I never had a roost hunt work out. Closest I got were 3 toms flying down in an ag field, but I then tried to call them in. In reality they may have been in range from the start. Were they 40 yds or 60yds? Tough to tell for a new hunter with no refernces in a huge field. I didn’t shoot. I been going for ≈ 12 years. Lots of mistakes and blown opportunities since then. But it’s fun to think of the lessons learned.

My general thoughts. Later season is better. It I could pick a time to sit it would be from 9am till 2pm. Get one to gobble to a call after 10am and you are cooking with fire. Aim at the carunkles, aka the large red nodes of flesh at the base of the neck.

I took me four years and lots of hunting to bag my 1st gobbler. Now I’ve got one the last 5 seasons straight in MN.

Wow. My buddy wanted to go today so I finally bought a tag. Early starts are overrated, we got setup at 830. Passed 4 Toms and even more hens on the drive in to our first setup. A bird or two were gobbling behind us a good ways. After 2 hours only saw 1 hen while in blind, so we moved 110 yards closer to the hay field with birds in it. Ate a sandwich, hit the calls, and 30 mins later 3 toms came gobbling in at a medium “temperature.” They were hung up just out of our ethical range for 5 minutes.

I worked a sweet song of the softest yelps that old pot call could make, sprinkled with a content cluck or two, nearly inaudible to human ears. But to a Tom Turkey this is heavenly music on a calm spring day with the sun bright and gleaming. It took some coaxing but that old handmade slate is too much for any gobbler to resist. A tiptoe forward, tail coming in and out of strut, and soon a closed gap and three big birds in our lap.

Three bright red heads were bobbing and weaving, what exact moment should our triggers be squeezing? Muzzles slid out of the blind with care, with hopes of two dead turkeys tagged for a pair.

I dropped mine, my buddy who is a better shot than me had a hiccup, hitting the bird hard but not in head or neck. It turned and he caught the back/wing. Mag emptied, we hurried out and chased on foot, looking for 30 minutes. A massive pile of feathers on the ground, it’s a sickening thing to seriously wound a game bird and never find it. Packing up, ready to leave, I told my buddy I’d walk the forest/field edge and meet him at the exit gate. Lo and behold, something caught my eye. There in the brush was our missing turkey. Another great season in the turkey woods.

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Somebody from Wisconsin has to chime in about the time they bought a share of packers stock that’s worth as much as flushed toilet paper.

I love fixing/refurbing older shimano baitcasters. Anything from curado B to current. Spinning reels are a bit more of a pain. Good reccomendations here so far.

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crawdaddy wrote:

I wonder if AP was at the Vikings draft party last night, or should I say this morning….

Here I go quoting myself. Yup he was at the vikes draft party at us bank stadium. Oooofff.

I wonder if AP was at the Vikings draft party last night, or should I say this morning….

One guy who has been way overrated in the past is Chris Zaldain. He got last place on Okechobee this year, and after day 1 at Hartwell was sitting second to last. So much for going out and throwing a big swimbait all day. Not a good tourney technique outside of CA.

Yup, like 24 7 said, I’ve always read turkeys aren’t bothered by blinds, even way out in the open.

If you don’t happen to punch your tag, you could always try the last season. I realize by then fishing has started and you might be chasing bass, can’t blame a guy for that. I’ve always had a lot better luck luring in a turkey with a call and/or decoy late in the season. All the hens will go to their nest between 9-10am and the Tom’s really get lonely. If you can sneak into your blind around 830 or 9am and hunt for a few hours good things can happen.

Here’s the vocab word of the day. Vermiculation. Cool fish.

Put your blind up way out in the field where they hang out, then get in it before light.

If you’re seeing lots of turkeys all together that’s tough. They usually stay together. One reason late season is better, there’s more dispersal. Good luck out there.

Really nice of you to find a good home for these Gim! I hope the new owner gets good use out of them.

Thanks for the kind words Gitchi, no greater compliment than one about being good to a dog.

My other two questions about grouse

1. I hear a lot about pine trees, it’s that where the grouse sleep at, or do they roost in the ground?

2. What is the best time of day to hunt the birds, or what are the differences in their behavior and location throughout the day?

Thanks in advance.

Old kwesi, hopefully he can figure it out or get lucky this draft. His first draft was as bad as it gets.

Thanks grubson, very good info. Doing online research for pheasant or prairie grouse is a lot easier, less land types and people to talk to. WMA, WIA, WPA, and nat’l grasslands is about it. Game Warden, DNR biologist, and PF biologist covers people.

