Okay. As you can tell from my last posting, we are in turkey season and I have been spending most of my free time chasing thunder chickens. In Step 6 of our 14 Step process, we discussed how to talk to landowners. I actually talked to a couple of new landowners, or land managers, the other day and they were very accommodating to the idea of letting us bow hunt their properties. Once you obtain permission to hunt a new property, fall back to the previous steps we have discussed like post season scouting, etc...
Well, we have been working hard the last couple of months on our hunting property, so I like to break it up by turkey hunting. I am a die hard deer hunter but I enjoy turkey hunting more and more every year. The cold weather is over and it feels good to be outside in the warmth. I get the itch to start hunting again in the spring so chasing turkeys can be a lot of fun. During the first few weeks of the season, I typically will hunt field edges by productive roosting sights. I will bow hunt out of a ground blind and set up a few decoys. Then around 10 o'clock I will start scouting, shed hunting or working on deer stands again. In the afternoon, I will switch back to turkey hunting and try to get on some birds. As a minimum, I should be able to locate them by sunset to put them to bed on their roost. This will tell me where to set up the next morning. This system has worked well for me during the first part of turkey season. I also feel a sense of accomplishment as I get other jobs done during the middle of the day.
After the first three weeks of turkey season, I will usually pick up my shotgun to chase turkeys. They will be mating by now and I like to cover a little more ground to find them. There is a lot of vegetation on the trees so you can get away with a little more of the run and gun style. However, this may not be the best approach for you if your birds receive a lot of early season pressure. I have experienced good success in the mornings after 9 am and in the early afternoons this time of year. I will admit to you that I have only been turkey hunting for about 4 years, so I am still learning a lot about it.
Turkey season can be a lot of fun and is a great opportunity to sharpen your archery skills. If you get the chance, take someone hunting with you. Take your one of your kids, your wife, a friend, brother, etc.. Sitting in a ground blind will allow them to stay fairly comfortable and your calling should keep them engaged. You may hook someone else on hunting or at least justify to your spouse why we seem crazy about hunting. So, take a break from working for a couple of weeks and start chasing the THUNDER CHICKEN!
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