SEIowaDeerslayer
Well-Known Member
I don't post here much anymore, just don't have much bonus time to post a lot with 3 kiddos. But, I'm at home today tending a sick kid and found some time share how my 2018 went.
I always take the first few days of the season off work, as the birds seem to be more cooperative the earlier it is, at least for me. This year was no exception but I was dealt some weather that was not the norm. Regardless, I had my vacation time in already and I was going to hunt. The plan was to hunt opening day by myself, Tuesday with my friend Trevor at one of his farms, and Wednesday with my friend Chris at his farm.
Didn't get much sleep the night before opening day, as I'm always excited for the turkey opener. I prepared for the elements with my deer hunting clothing + heater body suit as it was going to be 19 degrees. I had about a hour drive heading north from Walford. I knew it was snowing overnight but didn't think it would accumulate much. By the time I got just north of Springville I knew I was going to be hunting in a landscape that looked more like December than April. I got there a couple of hours before sunrise, and when I got out of the truck the wind was blowing at a pretty decent rate. I knew my go to spot would be pretty unproductive with the winds, so I headed the other direction to hunt a bench on the leeward side of a bluff, out of the wind. I got the double bull setup and the dekes out, slipped into my heater body suit and waited for light. I was surprised at the amount of gobbles that echoed through the bluffs as daylight was on its way, and after a while one spoke up about 100 yards from me. When it got light enough that I figured it was time for fly down, I just let a couple tree yelps and clucks, and the bird hammered back at me. After that I just sat back to see what would happen. Textbook as it can be, he pitched down and landed at the tip of the bench I was hunting about 70 yards from me. He was slowly working he way towards me, but when he saw my jake with the breeder hen, he went out of strut, came hauling in and proceeded to pound my jake at 6 yards. I drew back, settled the pin and made a good shot. A couple of flops and he was done - my first "snow bird" was in the bag. He was a hefty bird, just under 26 pounds, 1 inch spurs, 8 inch beard.
Fast forward to Tuesday, perfectly clear day, still cold, but pretty much ideal conditions. We got setup on a cornfield in the middle of two wooded draws where we've had success in the past. Usually this farm holds at least a couple of gobblers, but there was only one piping off on the roost that morning, and he was a couple hundred yards away from us. When I could tell he had flown down, I let some aggressive yelps and cackles and he double and triple gobbled back. A few minutes later he appeared against the creek line and was working his way towards us. He caught sight of the jake and breeding hen and came blazing in. Jake got beatup again, then he took an arrow from Trevor's bow. Bird #2 was down (we were cold so forgot to take a field pic, but snapped this one when we got back to the house). Another hefty bird, didn't weight him but I figured he was 25 lbs, good spurs and a 10 inch beard. Solid 3 year old bird.
On to Wednesday morning, and winter was back, and even more wind than Monday. My friend Chris and I were headed to a dynamite spot that always holds plenty of birds. The forecast had thunder sleet and freezing rain in the forecast but at the time we left the house it was just cold and windy. We were setup about a hour and a half before sunrise with the dave smith flock out, just anxiously waiting for the day to come - and also keeping an eye on the radar from our phones.
We could hear thunder in the distance, and the radar confirmed we were going to get slammed. By the time the birds usually start to gobble on the roost, instead we got to hear howling wind and ice and rain hitting the blind. Despite this I was still doing some aggressive yelps on the aluminum slate to try and get some sound out there. At about 7:30 Chris and I were just telling stories and jokes, I looked out the left side of the blind and there was a gobbler coming into the field 20 yards away. Chris got his bow ready, but for some reason the bird hung up at 20-25 yards and I could tell he wasn't coming all the way. Chris drew back and shot, caught some tail feathers and the bird took flight unscathed. To make matters worse, about 5 minutes after that the wind really picked up and then proceeded to absolutely downpour sleet and rain. My blind had a nice gloss coating on it after that. I kept checking the radar and saw there was going to be a short break in the weather coming up shortly, and figured the birds may come to the fields to feed in between storms. When the sleet finally quit I ripped away on the aluminum again and immediately 2 birds thundered back at me about 50 yards behind us. Those would be the only two gobbles we heard all day.
A few minutes after we heard the gobbles, a group of hens came right by the right side of the blind, heading to the field. I'm watching them and I feel Chris tap me on the leg "gobbler, gobbler!" I picked up my bow just when he's running in and started whooping up on the jake 8 yards away. I drew back and thumped him where it counts, and he's doing the death backflip as the 2nd tom comes rushing in to have his way with the jake. Chris draws back and thumps bird #2. He had a little life left in him so after a short chase and a head stomp, 2 birds were in the bag. I think the morale of the story of these 3 hunts is that the birds will do their thing no matter what the weather. Its still their time of year to get it on, and they won't let snow, sleet or wind get in the way of that. Good luck to those who still have tags to fill.
