2018 Ohio Spring Turkey Season Day 23 - 24

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HunterGKS
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2018 Ohio Spring Turkey Season Day 23 - 24

Post by HunterGKS »

Day 23 – 05/15


It was 68 with no moon, calm, & humid. The top of my blind had collapsed & had some water in it. I got it popped back up without getting drenched. At 05:38, a possum wandered by looking for whatever possums look for. By 06:10, there had been no roost gobbling so I did a little yelping & purring with no response. It sprinkled for a few minutes at 07:30.

At 07:45, I saw a hen feeding in the waterway to my east maybe 100 yards. She fed north in the waterway towards the woods. I lost sight of her & guessed that she followed the waterway into the woods. No other turkeys sighted.

At 08:08, there was a long rolling thunder to the west. Per the weatherforcasters, the storms weren’t supposed to get here until this afternoon, so I wasn’t too concerned. (Anyone who believes the weatherforcasters is an idiot!!!!) At 08:30, it started to rain & got harder with every minute. At 08:45, the storm was right above me with thunder rolling all around me. There was also a flash of lightning in front of me. It was at that point that I decided to head out at the 1st chance. I don’t mind sitting in the rain but will not sit at the edge of the woods with lightning flashing. By 08:59, I had all my gear stowed & was ready to go as soon as it stopped raining. It stopped raining at 09:15 & I got to boogie down to the truck with the temp at 65.

It’s now 11:05 & it’s beautiful outside. I’m trying to decide whether to head back out & take a chance on getting into more thunder storms or just spend the rest of the day getting caught up on some odds & ends around the house. And now, at 06:00 P.M., there hasn’t been a drop of rain all day. Why am I not surprised when this morning was not supposed to have any storms & this afternoon was supposed to be nothing but storms.



Day 24 – 05/16

It was 56, overcast with no moon, calm, & the air was damp. I set-up my ground blind along the edge of the woods facing SE so, if the gobbler made the same trek as Sun. & Mon., I had a good shot at him. I also placed the hen decoy in the field about 20 yards from me. I used only the hen thinking maybe the jake deke has kept him from coming in.

No roost gobblers by 06:35 so I did a little light, quiet calling. The only response I got was a deer blowing in the woods behind me. At 06:42, I saw something in a field about ½ mile to the east. It looked like a black blob. I watched through the binos & it stayed in the same spot for almost 5 minutes before lifting its head & moving. It was a turkey, possibly a gobbler but I wouldn’t want to make book on it. It slowly fed south until 07:30 when it turned & headed north. At 07:39, a crow landed near it & the bird ran towards it chasing it away. I have seen crows harass turkeys but never a turkey go after a crow,

At 07:49, it had fed out of site. All I could do was sit, wait, & hope that it came west along the edge as before. At 07:50, I spotted movement along the edge in the tall grass. I got ready as I hoped it was a gobbler sneaking in. As it turns out, it was 1 less turkey eatin’, fawn killin’. Hunt wreckin’ critter that had its beady eyes on my deke as its breakfast. Hopefully I removed as least a part of the cause for the dearth of turkeys in this area. I didn’t think the shots would bother the turkey as it was so far to the east.

It started to thunder to the west at 11:35 &, at 11:52, I decided to move to the big blind for 3 reasons: 1) if the gob wasn’t here already, he wouldn’t be here. 2) I wanted to avoid getting wet if it did rain. 3) I was sitting in a Gobbler Lounger & needed to get up off the ground into a big boy chair.

At 01:45, my internal alarm went off alerting me to the fact that I had exceeded my daily allocation of fun & I needed to head home, with the temp at 74, for some different fun, mowing the yard.

QUESTION: I believe that the hens are, for the most part, nesting by now the gobblers should be receptive. I have not heard a gobble here in Ohio since the 6th day of the season & the gobbler I have seen basically ignores any & all calling, soft, loud, aggressive, it doesn’t matter. WTH is going on? Could it be they’re closed mouth because of the yote(s)? I’m about to give out but will try to tough it out for the last 4 days.
George

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR BODY STILL. YOUR HEART JUST HASN'T CAUGHT ON.

.17 = NITRO OF THE RIMFIRE WORLD USAF 1969-1973


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MAK
Posts: 532
Joined: April 13th, 2015, 8:08 am
Location: Southern PA

Re: 2018 Ohio Spring Turkey Season Day 23 - 24

Post by MAK »

PA gobblers are still with hens , saw 10 hens in a field last week; our “local experts” feel coyotes are impacting the way birds act

Guys that are being successful on hard hunted properties are using same tactics as you; changing things up

More quiet hunts reported than ones with gobbling to the gun; tough hunting for sure

Good luck hope you run into one
MAK
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