| This
is not your ordinary magazine but rather a database of some of the most
difficult and time consuming material to find regarding big, trophy
whitetail bucks. Our magazine, appropriately named Pro-Mag, will assist
the hunter in obtaining that once-in-a lifetime buck. The Pro-Mag will be packed with tried and proven outfitters, public and private ground, tag info, ease of obtaining a permit, percentages of success for a big buck, topo data, local geography, lodging, terrain and so much more. We will inform the reader which areas are hot and which areas to steer clear of. |
If
that wasn’t enough, our staff will give expert advise along the way.
If we talk-the-talk, you can be sure we’ve walked-the-walk on the
published data. Here’s a sneak peak: http://www.nontypicalhunter.net/promag.html Please check our website for updates! We add more content each month to help keep you informed. If you are not signed up on our forum, get on the ball! We have hunters from all over the country joining us at a rapid pace. It’s a great place to network with other hunters for advice, places to hunt or just some plain ole’ chitchat. |
 Some
of our readers from the southern states will be hunting long beards in
March, while the rest of us will be hunting the wily ole’ Tom in April
and May. I love to hunt turkeys! If you haven’t hunted a vocal
gobbler, where you have to work at getting him into range for a shot,
there is nothing like it.Lets look at some quick strategies that we can use to bag that ever-elusive gobbler! I used to tell my friends that I preferred to hunt turkeys over whitetails and they would just think I was crazy. Well, I am crazy, but that's beside the point. Anyone who walks around the house yelping, caught on the job clucking and over-heard in the basement gobbling, isn't quite right, but turkey hunters will understand. You have to speak, think and feel like a turkey just to get geared up to hunt these beautiful creatures. I was on a turkey hunt in Alabama over a decade ago with a local turkey hunter who could call like you have never heard before, and he would get so worked up, that he would start strutting with his arms hanging low and his neck would extend every time he mimicked a gobbler! When he yelped, he would walk around in circles like a lost hen. The first time I saw him go through this routine, I couldn't help but to laugh at him. I remembered him looking at me and saying, "What's so funny"? Given the fact that he was built like a linebacker, I would just say "nothing, please continue”. From then on, I would just secretly look around to see if anyone was watching us.... |
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| There
are so many techniques today in hunting long beards, I won't go
into all of them because that would be impossible. I do want to talk
about some of my favorites. The first strategy I call the
"peek-a-boo". I created the peek-a-boo for some of the
hardest toms to kill. If you have ever had a gobbler hang up at 50
yards over and over again, it's time for the peek-a-boo.
The basis for this method is to entice that bird into shooting range.
It's not normal for a long beard to come to the hen, as you may know,
that is one reason they hang up so often. Even with decoys, they can
hang there all day just trying to get that hen to come to them. It's
all about ego! Well, they can get pretty upset if that hen won't
come to them. Although most of them will walk away if the hen won't
come to them, if
they can't see the decoy (the hen), they can get into range by
looking for that hen. I
like to find a small hill after locating a tom, and hiding behind it.
By positioning your body near the top of this hill and yelping, the
gobbler knows where the hen is but can't figure out why she hasn't
seen him! |
As
long as he doesn't see the hen, most cases he'll tiptoe to the top of
this hill and look over the top. When he does, I say
"peek-a-boo" and send my 10-gauge semi-automatic to him via
airmail. This method only works using
a hill as a hiding place. If you are on flat ground and he doesn't see
a hen, he knows something is wrong and he bolts. The hill
"justifies" him not being able to see the hen, so he feels
it is a logical situation and thus proceeds to let the "hen"
see him by standing on the top of the hill. Another method I like to use is the "dry call". I use the dry call when I am unable to locate any vocal birds. If I am in an area where I know there are birds but no voices to be heard, I'll dry call. It's really pretty simple. Wait until mid to late morning, set up in a good location relative to ambushing and send out 4 or 5 good yelps. Wait 5 minutes and do it again. Don't say another word (word??? You know what I mean). Be very quiet. More often than not, they'll come in! You may never see them all of the times, but chances are they have you located. |
2
of my biggest birds on my wall are both from dry calling! Double-teaming can really pay off also. If you are hunting with a friend, it can be very advantageous for one hunter be the caller and the other be the shooter. Since gobblers have a tendency to “hang-up”, placing the caller about 50 yards behind the shooter is a great way to erase that hang-up area. If you don’t like hunting in teams, you can also administer this technique by sending out a series of yelps then quietly moving forward about 50 yards or so. Once into your new position, refrain from yelping any more as this will give away your new position.