I always take the first few days of the season off work, as the birds seem to be more cooperative the earlier it is, at least for me. This year was no exception but I was dealt some weather that was not the norm. Regardless, I had my vacation time in already and I was going to hunt. The plan was to hunt opening day by myself, Tuesday with my friend Trevor at one of his farms, and Wednesday with my friend Chris at his farm.
Didn't get much sleep the night before opening day, as I'm always excited for the turkey opener. I prepared for the elements with my deer hunting clothing + heater body suit as it was going to be 19 degrees. I had about a hour drive heading north from Walford. I knew it was snowing overnight but didn't think it would accumulate much. By the time I got just north of Springville I knew I was going to be hunting in a landscape that looked more like December than April. I got there a couple of hours before sunrise, and when I got out of the truck the wind was blowing at a pretty decent rate. I knew my go to spot would be pretty unproductive with the winds, so I headed the other direction to hunt a bench on the leeward side of a bluff, out of the wind. I got the double bull setup and the dekes out, slipped into my heater body suit and waited for light. I was surprised at the amount of gobbles that echoed through the bluffs as daylight was on its way, and after a while one spoke up about 100 yards from me. When it got light enough that I figured it was time for fly down, I just let a couple tree yelps and clucks, and the bird hammered back at me. After that I just sat back to see what would happen. Textbook as it can be, he pitched down and landed at the tip of the bench I was hunting about 70 yards from me. He was slowly working he way towards me, but when he saw my jake with the breeder hen, he went out of strut, came hauling in and proceeded to pound my jake at 6 yards. I drew back, settled the pin and made a good shot. A couple of flops and he was done - my first "snow bird" was in the bag. He was a hefty bird, just under 26 pounds, 1 inch spurs, 8 inch beard.
Fast forward to Tuesday, perfectly clear day, still cold, but pretty much ideal conditions. We got setup on a cornfield in the middle of two wooded draws where we've had success in the past. Usually this farm holds at least a couple of gobblers, but there was only one piping off on the roost that morning, and he was a couple hundred yards away from us. When I could tell he had flown down, I let some aggressive yelps and cackles and he double and triple gobbled back. A few minutes later he appeared against the creek line and was working his way towards us. He caught sight of the jake and breeding hen and came blazing in. Jake got beatup again, then he took an arrow from Trevor's bow. Bird #2 was down (we were cold so forgot to take a field pic, but snapped this one when we got back to the house). Another hefty bird, didn't weight him but I figured he was 25 lbs, good spurs and a 10 inch beard. Solid 3 year old bird.
On to Wednesday morning, and winter was back, and even more wind than Monday. My friend Chris and I were headed to a dynamite spot that always holds plenty of birds. The forecast had thunder sleet and freezing rain in the forecast but at the time we left the house it was just cold and windy. We were setup about a hour and a half before sunrise with the dave smith flock out, just anxiously waiting for the day to come - and also keeping an eye on the radar from our phones.
We could hear thunder in the distance, and the radar confirmed we were going to get slammed. By the time the birds usually start to gobble on the roost, instead we got to hear howling wind and ice and rain hitting the blind. Despite this I was still doing some aggressive yelps on the aluminum slate to try and get some sound out there. At about 7:30 Chris and I were just telling stories and jokes, I looked out the left side of the blind and there was a gobbler coming into the field 20 yards away. Chris got his bow ready, but for some reason the bird hung up at 20-25 yards and I could tell he wasn't coming all the way. Chris drew back and shot, caught some tail feathers and the bird took flight unscathed. To make matters worse, about 5 minutes after that the wind really picked up and then proceeded to absolutely downpour sleet and rain. My blind had a nice gloss coating on it after that. I kept checking the radar and saw there was going to be a short break in the weather coming up shortly, and figured the birds may come to the fields to feed in between storms. When the sleet finally quit I ripped away on the aluminum again and immediately 2 birds thundered back at me about 50 yards behind us. Those would be the only two gobbles we heard all day.
A few minutes after we heard the gobbles, a group of hens came right by the right side of the blind, heading to the field. I'm watching them and I feel Chris tap me on the leg "gobbler, gobbler!" I picked up my bow just when he's running in and started whooping up on the jake 8 yards away. I drew back and thumped him where it counts, and he's doing the death backflip as the 2nd tom comes rushing in to have his way with the jake. Chris draws back and thumps bird #2. He had a little life left in him so after a short chase and a head stomp, 2 birds were in the bag. I think the morale of the story of these 3 hunts is that the birds will do their thing no matter what the weather. Its still their time of year to get it on, and they won't let snow, sleet or wind get in the way of that. Good luck to those who still have tags to fill.
