This year must be compared to last year. The 2022 Spring Turkey Season was the worst I have seen. It was bad across the state. I saw 5 hens in 10 days of hard hunting. I did get two big twin Toms within sight at 150 yards twice, but could not get them a step closer. The worst part was, the Toms start gobbling and collecting hes in late February. I scout hard for turkeys on our place. The entire calander Year of 2022, I did not hear a gobble, nor see a Tom struting, nor Toms breeding hens, nor Jake gangs. It was bad. So, bad I did not hunt that fall season. What made matters worse was other farms I do not hunt had no Toms, a few hens, and no gobbleing during the February thorugh April. I saw no poluts last year. I have seen across our place and the Western Kentucky Lease an exposluion of coyote and raccons.

Fastfoward to 2023, our place was crawling with Toms and Jakes trying to cut up hens. Three groups of hens and Toms, and one group of 6, Jakes were everywhere from late February through March. The turkey across the state are pretty much played out of the big groups of hens with Toms by April. Our season opens the weekend of April 15. The mornings broke with Toms sounding off of the ridges that are our property line. The roosters simple could not get a word in. It was so bad, my Father in Law was threathing to start killing indiscrimatley because the large groups where comming into the yard portion of his property causing a mess in the flower beds. I was still guardly oppostmitic. This was for three reasons: 1) These groups break up by Spring Season. 2)Toms do not hang long after the hens are all bread. That could be sorted out with hard hunting as long as they stayed on our farm. 3) Only our farm was holding turkeys. The surronding properties were still disitute. In good years, when you get up to head for work one would hear Toms blarring away and in every field from here to Missouri. The Western Kentucky Lease was not showing haf the turkey our homeplace was. 4) The coyotes and raccon killing I had went is like trying to dig out a beach with a tea spoon.

Two weeks before season opened I wathced the twin Toms who did not get shot last year in the act of breading hens. I saw a very large singluar Tom brawl with the gang of Jakes as well. Two new long breads showed up. One was a two year old Tom, but with a 12 inch bread by one straind.

I have not had much luck with decoys and barley used them in the past. They worked once, and never again. A few of us had a meeting of the cousnel of war at my house. A buddy of mine was the only one to kill a turkey last year. He insisted I get a Higon full struct decoy and use a natural fan. I was sekptical, but I broke down. I was also asked to take one of the team's son on the youthunt. I am not great with kids. The boy is 12 years of age, but he hunted with us twice last year during geese seaon. I agreeed. The problem, my style of hunting turkey like elk being wake up super early, go in at dark high on ridges where the brids are roosting, and if that does not work, work down upon them in the late morning was not an option. The plan was to use one of those one way see through blinds on one of my good, but not best fields. I also offered to take his father hunting on my best property as payback for introducing me to waterfowl hunting.

So, we went up two of those one way veiw, pop up blinds to hide all of us. One field is adjacent to a large creek that runs into the Cumberland River. The back poriton floods from the tree line out is wonderful grass and a little swampy. The tree line ine is sandy, ends with cane on both sides of the bank, then climbs near verticle in hard woods. The top is 200 arcres of cow pasture with finges of scrub. This was were I and the boy woud hunt on Youth opener. I had been watching a Tom bunching up a bunch of hens at th far end, sheltered from the public road that bysects our property in the late afternoon. I would watch him cross the road in the eveing goining up the base of the ridge either to roost or into another field to fight with the twin Toms.

We then placed the same blind on my best field for us. It is a meadow about 100 yards wide and 400 yards long. There are two smaller creeks that run on both sides. These creeks run into the large creek in the field previously described. The right hand ridge rased to a cut logging road that woound by 6 pounds. In the back, is a large pond. The left hand side rises rolling with ceder and hardwoods, dogwoods,steps, raises again in saw barriers and honey suckle overgrown highwall. The left of the highwall is cutzu giving way to dogwood and hardwood. The right of the highwall is hard wood rapping around to a holler behind the big pond. This medow was ground zero. The twins owned it, but a lone tom which was bigger than oneof the twins with a very long bread and missing tail feather from brawling with the gang of Jakes came here. It held its own group of hens numbering 22. Two singular Toms stayed at the edge of the orgay and brawling both two year old birds.

Youth Opener:
20 gague Stoger loaded with a 2 3/4 inch handload of TSS NO. 9 with a shot charge of 1 ounce. I think the choke was a Carolson's tSS brand choke. I do not know the constriction.
The oneway view blind.
My old H.S. Strut real Slate call and roasewood starter.
The Higdon Struter with a three year old fan stuck on.
I would not be carrying a gun as such would be illegal.

