Turkey Hunting Lease Program

Turkey Hunter/Member Feedback

Mid-America,

I'm a little late, but I'm writing to tell you about my 2006 spring turkey season and my 2006 deer season on club land. maybe my letter will get some of the other guys in the club excited about the upcoming turkey season. Let me start off by saying that my 2005 season was my greatest season to date; I ended up shooting a 22 pounder and a 25 pounder. I honestly thought I couldn't have a better turkey season, but I was dead wrong. The 2006 season was different for me, because I decided to buy a non-resident tag for [location deleted]. The tag was a little pricey, but how can you put a price on the extended season and hunting time!

My 2006 season started when I started hunting out in [location deleted] for the first time. I chased turkeys for awhile out in [location deleted], but my first turkey came during the opening week of [location deleted] season. My gobbler came in with another tom and they would not separate for anything; I called both birds within yards, and finally my bird stuck his head out to peck my decoys. Needless to say, I put the 21 pound gobbler down for good.

The second gobbler I shot was 2 weeks later in [location deleted]; I arrived at my area near dawn when I first heard the gobbler call. As soon as the birds began to sing, I gave the first call on my slate call. The bird answered me a flew off his roost. He closed the distance fairly fast, but hung up outside of range. I coaxed the bird in for over 45 minutes before he finally gave me a 30 yard shot. I ran over and picked up my largest wild turkey ever! This giant bird weighed in right at 26 pounds, and had an eleven inch paint brush for a beard.

Three days later I traveled back to the great state of [location deleted] for some more turkey hunting. I previously hunted this lease earlier in the season, but I had no success. While turkey hunting there, I pretty much figured out where the birds were going.

On this trip, I altered my tactics to try and take advantage of the turkeys. I set up where I thought the turkeys were going to be and began my calling sequence. The first hour of light came with no gobbles in the area. This was most likely due to the 30 mph winds and the lateness of the season. I was near dozing off when I thought I heard a gobble. I made a call and the gobbler answered back; he was closing the distance fast! When he came into view, he was literally running towards my decoys. I shot him point blank right before he reached my decoy spread. He was an average tom right at 21 pounds with a 10 inch beard.

I continued turkey hunting all the way up to the last day of the [location deleted] season; I think I was pretty much the last one in the association that was still turkey hunting. I hunted hard, but I couldn't close the distance on my 4th turkey. I had an absolute blast hunting both [states deleted] for turkeys.

My deer season was very awesome as well; I didn't get a chance to hunt as much as I wanted to, but I still seen large numbers of deer. I shot a doe on the second day of bow season. This was kind of crazy because of the extreme temperatures that were going on. I wanted to harvest at least one doe on club lease so maybe in the long run it might help the buck to doe ratio on some of the lands. This is something I try to practice every season I'm out bowhunting for big bucks. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to hunt again until rifle season. Although I seen some nice bucks, I didn't see a deer big enough for met to shoot. I passed a number of nice 2-3 year olds that will be real good next year. Anyways, another season has passed and I wanted to share some of my experiences with you guys. thanks again to all the staff that helps out; you guys make our hunting association great.

Sincerely, [name deleted]