Mostly Archery with dustyvarmint » Turkey Hunting

First Fall Turkey

dustyvarmint — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:15:01 +0000

Good luck and a good friend result in my first fall turkey harvest – and the usual hunting hi-jinx that seems to accompany us.

A little later in the week after I took my first Kansas archery whitetail good friend Big Will departed leaving me on my own. I explored a new area he had turned me onto in the spring as I’d done quite a bit of virtual scouting over it using various maps and Google Earth. Not fifty yards from the truck I busted a flock of hen turkeys, I busted another flock just seventy-five yards from that one and that afternoon I busted and pushed another flock along in front of me as I set up my stand for the evening hunt. They were active all around during that hunt and a group eventually roosted just forty yards behind me. I was lucky enough to see them fly down the next morning. Then on the way out I busted the first group I’d run into the previous morning. Turkeys were everywhere, but they were a secondary quarry on that part of the trip.

Not so on the next part. I was off to see Kansas buddy “Dude” Brian. See No Bird Left Behind for another of our crazy spring turkey adventures. He basically taught me to turkey hunt. However, after spending the spring season with him I didn’t want to take up much of his time and hospitality on this fall trip so we arranged a one day outing. Up and raring to go, as usual, we settled into his new blind in an area good for both whitetails and turkeys. Previously he’d set his Primos Double Bull Dark Horse up inside an old abandoned hay shed in a remote part of the property he has access to. This summer he took things to an all new level. He built a seven-foot-by-seven-foot blind in one corner of the barn complete with sitting-shooting window, standing-shooting window and comfy lawn chairs. Holy smokes is that nice!

A Primos Double Bull in a barn.

We heard various turkey calls now and again. The action was slow, but the day was nice and I truly enjoy hunting with Dude. Despite the fact he shoots a Mathews (poke, poke) he is the reason I switched to NAP 2-Blade Bloodrunners. With four critters definitively down using them this year I’m extremely happy with the choice. Literally within a minute of sending a text to Mrs. dustyvarmint that it was a beautiful day, but slow, Dude told me to get ready. Now, despite my always trying to convince him to shoot first or at least toss a coin for the privilege he continues to insist that I shoot first – maybe someday I can twist his arm in the other direction.

Here I’ll digress and throw out another story of our hunting hi-jinx. In 2007 I joined Dude for my second turkey hunting season ever. We made an extra long sit that afternoon. Action didn’t start, though, until the insects started chirping and the air cooled down. Jake Deke was mounted on Jenny Deke and two toms coming from our left looked like they didn’t appreciate that. However, before the lead tom could arrive another group of toms and jakes decided to come from our right. Having taken my first tom a few days prior it was Dude’s turn to shoot. He selected a bird and let fly, but it didn’t go down and kept running from right to left, left to right. I decided a second arrow was in order so took a moving pot-shot, but missed. That group then departed the way it came.

My first tom from 2007.

We were sure the bird was terminally hit and began to relax and give it some time. However, I found that the birds to our left were still coming in and the lead one was mad as heck at Jake Deke. It was Dude’s turn to shoot again, but there was a problem – he’d dropped his T-handle release in the grass and couldn’t find it in the low light of the blind amid all our equipment. I got on all fours and began searching as the determined tom marched closer. No luck. Finally, I pulled off my old Winn Archery’s Free Flight wrist release and handed it to him out of desperation. He simply stuck his thumb through the hole, grasped it with his fingers, attached it to the string, pulled back and drilled the tom through the wing butts. It dropped in its tracks and steam actually floated out and up from the entrance wound. Later, unfortunately, despite our confidence, we did not find the first hit tom – a lesson learned in our bowhunting lives.

Dude’s 2007 “dropped release” tom.

Anyway, back to 2011. Dude was nice enough to give me the sitting-shooting window and the young hen turkeys assembled nicely in front of it – this was the fall and hens were legal. I picked a bird and drew, but experience told me to check the broadhead level compared to the window level. Not good and I couldn’t sit up tall enough to clear it or squat steadily enough to place a good shot. I moved to the standing window where Dude was, but as soon as my head appeared in it an alarm putt sounded and the flock went on alert – in the quick and unexpected appearance of the flock I’d forgotten to raise my black balaclava. Dude whispered to me that, “We had time,” and, “To take my time.”