There was one problem with this plan. The young one decided the covers were just too heavy to get up and go hunting. Oh well, I went about my bussiness. I made my scouting roads. That morning owls strated the declaration of dawn, followed by male turkeys and hens all round the ridges. Five hens were in the Youth field with a good bird. Across the road in another field was the Jake gang and few hens. The field past that was the Missing Feather Tom staring down the Twins. Oh well. I do not know what was in my best field, if anything.

I called his dad, who had to go the the VA Hosptial in Lexington, and made my report. I was setting at my table about 4:00 p.m. when the Young One's mom called me and asked if I could take Young One out that evening. I was a little perturbed by the whole ordeal, but without letting on, "Yes, I be right there to get him."

We got in the blind about 5:15 pm. I staked out the Strutter 20 yards in front of us and just off center to the right. Looking at the corner the birds had been bunched up in. I had Young One at my right. We were seeing nothing, but bitting gnats. I did kill a tick with my Case. The temp strated dropping about 6:00 pm and the shadows started growing. This helped with the insects. I heard hens from the ridge across the road. It had been light on rain, so the underbrush was still dead and open. I could see six hens working down the ridge across the road. One tom gobbled. I could see the tips of the fan as the ridge stepped down to the level, there was about of 10 yards of grass then black top. The hens bunched at the edge of the tree line. They were yelping and one cutted. The Tom rushed down on them with his fan laid back and level. The hens lined out in a fast step across the grass, the road, down the little road bank into our field. The Tom stopped and Fanned on the public road and goobbled. I had Young One mount the gun with a hold point just off the Strutter. Before anyone starts we were a good 200 yards away from the road and he was not poining at the road. I looked at his fnger, pointing straight across the action outside the trigger gruard. The Off Side of the saftey was facing me. The saftey on this side was flush and black as it should be. The Tom was rocking back and forth gobbling. I yelped four times. A hen lefted her head and started toward us. The Tom rushed down the bank. He ignored the other five and started following the one hen. He was about 10 yards behind. She came to within 30 yards of us. The Tom stopped and fanned. He did not gobble. "Wait." He was facing head on. The hen took off running. I thought she had seen us. She made a fast exit stage right. The Tom laid the fan back, he hooked his wings and trotted right up comming to the decoy. "Saftey." was answered with click. The Tum, came right. He stuck his neck all the way out, fan laid all the way down and tight.

A shotgun blast saved Strutter.

The Tom was not one of the Twins, nor Missing Feather. He has a thick, paint brush bread right at 9 3/4 inches. His spurs were an 1/14 and very sharp. I judge him as a three year old. His fan feather tips were all even. A great Tom.

Pictures upon requests

Thanks hard work pays off

Excellent story and you certainly made that youth's day. Well done. How was the rest of your season?

We have no shortage of turkeys up here (40 miles north of Lexington) I regularly see different hen flocks and a bunch of bearded toms daily on our property. This spring it wasn't unusual to see flocks of 50-60 birds with a dozen Toms strutting and fanning in the pasture 300 yards from the house.

Very nice to have that many birds around.

quote:

Originally posted by Overland:
Excellent story and you certainly made that youth's day. Well done. How was the rest of your season?

I will try to get it up by Wednesday.

Let us just say fir now Wild Turkey Schnitzel.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
We have no shortage of turkeys up here (40 miles north of Lexington) I regularly see different hen flocks and a bunch of bearded toms daily on our property. This spring it wasn't unusual to see flocks of 50-60 birds with a dozen Toms strutting and fanning in the pasture 300 yards from the house.

That is amazing to see. This year was good on our lease in W KY too. 3 out 5 hunters tagged, and the fourth got away.

Are you seeing any poluts? I have not,

Last year was so bad KY reduced the Bag Linit on Public Land from 2 to just 1 Tom.

Private land stayed 2 toms.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:

That is amazing to see. This year was good on our lease in W KY too. 3 out 5 hunters tagged, and the fourth got away.

Are you seeing any poluts? I have not,

Last year was so bad KY reduced the Bag Linit on Public Land from 2 to just 1 Tom.

Private land stayed 2 toms.

I've seen 2 different hens with youngsters recently but up until a couple of weeks ago, pasture was too tall to see any young ones.

Right now, I have blueheads feeding in my pasture. We cut hay a couple of weeks ago and have new growth coming in so the turkeys and deer are out feeding in our fields.

5 minutes ago: