Happy days are near! Turkey season only a few weeks away!

[Ted Summey]

One I got a couple of years ago. Called it in from a couple hundred yards. He came up the hill strutting his way along.

 

[teejk]

One I got a couple of years ago. Called it in from a couple hundred yards. He came up the hill strutting his way along.

I think the attraction is that it occurs after being cooped up in the house all winter. The spring time is amazing in the woods as it comes alive (grouse drumming, birds singing). And being in full camo the deer get pretty close (last year I could have touched one with the gun barrel...she knew something was there, just didn't know what...I put up with her for 20 minutes or so as she stomped her feet trying to get me to move). And there is a bit of skill required...it's a good feeling when you can hear one in the far distance and lure him in. And last but not least, they are pretty tasty! Our domestic turkeys have been engineered to produce "mushy" meat.

 

[Ted Summey]

While deer make sounds and occasionally you can call and get a response from one, it is nothing like having a converstion with a turkey - male or female. When you call and a bird calls back NOW THAT's EXCITING! After nearly 20 years of turkey hunting, a gobbling bird still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck, my heart pounds and I have to control my breathing. This is a family site so suffice it to say there's only one other experience like it - except for catching big striped bass, harvesting 8 pt and better deer, catching big king mackerel, yellow fin tuna, wahoos, and sailfish well almost:laughing:

 

[teejk]

While deer make sounds and occasionally you can call and get a response from one, it is nothing like having a converstion with a turkey - male or female. When you call and a bird calls back NOW THAT's EXCITING! After nearly 20 years of turkey hunting, a gobbling bird still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck, my heart pounds and I have to control my breathing. This is a family site so suffice it to say there's only one other experience like it - except for catching big striped bass, harvesting 8 pt and better deer, catching big king mackerel, yellow fin tuna, wahoos, and sailfish well almost:laughing:

Let's not forget the social aspects of the hunt! Sometimes getting together with old friends (not unlike deer camp) can lead to some "over-imbibing" to the point where getting out of bed before dawn to go sit in the woods makes one wonder why...but then you hear that first tree gobble and everything changes. If they could only capture that feeling and sell it, they would make millions.

 

[dusty3030]

First two days of Mississippi season a bust, but it was a pretty morning!
Birds still in winter mode.

 

[teejk]

First two days of Mississippi season a bust, but it was a pretty morning!
Birds still in winter mode.

I'm starting to get a little nervous here with my season less than a month away and waking up to -4F this morning and still plenty of snow on the ground. Our birds are still in that winter flock stage although the long beards are starting to move around. Left over tags go on sale tomorrow so I might take a shot at week 3. The demand goes down after that so usually no problem with seasons 4-6.

 

[retiredmgn]

My son and I used to get up at 2am to drive south to be there for pre dawn and get set up. That was
the beginning of turkey reintroduction in Maine. Never got one down there.
Now they're in my yard - 12 at a time. Kinda takes the sport out of it to shoot one out of your driveway.
What ticks me off is they are here because our hunting license fees paid for their reintroduction. Now here, we're supposed to pay an extra $20 on top of our license to harvest one. There's so many they're becoming a problem.
Keep em. Or open the season up to anyone holding a general hunting license.

 

[teejk]

My son and I used to get up at 2am to drive south to be there for pre dawn and get set up. That was
the beginning of turkey reintroduction in Maine. Never got one down there.
Now they're in my yard - 12 at a time. Kinda takes the sport out of it to shoot one out of your driveway.
What ticks me off is they are here because our hunting license fees paid for their reintroduction. Now here, we're supposed to pay an extra $20 on top of our license to harvest one. There's so many they're becoming a problem.
Keep em. Or open the season up to anyone holding a general hunting license.

I guess the "turky fever" hasn't hit Maine yet. Re-introduction has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry. And yeah...we have the extra fees here also. It's all about money (we have to actually pay simply to apply for a tag, then pay for a separate license to shoot one). But we have to also pay a separate fee to shoot pheasants now too. I actually like it more than deer hunting though. Nice opportunity to get into the woods after a long winter. And there is actually some skill involved beyond "right place, right time". And finally, they are pretty good to eat. Price per pound probably doesn't make economic sense but that applies to any hunting/fishing I think (other than you being from Maine might be the exception with moose (a lot of meat on one of those things)).