I drew my Strother Infinity picked a broadside turkey, aimed carefully at what I thought was the wing butt and triggered the release. This is when everything went awry. The birds exploded. I did hear the unmistakable sound of a solid hit, but knew from experience it was not a guarantee on a turkey. Dude happened to be looking at the wrong turkey so he had no idea if I’d even hit one. I was trying to keep a close look out the shooting window (and unknowingly squishing Dude against the side of the blind) and when they started running to the east I moved to the sitting window to follow their progress. Dude had forgotten to keep his call in his mouth and was frantically trying to find it in order to stop them while at the same time trying to target another bird. Once he started yelping I started yelping and putting by voice only – possibly the world’s worst turkey calling, but over time I’ve found the call’s rhythm to be nearly important as the actual sound.

At the same time I was trying to grab another arrow to reload, but couldn’t find them or my quiver despite staring right at my bow. I was reduced to simply looking at my string and riser and trying to follow the turkeys’ progress when I noticed a brown sideways wing slowly settling to the ground a short 5-7 yards from my side of the blind. That had to be my bird. A wave of relief settled over me and then Dude gave me “five” as the adrenaline surged through us. Turns out the TightSpot quiver and my arrows had never left the bow – I was just too pumped with post-shot adrenaline to find them.

We settled in and began more earnest calling in an attempt bring them back, but it became fruitless. Giving the bird twenty minutes we then began the short retrieval. After taking pictures I told Dude about the quiver and arrows and my balaclava – he rolled on the ground laughing then we reminisced about the dropped release from our 2007 hunt. As we started to make our exit he spotted two more turkeys making their way to our location across a bean field. Dude got ready with the bow and call as I prepared the rangefinder. After quite a while the two very nice toms fed past us at about 52 yards. That was too far, but I was impressed that we withstood a piercing look from them in our direction with only a minimal amount of cover to hide us.

My 2011 Kansas fall turkey hen.

We returned to the blind that evening with a questionable and sometimes swirling wind that eventually settled in our favor. The turkeys never reappeared, but just minutes before last light a group of five antlerless deer came in including the “Marshmallow Doe.” Man, was she fat. Dude wanted me to take a shot, but due to the low light inside the blind I could either see the deer or see the pins while aiming; never both at the same time so there was no ethical shot. They did not want to leave even after we farted in their general directions and not wanting to be stuck in the blind all night (as we had red stag tenderloins waiting on us at the dinner table) Dude eventually snorted as a doe would do under alert and they left. He’d employed this technique in the past so was confident it wouldn’t permanently harm his future chances.

Once again Dude and I proved that despite continued experience we can have an excellent time while producing some memorable bowhunting adventures. I was lucky enough to take my first fall turkey and have a close encounter with another Kansas whitetail. My only regret is that I wish I could have seen Dude drill a critter (with his own release).

happy hunting, dv

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Turkey of the Dead

dustyvarmint — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:57:20 +0000

By Jerry Long, April 25, 2011

This week I share the story of recently taking my first Wisconsin turkey.

Note: In keeping with dvMA’s goal of helping you avoid making the same mistakes I’ve made over time I like to record the nitty-gritty details. Like forgetting my release. I’d like to hear what you have to say on this matter. Would you rather read a succinct story or experience the details?

Would this Wisconsin turkey season be just like the last four? It was mid-April in the 30’s. The wind was howling. I’d dedicated another day of vacation to take more advantage of the 5-day season (Wisconsin has six five-day seasons) and Outdoor’s Buddy Seth had sacrificed the greater portion of his season to help me, once again, attempt to take my first Wisconsin turkey with a bow (bow, of course).

I’d wanted to return to the scene of the crime where Jake Mobile bit the dust in BowDekeTastrophe last year, but wet, impassable roads prevented it. Instead, we were sitting in my Double-Bull Darkhorse blind at a “T” intersection of two logging trails. I’d seen turkeys roost not 75 yards to the west in the past and we’d seen them in this very intersection before. We imagined we’d heard a gobble somewhere, but it probably was just that – imagination.

Once it seemed hopeless we packed up and attempted to slow-and-bow to an open area where we expected them to be given the wind conditions. No luck. We scouted another logging road intersection where I’d seen strut zones before. No luck. Not even any sign. It was looking like this year would, indeed, be similar to past years.

