JFT Turkey Tour 2021

[eradicator]

If all goes as planned, I’ll be in East Texas in time to do some hunting/scouting for tomorrow

Plan is to hunt all day tomorrow and maybe Wednesday morning. I have some work to do in SA Wednesday afternoon

Where you headed? Same place as last year?

[ClayW]

Where you headed? Same place as last year?

Yessir....same area

[CTR0022]

How is the moore plantation for easterns? I know it is an epostcard, is it worth putting in for? Is it a hard hunt to draw for?

[MooseontheLoose]

I love it when a plan comes together, just wish my son could’ve been here. He’s got a school fair tomorrow and had to stay home. Solid 2 year old, down before the sun came up!

2 year olds are the best! Congrats!

He shot the first one and, like they normally do, the other 2 hung around. He handed me the gun and I got the 2nd one. I looked at my watch and it was 6:10. PoPo was a mess! He was pumped and laughing at himself for thinking they were jakes. Up until the point that he walked up to his bird he thought I made him shoot a Jake. I told him he should know better than that!!

Good stuff! Glad y'all got it done. I heard the idiots were out in full force in that area of NM this last weekend and ruined some good setups.

Been in Missouri the past few days and cell service is terrible. I’ve been told that Easterns are quiet, reluctant to commit and hard to hunt. These have been anything but that. They have been on fire, very responsive and eager to give up their ghosts...

Checked another state off of the list and should be headed back to Texas in a couple of days.....

Great pics! Congrats on a solid bird

[eradicator]

Yessir....same area

Good luck man!

[twosixteens]

Been too busy killing, looking for morles and finding pointed rocks! [emoji1787]

Missouri is a beautiful state, one we all should hunt in sooner or later!

Shhh

[MooseontheLoose]

Recap of my weekend adventure. Headed down to a family friend’s lease Friday evening and Saturday. Decided to stop into the Medina county place I have permission on Friday AM before heading further south. I hadn’t been able to hunt this property yet this year, but it usually does well for me. This property had a ton of jakes on it last year and at the end of duck season in January the gobbling was nuts out there. Straight Jurassic Park. I was ready to get after it.

I don’t have permission on the area the birds roost, so the closest I can get is about 500 yards away across a mesquite flat. It’s usually a later morning to mid-day kind of spot but I was there early. I expected a two-year old gobblefest, but the birds were very quiet on the roost and only gobbled a couple times. They wouldn’t answer me either. It was very slow at first. Finally a little before 8, one bird responded.

For about the next hour, we played the slow game. He inched his way closer to me and got a little more responsive as the time went on. I finally laid eyes on them about 100 yards out, and saw there were actually two birds headed my way. As they got closer, they wanted to work around me towards a pond further back into the property.

Luckily was able to get them turned around, and once they got to where they could see the jake decoy, they came on a rope. Not real aggressive, but moving with purpose. Got them to about 12 yards and that was that. I typically wouldn’t shoot more than one, but given this was going to be my only hunt on this property for this season, I sent it

I expected them both to be 2-year-olds, given the jakes and lack of big birds here last year, but they were both good birds. The big bird had a 9.75” beard and 1.25” spurs, and the other one was just a tad smaller with 9.25” beard and 1.125” spurs.

I headed to the family friends’ lease after that. The evening started out hot at 96 degrees, then a crazy front blew through on Friday afternoon with some of the hardest wind gusts I’ve seen down in that area. It cooled things down a big but the wind was insane. 9 hens took refuge in the creek about 12 yards from me at one point. Tree limbs started cracking and falling around me so I had to get up and get out of there, which spooked the birds. Luckily it was early enough that they came back later.

I backed out and roosted the birds that night. Didn’t hear a gobble but heard birds fly up in two different areas. Went back Saturday AM and still didn’t have anything gobbling close. Had two jakes come by but no big birds. Went for a walkabout and eventually got a bird going deep into the neighbors place, but he shut up after a while and I never laid eyes on him.

Had to come home after that but it was a quick, productive trip.

[slayr]

Very nice!

[MASTERS]

JFT Turkey Tour 2021

Congrats again. Looked like some pretty country

Wish you were let scared of these Texas Easterns!

Thanks!

Done got hung up in Missouri. I’m serious when I say it’s the best out of state hunt I’ve ever had.

[ClayW]

Been on birds since flydown.

First setup had em at 70

Next setup I screwed up. I knew where they wanted to be but I took the easy way to em. Sure enough, next gobble was on the hillside I should have been at.

It’s been fun to play the game this morning!

[MASTERS]

I’m sure you heard the gunshot from the other timber block already....

[jaspermac]

I’m sure you heard the gunshot from the other timber block already....

Oh, he felt the shake!

[Passthrough]

I’ll be in the KS woods come Friday! Hoping to turn this thing around!

[ClayW]

These birds are whippin me good today!

Another missed opportunity this evening [emoji2371][emoji30]

[Aggiebush]

Tomorrow could be 180* change, never can predict these Texas Easterns. Good luck, and kill a big one.