So, due to factors largely beyond my control (and a few that are within my control, but I didn’t control them right), there’ll be no wild turkey gracing the holiday table this year… and that includes the bird and the bourbon, for those inclined to play on my words.

The Marauder and I did actually find time to get out, but coyotes ran amuck a few hours before I arrived and the birds had moved to the neighboring property.  The only other time I slipped out, the birds caught me with my horse’s lead rope in one hand and the Benjamin in the other.  Kind of hard to shoot that way, and I could really only watch as three toms slipped under the fence only 30 yards away.

Oh well, spring season is coming… eventually.

Last weekend, the CA fall turkey season slipped in with barely a warning.  Fall season is an either-sex hunt, and while there are some calling strategies, you don’t really get that heart pounding excitement of the springtime call and response.  Still, there’s a lot to be said about putting a wild bird on the Thanksgiving table.

Usually, I’m too busy guiding mule deer, shooting ducks, or chasing hogs to worry too much about fall turkey season, but this year I’ve got a reason to be a little more excited.  I’ve been shooting this Benjamin Marauder a lot, and it is dialed in and ready to rock!  In CA, turkey can be taken with airguns of .20 caliber or better, and this .25cal Marauder has proven it has what it takes to be a thunder chicken killing machine.

I’ve got it dead-nuts at 40 yards, and with the CenterPoint scope cranked up and a couple of dots of holdover, it will consistently hit within a six-inch circle out to 88 yards (as far as I’ve tried so far).  Not that I want to shoot turkeys at that kind of range, but I figure any turkey that will stand still between 40 yards and touching distance is going to be in trouble.

Hopefully, I’ll be following this post up with some pictures of myself and this guy (or one of his brothers) within the next week or so.

Tiny poults in late July? Click the pic to enlarge.

Took the horse for a little trail ride yesterday evening, and caught this little family of turkeys heading toward the roost (sorry about the crappy, cellphone pic… I don’t carry the good camera so much).  I thought it was pretty weird to see such tiny poults this late in the summer.

I didn’t see a lot of youngsters earlier this summer, but the ones I have watched are all pretty much grown.  I’m guessing this is a case of a second nesting, after the first was disturbed.  Or maybe the hen just bred really late?  I’m theorizing that our weird weather in CA this year seems to have had some impact on ground-nesting birds.

Anyway, this was a first for me.  Anyone else seen late clutches this year?

One of my Facebook friends shared this recently, and I couldn’t help but pass it along here.  It cracked me up.  It’s also some pretty impressive mouth calling… no diaphram calls, or other devices were used.  So anyway, enjoy!

It’s almost Turkey Time, good people!  Are you ready to get your bird?

Here in CA, the season will fire up on March 26.  Prior to these last couple of streaks of bad weather, the birds were looking good.  The toms and jakes were still mostly together, but you could see the competition starting to warm up.  As best I can tell, the cold and rain have put a damper on that, so we’ll see how the season shakes out. 

In the rest of the country, I’m hearing a lot of the same kind of thing.  Late cold and lots of rain…

It’s a mixed blessing, of course.  If the weather keeps the birds from going into full-on mating frenzy before the season starts, it could provide a phenomenal year for hunting.  Nothing sucks worse, for a turkey hunter, than seeing the birds in full strut two weeks before season, only to be henned up and bred by opening morning.  Hopefully the weather will break just in time for the breeding season to kick off at about the same time we hit the woods. 

On the other side of the same coin, if the bad weather pushes into the season, we may be tortured by birds that are still in bachelor groups, uninterested in chasing our seductive clucks and yelps, or flat out secretive.  That’s the kind of season that turns many of us into turkey stalkers, which is generally the worst kind of exercise in frustration.  That frustration is only made worse when the weather breaks on the last weekend of the season, and two days later our ears are tortured by yelps and gobbles from every corner of the map. 

Last year, I realized just after the season ended that I didn’t really get out for turkeys at all.  Of course, I had some other things going on that put hunting at the bottom of my priority list, but I’ve resolved to get out at least a couple of times this season come hell or high water.  Not sure yet if I’ll use the shotgun or the bow, but that’s a decision I’ll make when the time comes on.

A note, by the way, particularly to those of you hunting in CA.  If you’re hunting where there are wild hogs, there’s no reason you can’t go in prepared to shoot either a turkey or a hog.  But there are some considerations. 