Seth made one comment that would prove, as usual, fateful, “We could drive around and see if we spot some.” To which I replied, “I don’t like driving around.” My feeling is that “hunters” sometimes confuse the actual act of hunting with driving around looking for things. Seth knows I get a little stodgy on technique. On a trip to South Dakota for turkeys I balked at sitting on the ranch’s drive-way even though the turkeys crossed there – I got a shot although it was botched. And, I balked at trying to chase them down. In retrospect, given the situation, an untraditional spot and stalk for turkeys was probably the right method to use and one hunter in our party did so successfully.

We scouted out a few known locations and locations I’d wanted to try out before. We still didn’t see any turkeys. So, we re-grouped with the other lucky first-period turkey hunters at The Brothers’ Cottage. Everyone compared notes on the morning’s activity – nothing, but wind. The weather was so bad we didn’t even use The Brothers’ hot tub. They traded a shotgun for it. How cool is that? A hot tub is definitely better than a shotgun. I started to think as far out of the box as my feeble mind would allow. Grabbing the plat book, the DeLorme Wisconsin Atlas and Gazetteer and some overhead photos from Google Earth I began pouring over everything. I became determined to explore a very large piece of public ground to the north.

I’d never been in that area before, but I knew Seth had a little knowledge of it. Our first stop was fun, but, other than one turkey track, didn’t produce anything more than a lot of questions about where we could legally hunt. Approaching from a different angle we found an information board that answered our question – we could hunt everywhere. Grand! We finally saw our first turkeys of the day, all hens, and that brightened our spirits. Not knowing how to exactly approach either group we decided to let them go for now and return if no better prospects popped up in case a gobbler was in the area also.

When we got to a point where Seth really knew where he was at he wanted to show me a graveyard. This very old graveyard is uniquely contained inside the hunting area. Wouldn’t you know it? On the way there we spotted two gobblers with one strutting. Disembarking quickly (that’ll come back to haunt me) and simultaneously developing a plan we began to put it in motion. We’d make a sixty yard sneak through a marsh, set up on the other side and then make an attempt at calling them in. I had my Lacrosse Alpha Burlys on so I wasn’t worried about the marsh water, but for Seth’s sake in shorter leather boots we stuck to the twelve inch depth. Slowly and quietly I watched every footfall as we stalked through the marsh. Three-quarters of the way through we placed my best decoy, the Flambeau Fair Lady, on the edge of the marsh with the intent of grabbing the gobblers’ attention as they transited past the blind. Once on the other side we quietly put up the blind right over our gear and got ready.

Flambeau’s Fair Lady

That’s the point I realized I’d left my Hot Shot Infinity release in my bow case. So, with no other option I trekked back through the marsh to the truck, retrieved the release and trekked back through the marsh feeling rather low. After making a decision not to put out decoys here as it was too risky for being seen we started throwing some sounds out with factory calls and a dustyvarmint woodworks amber glass over glass pot call made from Osage orange and played with a holly striker. I don’t know how long it was before Seth grabbed my arm and said turkeys were coming directly to us from the opposite side of an evergreen tree and one was a gobbler. Then there were two hens. And then another gobbler. I got ready to shoot.

The first gobbler skirted into the side of the marsh heading towards Fair Lady. The two hens and the other gobbler continued on a path towards us. One hen advanced fairly closely and the tom followed. He cleared the evergreen tree and approached the hen. As he did I drew. I’d ranged the tree at eighteen yards. He paused. I acquired a sight picture and sent a New Archery Products 2-blade BloodRunner with a 2 1/16” cut in his direction with my Strother Infinity. The hit was solid, but lower than I liked. In reality it was probably about 22 yards in distance as he was on the other side of the tree. Seth said the arrow flew up in the air and landed a short distance away.

The hit tom did a double-hop or two and seemed unaffected. The hens seemed unphased. The other tom was checking out Fair Lady and offering perfect shots at 25 yards. Unfortunately, we only had one tag. The wounded tom plopped down at about thirty yards near a tree and stayed there while the other three turkeys slowly ambled off to the west. My Kansas bowhunting buddy Crazy Brew, who has bowhunted a pile of turkeys, has a formula for turkey success; 2 1/16” cut BloodRunners and a two hour wait. Since Ol’ Tom was still alive and in sight I planned to put the second half of that formula in action.

