Team#21 The Strut Buster

[Tooth517]

Strut Busters:
crowhunter66
Hemidan
Mapes
Tooth517
Madmike22
Freepop

This will be our team thread.

[madmike22]

I gave you the wrong name for bud. Its just crowhunter not crowhunter66. Good luck guys. Bud and i are going out monday morning to my honeyhole for turkeys. Big gobblers galor. Cant wait.

[Hemidan]

I though the team name was Strut Stoppers(I'm confused):lol: Like it matters

Well, are we ready to do some serious hunting.I can't wait until Monday morning.
I'm not sure what I want to use,thinking of trying it with a bow,this year.:yikes:
I will be hunting the St.Clair/Marysville area for the 5th year now.

Good luck to all,lets show them how its done....:evil:

[Tooth517]

Well we are in anyway. I have the late hunt so I am going to get the kids and some friends out in the early hunt. Good luck guys and remember to get a good look at the spurs before you shoot!;) We are going to come out on top!

[madmike22]

I have a approx 28lb tom with double 14inch beards calling my name. I have scouted him for about a month now. NOt sure how long his spurs are but been dreaming about him for awhile now. lol

[Tooth517]

I have been watching about 7 or 8 different longbeards running around my place for a month now and all have 10" beards or bigger. Just need to get the biggest one tied up by May 5th! Like I said before if anyone on my team lives close to me, (Ingham, Eaton, or Jackson counties) and wants to hook up and get thier hunt on video let me know. Freepop, I know you are close to here so lets get together. If we we make the top 3 I will send all of ya a free hand turned striker!

[madmike22]

mapes, crowhunter, and myself will be hunting together in ionia county. I have a huge piece of property that i can turkey hunt over there. Its always great.

[Tooth517]

Anyone score on opening day? My wife and kids saw a dandy strutting in the field south of the house this morning! He has been through there every morning for a week now. When the weekend comes my daughter is going to drop the hammer on him!

[FREEPOP]

I called in 2 pairs of birds yesterday, a miss on the first group and one in the second group went to turkey heaven :evil:

Do we get points for all the birds we call in for other people? ;) (8 last year)

[Hemidan]

I called in 2 pairs of birds yesterday, a miss on the first group and one in the second group went to turkey heaven :evil:

Do we get points for all the birds we call in for other people? ;) (8 last year)

Good job...
The birds are not vocal where I'm at,yet.No response to calls..

I had a nice one come in (8" beard) but,he saw me move and took off..:rant:

[Tooth517]

I see some of the other teams have birds already but that doesn't worry me. those who laugh last laugh loudest! Go get 'em boys!

[Hemidan]

I'll be out tomorrow,evening..........:)

[Tooth517]

Well, I am excited. I have been watching this tom come out in the field to the south of my house every morning for a week. Well, he is in trouble because I bought a tag for my daughter today(zz leftover), and we are going to be waiting for him in the morning! The only draw back is we have about an hour window(sunrise to about 7:00am) to get him because we have to get back up to the house to get her and the other kids dressed and off to school. I am keeping my fingers crossed but if he does come out at the expected time I will be reporting good news and my daughter will have her first turkey bagged!

[Tooth517]

Well, we got stood up. Heard some gobbling and yelping but they never showed!:sad: Nuff Said.....

[madmike22]

I called in one on opening morning for a friend that has never turkey hunted before. It was a nice 25lb tom with about a 10 inch beard. Somehow he managed to not hit it very well and spent the next 1.5 hours chasing him on foot to no avail. It was on my side of the blind and i probably should have shot it but he hasnt had very good luck hunting anything and i have been very fortunate with deer and turkey. I will have one before the season is over with. I am able to get out alot till the end of the season. I will try to make sure crowhunter will get his also. Trying with mapes but his schedule is opposite of mine and its hard to get out with him.

[Tooth517]

You won't believe it but I have a buddy up from OH who I am taking out on my stomping grounds(and video for him). Well, we decided to go to my honey hole this morning and try to get on some birds. After some serious gobbling on the roost and the 7 jakes doing laps around a deer after fly down we spot 3 nice longbeards. The jakes walk around us and out to the field behind us and meet up with the big fellas. Two of the toms decide they don't want the jakes hanging out and chase them around a bit we do some soft calling. The Granddaddy Gobbler of the three shows interest and moves closer for a peek at the lovely lady making such sweet tones and finally gets in to 35 or 40 yards. I tell my friend "go ahead when your ready" just after the tom gets back in my cameras viewfinder. The tom turns walks back behind the tree. He shoots! The gobbler turns flaps a couple times and starts to run out further in the field so Carl jumps up for a second shot. The birds see him and bolt for the woods. The wounded bird was the last through the treeline. I jump up(camera still on rec.) and try to keep up with the tom. Well long story long, after a 20 second rest the tom disappears into a thornapple thicket never to be seen again. We searched thoroughly through the thornapple thicket out to a ditch and never saw any for sure sign. It was very dissappointing but tomorrow is another day!! Going out EARLY again in the morning!!

