There are a few less turkeys in Maine to hunt this year. A few months ago, Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation, captured and released more than 50 birds into East Texas with the hope of rebuilding their population.
About an hour into my sit, I heard steps coming towards my stand. It was a beautiful morning and my heart skipped a beat with the idea that a deer might finally be headed my way. Trail camera photos showed my last remaining target buck during daylight at that stand, so I was hopeful. But as it got closer, I heard purrs, clucks and chirps. The steps turned into one big mass of noise and soon, like a movie, the woods were nothing by black blobs moving towards me. They set up in a shooting lane, eating acorns and moving closer, essentially blocking me in my stand. The flock would see me move and spook before I would have a chance to move my gun into a position to get a deer. I was stuck and they were coming closer. When they got bored...
For three days leading up to my turkey hunt, I woke up and looked at the clock to figure out how much earlier I would need to wake up to be at Staci's house on time. Aside from ticks, the worst part of turkey hunting is the early start time. The day of my hunt arrived and armed with my coffee, I drove to Staci's house to find some turkeys. Her husband, John, agreed to be our designated turkey caller. Deer ran through the woods off to our right and a partridge drummed continuously as we walked to our first spot. The world was waking up all around us but there were no turkeys to answer our calls, so we moved. I spotted the first birds of the morning, a tom fanned out with three hens (or two hens and a jake) so we...
As I was frantically trying to get myself and O ready for the day and out the door, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of these birds at my feeder, just 10 yards away (I know this because of my set up shooting my bow.) There was 12 of them, just picking at the bird seed that was on the ground. A few times, my movement would spook one of them and they could take a step or two back and then go back to pecking. I didn't see any beards and I have not seen this flock since, but I spent an extra 15 minutes taking photos and watching them. In my dream world, I could get up, make coffee, grab my bow and go sit on the porch waiting for them to come back. But, if my pattern holds, my turkey tag will remain unfilled and I...
These birds were making their way to the little water hole as we pulled into the driveway. There were six total that walked through, each stopping to get some water before continuing on. Just a few more months until the spring season starts!
Here is how we got to this point. The two men did not seem to see is and Tim and I tried not to give ourselves away but we were on the edge of the field. Tim tried calling the land owner because the property was posted and he was supposed to be the only one hunting. No answer. We stood there and listened as the two men began calling and waiting for a response. They were much closer to those two birds who had just been calling back with us. One gobble and those guys would be headed into the woods. Luckily, those stubborn birds kept quiet. But the idea of hunters in the area made us question our decision to move on from a spot that we knew had active birds. Tim placing decoys in the field So we...
As you know, Dad and I saw way more deer than turkey when we attempted to turkey hunt for the third spring season in a row. It is still a little surreal to think about because our first turkey season ended two weeks before I had O. My schedule was so busy that I had to cancel a turkey hunt with David Hodgkins of Blackfalcon Custom Calls and reworked my schedule to get a half day hunt in with Tim Cote of Cote and Son's Guide Service. I met Tim at 4am and we headed to a spot where he had been the night before. He knew that there were toms around and he knew which spots they would be in. It was a perfect set up. Come on turkeys! We sat just over a little knoll with a couple of chairs and bushes helping to keep us...
Ever since the season ended on June 6, we have had turkeys on every pull from the trail camera. Every time! Clearly these guys are just mocking me.
I was thrilled to see these pictures on the camera. I dont think I have ever seen a fawn this little in the pictures. We had three of them, but he was in a hurry so this is the least blurry one. I can not wait to see if there are more pictures when we pull the card next time. Doe and new fawn run across the field And even though we saw the rafter of turkeys, it is nice to see the hen with such a healthy group of babies. Hen with 10 poults It will be great to see them grow over the next few months. Hopefully they can do that without any interference from this. Otherwise, Dad and I will have to take care of...
