knothead Report post Posted April 25, 2020 Seeing birds or has this covid-19 thing got all the birds quarantined? Are the birds talking or responding to calls? From previous years experience are there about the same number of people in the woods or is there more or less? Can't hunt right now so I have to live vicariously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jknister Report post Posted April 26, 2020 I took my daughter out for the youth hunt in 6A. We had lots of gobbling but they seem to be henned up. On two different days I did manage to call in a tom but they never quite came into range. The most interesting thing that happened was I got into a yelping fight with 2 hens. The 3 of us yelped non stop for 10 solid minutes. Apparently these hens dont know about overcalling! We never encountered another soul but we were pretty deep in the woods, and part of that time was Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be back out there for the second general hunt. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOTAGS Report post Posted April 26, 2020 It was silent on the Kaibab this weekend... areas I have always found turkey had no fresh sign. Strange. How much snow did the Plateau get this winter, still found some drifts 18" thick in the mid levels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
6AYoteHunter Report post Posted April 27, 2020 Opening day called in a large group all henned up in 6A. Saturday found some hens being chased by a very thin coyote. Yesterday found a tom. It was having difficulty gobbling which was odd. Sounded sick. Wouldn't come into call. Later found some hens looking for place to lay eggs. Friend sent me a picture of a hen just laying on Fossil Creek road. Took awhile for it to move. Spent 4 hours last night and an hour this AM trying to locate birds. Noticed almost no owls and had zero gobbles. In the last 20 years hunting 6A turkeys never have went more than 30 minutes at night without locating. Something strange is going on. Have noticed way fewer song birds this year also. Heard there was some dead song birds down by Fossil Creek. 2 weeks ago had a fox die at my place and tried to convince game and fish to come test it. Neighbors found a dead one 5 weeks ago. Also finding lots of dead chipmunks and mice. Maybe this is the year of pandemics for a lot of species. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jknister Report post Posted April 27, 2020 6AYoteHunter: Where about in 6A were you? For the youth hunt I was in the southeast-ish portion of 6A and we had more action than we have ever had. Birds gobbling at sunset, gobbling at 5:30 in the afternoon, gobbling in the morning. Things seemed good where I was. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhxDT Report post Posted April 27, 2020 Never hunted turkey before, but wanting to give it a try. Cool that you can hunt OTC with your kids. Planning to 4A/B in May. Total newbie, so if anyone has ideas, I am open. Not asking for any secret spots. Looks like the best strategy is to sit near tanks and open areas. If nothing else, the weather should be excellent! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rugermack Report post Posted April 27, 2020 Unit 27. saw hens with poults, toms only gobbled in trees, once they jumped down it was over. Mating season was early with warm weather 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
6AYoteHunter Report post Posted April 27, 2020 41 minutes ago, jknister said: 6AYoteHunter: Where about in 6A were you? For the youth hunt I was in the southeast-ish portion of 6A and we had more action than we have ever had. Birds gobbling at sunset, gobbling at 5:30 in the afternoon, gobbling in the morning. Things seemed good where I was. Basically if you draw a line from Maxwell park to Stoneman lake. Tried locating at all the spots I find birds along those areas. Normally it's super easy to locate something to chase in the AM. My Dad tried locating all over the south end of unit without any luck. Common for me to find 3 or 4 roost spots in an hour. Tricky part for me is getting them that last 20 yards for a shot or another bird getting in the way. Only heard 2 owls last night. Normally hear tons of them. Opening day I honestly thought it was going to be in the top 3 general seasons (was like how the opener is for youth season on good years). Birds extremely vocal in AM. Had 7 different toms within 100 yards over an hour long setup. Got one to come in close but hen was like right there, so no clear shot. Tried locating where that flock went to roost and surprisingly couldn't. Saw them a few times midday without luck. They never saw me, glassed them up. From Friday AM to this AM was literally like exact opposite hunts. Texted a few buddies and they are saying the same thing. Something strange since Saturday. Hopefully it picks back up soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jknister Report post Posted April 27, 2020 41 minutes ago, 6AYoteHunter said: Basically if you draw a line from Maxwell park to Stoneman lake. Tried locating at all the spots I find birds along those areas. Normally it's super easy to locate something to chase in the AM. My Dad tried locating all over the south end of unit without any luck. Common for me to find 3 or 4 roost spots in an hour. Tricky part for me is getting them that last 20 yards for a shot or another bird getting in the way. Only heard 2 owls last night. Normally hear tons of them. Opening day I honestly thought it was going to be in the top 3 general seasons (was like how the opener is for youth season on good years). Birds extremely vocal in AM. Had 7 different toms within 100 yards over an hour long setup. Got one to come in close but hen was like right there, so no clear shot. Tried locating where that flock went to roost and surprisingly couldn't. Saw them a few times midday without luck. They never saw me, glassed them up. From Friday AM to this AM was literally like exact opposite hunts. Texted a few buddies and they are saying the same thing. Something strange since Saturday. Hopefully it picks back up soon. Thats a good size area. I wasnt too far from Maxwell park. Going back Friday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goldfinger78 Report post Posted April 27, 2020 Spring 🦃 went pretty good for me. Headed up for a quick hunt Sunday and after 1 and a half hours had a nice Tom come in. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dcshorthairs Report post Posted April 28, 2020 Unit 1 was a little tough. Birds were chatty before the sun comes up, but go silent after they hit the ground. Sunday we didn’t hear a gobble. Caught this guy on Saturday and he was a nice bird. Very blessed with him. One tag left for my wife now. 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PRDATR Report post Posted April 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Goldfinger78 said: Spring 🦃 went pretty good for me. Headed up for a quick hunt Sunday and after 1 and a half hours had a nice Tom come in. That's a nice bird Chris, congrats. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZkiller Report post Posted April 28, 2020 11 hours ago, PhxDT said: Never hunted turkey before, but wanting to give it a try. Cool that you can hunt OTC with your kids. Planning to 4A/B in May. Total newbie, so if anyone has ideas, I am open. Not asking for any secret spots. Looks like the best strategy is to sit near tanks and open areas. If nothing else, the weather should be excellent! You realize you have to get drawn right? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
knothead Report post Posted April 28, 2020 15 minutes ago, AZkiller said: You realize you have to get drawn right? You can buy an OTC archery tag and start hunting May 8th. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhxDT Report post Posted April 28, 2020 11 hours ago, knothead said: You can buy an OTC archery tag and start hunting May 8th. yup, that's what I am planning on...you know, since I didn't plan earlier enough to do the draw. haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
