spring is coming..

[Gopherlongbeards]

Just got back from 3 days In SE MN for a work trip. Even with the way below normal tempts, you could still tell spring is coming. Most south facing slopes were bare ground and there was a lot of melt going on even when temps were in the low teens. It's all because of the high sun angle now that we're well into March. The turkeys were acting like it as well, saw quite a few smaller flocks of 6-10 birds, all the the giant winter flocks seem to have started to break up. I think you'll be just fine in season B, day length governs bird behavior as much or more than weather.

[dewey]

I will be up near Detroit Lakes Easter weekend and I will keep a watchful eye out for the turkeys. They have a TON of snow in that area. I will take some photos and post them up next week if I can.

Dewey

[kygobbler]

Man I wish spring will finally get here. Todays and tommorrows forecast 38 degrees for the high and freakn snow. The season opens up in two weeks maybe this nasty weather will be out of here.

[charlie elk]

No matter what the weather when there is a season open and if I have a tag in my pocket I'll be out. The turkeys may be silent but they are still there doing what turkeys do so it is my humbly accepted obligation to be there doing what turkey hunters do. It is that which completes the circle of purpose.

Over the years I've killed turkeys in all manner of weather conditions; blizzards blowing the snow sideways across my gun barrel, thunderstorms causing gobblers to chain gobble until they're hoarse, heavy cold rains, high winds and the ultimate of bad- tornados. So no matter what I know I'll be out there this year too.

Fond memories are created by being there like the time many years ago I hunted a MN first season to awaken with 12 inches of fresh wet snow carpeting the landscape including the 2 track leading out. Not a turkey sound to be heard as I trudged gasping for air up the steep slippery hillside.
At the top the view of the snow encased river was worth the effort so I sat to catch my breath while taking in the view and oh yea what the heck I'm turkey hunting...
My box call produced some passible clucks considering all the wet snow clinging to everything which were answered with the most welcome of gobbles I have ever heard to this day. Soon 3 strutting gobblers came into view, hard to miss them with their pulsating red, white and blue contrasted against the pure white background. They desperately "swam" with their wings through the snow while trying to keep up a better strut than their buddy.
The snow muffled my shot, it was, as if, time slowed, pieces of feathers floated and settled on the crimson snow marking the fateful spot.
That gobbler was my one of the most satisfying, you know, one of those that plays over and over again in the pages of your mind.

But first you have to be there. Turkeys do what turkeys always do.

And yes gopherlongbeards--It is all good.

[turkey junky]

i few posts ago charlie you mentioned re-thinking hunting your season A hunt period in MN & hunting the last hunt period in MN??? i was just saying i plan on doing the same due to this late winter/spring...

i have to be honest my thoughts on snow & turkey hunting is they are like oil & water they dont mix for me i have seen birds shot in the snow but in my past experience while its snowing turkeys stay in trees longer & dont travel as far to calls & your lucky if the turkey are gobbling at all...

i may not be as hardcore as other turkey hunters i admit as i like a challenge but extreme weather tilts the odds in the turkeys favor & they have enough advantage while im hunting them each season so when extreme spring weather hits i dont rush out into it any longer like i used to i just wait it out & hunt after the weather passes i hunt alot of 3-5 day hunts & yes it sucks to hold off during bad weather but it has worked for me plenty...

in WI last yr i had 3 birds roosted but it was a heavy rain & thunder storm all night so i just waited till 9:00 am till the rain quit i ran out to my spot near wear the birds were roosted & with in a hour i had a 2yr old gobbler by the feet & was walking back to the truck yes i could of sat it out all morning & been rained on for hours but i thought it out a little & just waited till the weather passed & it worked great from WI to KS in the past...

i have also been out in western freak snow storms hunting merriams & seen turkeys just standing around a peace of private land for 2 days during a snow storm we would drive by & they would just be standing around they did that 2 days no gobbling was herd or a turkey seen in them 2 days they all were just kinda standing around waiting for the snow to melt or winds die??? but they were not interested in coming to calls & i like to call to turkeys when i hunt & maybe get a answer??? that snow shut down turkeys for 2-3 days ive seen the same in MN 2-3 times once the snow melted the birds went crazy so???

each to there own on what type of weather you will hunt in each season i control where i want to hunt what state i want to hunt & what sub species also, i have noticed when & in what weather types i harvest turkeys in more then others & now days i dont head off into the snow if i really want to harvest a gobbler if i want a unique hunt & to say i hunted on the snow i go out & hunt but if i want to tag birds i wait till the 1st sign of decent/good weather just my opinion on bad weather turkey hunting...

