. They are a real challenge as I and my hunting partner had to learn how to hunt them from trial and error but we're getting better at it. 8 coyotes taken during deer season and we haven't even started hunting them seriously yet as we were waiting for spring gobbler season to be over.

[Cliff R]

I don't hunt them, but get to listen to gobblers every morning when I let the dogs out. There are at least 2 or 3 of them on my property this time of year, they fly down at the crack of down and start trying to round up all the hens.

The coyote population here is increasing dramatically, but so far hasn't had a significant impact on the turkey and deer populations. They seem to eat more road-kill than anything else, guess that makes sense, why work for it?.........Cliff

[Deadhead]

Not sure I believe it, but the Fish & Wildlife Dept. guy here says that coyotes do not have much effect on the turkey population and may actually help it. They claim that the coyotes put pressure on the fox population, which eat more turkey. I still blast coyotes whenever they give me the chance, but thought I would relate that since it came from a "professional".

Congrats on your turkey. Here they are very wily critters and not at all easy to hunt. An old friend from rural NJ claimed they were easy to hunt there, but he also killed a 750# bear with a bow and was a guide in ME. Not sure if the old Marine was pulling my leg or not.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Deadhead

Congrats on your turkey. Here they are very wily critters and not at all easy to hunt. An old friend from rural NJ claimed they were easy to hunt there, but he also killed a 750# bear with a bow and was a guide in ME. Not sure if the old Marine was pulling my leg or not.

I had to laugh reading that - around here they always seemed to be pretty dumb. 15 years ago my Portuguese tile installer went "hunting" for them in a subdivision I was building in one day. We could see him down the road driving his F-350 around like a wild man raising all sorts of dust up on the empty lots. When he came back we asked him what the hell he was doing - he said hunting.

He got three Turkeys & in his words (try to imagine this in a THICK Portuguese accent) "Two pretty good, one too smushed."

[pontibeast]

Went on a spring gobbler hunt this year with a disabled hunting group and even though I came up empty handed two of the guys got some really nice birds, one had a double beard. Here is what they look like in SW Virginia.

[GTOMazz]

Nice double beard. Never got a double one yet, but I did get a big one years ago. It weighed 25lbs. Took me 45 minutes to get him in. He would just walk back and forth the whole time. I almost gave up. I got him in a full strut mount. The taxidermist told me the bird was over 5 years old. He stands 33 inches tall at the top of his tail and only has one spur. I have a few others mounted but I lost most of my mounts in a fire. Called in another one last week for a friend but he got spooked. Happy Hunting!!!

[Firedup6975]

I had 2 males displaying over 4 females last Thursday right out my patio door. One male was smaller and lost. The big male won over the ladies. LOL By the way I love seeing nature like this, and even feed the critters.

[GRNMTGOAT]

I was lucky enough to take a 21lb on may3, high in the mountains,actually wearing ice spikes on my boots ! Interesting thing,it must have ''crash landed'' sometime last year and had a stick grown into its wing. Bruce.

[pontibeast]

Second day after the season ended I walked out on the deck and there were two gobblers roosted in a tree right at the edge of the woods by my lawn, I swear they and the bears around hear have calendars. I will have bear all around my property until about a week before bear season then they all magically disappear until the season is over. Been hunting here for 13 years and I have never seen a bear during legal shooting hours. I had one surprise me on the way back to the house after it got dark, we both freaked out as he was only about 20 yards away when we both saw each other. He sounded like a tank crashing through the woods. Maybe next year he will come in a little earlier. A guy can hope, right?