Short Story: The Feeling

It was 6:15 A.M. I was standing at the end of a big agricultural field waiting for the first gobble. I had roosted two hens the night before opposite the line of timber in front of me, and figured that the old gobbler would be roosted close. To my dismay, a bird gobbled on the other property, and too far to work. I eased to a line of timber between the field I was on and another to see if I could get a better listen for any other birds that may be gobbling...sure enough, there was. A bird hammered immediately after a crow flew over head with a lot to say. He was roosted on a ridge right off of the big agricultural field I had walked too. I set up the decoys in a hurry as the sun rose and he began to get hot. I sat back against a tree 10 yards from the decoys and started to yelp softly. Once he answered me, I  shut up. He continued to gobble and then got quiet after about 10 minutes....I knew it was close to fly down time.

Even though I knew the bird was close, I didn't know I'd be able to hear him pitch down. His wings crashed through the leaves and he gobbled as soon as his feet touched the ground. I couldn't see him, but he had defiantly pitched my way in the woods and he was threatening to enter the field. My heart began to race as I visualized the bird's approach. I slowed my breathing as much as possible and tried to stay clear headed as my hunter's intuition was telling me that it was going to happen. I made an almost involuntary click of the safety on my gun.....pretty much confirming that the bird would step out and lay eyes on the decoys very soon. He gobbled.....right inside of the woods this time. I gave a few more soft yelps and scratched in the leaves. Then, I heard him drum. An unexplained numbness came over me.....and all of a sudden....to the opposite side of my set up...."ooomm". I looked....there in the sun light was a half strut gobbler. He hadn't said a word all morning and had slipped into my set up and was now headed straight for the decoys. He staggered as he entered the field drumming the whole way and cocking his fan from side to side. He got to the decoys and started purring as he postured at the jake look a like. He backed off and went back into a full strut while stepping right outside of the decoys. I clucked twice...he raised his head.... "BOOM!"

It all happened so fast. At first, my confidence was low for not being able to locate a workable bird. Then, I am one on one with a hot gobbler and out of nowhere another one hits the scene ready to fight. It is truly something amazing and hard to explain to those who choose not to hunt these monarchical birds. When I think back.....I don't hardly remember the whole thing...all i know is that the feeling is something irreplaceable and I'll go back for that reason alone.

SPRING-oholics Anonymous

Its here. The flowers are blooming and the turkeys are gobbling. The days are getting longer and warmer and the Spring DST has kicked in. You're out of your thermals and skull caps and in to your shorts or your all green camouflage. If your like me, then you weren't to sad to see the cold weather go. You had about all you could of deer season and your ready for Spring turkeys and great fishing.

Looking back is the thought of the worst few months of a Spring crazed outdoorsman's existence......the lull. There is no deer season and no duck season....but the turkeys aren't gobbling and the fish aren't biting. You look ahead and it doesn't seem too far away but believe me, if you are crazy about Spring seasons, then you will need someway to keep yourself busy. 

                                                     

The way I start getting myself into the swing of Spring is to start teasing myself by taking out my turkey vest and playing with calls, checking the line on my rods, and finding the "keeper" items or the ones that need to be tossed out and replaced in my tackle box or turkey vest. This can be exciting and time consuming, which is exactly what a Spring addict like yourself needs right now.....time consumption. 

PACE YOURSELF! Don't go out and buy the next closest thing for one of your replacement items right off the bat just to fill the void of a half full tackle box or a sorry excuse for a turkey vest. Instead, start researching. Unless your old worn out item was your go to thing, then I would suggest finding a new one.....a better one.

This strategy is going to help in several ways:

• You will use time that you would normally be fantasizing with

• You will replace your old or worn items

• You will better your selection

The only bad thing is....this time period won't last long. Before you know it, you'll have an overflowing tackle box and a 50 pound turkey vest on your hands. Everything in front of you is going to have you itching to get out there and do it. Just hold tight and maybe grab a magazine. Stay in tune but don't wear yourself out. I've found that there are online forums where you can ease your pain talking to other outdoor enthusiasts like yourself. 

One day.....all of a sudden....your going to see a flower bloomed in your yard, or a bird singing outside your window. The only problem is that the extended length of the days doesn't match the cold, windy, and sometimes dreary weather. Its almost as if Spring is here.....but its not. Now is the time to start getting active. Strap on your turkey vest, sit up against an oak tree, and pattern your turkey gun. Take the cover off the bass boat and go get a feel for how shes running. Practice scratching on your favorite slate or just making some blind casts on your old bait caster. No doubt you'll be prepared for your first adventure of the spring. 

