Taggin Out Hunting

Hey all,

You will all be glad to know that the website is nearing completion. Our final dvd order has been placed and is about 50 days from being in our hands. It has been a touch since I have gave you all the report from the field so lets back this up.

The second week of April, I spent an entire week with dad along the Big Manistee River. This river is highly noted for its excellent fishery of steelhead. For those that do not know much about steelhead, they are an extremely hard fighting fish that naturally spawn in the river systems. It is not uncommon for a fish to fight itself to death during their apparent struggle with man. To get a grasp on just how hard these fish fight, during that week, I hooked 25 and only land 5 fish or about 20%. That rate is lower than some of the seasoned fisherman that I am glad my daddy met on the river. These guys were truly an absolute pleasure to fish aside.

Turkey season got of to a bang. First it was Mr. Russ Vandercook taking a nice bird off of Steve Lovasz property. The footage was great being that the birds nearly ran all the way in after leaving a group of 3 real hens. Then it was my daddy’s turn. He had a giant come into the decoys and the gun went click. If you have seen the footage from last year you would oh boy, another one of those seasons. With the gun jammed up and 10 minites later we had an additional 2 toms and 1 jake pay us a visit. Of course, once that was resolved we never seen another bird that day. But a couple days later dad got his chance at redemption. A bird come in from behind the blind and never did commit to the decoys. We shuffled around the blind and dad took a very nice tom. He sure was glad to redeem himself of the past couple of years… Once that bird was harvested, I took Mr. Rocky Cummins our for some bird action. Now Mr. Rocky has never ever tagged a turkey in 3 years of hunting, and with only 1 day left we were determined to change that. Rocky is a different character though, he wanted his first turkey to be done with the bow. So we got setup and with some miscommunication he threw an arrow through the low back feathers after we called in a pair of jakes. Disappointed and bummed, we eventually seen another pair of birds. A hen and jake worked slowly into the decoys and when the moment came Rocky pinned the donkey! Congrats Mr. Rocky on your first bird! With the action peaking out, I then met up with Mr. Todd Collins. The action continued when the birds were gobbling in the dark. Not too long after, one of those gobblers was making its way to the decoys. Was… Then a big coyote entered the field and it looked like that bird would be a goner. But the bird came back and Mr. Todd centered an arrow though the big tom. It ran off and after a long track job we let it lay for awhile. Luckily, we picked back up on the trail later that evening and found the bird. The Mr. Schumann, the wife, kid, and I went out for a day of moral mushroom picking and found a few. Those babies sure eat good with some batter and deep frying. By this time, my wife was itching at the bit to get out and give it a run. Did I mention with her bow? Mr. Paul Connelly invited us to hunt his piece of turkey field one afternoon and a long while later, guess who showed up? You guessed it, another gianormus tom. Her placement was a touch off and the arrow flew through his wing feathers and out his front breast feathers. It stung a little, for my wife anyway… we have been trying to get her back in front of another bird and I sure it will happen before the end of the month. I got the opportunity to get out a couple days back and had a tom come 30 yards to the side of me. I hit the record button and waited and waited. Smart bird kept about its marry way and left me with my tag in the pocket! Don’t worry I will be “Taggin Out!”

Good luck on all your outdoor quests,

Team Eaton

Smackin' Em & Stackin' Em in Maine

I'll tell you what...alot of guys here in southern/midcoastal Maine aren't seeing the turkeys as much this week and so they're having a hard time connecting. The past two years I had similar issues, combined with not enough time to hunt so I decided to put the old woodsmanship skills to the grindstone this year and scout hard. For those of you who have off-seasons when you just aren't seeing the birds, take a few tips and learn from my past mistakes.

A couple things have happened that are defining the way this season is going; last fall we had a good mast crop, this past winter was extremely mild, and spring came unusually early here, and drier than expected. What's happened, (in my opinion and in a nutshell), is that the hens began nesting earlier, are spending more time on the nest at the start of our season than we, as hunters, are used to experiencing, and the gobblers have more time on their hands. Though still looking for love, they are apparently spending a great deal more time wandering and foraging for food....and finding it in the woods this spring more than in the fields. I got out as much as I possibly could before season and started listening for gobbles at daybreak, rather than evening. That told me where they were and from there I snuck in a few times to observe what they were doing and where they were traveling, by watching the birds and simply looking for fresh tracks, scratchings & other sign. Knowing my areas well, also helped me form a mental picture on what they might be doing. High pressure hunting is hard on turkeys & turkey hunters both here, too, so you'll also have to figure where hunters normally stack up and hunt around them if you have similar pressures. Just be safety conscious at all times.

I set up my Ameristep Doghouse blind in one area, and hand-clipped out some other spots so I could bounce around in areas I knew turkeys were using in the mornings. Youth Day found my son Ryan & I in the blind and though it didn't unfold quite the way I expected, I managed to call in a bird and Ryan took him at 12 yards while he was mounting the hen decoy at 5:27am. The next day was Opening Day for the rest of us and I snuck in on some gobbling between 3 birds in a 400 yard radius, parking myself in the middle. That tidbit of woodsmanship combined with some very specific calls had me filling my first tag at 6:10am. On day 2 of the hunt, I snuck around some more, (in the woods, not in the fields), and struck some more gobblers. I swear, the best thing a hunter can do when conditions are tough is to slip in between any gobbles you hear, (and I mean early early morning!), and set up because one is bound to come in if you play your cards right. I had my first shot opportunity at 5:40am but missed the bird clean at 25 yards! At 10:15am I filled my 2nd and final tag but patience was the key to that harvest.

That bird came to the calling from the woods and popped into a field edge, only to hang up at 50+ yards. He didn't like the wind moving my decoy either but he was interested in hanging around for a full hour and 15 minutes, most of which I was in the "gun up and ready" position, unable to move. I was backed against a wide pine and while I was still trying to figure out if I should just quit, two more toms popped out to the calls at 30 yards but pegged me instantly. It was just enough to drive the first gobbler closer to me in the confusion and I finally dropped the hammer on him at 37 steps. Had I not decided to be patient and wait him out, I would have lost that opportunity. He fed off twice and twice I called him back but he hung up each time.

Three days out and three tags filled so far. My son has one more and I'm supposed to take out some friends who have never been. I love turkey season and the past 2 years experienced less than average results, due mostly to being lazy in my efforts. This year I made the firm decision to get back to basics and put in the necessary time to not only find the birds but figure them out and devise some strategies to make things happen. That, and having the Lord of the Harvest with me made all the difference. Hopefully, with 4 more weeks of hunting left, I'll be able to help my friends fill some of their tags, too.

My sons bird was a 2 year old, 17 lbs and an 8" beard. Both mine were 3 year olds, 20 lbs and 18 lbs respectively, both sporting 9" beards.

-Blaine Cardilli/ Ameristep Prostaff