Kevin Shaffer's Nice Gobbler

From my previous post, you know that Keven Shaffer of Delaware City, Delaware harvested a nice New Jersey wild turkey last week. His gobbler weighed 22 lbs, had a 10.5-inch beard, and one-inch spurs.

Now if I could just be as lucky...

New Jersey Gobbler are Falling Today

I saw my friend Ken Mullen, a local artist who creates phenomenal wildlife sketches, at a great turkey hunting spot around 5:00 this morning.

We wished each other luck and went our separate ways.

Our stories are much different.

I set up about 60 yards from roosting birds. I heard them calling at first light, and they flew down from their roosts at about 6:15. They walked off into the woods, and I never heard nor saw them again.

Here's Ken's story:

"I set up right underneath them this morning and didn't realize it. They were all around me this morning. The 1 I got was in a tree about 10' away and about 15' up, he started clucking and looking at the decoys and flew down right in the middle of them and it was only about a 10yd shot at most. There was probably 15-20 birds there. Saw a boat load of deer too many to worry about counting."

I heard Ken's shot at 6 AM! Great stuff. He bagged a 22-lb gobbler with a 9-inch beard and 1-inch spurs. His photos are above.

My good friend Shaffer (another Delaware hunter) bagged a nice New Jersey gobbler this morning. I am still waiting on details and photos.

No Turkey for Kendus in New Jersey Turkey Season A

I am sorry that I haven't updated my turkey posts. Getting up at 3 AM, hunting until 8:30, then working 8 hours is exhausting!

I hunted wild turkeys in New Jersey every day but Tuesday of Jersey's week A season. I saw birds every day, and I even managed to get within 60 yards of two monster gobblers. However, I ended up empty handed at the end of the week.

Monday morning April 13 started out promising. I arrived at my spot around 4:00 AM. I finished getting set up around 4:45, and tree gobbling started promptly at 6:00 AM. I roosted the birds the night before, so I knew they were close. Unfortunately, they roosted in the back yard of a house across the street from where I set up. In order for them to come to me, they would have to cross a road, walk through a patch of woods, and come to a field. After they flew down from their roosts, they walk away from me, not toward me. I did see one hen in the field, but that was it.

Tuesday was a wash out with heavy rains, but I did hunt Wednesday morning in a cold drizzle. I heard a few gobbles around 6:20 AM, but it didn't sound like the turkeys were happy about the rain. I had one hen walk by within range, but that was it.

On Thursday, I got lucky and saw two hens! Whoo hoo! I packed up and went to scout a new spot. While driving, I saw several nice gobblers strutting in the woods. I parked and set up for them. The birds were still all 'henned up,' so they wouldn't come to my calls. They would gobble when I called, but instead of running toward me, they just puffed up and strutted. I tried to call them for a while, but gave up. I had open woods between me and them, so I couldn't get any closer than 60 yards.

I roosted 18 birds Thursday night, including five gobblers. I set up close to them Friday morning. I had a 33% chance of the birds coming off the roost and right to me. As it turned out, the birds played the odds and went the opposite direction. Ugh! Again, I couldn't get close to them, so I packed up and headed to work. Wouldn't you know it! While driving past the spot where I set up the previous three days, I noticed 8 birds right in the field!! Are you kidding me! I parked and tried my luck on them. I had a 40-yard shot at some tiny jakes, but I opted not to shoot. Let them go, let them grow!

Since I don't have a permit for the Saturday season, I was able to catch up on some sleep today. I'll try again next week!

Let's See How Turkeys Act in the Rain

It has been raining for two days here in NJ and DE. It is 5 AM, and I
am in the turkey woods. Check back later.

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Turkeys Everywhere (But Out of Range)

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Steven Kendus <skendus@gmail.com>
Date: April 13, 2009 12:17:22 PM EDT
To: Kendus Blog <skendus.eastcoasthunting@blogger.com>
Subject: Turkeys Everywhere (But Out of Range)

I hunted for the first two hours of opening day this morning. Had gobblers and hens all around, but they wouldn't come to my calls. It may still be a little too cold. I will try again soon.

Sent from my iPhone

Turkeys Everywhere (But Out of Range)

Opening Day of NJ Turkey

5:08 AM. In turkey woods since 4:00. So far, so good.

Sent from my iPhone

Spring Turkey Hunting Column

Here's my latest column that appeared in The News Journal on April 2, 2009.

Spring turkey hunting takes dedication -- and a game plan

With recent estimates placing the size of the Delaware wild turkey flock around 4,000 birds, more first-time turkey hunters are taking to the Delaware woods each spring in pursuit of gobblers.

Although few have seen them, Delaware absolutely has eastern wild turkeys. Thanks to efforts by the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and neighboring states, wild turkeys were re-introduced to Delaware in 1984. Once thought to be gone from Delaware forever, wild turkeys now inhabit forested areas and agricultural fields in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties.

Although turkey hunting is not yet received with the same fervor as deer or waterfowl hunting in Delaware, it is slowly catching on. Delaware offers a spring turkey hunting season, which this year runs from April 11 to May 1 and controls the turkey harvest by offering a limited number of public land turkey permits and restricting the number of birds a hunter can harvest. Public land turkey permits are issued via a lottery system, and each permit is valid for a specific hunting area and season segment. Private land hunters may hunt turkeys during the entire season, but all hunters are limited to harvesting only one bird per year.

If you are planning to hunt Delaware turkeys, have a game plan. Trust me. Waking up at 3 a.m., driving to a hunting spot, swatting mosquitoes, sitting in poison ivy for seven hours, and encountering zero turkeys is not the best way to spend a morning.

Turkeys are smart birds, but they tend to follow established routines. Spending some time scouting your hunting areas before opening day can increase your chances of success. Look for turkey tracks, feathers, and scratch marks, and try to observe turkeys as they move from their roosts in the morning and to their roosts in evening. If you find patterns in the birds' daily routines, plan to set up your hunting locations near their travel routes.

In addition to preseason scouting, spend some time and money making sure your gear is adequate. With turkeys having eyesight that may be better than a deer's and with you sitting at the turkey's eye level, it's important to have camouflage that matches the surroundings of your hunting spots. Cover as much of your body as possible and remain as still as possible when turkeys are present.

Likewise, bring several turkey calls out with you, but more importantly, know how to use them. Eastern wild turkeys typically begin breeding in early spring, so mature male turkeys are actively competing for mates and are more apt to respond to hen calls. Turkey hens will yelp, cluck, purr, cackle, cut and putt, but the sound that attracts the most responses by gobblers is the yelp. Learn to produce the hen yelp on your turkey calls by listening to actual turkeys in the woods or by listening to audio files that can be found online.

Steven Kendus' Hunter's Journal appears monthly in The News Journal. Kendus is the author of "Hunting The First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting." Follow his blog and podcast at www.eastcoasthunting.blogspot.com. Contact him at skendus@HuntingTheFirstState.com.