The vigil began. I took up my reading, as I normally do during down time in the blind. Then the turkey popped up, weebled a bit, moved 3-5 yards to the east and then plopped back down in sight. For the next one hour and fifty minutes he would get up and move to the east, although not very ably, about three-to-five yards every twenty minutes. There was no more reading. We simply watched him intently through binos and rangefinders. At about that time he moved a short distance, but we could no longer see him. After considerable discussion it was decided I would creep from the blind and belly crawl slowly and carefully towards his location to put eyes on him.

I found what I believed to be him fairly quickly and called Seth up to keep his eyes on him while I continued to creep forward. At about that point the turkey flew four-to-five feet straight up into the air in a frenzy of wing-flapping, fell straight back down and was still about twenty yards away. I righted myself, began a slow, silent creep in his direction with bow at the ready. Three small twig-trees blocked a second shot. By the time I was within three feet he seemed quite dead and I was able to safely retrieve him.

Two-and-one-sixteenth inch cut BloodRunners plus a two hour wait equaled success. We would later learn that the broadhead dislocated the right leg, deflected up through the right breast, cut the breast bone in half, traveled through the left breast and exited above the right wing. I did not inspect the chest cavity to see what was hit inside.

To say I was elated after five years is an understatement. Crazy might have been more accurate. I gave Seth a heartfelt “five”. Then I was trying to clean up gear, admire the turkey’s beauty, get pictures before dark, pack the truck, take down the blind, carry things to the truck and everything else at once. Seth reminded me we had two hours before dark and I could just bring the truck to the gear. So I did while he packed everything up and we took the pictures. Seth said he’d read my blogs on trophy photo taking and he did a really excellent job. What a difference a partner makes.

A very, very happy dustyvarmint poses with his first Wisconsin turkey; 1 1/8” spurs, 9 ½” beard and 21 pounds.

After that all was packed and we finished our drive to the cemetery and checked it out. Very, very cool, but I’d bet very, very creepy after dark. Graves dated back to the late 1800’s with some occupants only having lived a few days.

A grave stone dated 1851-1895.

A grave stone dated 1887-1890.

So, this year did turn out differently than previous years. It brought the end to a five-year quest for a Wisconsin turkey and not just for me. Upon arriving back at The Brother’s Cottage we learned that Camp Pug hunting acquaintance, Rock, also took his first bowhunted Wisconsin turkey the same day after a very similar 5-6 year pursuit. Thanks goodness. And Seth was right; maybe we could drive around and see if we spot some turkeys.

happy hunting, dv

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Kansas Turkeys 2011 – Fightin’ and Sleepin’

dustyvarmint — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:55:56 +0000

By Jerry Long, April 11, 2011

I hope you enjoy this video I captured in Kansas on a recent DIY turkey hunt with friends.

One of the things I enjoy most about being out in the fields and woods is seeing, first hand, the animals engaged in their behavior. While not extraordinary (like the time I saw three does chase a feral cat across a field and into a brush pile), this short video is no exception. Every time I watch it I am struck by one thing for sure – just how ugly that sleepy tom turkey really is. Almost stomach wrenching…

happy hunting, dv

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BowDekeTastrophe

dustyvarmint — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:36:12 +0000

By Jerry Long, May 3, 2010

With extremely limited time to hunt, my turkey season turns disastrous in a hurry.

My vacation time is limited this year due to the Africa adventure, see the Bowhunting Africa page, so turkey season was going to be very short. The morning started out well – coffee was good and outdoor’s buddy Seth was along. We’d set up in a spot that produced close encounters last year, see dv’s 2009 Turkey Season – Fried Tag, with Seth’s Primos’ Jake Mobile on point and my Flambeau Fair Lady hen nearby.

The Primos Jake Mobile decoy.

The Flambeau Fair Lady hen decoy – I think she’s givin’ you the eye.

Once settled in I decided to check shooting window clearance. This check is always a good idea to avoid shooting through the side of the blind when attempting to put the smack down on a turkey. Just because your sight clears the window doesn’t mean that broadhead, six inches lower, will. As I got to about three-quarter draw, not yet beginning to point or aim, all heck broke loose. As usual when things go wrong everything happened pretty quickly.

