Feedback from our self guided Kansas turkey hunting members is always wanted.
John-
Found this guy in the morning and Easter Eggs later in the day. Set up about 150 yards away from this tom while he was still on the roost. He flew down about 75 yards away and was spittin' & drummin' all the way up to my jake decoy. His cooperation with my set up was appreciated by my wife since I was still able to make it back for church on Easter Sunday. Rhett 
Thanks Rhett for taking the time to send in your turkey hunting account and picture. For the rest of us that enjoy a stable home and work life, Rhett is an active duty officer with a good bit of overseas' time including much in the combat zone. He is on his way to an even tougher assignment stepping up beyond the call by volunteering to a special operations unit. For anyone in Rhett's position to have the success he has had on deer and turkey with as little daily and yearly free time as he has gives the rest of us very little excuse for doing half as much. His approach has been to concentrate within one region of Kansas for both his deer and turkey hunting. How to repeat Rhett's turkey hunting success, please see turkey hunting reasonable expectations. |
Scouting
For the non-resident hunter spring turkey hunting and combination deer scouting trip motivation, the debate when to turkey and deer scout has been raised by those seeking to make the most of their wild turkey hunts. This time is frequently a compromise between setting up a good turkey hunting trip and what may be of more interest of the fall deer hunt.
Some criteria: sheds are likely to be found as early as the last week in January and we have seen bucks with both rack halves intact as late as late mid February. March seems to be the optimum time for finding sheds and the green foliage is down, rubs and trails readily visible, the weather cool and no bugs.
For pre spring season turkey scouting Middle to late March appears to be the optimum time as that is when we see bachelor group toms joining up with hen/jake flocks where the hen dominated flocks will roost. This is also the time when morning gobbling starts in earnest for easy identification of roost locations.
This timing also supports a combination turkey scouting and hunting trip. If deer scouting is not a priority then the entire Kansas turkey season is open for when to travel. If seeking the least hunter pressure and the most easily influenced toms that time period is at the close of the shorter Missouri spring season in the third week of May which is also the period when many hens will take fulltime to nest. The toms not willing to give up search more for fewer available hens and appear easier to call and decoy in.
In most cases those Association turkey hunters settling into their third or fourth spring turkey season typically have one to two roosts identified that will serve their spring season turkey hunts for years to come. As one drops off another turkey roost is easily added incidental to fall deer and earlier Kansas spring turkey hunts.
We have seen this hunter each spring with a tom in hand far more than we can remember for how long. What I was told is that he has found more toms in shorter time on MAHA leases to include his first single setup double than he has experienced on his other private and public land hunt options. 
What Kevin has done is what many have done before and that is join MAHA as a means to gain supplemental land access options or add to what they have gained on their own through private contacts, individual leases and public land. Over time those that initially start with that approach soon give up their other options and concentrate their time on MAHA leases. |
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