Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

Congrats Dave. Next you know you'll be signing up for 1/2 marathons.

Yep... you can give it back... just when you got your card back for buying the sweet minivan you get it snatched right back.

Man...working out in the shop would have me missing it. Really, congrats the weight loss.

2 more finished and with their new owners.

Dave....good job on the weight loss. I'm not much of a drinker, maybe one a week. It's the sweets that get me.

Very nice knives.

Dusty certainly cherished his j elky knife.

Great work, J.

Very nice knives there. I need to make a few, though I have more than I can possibly use. But I like the simple style you have there. I could put on to use right now.

This is from about an hour ago.

Excellent! That bird looks like it has a lot of interesting color.

And as usual, a beautiful shotgun! Details on the hunt and the bird please.

Something I tried on a hunch on Saturday...

I seasoned 1/2 of the turkey breast from the bird Jack and I got the week before. Then baked it at 350 for 1hr, shredded it, and put it in the crock pot with Cream of Celery soup for a few hours. Then served it on buns, for pulled turkey sandwhiches. It was a "crock pot" type of day here so it really fit the bill.

Something different if you're looking for a way to serve it.

Tom,
That sounds pretty tasty. I've been cooking them in cream sauce with a little bacon and misc stuff and served over wild rice (real wild rice). I sort of make it up as I go. Your idea sounds pretty good and easy too.

I've been cooking pheasant in mole sauce and that is just about incredible but I'm addicted to mole.

The bird was one of a group I call The 4 Amigos. I have seen them often. Today, I set up in the corner of a field that hangs over a small river. I knew they, and maybe a big solo gobbler would be roosting somewhere along the edge. As it turns out, just 100 yds away, maybe less. On the roost they sure sounded like gobblers, but this guy has only a 5" beard and nubs for spurs, though well worn nubs they are. I'd almost say this is a second year bird, but probably a jake. He weighed 18 lbs on my antique fish scale. Not sure if it is even close to accurate.

Anyway, they flew down and were supposed to walk down the deer trail to me where I was lying underneath a fallen tree. But instead, they crossed straight out into the grass on the edge of a bean field. 35ish yds out, maybe more but on my right side, and with no cover. I switched the shotty to the other shoulder and fired. He went down but then got back up and started running at an angle away. Got the gun back on my right shoulder and hit him again and he was down for keeps. That second shot was a carefully paced 40 yds. The first, maybe just a little closer, but not much. He was not well shot.

Saw lots of birds in Wisconsin last weekend when I drove up and back to Lodi for a match. Looks like it should be good hunting up there too.

Next year, the Three Amigos will be nice birds for sure.

Brent

Thanks Brent. It sounds like a great morning and some excitement with the opposite shoulder shooting.

How does non-res turkey hunting work in IA? Any idea of the odds and public access birds?

Ryan, any word on the new job?

Tom I really don't know how non-res works. There is public access birds - they can be super tough. I would go second season to get at them with as naive as possible. Private land is all I hunt. I'm very lucky but I hunt a very small place (~200 acres, mostly crop) very carefully.

teh best hunting is along the Mississippi to the East, or in the Loess Hills to the west. Also decent in the south. Where I am, it is pocket hunting, but there are good birds populations along rivers, esp. the Des Moines, Boone, but also the smaller streams like the S. Skunk (my river) and Squaw (where I was this morning). But most of the smaller rivers and streams will be private. Access is about like elsewhere, hit and miss, and best if cultivated ahead of time.

Brent

Yep, That's fer sure !!

& it seems like he needs money to buy beer !



Paul.

Hey, when it gets tight... A guy has got to cut something from the budget.

Beer got cut.

Dave,
PM sent.

not yet, I jump everytime the phone rings though

Did i not reply?

thought i did but my pc may have fritzed out.

just found out I didn't get the job, bummer because I really wanted it. oh well, such is life. taking little man fishin I think

Well it may have been MY confuser fritzing out cuz I never got the little flashing envelope, but then I double checked and it was there.

Very nice !