The arrow flew out the blind’s window and stuck Jake Mobile right in the head. The bowstring was still in one piece, but was only half on the cams – stuck on the cable posts and axles. As I sat there, mouth agape and thinking about field fixes, a turkey gobbled to the east. Seth started looking for a rope of some kind to compress the limbs. Then he jumped outside the blind to retrieve the arrow from Jake’s head mumbling about doing that once before when I missed a quickly moving South Dakota turkey and hit a large round hay bale. Another tom gobbled from the north.

Helpful Hunting Note: It is good to have a hunting partner with GREAT patience such as Seth. On the same South Dakota trip mentioned above I tied his buddy’s Double-Bull blind into such a confounded knot it took two of us twenty minutes to straighten out. Never a frustrated peep or action issued from him.

We sat there discussing options. Another turkey gobbled. The end result was I’d come to hunt and couldn’t do so with a broken bow. We packed up, me with a heavy heart, and headed to the truck. Back at The Brothers’ huntin’ cabin we sorted through Bessey woodworking clamps (not enough adjustment) and settled upon a long set of Irwin Quick Grip clamps. After reducing the majority of the weight from the limbs we placed one clamp on either side of the limb-tips and pressed in tandem. We each really needed one more hand apiece, but got the string back on the cams. The serving was damaged on each end where it had hit the posts and my peep had fallen out.

Irwin Quick-Grip Clamps.

We returned all to nearly normal after a bit of shooting and tweaking. A little un-nerved I kept the arrows in a six-inch circle at 20 yards, but the shooting was not up to my personal standard. After taking a break and settling in I regained a little confidence. My arrow had bright red paint and white on it from Jake’s head. Pieces of feather fletching were missing here and there. Jake is none-the-better for a 1 3/4″ Wasp Jakhammer hole just below his chin and a slice down the back. I intentionally avoided all pictures of the incident.

We hit the field again making a couple of blind sits and a stalk on a tom without success. The following morning the rain was coming down in torrents and the wind was blowing enough to move the tree tops 12-18 inches. Oh well, there’s always next year, hopefully in Kansas…

happy hunting, dv

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Judging An NWTF Turkey Calling Contest

dustyvarmint — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:05:16 +0000

By Jerry Long, April 14, 2010

Tune in to the Up North Journal where we discuss my participation as a judge in a recent National Wild Turkey Federation sanctioned turkey calling contest.

I recently had the privilege of participating as a judge in a NWTF sanctioned turkey calling contest. As I told my Regional Director, “It was an awesome experience.” In Episode 155, available for download directly from the site or via iTunes, of the Up North Journal podcast Mike interviews me about how it was conducted and shares some interviews from participants.

happy hunting, dv

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dv’s 2009 Turkey Season – Fried Tag

dustyvarmint — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:25:03 +0000

Fried Tag, mmm…tasty

Well, another Wisconsin turkey season has come and gone. I’m left with a perfect record – no Wisconsin turkey….and tons of GREAT memories from afield.

Wisconsin’s spring turkey season is really a series of six, five-day seasons which run Wednesday through Sunday in one of seven zones. Permits are awarded from a draw, even for residents. I drew first season which was a first for me and then I bought a left over sixth season tag. Additionally I participated as a guide in my first Adaptive Sportsmen, Inc. turkey hunt.

First Season

After the mind-melting experience of not even seeing a turkey near where I deer hunt at Camp Pug during the 2008 spring season, despite having a nice tom on the game camera only three days before my arrival, I applied for a zone closer to some friends’ hunting cottage further south this year. Myself and friends Butch and Gary, all of us local West Allis Bowmen members, would be hunting together. Gary and I had tags while Butch was our guide and primary caller. I was excited to be hunting with Gary who recently completed the sixteenth archery Super Slam. I wanted to see how a hunter of this caliber acted in the field. What were his mannerisms, how did he use his equipment, what could I learn from him?

With limited vacation I could only hunt Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, Friday morning we were out early. Gary and I were in my friend Seth’s Double Bull Dark Horse while Butch sat up behind us to call. He can do a mean excited cackle on his diaphragm call and we had lots of gobbling in multiple directions. Eventually, though, another hunter walked into and scared off our most promising courter. We set up again in another location for awhile without luck.