First of all, if you’re hunting in the lead-free zone, remember that you can still use lead ammo for turkeys.  They’re classified as upland birds.  However, if you pack some slugs for wild hogs, not only must the slugs be lead-free, so must the turkey loads.  Also keep in mind that, with a couple of tiny exceptions, buckshot is not legal for the take of big game in CA.  If you want to shoot a hog, you need to carry slugs.  This can be a drag, because slugs don’t shoot so well from tightly choked shotguns.  In fact, with the extremely tight chokes that some turkey hunters like to use, a slug has the potential do damage the choke or the muzzle.  If you think you’ll be multi-tasking your shotgun, consider a modified or improved cylinder and keep your turkey shots close. 

An alternative that I’ve enjoyed is just to use a bow for turkey hunting in pig country.  You can shoot either critter with the same broadhead, and the same poundage with good effect (although some experts recommend dialing down the power for turkeys to prevent fast pass-throughs).  While my combo bowhunts for turkeys and hogs have so far left me empty-handed, I always enjoy time in the field with a bow, and the possibility that I might take either species keeps me motivated on slow mornings.

One other alternative that I’ve considered is to carry the .44 in holster, along with the turkey gun.  It sounds like the perfect solution, but there may be some legal technicalities to consider, since a handgun is not a legal means of take for turkeys in CA.  I’ve actually got an email in at DFG now to clarify this one, and I’ll share this answer as soon as I get it.

There are a bunch of other things I could tell you in preparation for turkey season, but as most of you know, the magazines, TV shows, and many blogs are already dispensing tons of turkey tips.  No need to throw my voice into the maelstrom at this point… besides these core suggestions:

• Remember that you usually can’t shoot a turkey if you’re sitting on your couch (unless you’re in some place like Texas).  The first step to success is getting out there and getting after them, no matter how adverse the conditions may be. 
• No matter how well a call worked last year, last month, last week, or an hour ago, it may not work now.  Be flexible and change it up.  The call that sent them into the next county last year may pull them across state lines this time out. 
• Irrespective of how many calling contests he’s won, or even how many turkey beards adorn his trophy room, the expert is not infallible.  The only real turkey expert is a turkey… and not just any turkey, but the specific turkey you’re calling right now.  If what you’re doing works, keep doing it.  If it doesn’t work, try something else.  That’s some simple advice from a professional (part time).
• Turkey hunting is not rocket science.  Don’t make it more difficult than it really is.  If you’ve got so many gizmos and gimmicks that you don’t know which one to start with, maybe it’s time to dump everything but some camo, a shotgun (or bow), and a slate. 
• Finally, be safe.  Maintain situational awareness, and know what you’re shooting at before you pull the trigger. 

I haven’t been turkey hunting this year.  I’m not gonna whine about it, because, honestly, I’ve done plenty of hunting lately… it just wasn’t for turkeys.

But while I’ve been sitting on my heels, my family and friends have been hard at it, chasing the thunder chickens all over the country.

To begin with, my brother got drawn to hunt the Roanoke River wildlife area  in NC.  He’s got that place dialed in for deer and turkeys, and does well there every year.  This year was no exception, despite unusually high water.  In fact, the water was so high, he actually set up and made the shot right from the canoe! 

There was another good tom nearby, so Scott’s going back on his birthday in a couple of weeks to see if he can fill his other tag.  Sounds like a perfect way to spend a birthday to me!

He didn’t have his good camera, so pardon the picture quality.

Another North Carolinian and Hog Blog reader, Brian (AKA Carolina Rig) also did well on State Game Lands.  Here’s his story!

A fellow hunter beat me to the parking lot of the permit only state gameland hunt Thurs and Friday morning.  He mentioned he had roosted a bird the night before, so I let him get set up where he wanted too, and backed off. 

I walked down the road and told myself if I hear anything, I’ll make the move, otherwise, I’m going into work.  About 5 minutes later I hear a bird sound off on some adjacent private land about a 1/2 mile away.  I wait for another gobble, then book it down to the very corner of the of the gamelands, which puts me as close to the bird as I can legally get, and set up.  I call, he replies. 

This goes on for a few minutes, during which time he has cut the distance between us in half.  He’s fired up now, gobbling at every sound in the woods.  Then he hangs up.  I quickly decide that I’ve got to mix it up a bit, so I stand up, run down the trail away from him about 50 yards and call.  I do this twice, and its all he can stand.  By the time I get back to my spot, I see movement.  He comes in hot, sees the pretty hen I’ve got out for him, and struts his stuff.  19lbs, 9″ beard, matching set of 1″ spurs.