[madmike22]

One of us got one. crowhunter shot a nice 22lb tom with 10 1/2 inch beard. I will have him post pics and story for us.

[Hemidan]

One of us got one. crowhunter shot a nice 22lb tom with 10 1/2 inch beard. I will have him post pics and story for us.

Good job.

Nothing here,yet.
Where I'm hunting the birds are silent...not making any sounds.Is'nt that odd.
I will be out again,tomorrow..:evil:

[madmike22]

They were like that this morning for me. The only sound they made is when i hit my crow call. But it was also really windy here. Not sure if that any part of it. They were making a ton of noise friday though

[Tooth517]

My buddy Carl got the strutter that was hanging around in the field south of my house Saturday. 10" beard 1 3/8" spurs, 24#. My daughter missed a jake this morning. What a great morning. birds were gobbling thier heads off. Saw 2 more jakes but the longbeards stayed away from our calling.

[Crowhunter]

Here is the bird I shot yesterday morning 22 lbs 10 1/2 " beard 1 1/8 th." spurs .Bud

[FREEPOP]

The strangness continues. Saturday morning a couple birds gobbled after hitting the ground then went quiet. They came to the field we were in, the first ignored the dekes and calls, the second strutted a couple times and moved off. Then two red hot birds came in, got them to twenty yards, boom and a miss. A couple of close calls later in the day but no shots.
Sunday was more like a typical morning. Birds sounded off on the roost as I was unzipping the last window on the blind. We pulled the stakes and climbed under to get in as they were close. A hen softly tree called for over an hour and the gobblers (5-6) thundered as well. I saw two fly down so I imitated the hen calling softly. Shortly two hens came into the field followed by a good bird, 10 yards, bang miss.
The edges of the window on my blind are getting pretty tore up :rant:

We went for some target practice that afternoon to hopefully rectify this problem.

[Tooth517]

Here is the bird I shot yesterday morning 22 lbs 10 1/2 " beard 1 1/8 th." spurs .BudCongrats! Nice bird! One down and 5 to go!

[Tooth517]

The strangness continues. Saturday morning a couple birds gobbled after hitting the ground then went quiet. They came to the field we were in, the first ignored the dekes and calls, the second strutted a couple times and moved off. Then two red hot birds came in, got them to twenty yards, boom and a miss. A couple of close calls later in the day but no shots.
Sunday was more like a typical morning. Birds sounded off on the roost as I was unzipping the last window on the blind. We pulled the stakes and climbed under to get in as they were close. A hen softly tree called for over an hour and the gobblers (5-6) thundered as well. I saw two fly down so I imitated the hen calling softly. Shortly two hens came into the field followed by a good bird, 10 yards, bang miss.
The edges of the window on my blind are getting pretty tore up :rant:

We went for some target practice that afternoon to hopefully rectify this problem.
Freepop, is that you missing or the other person?

[FREEPOP]

Freepop, is that you missing or the other person?

My girlfriend's girlfriend. She did pretty good at the range but falls apart under the pressure. Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm.

[madmike22]

Man i am getting my tail kicked in this year. I offered to call for a few people that have never hunted turkeys before. Opening day gave my friend a great opportuinity and he blew it. Second day for my wife i screwed up with a nice tom about 60 yards away. I have been seeing the same two big toms every day. They have roosted on the south side of this field everyday. I set up for them to come out of the south and wouldnt you know they roosted across the street last night. I am hunting with a bow and cannot get a shot at the one coming from the the north west. Sure enough he is right on me and i try to move to get a shot and off he goes into the woods. The larger of the two has a huge blue head and long double beards. The one that came close this morning had about a 10 inch beard. Was the second opportunity at him and yet to even get a shot off at him. someone want to come and show me what im doing wrong?
lol

[Tooth517]

The only thing you are doing wrong is getting frustrated. Patience, patience, patience. You will get your shot in time. A little better weather wouldn't hurt things. Good luck and don't give up!(Especially with that double bearded fella hanging around!)

[madmike22]

It wasnt the doubled bearded monster i have been hunting but i got one this morning. Here are a couple of pics, I will post more and story later.http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s25/mc2222/turkey2008-2gotone010.jpg

[Tooth517]

Congrats!! Can't wait to hear the story...!

