Gobblers and Elk!

jims

Long Time Member
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A lot of guys I know have mentioned that the closest thing to elk hunting is gobbler hunting. There isn't a "Turkey" posting topic on this website...hint..hint so I thought I would see how much interest there may be in starting a new turkey category on this website? If you are like me, once you've tried gobbler hunting you are hooked for life!

How many of you elk hunters also turkey hunt...and what states do you hunt turkeys? The countdown continues to turkey season...good luck!
 
Drew my 1st turkey tag in Nevada after 7 years applying. Im hooked for life now. Amazing hunt. Don't think I can wait 7 years again. Would love to see a forum. Could definitely learn alot more and see some pictures too. Lot's to learn.
 
I always say turkeys and elk have the same excitement factor of the hunt and it is much easier to get a turkey out of the woods.I love hunting them both the same. Have hunted turkeys in Id , Nm , pa , md , va , ne , Id and Ga. Hunted elk in Mt , Co ,Wy , Id.
 
Well I'm from the south. So I've had the experience to turkey hunt my entire life and kill more turkeys than I can remember literally! But we don't have the turkey hunting here in alabama we once had due to forest management practices, predators, wild hogs and to some extent lots of hunters. I've recently hunted the Midwest for turkeys for a few yrs and have had great success there on public land! But I must say, elk hunting is like turkey hunting on steroids!
 
My turkey camp is the same location as my elk camp. Turkey hunting gets me through the wait until September comes around.
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-12-16 AT 01:25PM (MST)[p]I'M a Turkey junkie too. Learned on My own abot 25 years ago. took a couple years of mistakes, then the rodeo was on.Killed birds in N. Mex.,AZ., PA., OKLA and N.Dakota. Turned lottsa buddies onto it and everybody got hooked. Whats also fun is finding sheds while Turkey hunting. Generally find a few Elk brownies...............BULL!
 
Outfoxing a screaming bull raises my blood pressure much higher than a fanned out gobbler, but both are very exciting, if done right. Duping any animal into shooting range is pretty rewarding, including predators. I have an LE tag for this spring that I am looking forward to. I would also probably frequent a Thunder Chicken thread, at least in the Spring time.
 
I grew up in the Black Hills in SD in 70's and early 80's hunting turkeys. Was a blast and then I went on my first archery elk hunt in the Big Horns in 1983. Only thing I could compare it to was Turkey hunting. So yes my experience says that and I have lived in Utah since 1987.

We have had three turkey tags so far in the family (fourth this April) and it is a blast calling in a thunder chicken. Call one in across a meadow for my wife from his two hens. I had to work him just like a hot bull with his cows. The only difference is a turkey will spur you and a bull will gore you with a rack so it is more heart pounding especially when the bull is under 10 yards screaming at you.
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-12-16 AT 06:06PM (MST)[p]
I've Turkey hunted my whole life and agree 100% with all you guys on how similar it is to elk hunting! The rush from calling in one of these birds is a lot like calling in a screaming bull but yet at the same time its unlike anything else. I hunt NM and CO for the very difficult high country white tipped Merriams gobbler. I would most definitely be active on a Turkey forum on this site.

Here is a pic of one of my two gobblers from last season
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Sounds like there are quite a few elk...oops turkey finatics out there! Elksniper...wow! What a gorgeous merriam! I'm not sure I have ever seen one with so many snowy-white feathers. Congrats!
 
Ya, lotta white on Him. pretty Bird. I think there are alotta cross breeds in some areas and You dont get as much white on Rios or certainly not on Easterns. Any of You see the Goulds we have here in AZ and Mexico, ton of white . Prettiest bird I think..............BUll!
 
I've killed Eastern turkeys in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas. I live in Missouri so have killed a pile of them there and have to drive less than two hours to hunt the other states.

I've killed one Rio in central Kansas and had a turkey tag when I hunted eastern Montana last fall for deer. I was looking forward to killing a Merriam's. I drove all over creation in the Custer NF and didn't see a danged one! Every person I talked to said they hadn't seen any turkeys since a rough winter a couple of years ago. 5 miles across the border into Wyoming I saw a huge flock. Go figure.

NRA Life Member

www.swanspointoutfitters.com

The critters have to win every time. I only have to win once.
 
I AM AN ELK FREAK, AND WHEN I HOG HUNT I SEE LOTS OF TURKEYS. I HAVE TAKEN A FEW, BUT NEVER GOT HOOKED ON TURKEYS. DONT CHASE THEM ANY MORE.....HOGS IN CALI ARE MORE FUN.......................YD.
 