* * * * *
A widely missed opportunity happens quite often when the weather gets bad, to be more specific, when it rains. Turkeys, being the nervous creatures that they are, don’t like noise! When it rains, the timber gets awfully loud with rain pelting down on the leaves, etc., so they often head for the fields or a clearing. |
Being
the birds that they are, they also know it is a great time to look for
worms! So out of the woods they go. This is a great time to ambush or
to glass the fields with your binoculars for any activity, as it is
very possible to drop down into a gully and reposition yourself for a
better shot. One last technique is actually a combination of methods. Carry a portable tree stand with you or use a permanent one. Dry call on the ground and then climb the stand! You'll now see why I said earlier that more often than not, they come in! From that height, you can watch these birds trickle through the woods, mostly keeping their heads down and straight ahead. Many times they won't even gobble, for various reasons. You now have range with little interference in-between, so shoot away! I have taken numerous gobblers with a bow and arrow using the tree stand set-up, and I really like it. It just doesn’t seem natural for a turkey to look up for a posing threat as it is on the ground. |
| 1. | The
wild turkey will eat almost anything. Bugs, corn, wheat, leaves, acorns
and so forth. |
| 2. | They
can be found in the late morning in dry dusty patches of soil. They like
to get dust in and on their wings to eliminate mites. |
| 3. | When
the action slows down a bit in the morning, they often can be found
standing in the low parts of gullies for hours! For some reason, they
will group up and just stand literally for hours without moving or
making any noise whatsoever! |
| 4. | The
wild turkey taste great! Their meat is more of a mixture of dark and
white, leaning more to the white side. Since they run often, their legs
are not very fatty and offer little meat. |
| 5. | The
wild turkey can see 270 degrees, which means they can see BEHIND them
while looking forward. |
| 6. | Benjamin
Franklin knew the wild turkey was so smart, he wanted it to be the
symbol of America, but lost out to the American eagle. |
| 7. | Turkeys
will roost on tree limbs for the night protecting themselves from
predators. Can you imagine trying to sleep while holding on to a branch
in the middle of a thunderstorm while getting dumped on by gallons of
rain and the wind slapping you around like a bull? |
| 8. | A
hen turkey will have to stay on the ground for 28 days keeping her eggs
warm in the Springtime making her more vulnerable to coyotes and other
animals. |
| 9. | Turkeys
would rather run than fly. |
| 10. | Turkeys
fear me :) |
| For
our product tested, well, lets just say, “click here”: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5814120 Enough said! Thumbs up for product design, thumbs down if you want to mount your turkey |
| 1. | Do
not shoot, handle or consume any animal that is acting abnormally or
appears to be sick. Contact your state game and fish department if you
see or harvest an animal that appears sick. |
| 2. | Wear latex or rubber gloves when field dressing your deer or elk. |
| 3. | Bone out the meat from your animal. Don't saw through bone, and avoid cutting through the brain or spinal cord (backbone). |
| 4. | Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues. |
| 5. | Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field dressing is completed. |
| 6. | Avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field dressing coupled with boning out a carcass will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will remove remaining lymph nodes.) |
| 7. | Avoid consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease. |
| 8. | If
you have your deer or elk commercially processed, request that your
animal is processed individually, without meat from other animals being
added to meat from your animal. |
| 9. | The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection has developed a brochure on field dressing and processing deer. This excellent resource can be found on their website at: http://datcp.state.wi.us/ah/agriculture/animals/disease/chronic/pdf/venison_safety_2side.pdf |
…”We
locate a group of gobblers early but they seem to be about 5 |
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