Day 2 of the 2020 Ohio Spring Turkey Season

[HunterGKS]

I was ready to go, in my secondary spot, at 06:13 this morning with total dark cloud cover, wind gusts, & 45 degrees.
It was fairly calm inside the woods but the wind sounds from outside was pretty loud. It had rained during the night
so everything was wet & it also sprinkled for a few minutes after I got set-up.

At 06:45, I sent out a few tree yelps &, at 07:00, I did a couple of sets of flydown calls & cackles. No response. I
sent out yelps, purrs, cackles, et al with a mouth call, box, & slate over glass every 15 – 20 minutes. No response
at any time.

At 08:25, a fox squirrel moved through the woods in front of me. At 09:00, a deer blew behind me several times
until about 09:10. The wind had also picked up inside the woods & it was getting pretty cold. At 09:15, I caught
motion to my left & spotted 3 woody drakes swimming through the swamp.

The wind was really screaming & the trees were rocking & rolling so, at 09:30, I decided that discretion was the
better part of valor & it was time to get the heck out of Dodge. So I called it a morning. Besides, I didn’t think
I’d make a very good looking greasy spot if a tree found its mark. The skies were clearing but still cloudy, the
sun was bright, the wind was whistling, & the temp was 44 but the WC put it into the mid 30s.

Tomorrow the temp is supposed to be in the upper 20s with the wind chills in the low 20s. It won’t break into the
40s until noon. I may or may not go out to my tertiary spot. It all depends on how bad the wind is. At least they’re
not predicting any rain. Thur looks a lot better.

[935]

That's tough. I don't like being out on windy days and I've never had any luck hearing gobbles on windy days. That being said, if I'm off from work and season is in.......

Edit to add. Good luck on Thursday.

[HoltBensley]

I find Ohio being tough every year!

[HunterGKS]

That's tough. I don't like being out on windy days and I've never had any luck hearing gobbles on windy days. That being said, if I'm off from work and season is in.......

Edit to add. Good luck on Thursday.

I have avoided hunting in the wind since a tree I was leaning against while bowhunting in WV
blew over after I moved a short ways away, luckily in the opposite direction of the fall. It
wasn't bad in the woods at 1st this morning but, when the trees started doing the shimmy,
shimmy, shake, out I went.

Thx.

[HunterGKS]

I find Ohio being tough every year!

I started hunting these 2 small patch woods in 2008. It was normal to hear at least 6 birds
every day. There were also hens galore. From 2008 until 2018, I filled both tags except for
2015 when I only filled 1. Starting in 2018, I have been skunked. But, on opening day of
2018, I did miss a gimme shot on the only bird I worked the whole season. I have seen only
a few birds & worked even fewer. This season has started the same.

I stopped & talked with my friend who owns these woods this morning. We have both noticed
the dearth of turkeys as well as geese the last few years, We think it is possible that coons &
skunks have been getting a lot of eggs keeping the populations down. There are a lot of coons
in this area & that’s the only thing that makes sense. There isn’t a lot of hunting pressure as
all the woods are private & only 2 other people hunt the woods on either side & then very
infrequently.

[Turkinator]

Coons are becoming a plague since fur prices bottomed out. I wish coon hides were $50 apiece!

[spider316]

Thanks Buddy, and yes, egg eaters are at a Pandemic level in my opinion !

[HunterGKS]

Coons are becoming a plague since fur prices bottomed out. I wish coon hides were $50 apiece!

I wish they'd consider them vermin, like coyotes, & remove the season.

[HunterGKS]

Thanks Buddy, and yes, egg eaters are at a Pandemic level in my opinion !

Welcome. The coon pop. needs to be reduced drastically.

[spider316]

Thanks Buddy, and yes, egg eaters are at a Pandemic level in my opinion !

Welcome. The coon pop. needs to be reduced drastically.

I literally just got word that our school year is over. Gonna let my 13 yo son and 12 yo daughter protect the chickens with the Havahearts. At recess of course !

[soiltester]

George,
Havn't seen a turkey in the last 2-3 months here and the predators on my trail cams are next to none
I use to catch all kinds of coon & possums and skunks by this time.
That being said, the crows have gotten' bolder and are now feeding at my bird feeder and I'll take those bird nest stealin' suckers out of the system!!
AND for those who don't know, they love to swoop down on turkey chicks feeding in the open!!

Keep at em' and git' a bigun' !!

Looking to MI next month .. hopefully