listening for the gobbler

[Bill Bates]

I've never hunted turkeys. This year I'm going to give it try. In the past here in Utah turkey permits were given on a limited draw basis. This year there is a still an early limited draw hunt that opened this weekend but we now have a general hunt that opens at the beginning of May.

I've been doing some pre-season spotting. I hope these birds I found last weekend don't get pushed around to much during the early hunt.

[charlie cleveland]

beautiful birds.. hope you enjoy the hunt and are successful...turkey hunting is like parkers more you go the better ir becomes... charlie

[Dean Romig]

I think a longbeard posing with a nice old Elsie would be quite acceptable.

[Dean Romig]

Bill, just keep in mind that the worst thing we can possibly do in pre-season spotting and scouting is to try to get them to respond to a call. Never let them associate calling - either shock-calling or hen calls or gobbling - with the sighting of a man doing it.

[charlie cleveland]

was a nice morning to hunt here but turkeys did not cooporate so come to the house and worked in the garden... a fellow could lose a crop chasing after these old birds... charlie

[charlie cleveland]

had planed to go this morning but a dear friend passed away.. i will resume the hunt in the morning...hope you other boys are having fun this morning chasing these sharp eyed old fellas... charlie

[Dean Romig]

I'm sorry for the loss of your dear friend. These things are never easy and the older we get the more often we are saddened by the loss of friends.

It always helps me to get outdoors and into the natural world where things come back into perspective.

[charlie cleveland]

wish i had wings this morning ..gobbler was at least a mile away..i would have paid him a visit it was to far a walk for this old fellow...but sure enjoyed the music..will close the gap on him in the morning if he still at same place...good day charlie

[Dean Romig]

Charlie, are you putting those turkeys to bed in the evening?
My point is that when I hunt turkeys in Vermont I try to see where they go in the evening to roost. Usually where I hunt they spend a lot of time in the afternoon in the fields and meadows and I'll try to keep an eye on them to see which section of woods they head to when the sun begins to set. Once they're in the woods and the sun is about down they don't travel far before they fly up to roost. I've even herded flocks toward a particular woodlot where the chances of success tip somewhat in my favor for the morning. I don't try to drive them but I'll skulk visibly inside the edge of a woodlot where I don't want them to go. They'll see me there, not as an immediate threat but as a reason not to enter those woods, and head in a more desirable (for me) direction for roost trees. It has worked pretty well for me. Legal hunting hours in Vermont for turkey end at 12 noon sharp but I'm not in camo or carrying a gun so...

[charlie cleveland]

thanks for the info..i will try herding yhose turkeys if i ever get a chance..were im hunting is onlyforest lots of pine and hardwood..there is not a lot ofturkeys were im hunting...there is good hunting around me but those places have been leased...i know of a field that i can see turkeys in every time i go by butits posted and i cant hunt it...i have a few acres of mine own that im working on to hold more turkeys but evidenty i need to do a little better on my planing..mostly i get to hunnt in the mornings but i will start hunting some in the afternoon.. thanks charlie