For Ruffies it’s county land, state and federal forrests, plus wmas and paper company land. Add to the above contacts state and fed forresters, county land managers, RGS biologists, etc., seems a lot more moving parts. That’s ok, the research is enjoyable and leads to satisfaction later in the hunt.

Last year when I went for prairie grouse out west I was worried about snakes as the temps were still warm. I educated myself on their primary habitats in order to avoid them, and found a 24/7 vet that carried antivenin always. Thankfully we never saw one. The dog did step on a couple cactus, but they were easily removed. Probably the scariest thing I ever saw out hunting was a sign warning a cyanide traps that would be fatal to dogs in minutes if triggered. Signs were well posted, and I turned the truck around from the area without ever getting out. These are used in areas where coyotes have been proven to eat baby cows and sheep and must be legally signed and checked every 24 hours.

I’m not trying to be a baby in posting all this stuff, I just think about it because the dog is my best friend and I do everything to make sure she has a safe hunt.

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The traps thing I got covered and well educated on ever since I started hunting with a dog 7 or 8 years ago. Carry a large zip and a special rope looped at the end, both work well on conibears. Looking at the trapping season, I will miss it(exception of rabbits), as most don’t open till late October at earliest. Seems like biggest worries are ticks, sharp sticks, and hot weather. If it’s still really green and leafy up there I’ll probably hunt more walking trails but if some of the vegetation has died back I’ll dive into the woods. I’m not a handgun guy, but don’t see that as necessary. The dog hunts pretty close.

I did a bunch of research last night marking spots on the map. It’s a little overwhelming, all the public land up north. A lot of it looks like impenetrable swamp and large blocks of old growth not much use for grouse hunting. All the county forest I think is labeled “tax forfeit” for onX. There’s lots of roads going through these places, which might be what people call “old logging roads.” I called the DNR but they couldn’t answer the question about roads on county land. Really I’m just trying to figure out where I can and can’t drive. Doing this research is fun though. Maybe I’ll get up over memorial day for a combination scouting trip mixed with fishing.

Thanks for the tips brittman, and especially the list of dangers. I like to be prepared for things like this ahead of time. My understanding is that conibear traps are only supposed to be placed underwater in MN. I do my best to keep the dog out of culverts and keep an open eye around beaver huts because that’s what people are trying to trap with them I believe. I did borrow a trap from a buddy when I first got into hunting so as to understand the release mechanism. My plan would be to try the weekend before pheasant opener, once that opens its all roosters. A lot also depends on if I hit the prairie chicken lottery.

Jake Brake. Washington County.

Clearing every inch of land for row crops and tiling land are bad deals. So is fire suppression. There used to be many fires that would regenerate prairie and forest back in the day.

I was at the doctor for something else entirely. She said “oh this is interesting” looking at my calf. Another checkup and it was a pre-cancerous mole that was then surgically removed along with the margin. Long sleeved shirts and pants of synthetic quick dry material are a blessing.

Final report from sheriff’s office and/or Alabama conservation dept. will be interesting. Some have said fog, others have said there was none. It sounds like a wide area with a shoal across it, so he crossed in the deeper channel and coming around the island too fast. I’m wondering if there’s any gopro footage? It seems like every pro boat has one or two running all the time. This is pure speculation, but wonder if the driver had his head in a screen watching the GPS map. Another thing is with all the giant graphs up on the very front of the boat they can impede vision. Terrible situation for everyone there.

Recent outing

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Ubetcha, I just talked to another biologist today and hit the jackpot. He lives up in grand rapids and hunts grouse all over. He told me about the paper company that allows hunting. He mentioned that there’s dangerous creatures in the woods, bear, wolves, and mountain lions. Although very rare to run into one, he only had it happen once in all his hunting. There was a yearling black bear that got angry when it saw his dog and a fight was gonna break out, but he got lucky and boogied out of the woods before the claws and fangs flew. He mentioned to eye check as dogs can get twigs etc. in the eye. He said the most common danger are all the ticks which carry Lyme’s as well as other diseases he mentioned. I asked about gas buggies and he hasn’t had much problem with them, he walks some old lonely logging roads. He mentioned usually farther from town less hunters and vehicle traffic. The guy also told me about a Hotspot! Last year hauling gravel for a DNR project there was a road through public land and he’d see at least 3 grouse every time. In his opinion the number one thing that’ll affect the fall grouse population is spring weather during nesting time. Fingers crossed for a good hatch.

I ended up calling the grouse biologist for nothern MN yesterday, he gave me some good info. Look for 5-20 year old aspen he told me. The really new cuts might not be tall enough for grouse to feel comfortable from aerial predation. Edges with Oak trees can be good because the grouse like acorns for food. He said state land tends to have more trails on it. Land types open to hunting he told me WMAs, State Forests, National Forests, county lands. I asked about timber company lands and he didn’t know much if those were open to hunting, I’ll have to research.

When it comes to gas buggies I apologize if I painted with too broad a brush initially. I believe most people in the world are good, and I’m sure the majority of atv drivers are responsible. That being said I want to be careful, especially for the dog, and always consider all safety aspects before and during a hunt. Walking a trail trying to hunt with a dog while the side by side parade goes on has no appeal to me. I’ll take Gitchi’s advice here and find trails that are walking only. I’m not afraid to bust brush either, so I’m sure as long as the woods aren’t a complete salad bowl I’ll try some of that.

I asked the biologist about atv hunting and he said, “yeah it’s real common for people up here to just drive around and blast em right off the road and on the ground, not really my cup of tea.”

Hopefully this trip happens. It will depend on if I get a prairie chicken lottery or not, and if I plan a hunting trip to North Dakota/Montana for sharp tails.

I agree grouse. There are a few landowners who don’t mind opening up their land to public hunting, and it seems more common as you head west both in the state and country. These people I believe “double dip” but in a good way in my opinion. They can get a crp or similar payment and also get a payment for the MN walk in access program. These can be done good hunting and I hope the program expands. In Iowa their walk-in is called IHAP, iowa hunter access program. There they receive no payment, but the DNR agrees to work on the land in order to keep it in requirements for crp payments, including seeding/native grass planting etc.

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Honestly I’ve always had better luck in the late season.

Brittman wrote:

CRP and CREP are USDA (AGRICULTURE) supported conservation projects. The idea is to remove crop land from production – vs simple price supports to farmers, remove land more susceptible to wind and water erosion from farming, and provide grassland habitat (conservation). Has nothing to do with hunting access … but that said …

State Walk in Programs in the many states piggy back off that program and lease this land to open it to hunters …

CRP subsidies are a very small percentage of the subsidies handed out to farmers (price supports, crop insurance – supported below true cost, etc…)

You can see online by USA, by state, by county, by farmer every subsidy handed out by the USDA over the past 20 years or more. Breaks out by type of subsidy also.

The database tracks $522.7 billion in farm subsidies from commodity, crop insurance, disaster programs and conservation payments paid between 1995 and 2023

I thought CREP programs are specific to a watershed. I’ve seen the signs in MN, can’t remember the watershed, but you can’t hunt without owner permission. The one probably most familiar with people here would be CREP in SD, which the ones I’ve seen are all centered around the james river watershed. These you can hunt. Is this really a piggyback of WIA? I just figured it was watershed/program dependent? So all CREP for a certain watershed will either allow public hunting or not. Is this decided and paid for by the state or USDA? Perhaps I’m thinking too much here….

There’s a lot of good tips on here thanks. I’ll call the dnr guy or ruffed grouse society guy and see if he can steer me in the right direction. I’m sure most people riding buggies are safe, but I also know a number of them personally that ride around half cocked all the time and go at a rate of speed often beyond their control. Reminds me of a segment of snowmobile riders. Bar hop all day and speed up and down the trails.

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In reading a book, it was stated that MN is the top grouse state in the union. The birds have really died out in the Appalachian region, and New England has had a big drop in numbers as well. It made me feel like I should try it next fall. I think I’m gonna camp up by grand rapids and give it a go around 3rd week of season. I hope to bring the golden with if she’s feeling up to it. I realize people say it’s easier to get one without a dog, but it’d be nice to share the experience with the dog who taught me how to hunt. Hopefully I can find some areas where we don’t get harassed by lazy hunters driving around on 4 wheelers. I’m not gonna shoot one on the ground or out of a tree I know that. Either way should be a fun trip, and if we bag our first ruffle that’s just icing on the cake.

Remember when the lindners sold in fisherman? The day after the non compete was over they started back with the exact same biz, different name.

I hope all the old timers from this site are doing good. I’m sure James is having fun with his new job, and likes the change of pace. I wonder if Dean is still working at the boat center, would think he’d be retired by now.