Finally, here’s one more and I’ve got to say it’s probably one of my favorites so far…

I’ve written a time or two about my friend Matt, “De hog shootinest Gent’man”.  He’s shared a lot of pictures of successful hog hunts over the years, but this one really tops things off.  It appears that Matt and his “guide” (his daughter) went out the other morning and really put it all together in short order.  A big tom turkey and a fat boar hog went down and out for the count.  He said his daughter is working on the story, and if I can, I’ll share it with you all.  In the meantime, here’s the proud daddy and his girl.

Turkey season opened here in CA on March 27.  I usually have a tale or two to tell by now, as we crawl into the third week of the season, but as we can see, I haven’t even been out to call at the infernal critters.  I’ve neither hunted for my own bird, nor guided anyone this season. 

Some of this, of course, is my own doing.  I did just get back from Texas, and while I considered dropping $100 for a non-resident turkey tag down there, I opted out.  I did enough killing in the week leading up to the turkey opener, and by the time it came along, I was tired of cleaning and cutting. 

As far as making time to get out here in CA, that hasn’t happened either… and it may not.  I’ve sort of lost touch with a couple of my private land contacts (which is my own fault t00), and haven’t really done any public land scouting.  And let me tell you, trying to hunt turkeys on public land without a little homework is a real exercise in futility.  So, if there’s a turkey hunting tip in here for you, that would be it…  you can do well hunting public land, but you have to scout it out first. 

On the other hand, if you want a great success story, you can check out Holly over at the NorCal Cazadora.  From the sounds of things, she had a classic hunt this past weekend.  Read the story yourself, but I will say that’s a heck of a way to break in a brand-new shotgun! 

In the meantime, I’m sitting here with a handful of gear I’m still trying to review.  Over the last few nights, I did have the opportunity to get out and play with the new Quad Tactical headlamp from Princeton Tec. 

As some of you will remember, I’ve been on the search for a headlamp that will provide enough light to follow a blood trail  in the dark.  At the SHOT Show this past January, I spoke to several manufacturers, and most seemed eager and willing to send me a sample or two to try out.  Unfortunately, no one has really followed through. 

I was lucky enough to contact the marketing folks from Princeton Tec, and after learning what I had in mind (waterproof, bright, lightweight), he suggested the Quad series.  The Tactical is a camo version of this light, and because I’m a hunter, that was his choice to send me.  So let me start off with the only slightly negative comment.

Making small tools (lights, knives, GPS, radios, etc.) in camouflage patterns is a neat gimmick, but it’s really not practical.  Think about it.  Camo is designed to blend in with the background cover so that it’s practically invisible.  So if you drop something, or lay it down… and it’s camouflaged… it can be a real problem to find.  I think this applies especially to lights, since you’re most likely to drop it or lay it down in the dark.  In my opinion (and experience), small tools should always be brightly colored so they’re not so easy to lose in the woods. 

That’s really a general comment, though, and not a specific knock on Princeton Tec, because otherwise, this light is really close to exactly what I was looking for. 

It’s waterproof to a meter, which means it should be fine in the heaviest of downpours, and will probably survive a drop into the duck marsh while setting decoys (a fate that has befallen several of my previous lights).  I haven’t dunked this one yet, but it did get soaked in my pack on that last Tejon hog hunt and didn’t even flicker. 

It’s lightweight, at 101 grams (a little over 3.5 ounces), even with three AAA batteries in it.  The AAA batteries, by the way, are also important to me.  I’ve seen some really great lights out there, but they run on proprietary batteries that are not only expensive, but they’re also hard to find.  I want to be able to pick up batteries at any gas station or grocery store.  It’s also an LED light, which means I don’t have to deal with finding and replacing bulbs.

The light is fairly bright, with an output rated at 45 lumens.  A critical feature of this lamp is that the light is regulated, so that it provides full brightness as long as there is battery power.  Ordinary flashlights tend to fire up at full brightness, and then constantly dim as they burn.  Now I don’t have the equipment for testing the actual output or any of that… and I’m not interested in going to those lengths.  I know what works, and with this light set at its highest setting, it’s bright enough for most blood trails.  I would probably have to fall back to my lantern or the big D-cell Mag-Light for a tougher trail, but the Quad is adequate.  It’s definitely plenty for finding your treestand or duck blind. 

