Public land joys

[iccyman001]

I went out yesterday for opening day and there was a group of people set right up in my spot......

We had to replan our attack at 4am that morning.

We got in to a great spot and had birds all fired up around us.

We were actually on the backside of where they were roosting. My other spot was the front side and where they commonly go...

Well, we had an epic call battle and ended up splitting up the birds.
They got the Tom\'s and we got 8 jakes....
They shot two of my big birds that I had been watching

Oh well, that\'s public land. I had an absolute ball. It was so cool having those birds all fired up before they flew down.

 

[Zpd307]

that is fun to hear in the morning! i only make a few calls before they fly down. just enough to let them know there is a sexy lady waiting for him when he gets down. i have gotten into those calling battles before and they never pan out.

 

[iccyman001]

One thing I am taking away from this trip is the amount of calling to do in the morning.
I think we were a bit excessive and I don\'t want that.

I want something similar to what you do Gary. A few soft yelps and let them come in to my decoys!

 

[elky McElkerson]

i\'m not a good run and gunner.

but are you using a locator call? crow or something?

on public land we used to find the gnarliest terrain and hike in hoping to lose the masses. then crow call until i get a gobble. then set up, and do the lonely hen thing. super fun, super strenuous. lots of fire drills.

 

[bnsafe]

it was about as bad on the private i use to own. folks would set up on the fence line and go nuts, sometimes shoot if the birds were coming our way instead of theirs. oh well, unless one of us wins a lottery and buys a few thousand acres it aint gonna change.

 

[iccyman001]

it was about as bad on the private i use to own. folks would set up on the fence line and go nuts, sometimes shoot if the birds were coming our way instead of theirs. oh well, unless one of us wins a lottery and buys a few thousand acres it aint gonna change.

I guess I need to play the lottery! It was just crazy because this was a secret spot on 30K acres... and they were right in it haha

i\'m not a good run and gunner.

but are you using a locator call? crow or something?

on public land we used to find the gnarliest terrain and hike in hoping to lose the masses. then crow call until i get a gobble. then set up, and do the lonely hen thing. super fun, super strenuous. lots of fire drills.

Most of the terrain out here is big cliffs, draw, creek beds, etc. So we lose them in the terrain.
So during the day I am just hitting the spots I know they frequent and glass from the ridges.

Then I watch where they are going and I try to set up on them.


Owl calls and crow calls for when I am trying to locate...

 

[Zpd307]

think of big toms as big herd bulls. when they gobble/bugle, they are expecting the ladies to come to them. jakes on the other hand, are used to easy, sloppy seconds, and come into anything :lol:
I was hunting with a buddy some years back. we snuck up to a pair of toms that were gobbling now and again. we were still a hundred or so yards out and tried to play the call and get them to come here game. they responded every time, but wouldn\'t budge. eventually they shut up all together. we snuck up farther without calling, to the last available cover and waited. 15 minutes went by and lo and behold, here they came sneaking in silent trying to find us. we pulled a double!

 

[iccyman001]

Gary,

I have an idea.....


lets shoot some big Toms in Kansas then go shoot some big elk in NM?



Sound like a plan?

 

[Zpd307]

when new mexico gives its blessing to come down, that will be the plan!

 

[iccyman001]

I think you\'re safe :think: :wave: