I think these toms turned gay!

[trust me]

How does one "call to the hens"? What are you doing differently to bring them in, as opposed to bringing in the toms?

 

[KYhunter79]

How does one "call to the hens"? What are you doing differently to bring them in, as opposed to bringing in the toms?

I'm not an expert by any means and some of the more knowledgable guys may jump in and have more input. But have had some success calling in birds for myself and others over the last several years. Instead of calling aggressively or trying to bring a bird in I just do a short series of soft clucks every 5 or 6 seconds and then a soft purr or two. Give it a little while and repeat. I've found that if you have a lone hen decoy and do this, the hens will most always feed towards you....and hopefully they have a big dominant bird in tow.

Did this earlier this season and my uncle and I had several hens almost walking on top of us. He said it was one of the exhilarating experiences he's ever had. I did this to a henned up Tom last year as well.

 

[turkeyhunter1943]

So... how many did you kill last fall??

Why would you want to kill a hen in the spring as oppossed to the fall? After all, they have the potential to reproduce more gobblers if you allow them the chance in the spring....

I usually don't bite on these threads, but I have a hard time wrapping my arms around this one. If you're overrun with turkey, then I'm guessing you tagged out on April 17th, assuming you hunted both days?

I haven't seen any squirrels in my neck of the woods suffering. In fact, I'm willing to sacrifice the tree rats for more turkey if that is the trade off you're proposing. Turkey are much better table fair.

I breed and hunt OMCs. That's Original Mountain Curs....and YES the overpopulation of turkeys DO hurt the woods. You abviously don't spend much time in the woods.

As for the killing of hens. Can you possibly understand the fact that killing said hen is stopping her from reproducing no matter when you kill her....Think hard and you will see what I mean...Think said hen killed in the fall can reproduce the next spring??

 

[turkeyhunter1943]

There's an "abvious" answer here... How many hens did you kill last fall??

OK. I'm NOT going to get in a peeing match with you OR anyone else on here.

OK. No, I didn't kill any hens in the fall. The fall for me is for deer hunting and hunting my dogs on lowly tree rats and or coons...just to name two. Like I said I mess with squirrel dogs. They are my thing. I am sure I am not alone in being a well rounded hunter. I understand we can harvest hens in the fall but my thoughts were just to take one in the spring while we are turkey hunting anyway. I know there are some guys that hunt in the fall but not anywhere near as many as hunt in the spring. Why would it be so terrible to take a hen in the spring and then, for those who choose to hunt in the fall, allow then to take the balance of the limit? Maybe even cut back one hen in the fall so as not to take too many as there would be many more killed in the spring.

I am not stupid, I know I could harvest hens in the fall. I choose to be doing other things. The argument of not harvesting them in the spring doesn't make a bit of sense, to me. A hen harvested in the fall will not lay eggs anymore than one harvested in the spring. So what in the world would be the difference? Honestly?

There probably are very few here that eat more game than my family. Turkey, deer, tree rats, dove, and then there are morels and such. So don't think I don't like to eat game. I have "tagged" out every year until last {spring turkey} and the hens are getting out of control. It is obvious I am not the only one who doesn't hunt them in the fall or there wouldn't be this problem. I just choose to do more that turkey hunt in the fall. It's not my cup of tea. {kinda like you and tree rats}.


There is no reason to down someone who has a different view as yours.. That is what this place is for, I thought. A place for hunters to come and voice there opinions. Is it a place for people to down other hunters for voicing their thoughts and opinions? I don't remember downing your opinion....just disagreeing.

I, like you, am not a rookie. I've been around for a bit. I know there are many guys who know moire about this stuff but I didn't just fall off the truck either.

By the way. The turkeys do have an effect on other game's food supply......a big effect. Plus they are eating the fire out of my morels.

If you want to discuss this any further please feel free to PM me.