One feature of the Quad Tactical is that it comes with colored lenses, so you can change the light output to red, green, or blue.  The light body holds one additional lens, and the others come packaged in the box with the light.  This means, if you’re like me, you’re going to lose the two lenses that aren’t attached to your light.  With that in mind, it’s a good idea to decide what you’ll use most, and attach it to the light from the get-go.

The red is good for following a trail without blowing your night vision.  The green offers a similar benefit, with the added bonus that the softness of green light will not spook game.  The blue light is supposed to aid in blood trailing, although in my own experience, the jury is still out on that.  I’ll be trying it next chance I get, but I haven’t had to follow a blood trail in a while.

Personally, for the most part, I tend to just use the white light when I use light at all.  Still, I’ll be experimenting with the blue light a little more on upcoming hunts.  I’m intrigued by the possibilities.

Boy, that’s probably the dumbest topic title I’ve done in a while.  Oh well, it rang in my mind and now I’ve shared it… 

Anyway, true to form, after walking several miles and several thousand feet of elevation gain and loss, I’m sitting here getting ready for another work week.  The ice chest won’t need to be cleaned this afternoon, and my butchering tools will stay in the drawer.  Porky evaded me once again. 

The world is full of “what-ifs”, and such was this trip.  IF I had been using a rifle instead of the Mathews, I could have killed several pigs.  I practically ran one down in the road yesterday morning, but there’s no way I could have leapt from Petunia, unlimbered the bow, nocked an arrow, and got a clean shot at him as he boogied up the ridge.  IF it were gun season on the ranch (it opens next weekend) I would have had the .44 on hand, and would have had no problem taking that boar.  Likewise, the group of 15 that fed down across canyon from me.  At 200 yards, they remained oblivious to me as they fed on an open shelf, in the wide open at 1100 hrs.  I could have plopped down with the rifle and a rest and taken my pick.  With the bow, I have to get a little closer than that.  Unfortunately, at about 150 yards, I practically stepped on a group of deer who proceeded to bolt right through the feeding hogs.  At last glance, the hogs were just shy of Mach 1, and disappearing back over the high ridge and headed toward the safety of the property line.

Not that it was a bad trip, because there’s seldom a bad hunting trip… it was really nice.  It was my first solo hunt in quite a while, and as much as I enjoy guiding and taking people hunting, sometimes it’s really good just to get out there and not have to think about anyone else’s experience.  It was relaxing just to walk and hunt, and enjoy all the things you see on a beautiful, cold November morning.  There were grouse, band-tailed pigeons, quail, eagles, coyotes, tons of deer, and lots of smaller critters.  The salamanders were on the move, an annual event I’ve been told, and there were times when it was hard to walk without stepping on one. 

And there was pig sign… oh brother, was there pig sign!  The recent rain had softened the ground, and the hogs were taking full advantage of it.  Hilltops were rototilled, and tracks and scat littered the ground.  The only problem was, for the most part, I was consistently where they were, instead of where they are.  Tracks are great and all, but they’re best when they still have pig feet in them.

Anyway, it doesn’t really matter if I killed a pig.  I still have two freezers loaded with meat.  I was actually hoping for a turkey, for Thanksgiving, but they were pretty scarce up there this weekend.  I thought I heard some once, but never could locate the danged things.  I don’t think I tried all that hard anyway.  It was just good to go, to be out there.  I need that sometimes.  I think we all do.

Well, I’m outta here for the weekend.  Gonna head back to the Hedgepeth Ranch (Golden Ram) in Sonoma County for another go at the hogs and maybe a turkey with my bow.  The weather is kinda messy right now, but it should blow out tonight, and tomorrow could be a really happening day. 

Well, wanna make God laugh?  Tell him your plans, right?  We’ll have to see.

Until Monday…

He was coming in hot, gobbling his fool head off.  In his lusty rush, he didn’t even notice as I snaked the barrel of the Remington 870 out the window of the blind and took a careful aim.  At about ten yards from the blind, he stretched his neck to gobble one last time, and I covered his head with the muzzle and squeezed the trigger.

Here’s where things get a little odd… at least to me. 

The gun went off, just as it always does.  The blast caused me to blink, as it always does.  And when my vision cleared, as it always does, the bird should have been laying there flopping its last… as they always do.

Except, as you may have gathered by now things didn’t go the way they always do.  In fact, from the time I pulled the trigger, nothing went exactly as it always does. 

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