I went on a lengthy turkey scout this morning on the Front Range here in Colo. Those mountain merriams sure are a tough breed to find in the north front range! A lot of the area I covered still has 4 to 14" of snow and I'm hoping gobblers show up once the season starts. There certainly is a lot of public land gobbler country in the North Colo front range with few birds. It's a lot different than the yard birds that are on private land or scattered areas across Colo with higher concentration of birds!
 
Love them both!

This past September I was on top of a mountain in New Mexico elk hunting looking down onto a blanket of fog that covered the lower parts of the mountain and the valley bellow. Every time than an elk would bugle a gobbler sounded off, I thought that I had died and went to heaven!
Hunted turkeys in FL, VA, SC, WV, OH SD TX, HI, and Mexico.

A turkey forum would be a nice addition.
 
So there's been a few replies on this post. What does it take to get a turkey forum added? Does anybody know? Do you just ask founder?
 
I bet if we show there is enough interest that a turkey forum will be added! Keep the posts coming! It won't be long until gobbler season. If you happen to have any nice turkey photos please add them to this post!
 
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I thought I would start the pictures off with a nice tom I got last year. I usually don't post pics on the web but want this forum to get started!
 
Having a hard time uploading pic for some reason. Maybe another post to Founder may help get a turkey forum started. I'll try.
 
Anyone been out gobbler hunting yet and have any pics to add to this post? Some of the early seasons are just starting to open. It can't come too soon!
 
Spring turkey season in Washington state doesn't open until April 15th for adults. I think the season opens 1 week early for youth under 17 years old.
 
Got a 1 day guided hunt out of Redding next Saturday. Hope to have pics when I get back. We'll see. Never been to Redding.
 
NVGuy2, I'm jealous! It's 3 weeks until my first gobbler hunt. Good luck and be sure to post some pics!
 
We have no shortage of turkeys here in Oregon. No expert but I'm pretty sure you can buy multiple tags and we have both a spring and fall season. I see them all the time where I elk hunt, never hunted them but might try this year.
 
Yup, heading for Mexico in three weeks for my Gould's
can't wait. Good Turkey hunting here in Maine opens May 2nd
right after my return from Mexico. I've hunted in N.Y,
Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana, New Mexico,
Colorado, Wyoming and California. Consider myself new
to both Turkey and Elk hunting, still learning on every
hunt I go on. I've been building Elk points in
Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming---looking forward to some
quality hunts in the near future---smile!
 
They both tell you where they are at during breeding season BUT you can't sneak up on a turkey because of his eyes. I think elk still pumps my adrenaline a little more probably because of the size but I enjoy hunting both a bunch and are very comparable to each other.
 
One nice thing about gobblers vs elk is you don't have to keep wind direction in mind while hunting turkeys! I've never gotten over how great eyes turkeys have for having eyes the size of the end of a pinky! I traveled to Nebraska last week and literally had a blast! In fact, it almost went too quick. Now it's time to try finding a needle in a haystack here in Colo..mountain merriams above my house in the north front range. Hopefully others have a few pics and stories to add to this post!
 
The other good thing about spring turkey hunting (besides the rush)is it allows me to get out and hike the mountains starting my cycle of getting back in shape after the winter layoff! Pulling a couple of big game tags in the spring helps with that as well:)
 
This is the Southeast Utah Merriam we were able to call in last week. The weather was cold and the Toms were all "henned-up" But we still had a "blast" and lucked out with this fine bird.

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Heres two birds my two boys (3 and 5) and I took here in New Mexico on 4/18. We fought horrible weather with snow and rain and my boys kept pushin the weather broke and we put the smackdown on them. My boys had a blast watching these guys get called in and come in gobbling hard and strutting like crazy! They did good too sitting still bein quiet and patient for being so young! They will both be by my side on my elk and deer hunts this year too!
 
What a great picture elkhunterm-13. Your commitment to those two young men remind me of the pictures of when HunterHarry was doing such an outstanding job raising his son to love the outdoors.

You're a great example to all of us!

DC
 
Thanks guys! He sure was a beautiful white tipped marriams!

Here is a pic of my little brothers gobblers from this year. He lucked out and got a double!

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Still working on getting my dad and myself some birds before the season ends the 10th. Also drew a CO tag that ends the 22nd.
 
Started off the Utah season calling in a double for my friends and then my brother and his wife also got a double.
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Second week I got my other brother this nice tom.
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Then for the youth hunt I called in a tom a jake and 3 hens for my 9 year old nephew, he got the jake.
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This morning was my turn, my brother called in 2 toms and a hen for me, got one of the toms.
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Taking the wife out tomorrow to hopefully get her her first gobbler :)
 
I was finally able to get my 2016 gobbler yesterday!

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Shortly after I got mine we found another one gobbling and my dad was able to get his 2016 gobbler.