[madmike22]

Well i woke up late. It was suppose to rain and i wasnt looking forward to getting wet and didnt really want to get up. Had to let the dogs out and noticed that it was pretty nice out. Put the dogs away grab my stuff and head out. I get to my spot and all set up at 6:45 which is about an hour later than normal. As i am setting up i here one gobbling at me not realy far away. I climb into my g30 popup blind and gobble back to him and throw in a couple of yelps on my slate call. I barely sit down and there is a tom running out of the pines about 80 yards away. I grab my slate and yelp at him a couple of times again and he turns and runs right for my decoys. I didnt have enough time to grab my bow and get an arrow ready he was running so fast. He ran right thru my setup(1 jake and 2 hens). I barely got a shot off thru the very last window i had open. I rushed it and shot right over his back. He didnt even know i shot. He turned and came back thru my setup and stop at 43 yards and started gobbling at the decoys he turned quartering to me and i nailed him with my new turkey terror broadheads. Man those things are awesome. He dropped right there. He wasnt the doubled bearded monster i have been looking for and hunting. I had 4 chances at him but he busted me each time. Hopefully he will be here for the fall. He weighed 19 1/2 lbs, had a 6 inch beard, and about 1/2 spurs. Still a trophy in my book. I switched to using my bow this year and had to work alot harder for this one than any with a gun in the past.If i was using my gun i probably would have had posted pics of the double beard a week ago. This was much more rewarding because it is very hard. http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s25/mc2222/turkey2008001.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s25/mc2222/turkey2008-2gotone005.jpg

[Tooth517]

Great story! I have only shot at one with my bow. It is definitely not an easy task. A hunt you will never forget!

Did you and crowhunter post measurement pics in the contest photo thread? I try not to go in there with dial up and all. Our score won't get updated on the scoreboard till the score and pics are posted on that thread. Does anyone else have hunt 234?

[FREEPOP]

Tooth, I have hunt 234. Hunting with the girl we call "dead eye" again tomorrow morning. I hope the third time is a charm as she's got quite a few holes in this brand new blind :dizzy:

[Hemidan]

Congrats,madmike22
Nice job with a bow.

I will be out tomorrow morning,hopefully with some luck.
They just started getting vocal last Sunday and I hav'nt been out since then..:rant:

[Hemidan]

Sorry guys...I let you down...nothing for me.:sad:
With any luck you guys will pick up my slack..:D

Good luck.

[Tooth517]

No luck yet fellas. A few close calls buthaven't connected. Been seeing a few different bearded hens.

[madmike22]

well if anyone from our team has the late season let me know. There are plenty of birds over here. On one of the farms i hunted noone got one from there and we are still watching 20-30 birds a day there. And several very very nice toms.

[Tooth517]

Well, it has been an exciting spring so far and I have got plenty of awesome video footage. We (my son Adam and I) have had several close calls with lots of great toms and saw plenty of turkeys, including the bearded hens. Last night he decided to go stay at his Grandpa's house so I was flying solo this morning. I watched a tom and 2 hens last night and figured they would roost in the woodlot behind the house. Just before daybreak I hit the crow call from the back of the barn to make sure. He sounded off so I walked back with my gun, decoys,camera, and tripod. I set up where the wheat field met the freshly sprouted corn. He gobbled on the roost till well after sunrise. After he flew down I could tell he was henned up because he walked back and forth in the woods gobbling at every call I made but never entered the field. After a four hour stint of back and forth gobbling through the woods I decided to get agressive with the calling. I made some cuts on the glass call I made with my one piece bloodwood striker. He gobbled. I listened. He gobbled again but closer! Then just over the peak of the small hill in the field I saw a spec of white. It was him! I was thinking that if those hens are with him they will see the dekes and walk the other way but lucky for me he was alone. When he saw the dekes he went into strut. He didn't walk towards the decoys but walked across the field towards me instead. I think the agressive jake decoy caused him to be more wary of the approach. Once he was at 40 yards I let him have it! He flopped on his side and I ran out to get what I had waited patiently for for four long hours.
I estimate the tom was 3 years old. He weighed 22#'s had a 10 1/4" beard and a sharp pair of 1 1/8" spurs. I am glad I brought my video camera so I can relive it again and again! Will post pictures soon!
Sorry for the long drug out story but I thought maybe some folks mught enjoy the details. I know I do!

[Tooth517]

Ok. I tried to upload my turkey photos but it said I have no space left. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to delete a few of my old pics. If someone can help me figure this out I would appreciate it. Thanks!

[FREEPOP]

Well, sorry guys as it looks like I won't score this year, the first time in many. I got some smaller birds in on Sat morning but passed on them. I then got on a bird with the longest beard I've ever seen. The second morning I tried for him, I had him at 45-50 yards but just couldn't make myself pull the trigger. I have killed birds that far away but, I hesitated as I wanted a sure thing and not just wound this beautiful bird. I watched him from 6am till 11 am and vowed to be back next Saturday morning, providing I don't have to work, which is a very good possibility.
I called lots of birds in for people (close to 20 or so) this year so all in all, it has been very successful.