you would think they would mention the no roost hunting before you signed a contract.
Tough hunt in TX
I never thought I'd say this, but we had a tough hunt in TX. My wife has some family near San Antonio, so we went to pay them a visit, see the Riverwalk and Alamo, and I booked a 3 day turkey hunt midweek.
I bought 2 hunts, 4 birds. 2 for each kid, and maybe I'd add one on if we went really quick. It's not something I can really afford to do maybe ever again, but I laid the money down this time. Wanted the kids to have an easy hunt. From what I'd seen in one other quick hunt in TX, I was really afraid we'd be done in a day.
When we arrived, they'd had some cold weather. The outfitter said the birds had not been gobbling. "And when they dont act right, WE dont act right. We're going to go sit you on a feeder tonight." I didnt really plan to go down there and feeder sit, but when in Rome... Especially, my 9 year old will hunt a lot better out of a blind. 12 year old is big enough to hold the gun up and set up traditionally.
Long story short, we hunt the mornings hunting traditionally, mostly on our feet. A little blind sitting when convenient. We work a pile of gobbling birds day 1. They shut up as soon as they hit the ground. We eventually got a little close to them and got one more gobble, but that was it.
We sat blinds in the evening since the birds were so quiet, and we didnt even really see them out and about. It was boring for the kids, and it was a little more than I thought I was signing them up for. They were mostly good sports about it though.
Evening #2, we sent my younger son with the guide, and they got 2. They did not "roost hunt" in the evenings, which I didnt know when I booked, so you were done hunting at 6:30-7:00. My older son and I just got a gobble and had a pile of birds working in the last half hour that night. As I hear the pickup coming, a hen pops out of the brush, but they arrive before the gobblers come out. It was so tough to manage with the kids. One's over the moon, the other is crying.
The outfitter really pulled out all the stops for us the last morning. He parks us on a feeder, and it has so many turkey tracks around the sand, it looks like a barnyard. NOTHING. We come home 50% on turkeys. Not real sure how to feel about it. They def had some birds, but hard to understand how it could be so hard to shoot a turkey off a feeder.
![Automotive tire Wild turkey Phasianidae Tread Grass]()
I bought 2 hunts, 4 birds. 2 for each kid, and maybe I'd add one on if we went really quick. It's not something I can really afford to do maybe ever again, but I laid the money down this time. Wanted the kids to have an easy hunt. From what I'd seen in one other quick hunt in TX, I was really afraid we'd be done in a day.
When we arrived, they'd had some cold weather. The outfitter said the birds had not been gobbling. "And when they dont act right, WE dont act right. We're going to go sit you on a feeder tonight." I didnt really plan to go down there and feeder sit, but when in Rome... Especially, my 9 year old will hunt a lot better out of a blind. 12 year old is big enough to hold the gun up and set up traditionally.
Long story short, we hunt the mornings hunting traditionally, mostly on our feet. A little blind sitting when convenient. We work a pile of gobbling birds day 1. They shut up as soon as they hit the ground. We eventually got a little close to them and got one more gobble, but that was it.
We sat blinds in the evening since the birds were so quiet, and we didnt even really see them out and about. It was boring for the kids, and it was a little more than I thought I was signing them up for. They were mostly good sports about it though.
Evening #2, we sent my younger son with the guide, and they got 2. They did not "roost hunt" in the evenings, which I didnt know when I booked, so you were done hunting at 6:30-7:00. My older son and I just got a gobble and had a pile of birds working in the last half hour that night. As I hear the pickup coming, a hen pops out of the brush, but they arrive before the gobblers come out. It was so tough to manage with the kids. One's over the moon, the other is crying.
The outfitter really pulled out all the stops for us the last morning. He parks us on a feeder, and it has so many turkey tracks around the sand, it looks like a barnyard. NOTHING. We come home 50% on turkeys. Not real sure how to feel about it. They def had some birds, but hard to understand how it could be so hard to shoot a turkey off a feeder.
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
