How's it going? What else are you seeing?

I have to wait until the second week of May for my first "season". Otherwise, I'll just be another poacher out there! Lol! Besides all the different song birds in the spring, I occasionally get to see fox and coyote, owls, eagles, sandhill cranes and one time, a bobcat. And every once in a while, a garder snake slithers through . Glad there's nothing venomous in NE WI. Plenty of ticks, seams like it's more every year, but have some great repellent for them. But still seams like some get me though...

This was a bird from a couple years ago already. I was tucked under the apple tree over my left shoulder. There's a deep draw to my right that the tom came up out of and when he topped over, gobblin all the way up, he was in range of the mighty little Rem 870 20ga. Let him dance a few steps, and then....



Good luck to all out there!

Permethrin for ticks, treat your outerwear and boots

It's used, plus a spray on for skin. Have tested + for Lymes twice now, so use the stuff religiously.

put your Dr. on speed dial, find a tick call for a course of doxycyclene. Imix my own permethrin 1 oz of 36.6% to 1/2 gallon of water, spray my outerwear, let it dry,, retreat every 3 washings, no problems turkey hunting, but its a struggle the rest of the summer, skinned a bear this year on dec. 4th, found a tick embedded on the 8th, who would have thought?

I've had Lyme twice. This is how far the last one got before I even knew I had it. Went to Urgent Care and the on-duty doctor called the other on-duty doctor to come in and look at it. Each time I pulled my shirt up to show a doctor, they each blurted out "you have Lyme." They both took pictures.

The first time I got it I still had the tick attached to me 2 days after I got out of the woods and didn't even know it until it itched and I scratched it and felt it, then noticed a small ring around it. The last time, no tick attached. Just a large, classic bullseye.

Had the textbook bullseye rash the first time and, at the time, treatment was a series of antibiotic shots spaced over a couple months. No rash that I saw the second time, just had it checked out due to multiple ticks that had been in me. Second time, treatment was a bottle of antibiotic pills. Getting checked is now part of my annual physical. Ticks are just a part of the woods we hunt and recreate in and I do my best to protect myself from them. One thing is, I have a lint roller in the truck and when I get back to it after a hunt, I use the roller all over my clothes. Sometimes, surprised to see all that gets stuck to the roller! I tried a Rhino suit, but just too tight and too hot! I love being out there and not going to let ticks stop me.

Other thing that's happened, coming off a hill, going to another spot, had a Hummingbird challenging me! Getting in my face, coming at me, lol, must have been too close to its nest. Side stepped it and continued on, but it kept at me for a bit!

I use Gamehide elimitick clothing and never see a tick. Last spring my buddy and I had to crawl through the grass on some gobblers. He pulled 8 ticks off himself that night me none. He bought elimitick the next day.

Have had a good first week of the season in SC. Been out 5 mornings. One miss, one kill, and only one morning we weren’t in birds.

Fingers crossed but seems all the habitat work we have been doing the last few years is paying off. Our one morning of no action was on a different piece of property

Killed this gobbler this morning at 8am at 15 yds. 3in #5 Longbeards. 9 1/2 beard, inch spur and 19 lbs

Very nice, congrats!

Ordered some Gamehide Elimitic clothing, stuff has very good reviews. Also checked out the Sitka Equinox Guard, you guys think TSS is expensive! Lol!

I’ve got one of the Sitka hoodies I got on sale. I get all my warm weather hunting clothes out on the line before the season, and hose them with permethrin and let dry.

This one snuck in behind me this morning. Turlock .555 and a Hal’s load we do here locally.

SE Iowa, wind a problem.

Youth season started Friday. We hunted Fri and Sat, heard several birds but they wouldn't respond to calls.

We had a bird roosted Saturday morning. The grandson wanted to use a strutter and hen decoy. We saw him slip in soon after he hit the ground. He looked at the decoys and left. After we realized it was a single Tom away from the group I had a bad feeling about the strutter decoy.

Last year both grandsons filled there youth tags first morning. No tags filled yet this year.

40 mile an hour gusts this morning and we slept in.

The birds are still somewhat cold in northeast Louisiana. Gobbling until fly down for the most part.

I got on one at 8:15 this morning and chased him for a couple hours to no avail.

I struck 2 more at 12:20pm and had one on the ground at 12:30pm.

I love a mid day bird!