You don't have to take my word for it.....but for sometime now, I've been suffering from the pre-spring jitters. I've managed to get through the days by doing exactly what you see here. From it, I have more confidence in my gear, I have stayed in tune and cooked up more tricks for this season, and mostly...I haven't gone completely insane waiting on it to get here. If you're crazy about it like me, you might not get as much success out of the program....but it'll help.

Hunter's Digest: Is Your Turkey Party Crashed?

If you've ever heard of or had to deal with hogs, then there is no doubt you've heard mostly negative things about their presence, and well.....their overall existence. I for one have just previously encountered a wild hog population for the first time, and on one of my properties. This discovery brought to mind the fact that I have heard so much negative about the adverse effects that a hog population may have on other animals....especially turkeys.

The most common reason people have for assuming that hogs are the party crasher of the animal world, is because hogs seem to directly compete with deer. Deer and hogs inhabit the same types of areas and do bump heads often and mostly because hogs seem to uproot and destroy the same food sources that are so important to deer. Hogs are not commonly known as browsers but will eat some of the same food plot grasses that are planted every year for deer. Agricultural fields provide great food sources for deer, even though the deer are unwanted in most cases, but, taking the farmer out of the equation and making it deer vs hog, we see that hogs can truly destroy an agricultural field in no time at all. This alone is not always the case. Hogs are not just destroying the food source for the deer, but they can become very aggressive and territorial towards them. Hogs are flat out no good for deer, thus, they have given themselves a bad rep in the animal world.
                                                                                                                   
A hog is very opportunistic. Anything that is dubbed food by a hog will be eaten when they come across it. Hogs will eat acorns, but will not make it a point to seek them out unless it is the only source of food that is available to them. This is very rare being that hogs can pretty much make a meal out of anything. They eat all types of vegetation, including seeds, nuts, bark, other plant material and grass, even though they are not browsers. Hogs are relentless as they will eat baby animals and other easy meals such as snakes, lizards, birds, and birds eggs...which brings to mind nest predation of turkeys.

Though some people may have seen a turkey nest where a hog had snouted it out, it is not to say that hogs are definite nest predators. Like I said before, hogs are opportunistic, and based on the rest of their diet, why wouldn't they eat a turkey egg.? Turkey biologist, Lovett Williams, had this to say:

"I've worked with wild turkeys for many years in Florida and have examined more than 300 turkey nests in wild hog country, but I've never seen evidence of a hog destroying a turkey nest. No doubt, a hog will eat a turkey egg if it finds one, but I don't think hogs are serious nest predators, as is sometimes claimed."

It seems people automatically get their hopes destroyed when they find hog sign while scouting for turkeys. This is a common misconception. Hogs DO eat some of the same foods that turkeys relish, however, they DO NOT compete. Even better, turkeys can thrive off of plenty more food items that hogs don't eat. So, if you are out scouting for turkeys and find hog sign....DON'T FREAK OUT! Take advantage of the situation and when life hands you hogs.....make bacon!

Kudos for Bushnell

   I recently owned a $149.99 Bushnell 2MP Trail Sentry. It was about the size of your average bible. I used it for 2 years up untill this January when it malfunctioned and gave me an error screen. I'm not saying it didn't perform well....just that it was simply passed it's prime and malfunctioned.

Bushnell Trail Sentry 2MP

                                                    

  

   Once it had set in that my trail camera was at the point of no return, I decided to check out Bushnell's website and customer service page to look in to a possible repair. As soon as I viewed the repairs page, I knew I would be jumping through hoops for some customer service rep to fix the error on my device. The page lays out the process for you with all the exceptions, "but if"s, and "only ifs" for your hassle free repairs. It says you must fill out the repairs form and to make sure you have the proof of purchase with your device in the box. Proof of purchase? Yea, because thats exactly what I thought about when I was buying the camera.....saving my proof of purchase.

What to Include: 

1. This form completely filled out and rubber banded to the unit. Be sure to fill in the “Description of Problems” box. Printing all of your information on this form will assure that it is recorded correctly when your repair arrives for processing and tracking. Failure to use the Bushnell Repair Form, or the substitution of handwritten notes, could result in delay.

2. A dated Proof of Purchase must be included with electronic products that do not have lifetime warranties. This includes: Laser Rangefinders, Trail Cameras, GPS (inc. BackTrack), ImageView (binoculars and spotting scopes), Night Vision, Speed Radar, and Flashlights.

3. A check or money order for the return shipping and handling fee for all Bushnell products* is $10.00 except for telescopes which have a $15.00 shipping and handling fee due to their size and weight. *No return shipping/handling fee is charged for warranty repairs of Bushnell Eliteriflescopes and binoculars.

