Damn turkey gear!!!!!

[Mossberg835]

went out into the addition on our house where we store stuff including hunting gear to get something...dont remember now i was walking towards it and saw my brothers vest hanging there and decided to get mine out and mess around with it. i worked my glass and slate and put the vest on and now i want spring to be here and its 9 months away unless i can go on an out of state hunt next year. I hate when i do this, cause now i can hear gobbles and keep sitting on the porch and looking up towards the hill where i do most of my hunting. i need to go fishing more

[kygobbler]

9 months ?? Dont ya have fall hunting season up there? If you havent tried fall hunting then you are missing out. I gaurantee you will love it as much as the spring season.

[Cut N Run]

We only have a Spring season in NC, so it is a long 11 months once its over. I keep my turkey vest hanging in the back corner of my closet and any time I get near it I am drawn to pull out a call and start messing with it. Every day is getting closer to turkey season, but it is still a long ways off.

[ylpnfol]

believe it or not. i just put my turkey huntn stuff away this week [ the misses hasn't been too happy w/me ] i have taken up the guitar this summer to pass the time, and kill some time i can do w/ that thing, but i always wanted to learn to play, and you know there's no better time than the present, so thats all ive been doing, strumming and working, finally put it down long enough to clean up the huntn room, i guess by the time bow season rolls around the novelty will have worn off a bit, and i can put it down long enough to go huntn, tho i do need to start shootin the bow, so many things to do, so little time.....hope everyone is enjoying the HOT summer and staying COOL.....

[eggshell]

I agree on the fall hunting. I anticipate fall as much as spring. In my part of the country it is way way way more relaxed as very few people fall turkey hunt, they're all in tree stands. so I go wherever i want with practically no competition. Plus you can get into some serious turkey talking with birds in the fall. They will teach you a lot about general behavior that makes you a lot better spring hunter....

[Cut N Run]

Dana, Do you get tags that count for spring turkey and others for Fall turkey, or is it an annual number and once you reach that number, you're done? I could look up the regulations myself, but it may be different depending on the region(s) you hunt. Just curious.

Jim

[eggshell]

Jim,

Here in Ohio each tag is separate and we have no zones. everything is statewide. You can purchase two spring tags and one fall tag. The spring tags will not carry over to fall. Fall is one bird of either sex and spring is two gobbler limits. Our fall season is 6 weekslong from mid October until the end of November. so you can hold out for a gobbler if you want.

I also hunt Ky in the fall. there you purchase one fall tag and it contains two archery birds and two firearm birds and they have two gun seasons a week long each 9one in October and one early December) with birds of either sex legal. You can kill up to four birds in Ky in the fall. archery actually runs from september through late winter there with a couple of weeks of crossbow season thrown in.

[kygobbler]

Dana, something I want to add about the KY season so someone doesnt think the wrong way. In the fall, yes you can kill up to 4 birds BUT only one bird can have a beard over 3" in length.

[Cut N Run]

Thanks for the reply Dana. That's a whole lot of turkeys you can tag. I'd be chasing 'em in the Fall if I had the option & that many tags to spend. We had a temporary "Fall" season here that was in the middle of winter, where it was so cold your butt might freeze or get stuck to the ground. It was only open in select counties and hens were legal to shoot. I never understood that part, why kill the egg layers?...especially if they a portion of what a mature gobbler weighs? A Fall bird counted against the two turkey tags we'd get for the year. I went, but never shot anything because I enjoy hunting Spring Gobblers more than anything. Good luck when the time comes.

Jim

[eggshell]

Good point Ky Gobbler, I overlooked that part. You are only allowed one gobbler with a beard over 3" during Ky fall seasons. As to shooting hens, it doesn't seem to matter much. I think if you got in a situation where a lot of birds were being killed it would, but the fall kill in our states is only a fraction of the spring kill and thus not even noticed. As for size, yes I like more meat, but there is no better eating than a young of year bird. They are the most tender and tasteful turkey going. You literally can slice and fry them. I don't get hung up on what I'm shooting too much. I'll hunt a gobbler for a while then shoot what comes. I usually try to pick out a nice size poult that will go around 10 pounds, you have to look them over because some late hatches may only weigh 5-6 pounds. However, it's a blast when you get a whole flock yacking it up and birds coming from multiple directions. On a side note, I rarely shoot what I can tell is an old hen, they are horrible table fare....tough as leather!