[charlie elk]

i few posts ago charlie you mentioned re-thinking hunting your season A hunt period in MN & hunting the last hunt period in MN??? i was just saying i plan on doing the same due to this late winter/spring...

Yeah, I know, I was feeling a little spring fever wimpy then. At the time the season was kind of an abstraction and with snow banks taller than my suburban- spring didn't seem all that feasible, still doesn't, but none the less turkey season is coming quick. Back then my mind was filled with all the not so pleasant turkey hunts where saner folks opted out and old thick skull-ed charlie was out in the thick of it.

Rest assured in no way was my post targeted at any other hunter rather it just reflects my personal changing determination as the memories of having pulled good hunts out of the jaws of futility come to the fore. And I just thought I would share one.

[Gopherlongbeards]

Back then my mind was filled with all the not so pleasant turkey hunts where saner folks opted out and old thick skull-ed charlie was out in the thick of it.

Charlie, you make it sound like there is an option to NOT be out in the weather during your 5 day MN season? You only get 5 days, you hunt them all, weather be damned

Two years ago a friend and I had B season tags in MN, we could only hunt 3 out of our 5 days. Our first morning we had 10" of wet fresh snow, which had grown to 12" by noon. The other two days consisted of rain, sleet and high winds. But during those three days we struck a half dozen different birds and both killed longbeards that read the script, gobbling hard and working well all the way to the gun. Both on public land. You never know how the turkeys will react until you try them. Sure aren't going to kill one sitting on the couch

I do agree with you about picking your windows to hunt TJ. If a storm is supposed to break later in the day it can often be better to wait. If however it's supposed to last all day, I just get it over with and get out there.

[charlie elk]

Charlie, you make it sound like there is an option to NOT be out in the weather during your 5 day MN season? You only get 5 days, you hunt them all, weather be damned

I agree, those who know me well are never in doubt if charlie has an open tag anything & everything be dammed he is out there hunting.
(mrs elk is truly an amazingly understanding woman, I have lost count of the times she has covered for my absence at various functions over the last 37 years. So much so that some relatives to this day think her husband is a figment of her imagination.)

One thing I do like about foul weather; I very, very rarely ever see another hunter out.

Gopherlongbeards you do realize we are likely going to pick up spring hunting right where we left off? A certain symmetrical poetry in that wouldn't you say?

[turkey junky]

i admit i have kinda turned into a good/decent weather turkey hunter i have froze my buns off all day in snow i have sat in rain all day i have chased birds gobbling to thunder & everything in between but i just cant drag my self out into a all day rain or 40+ mph winds & or heavy deep snow anymore it just dose not pay off for me... if it was like my very last day of the turkey season till next spring i may go hunt in the extreme weather but if i have another day i sit out a day due to bad weather im sorry to admit that but i always have tomorrow to go hunt if its not my last day to hunt... in MN we get 5 days but it only takes a hour or less to find & work a willing turkey so i have slept in on many a fowl weather day in MN KS NE & WI & still harvested birds once the weather turned for the better...

[charlie elk]

There's nothing wrong with picking the windows of opportunity TJ. A wise hunter, understanding the ways to the turkey understands on some days they stay on the roost well into the day. There are many times I don't venture into the woods until the turkeys hit the ground.
Also, I might add many times I have stressed- "if you are not having fun while hunting change up your strategy and if that doesn't create the fun then go do something else." The bottom line is hunting must be fun.