4. If you purchased extended or additional warranty coverage through Bushnell or Registria after registering your product online, be sure to enclose a copy of the receipt for this extra warranty, as well as the dated original purchase receipt.

    Also, you must have a $10.00 check included in the package for shipping expense. So....after I accepted what was needed to be done in order to have my precious trail camera repaired and returned, it says"Your repaired unit or a comparable replacement of equal value and function will be shipped to you via UPS within 4-6 weeks." Dang, so now I have to wait a month to a month and a half to get a trail camera back that was working just fine yesterday......but on the bright side, I could get a new one EXACTLY like it!

   So, I get it together and ready to send it out with all the hassles of actually getting it shipped. I'm biting my nails hoping it arrives at least just in time for turkey season. A week and a half go by and there is a knock at the door. Its the UPS man. I take the package and look it over to find it is from the same place in Kansas that Bushnell is located. I thought it couldn't be true, there is no way they repaired it that quick. I thought I was never gonna get this thing back. Turns out I didn't get my trail camera back...... I didn't even get one just like it. They sent me a BRAND NEW Bushnell 8MP Trophy Cam with Field Scan time lapse, video recording, and it was just bigger than my smart phone.

Bushnell Trophy Cam 8MP

Not to mention, I looked up the price and it was $295.95 MSRP........Kudos for you Bushnell. Misleading repair page, surprising results!

My prostaff and I are in the process of testing the unit now!!!

REVIEW OF THE TROPHY CAM COMING SOON!!!

Hunter's Digest: Getting Permission

                
Intro
It's been a long morning.....he gobbled a few times on the limb and by now you are sure he is on the ground. Only he is silent now, and the only vocalizations are the fading chatter of hens. You sit and think of your next move, and when you make your move, you realize that your running out of ground and that the bird you are chasing has conveniently placed himself in your neighbors cotton field. This is what I call a runaway gobbler. He's not spooked, but he has gotten away. You struggled to find that lease all summer, and while sitting in the deer stand, your hopes were heightened by the large droves of turkeys picking through your food plots...only to find out that when Spring finally arrived that there were only few big gobblers to chase. Fear not, for you will have fun chasing just a few birds......unless your property is just of temporary use to them.
                                                                                                                                                                                          
New in Town
First thing first. Something I not only preach, but practice more than most people I know. BE A NOSY NEIGHBOR! When you acquire a lease or a property to hunt, immediatly investigate to find out who your property neighbors are. Whether it is by knocking on a door, checking your county parcel map, or simply reading a posted sign....FIND OUT! 


Get Greedy
Now that you are aware of your surroundings....think about the turkey hunting opportunities at your fingertips. Now think of how awesome it would be to have an endless amount of acreage to romp on for a happy-go-lucky turkey hunter like yourself. Sure, your not expecting an evil ol' gobbler to give you the slip under any circumstances, but you'd be crossing barbed-wire fences like a pro..... a legal pro! Is it wrong to think that people are willing to consider granting permission to ONE low profile turkey hunter for a 6-7 week season? Not all landowners are hunters and not all landowners lease their land out. Given, one of the main reasons (to my knowledge) is that landowners usually don't want a bunch of people with guns running a muck on their grandaddy's land blasting everything in sight.......I call those people deer hunters. A turkey hunter shoots a short distance weapon, and defiantly doesn't share his big bird haven with another soul. So just think about it.


Pop the Question
You know the lay of the land....your surrounded by big timber, beaver swamps, cut overs, and agricultural fields. You've played it out in your head over and over of how your going to ask old man Johnson about stepping foot on his turkey paradise of a farm. Just do it already! The worst he can say is no. It's like asking a millionaire for $100,000...it's worth a shot. On the other hand, he could say yes......but under the circumstances of payment....uh oh. When you engage in the conversation of an offer for turkey rights immediately offer a helping hand around the farm. Try trading a service for the rights. Heck offer him some free turkey breast! If he's hard on receiving money for the rights, start low. This isn't a year round lease and its only for 6-7 weeks. Let him know you want the rights but that you also know the scale of what is at hand. In reality, if he sees you as no harm and he's a nice guy, he might just say sure....come kill'em all!

In Closing 

Getting permission isn't the easiest thing in the world. There are people out there who if you offered them a million bucks, they would still say no for reasons beyond any other human being. But like I mentioned, it's worth a shot. If you don't ask, you won't know. If you think you need to, try and expand your hunting area by doing so. Some parting advice....don't act desperate....don't offer money right off the bat....explain the gravity of the situation and that you will be of no interference to the landowner. BE POLITE!!!!