Yes sir Southwood. Only 1 in the spring. You can also get 1 in the fall but if there not gobblin I'm not interested.

I know you Alabama boys do things different. That's why I'm asking what you all do. I like to learn and I like to talk huntin

You can't pattern these birds like birds in the Midwest. I do some scouting, but mostly I just go hunt.

Other places are the plan. After November this year I get a good jump in vaca so I'm going to try to hit Iowa and Wisconsin next year. I really want to chase a Rio.

That's the way it was when I lived in WV growing up. Those mountians make for some tough hunting. I got spanked a lot there. But learned a lot.

So Les, how would you describe your hunting technique? Do you scout out and pattern them and post up in a blind and wait? Do you call to them and remain mobile? Do the birds gobble pretty well in MN?

I'm just asking these questions because your commentary on hunting seems crazy to us here in AL. Not being critical, just trying to understand because it sounds very foreign to most of us

Sounds like every other Yankee I've known... Just kidding...kinda
Welcome aboard...

I think most Alabama hunters don't scout much,they just go killin'.

I don't use blinds. I like being moble. I've only killed 1 bird in my life with a decoy set. Birds here are pretty set in there ways unless someone hunts the day before you. I try to figure out what there going to do if there busted up. Even to the point that I will let them bust me while scouting just to find the prefered escape routes. My hunting is more of a run and gun ambush. If this happens I know where to head to. If something else happens I headed for where I think there going. I call very little. I like the 3rd or 4th season best so that means my birds have been listing to every yahoo around for 2 or 3 weeks. My go to call is a turkey wing. Not a wing bone call, just a wing. Turkeys are always flapping the dang things. I'll set up on the most mature bird that I can find for that year in the area where he already wants to be and just try to sound like a uninterested hen fluffing her feathers and feeding. A few quite yelps, a purr here and there, some scratching in the leaves and flapping the wing. Half a hour after fly down I'm normally putting on a turkey vest that's 20+# heavier than when I came in.
I do love getting on a early season bird that likes hearing me and likes hearing hisself.
Considering that it snowed here last night and a little today, the birds have been gobbling great here this year.

Les,

The south owns turkey hunting just like we own football. You couldnt kill a nice Tom down here if your life depended on it. You should stick to ice fishing and quit all the internet scouting. That was a nice 2.5 year old buck btw

Ice fishing is for the diehard or rich folk up here. Poor boys like me don't like sitting on a bucket when it's 25 below zero.

I don't know if he was quite 2.5 years old. He only dressed out at a little over 220#. I want to break 300# without guts but I need to go farther north to really get into the heavies.
That's another north / south difference. There you score racks, here we weigh deer. If you only get 1 tag you want the heaviest deer you can put in the freezer.
Regardless of age any deer that dresses aver 200# gutted is a trophy for me be it a buck or doe.

Les, just incase you can't tell......Whild_Bill is an idiot so pay no attention to him. He is like that 4 year old that keeps trying to butt in while adults are talking.

Welcome to the forum

One thing I do like about Minnesota. We have no snakes that can kill you. You boys have some monsters crawling around down there. I do not miss the cotton mouths that I delt with when I lived in Arkansas. Those things are just flat out mean.

It was good chatting with you boys today but for now its off to bed. Scouting early in the morning. I'll take some pics of my area in the morning and post them up for you. If you don't mind, show off some of your areas. It's been a while sense I've seen any mountians.

I hate Yankees to. But for now I'm stuck here.

Not sure the south owned football this year but that's for another time. Hunting down here is completely different than hunting the midwest. That being said, if you do enough scouting and spend enough time in the woods you could probably lay one down every opening morning here.

Yek, Brandon. Not necessary man. I dont agree with every post i see in here but I enjoy reading and sometimes posting. I think we can be adults here. Adults? You are not acting like what you are preaching, just sayin. I was just messin with a yank, and if you ask me, he was wanting some. All in good fun, Ha!

turkey hunting from bama to Colorado to ky to missouri and Pennsylvania is essentially the same....be able to hide well, be stealthy, be quiet, and get around gobbling turkeys.


notice i didnt mention calling. forget about calling. IT IS THE LEAST IMPORTANT FACTOR OF THE EQUATION

oh yea......, be covered up with toms

It's funny you brought that up D. We were all discussing that on our 24 hours of drive time on our trip this week along with the rest of the worlds problems of course. The 3 of us come up with calling as being 10% or less of turkey hunting success, but what 90% of folks put the most emphasis on. It really is amazing what the marketing geniuses have done to promote calls and calling the way it is.

Just wondering how our turkeys would act if we could only hunted the 5 days and killed one... With the mild winters we typically have.. they might take over...and les I was only kidding about the Yankee thing...turkey hunters are turkey hunters no matter what state they are in...

mainy turkeys are still alive due to some fool trying to ignite a box call. if i ever get the pleasure of hunting with you, you will see that i practice what i preach.

I am sorry...man I read this and have this guy talk like that and think that he is good at turkey huntin? Is turkey huntin really all that about just the kill? Yeah the guy is a killer up with them minnesota birds, but growin up and huntin these bama birds just cannot be compared. Mad respect for tracking the buck in the snow, but when it comes to turkey huntin, I value so much more than just killing a bird. I can't tell you how many times I have been whooped by a smart ol gobbler, but I can tell you how much I have learned not just about turkey hunting but about many different areas of life. The joy of killing one isn't really about taking the life of some bird, but much more about what it took to be in that moment. This is especially true when you don't hunt prime property and have to work just to get a gobble or see one from a distance. More than anything, chasing these bama birds gives me time in the good Lord's creation...it's not so much a kill or not outcome of the hunt but more of a "what a hunt...what an awesome mornin spent out watchin the miracle of a sunrise...what an excellent game...praise the Lord regardless of the outcome" ...just my two cents on what huntin these jokers means to me