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Both really nice sized birds! Gotta love these Northern New Mexico Merriams!!!

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Elksniper, those sure are gorgeous birds! They almost look like Gould's with all the pure white feathers! Just curious if it's possible that Gould's and merriams might cross where you hunt? I'm not sure if they have Goulds in NM but know they have a few in Arizona. I hunt Nebraska a lot and get some that look more like rios and others like merriams. Congrats on the gorgeous birds!

I went on a marathon hike yesterday. I climbed around a giant mountain and back in around 4 miles to get to the birds (and away from hunting pressure). I came super close but didn't quite connect. I could have shot a jake and had hens wander around my decoys all day at spitting distance. In fact, I had a hen wake me up from an afternoon siesta after hearing footsteps at 5' away! She must have wondered what the heck sounds like a turkey and was laying next to a log?

Good luck to those that are still hunting and thanks for sharing all the great pics and stories!
 
Here is a cali turkey taken about 9 am this morning by my 14 yo son. Four toms came in on a string to 15 yards....
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2016 Colorado tag is filled! Cashed in all my points to draw my first Colorado Turkey tag and it was well worth it!

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Jims, Im thinking that they're pure merriams because we're located in the very northern part of NM. From some of the past birds we've killed, I think they have different colors much like a black bear just like how some are blonde/ black/ brown ect... That's my guess any way. The majority of the birds do have that pure white like a Goulds and those ones are my favorite!
 
It's close to that time of year again! I thought I would bump this post back up to the top for those that enjoy chasing gobblers! Good luck to those that hit the hills this spring!
 
My turkey trigger finger has been itching. I heard one gobble today and it started twitching!

I'm mainly a East TN gobbler hunter, but recently started going to Nebraska for Merriams. I'm hooked!!
 
I tried it a few times. All I ever called in was other hunters and a coyote.

My good buddy has all the species, including the ones in Florida and Mexico.
 
Gobblers on public land can be a lot tougher than a lot of guys give them credit for! I hunt a spot here in Colo that looks more like sheep or elk country than turkey country!
 
I'm headed to Mexico and try for my Ocellated. I also drew a Goulds permit in AZ so I am hoping for an exciting spring.
 
Turk, I'm SOO jealous! Take lots of pictures and have a good time! You'll have to post some pics when you return.
 
The Wife and I went for a wildlife drive up Roan Creek last Sunday. We saw hundreds of merriams! Cool way to spend an afternoon. The deer and elk look to be in good shape on the range there too, south facing slopes are mostly open and snow is not real deep.
 
I'll be merriams hunting here in Colo and rio-mix hunting in Nebraska. Should be a fun-filled spring!
 
I got lucky and drew a Goulds tag here in Az. Then I will only need a Osceola from Florida, no Oscellated for Me. Not going to the Jungle for the little peacock looking thing and a chance at getting killed yourself. Good luck to all this Spring. Gobble Gobble.........Bull!
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-16-17 AT 02:04PM (MST)[p]I had a great opening weekend of Colo season. I got a really nice tom opening morning in a limited unit. Then rested up a day and did some hiking to get away from it all in an OTC unit. I heard gobbling at first light....which brought a smile to my face! An hour later I caught up with them. I'm heading to Nebraska in about a week to try for some more.

Congrats to those that have already had success and good luck to others that are still chasing birds.
 
Tuck, I haven't seen many pictures of Ocellated turkeys, but that one is an absolute beauty. Congratulations on the Ocellated and your slam.

Never been much of a turkey hunter but respect those that can do it successfully, year after year.

If you should do a full body mount on this one, I sure would like to see it.

Thanks for sharing.

DC
 
Turk,
Those are some gorgeous colors on your bird! You must be on cloud-9 with such a great bird to complete your slam!
 
Congratulations to all the successful turkey hunters and thanks for the beautiful photos!

I must be some kind of a sad turkey hunter!

I have a LE Central Utah tag and have been out 9 times and have nothing to show for it other than a fabulous time in the mountains.

I'll be back out tonight trying to close the deal before the 27th.

Zeke
 
Here's one from Utah 4 years ago.

It seems that I have to live in the past since I have yet to fill my tag this year!

Thanks for those who have tried to help.

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Zeke
 
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Got to borrow some avian x decoys from a friend this year and I'm sold. This coyote locked on these decoys and was fully committed to grabbing one like I've never seen. I've seen them come up and look at them but never commit like this one did to the avians
 
Wstrntines, I don't know what it is but I've never ever seen a picture of a turkey that comes close to yours the colors are so brilliant! Maybe it's the sun shining on him.

Congrats Joe

"Sometimes you do things wrong for so long you
think their right" - 2001
"I can't argue with honesty" - 2005
-Joe E Sikora
 

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