That afternoon and evening were fairly uneventful. We tried calling some birds to us on public land that liked lounging about at a bird feeder in someone’s yard. They’d answer up as they traveled away, but we couldn’t bring them in. Misjudging another gobbler’s location on a ridge we bumped him setting up.

Saturday morning was our most exciting. We set up where we thought the gobbler that the other hunter bumped on us the previous morning was strutting. Two hens came in separately. One of them is pictured below. I got sick of listening to the gobbler in the distance so I started cutting him off with a weak excited cackle. Eventually he got tired of being interrupted and came to investigate. However, he stayed out about 45 yards in some brush and then disappeared into a cat tail marsh. Butch and I think the B-mobile decoy may have been a little aggressive.

A hen came to see us.

After a while I saw movement in the cat tails and bumped Gary alert whispering, “Turkey in the marsh.” Gary looked and said, “Turkeys don’t have bushy tails.” It was a coyote. From previous conversations I knew that both of us really wanted an archery killed coyote. We tried lip-squeaking (which I am terrible at). That had no effect. I tried my best dying rabbit imitation with a turkey diaphragm. Probably too low and raspy. The coyote took a few tentative steps in the right direction, but then spun and left. Mid-day included a nine mile run for me in preparation for an upcoming half-marathon (read Half Marathon Down, here ), some excellent grilled brats and some time in the hot tub. Saturday night was uneventful.

Our Sunday morning location was busted by some inconsiderate hunters driving past us on county property where vehicles are not allowed. We moved elsewhere, but flushed a tom and four hens from the roost.

Although I didn’t successfully kill a bird I had a great time and made GREAT memories with good companions. Compared to 2008 I am a mentally enriched and happy dustyvarmint.

Adaptive Sportsman, Inc Hunt

ASI provides outdoor opportunities to physically challenged outdoors men and women. Among other events they have a fall deer hunt and spring turkey hunt at Badger Army Ammunition Plant. As guides we help scout, set up blinds, escort hunters afield and call if necessary. My Camp Pug hunting partners, Hunt Master and Gravel, are old hands at this who come prepared with grub hoes, plywood platforms and shims to make the wheelchairs stable on the often uneven ground.

We’d had rain all night long and the day was chilly and blustery. However, after a little blind calling turkeys started filing into the field. Some would answer, but none would commit. Eventually, though, one set his head and neck forward, wings out and back and started to charge in. Closer, closer he came. I followed his movements with my little tripod mounted video camera and finally set it up to catch all the action near the decoys while I continued some coaxing calls. However, just as the tom entered the corner of the camera’s picture my hunter, Jeff, opened fire.

Bam once! The turkey flies up and tries to come back in. Bam twice! The turkey flies up and tries to come back in a second time. Bam thrice! The turkey flies up and is gone. I later ranged the turkey’s location at thirty-seven yards at the time of the shot. Jeff told me the night before he liked to shoot them at 100 yards. I thought he was kidding! Seriously, though, he said he got “turkey fever”. It happens…

We had more gobbling including one bird that startled us with an answer only twelve yards behind the blind. However, no more shot opportunities came that day. We broke for lunch and headed back out later in the afternoon, but cut the evening hunt short to attend to some medical concerns. The next morning we encountered a few hens and had a coyote visit us, but we saw no toms. Another good adventure with GREAT memories.

Adaptive Sportsmen Hunters and Guides gather for a picture.

Last Season

Late, or last, season can be somewhat unpopular. Success rates, provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, plummet during this time when the mosquitoes and ticks make a vengeful emergence, the vegetation starts to become heavy and the temperatures rise. I could only dedicate Saturday to hunting as Sunday night was a much anticipated bowfishing outing with friend Seth. However, Mrs. dustyvarmint noted that if I got going soon enough I could probably hunt Friday night. Who wouldn’t cherish a wife like that? I was also excited to try out my new Horn Hunter Blind Hog for carrying the blind, chair, decoys and equipment.

The Horn Hunter Blind Hog loaded for business, turkey business.

Friday night I set up within 75 yards of a known roost on a logging road used by the turkeys. It was uneventful without so much as a gobble, but sooooo relaxing. I know some hunters can’t stand being stationary and would rather “run and gun”, but I enjoy sitting solitary in the comfort of the blind, listening to and staring out at nature. I can nearly feel the burdens of life slipping off my shoulders.

Butch and I once again teamed up on Saturday to hunt near where we encountered the hens, jake and coyote during first season. We heard some gobbling, but it was too far away to be of any use to us. In hind-sight we should have at least moved closer, but if we had we wouldn’t have encountered the doe that come to see us.

This doe came to see us.

Another shot of our visiting doe.

She would come in nervously, settle down to feed, run out to a comfortable entry point, settle down to feed again and come in, run out nervously and then do it all over again. I began calling like a turkey and scratching in the grass to give the decoys some natural back up and to calm her. It was a great encounter. Had this been deer season, though, we’d be eating jerky by now…

After that we didn’t have much luck. I went to check game cameras and do some mid-day work at Camp Pug which is only a half hour away. The mosquitoes and ticks were out with a vengeance in the evening. It was gratifying to watch the mosquitoes fall to the ground in the blind once we had the Thermocell warmed up. We heard no gobbling. A tree fell in the woods and it made a crash. We were there to hear it…

Again, no turkey, but great memories. It is off to Kansas or Texas for next spring’s turkey season, but for now season is over and thoughts change to bowfishing and chasing pronghorn in Montana this fall.

happy hunting, dv

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Boar Attack – Anatomy of a Hog Shot Gone Wrong
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How To – Make Your Own Turkey Friction Call

dustyvarmint — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:40:49 +0000

First of a Three Part Series

This is the first of a three part series on making the “pot” portion of your own turkey friction call. There will be another series on making the striker.

Terminology

First off, I don’t like the name “friction call”. Box calls, scratch boxes and pots and strikers (what I am making here), among others, are all friction calls. Similarly, “slates” don’t cover it all either. There are crystal, glass, aluminum, copper, slate and other surfaces available. Here I’ll refer to them as “pots and strikers”.

Secrecy

I think it is illegal to share these instructions in several southeastern states, so please keep the contents of the following to yourself.

Safety
Be sure to follow all eye, ear, and body part control safety precautions when working in the shop.

Tools

Following is a list of tools I use. You will have to decide what is right for you.

Tablesaw – ripping blanks
Mitre saw - crosscutting blanks
Bandsaw – cutting blanks round
Compass - marking blank sizes
Drill press – center holes, sound holes, pedestal holes
Lathe – turning pots
Screw chuck – mounting pots
3/8” detail gouge – turning pots
¼” bowl gouge – turning pots
1/8” parting tool – turning pots
Drill bits – center holes
Forstner bits – sound holes, pedestal holes
Caliper – fine measuring
Ruler – rough measuring
Sandpaper – smoothing out the pots
Spring clamps – holding pots for finishing
Empty soup cans – holding pots for finishing
Full soup cans – “weights” for clamping

In the interest of brevity the following is a little short on detail. Ask if you have questions – I have no secrets. The instructions would be the same whether one used glass, crystal, slate, aluminum, or whatever surface one wanted.

1) I cut the blanks out on the bandsaw.

2) I drill out the center using a drill bit that fits the rod size of my screw chuck. There are three chucks pictured here – on the left is a homemade screw chuck fabricated from a 1″ x 8 nut, waste block, and #10 screw inserted; next is a standard face plate with waste block attached and #10 screw inserted; and on the right is a screw chuck available from Penn State Industries with a #14 screw. I use the PSI chuck exclusively.

3) I’ve mounted the chuck and blank on the lathe and trued the diameter with a 3/8″ detail gouge or 1/4″ bowl gouge.

4) I trued the face, marked out 1 3/4″ from the center to the outside and then turned on the lathe to transfer that mark all the way around.

5) I compare the surface to be used against the ring for size. Often, each type of surface will be slightly different in size. Adjust accordingly. Tip – use masking tape to form a handle for your surface. That’ll keep you from dropping and breaking it.

6) I’m using a 1/8″ parting tool to cut in on the line and establish the striking surface shelf. I have also used a 1/4″ bowl gouge to get a little of that center out so I can try the striking surface in the recess.

7) The bowl gouge removing more of the center.

Conclusion

That completes the first episode.

happy hunting, dv

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dustyvarmint on Up North Journal tonight!

dustyvarmint — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:42:24 +0000

Join dustyvarmint on the Up North Journal podcast call-in show tonight, Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EST as we discuss custom turkey calls.

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