Want to learn about Hydrangeas? Attend the presentation at AWF on June 1 !

Summer time for me means more outdoors but, in my case it is outdoors work! Yard and pool both keep me tied down like a calf on a date with a branding iron! And I enjoy it about that much as well !

Now, my wife is the one that loves the yard work and making all the plants and flowers grow to beautiful maturity is a passion of hers.If you have a wife like that, she may be interested in the Alabama Wildlife Federation’s upcoming Hydrangea Presentations coming to Lanark here in Beautiful Millbrook!

Hydrangea Presentations at the Alabama Nature Center June 1

The Alabama Nature Center in Millbrook will be open to the general public on June 1, and a special “Hydrangea Fest” educational program will be on the agenda. Discover more about the unique, natural history of these floral beauties. Learn how to grow, prune, root and dry the flowers for crafts during the hydrangea demonstrations. Bring your hydrangea gardening questions for expert advice! After hearing about the hydrangeas, enjoy a guided walking tour of the hydrangeas beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Lanark Gardens will also have a plant sale Saturday with proceeds benefiting the gardens at the Alabama Wildlife Federation. A limited amount of dried Hydrangeas and Hydrangea wreaths will be for sale.

Schedule of events   

9:30 A.M. – 10:30  A.M. – “Let’s talk about Hydrangeas” by Maria Pacheco-West, Lanark Grounds Specialist

8:00 A.M.-12:00 NOON – Plant sale: Lanark plants with the proceeds benefitting the gardens (Hydrangeas will be for sale along with other Lanark plants.)

10:30 A.M. – A guided tour to see the Hydrangeas.

All visitors of the Alabama Nature Center must check in at the Pavilion Outpost located inside the Lanark Pavilion before hiking on the trails or attending programming. General Admission is $4 per person/per day for adults, $2 per person/per day for ages 4 to 12, and children under 3 are free. The Alabama Nature Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. 

The Alabama Nature Center, a hands-on outdoor education facility located at Lanark in Millbrook, Alabama, is a joint project of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and benefactors Isabel and Wiley Hill. The Lanark property, State Headquarters for the Alabama Wildlife Federation, contains 350 acres of striking forests, fields, streams, wetlands and ponds that are traversed by five miles of trails and boardwalks including a tree top viewing platform. The Alabama Nature Center hosts a variety of outdoor education programs including Lanark Field Days events for youth and school groups, Expedition Lanark Summer Day Camp for children aged  5 – 15, and monthly weekend events for the general public. For more information about the Alabama Nature Center and the Alabama Wildlife Federation, call 334-285-4550 or visit www.alabamawildlife.org.

AWF is a great organization we are blessed to have in The River Region and that are doing a great job educating our children about being good stewards of our natural resources! Check out this recent work at Prattville Primary School!

These PPS students got some great lessons in outdoor Education from the AWF, Outstanding boys and girls!

Prattville Primary Outdoor Classroom Certification
Prattville Primary School is the first school in Prattville to be a part of the prestigious group of schools across the state to become Alabama Outdoor Classroom certified. This has been a two-year process but the finish product is well worth the wait. There are close to three hundred schools in fifty-seven counties enrolled in the Outdoor Classroom and to date forty schools have achieved certified status.

Prattville Primary’s outdoor classroom is an exceptional example of how combining gardens, root grow boxes, bird houses, a pond­­­­­—and topping it off with murals painted by the kids­­­­­—allows them to form a connection and respect for the outdoors. Second grader, Jadyn Seamon was excited about what she was a part of and said how pretty it was and couldn’t wait to watch it grow. There has been a dramatic change from a sand pathway to dreaming, planning, great sponsorship and hard work leading to volunteers working together alongside the youth to create this space to make learning fun. Prattville Primary School’s Principal Jim Abraham said, “This is a great educational opportunity for the kids where they will have the opportunity to not just read about science but to see it and touch it. It is a good day for all of our kids and kids to come.”

The Alabama Outdoor Classroom program is a project of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and offers on-site help and support to teachers, administrators and students who wish to create a sustainable wildlife habitat on their school’s grounds. To learn more about the Alabama Outdoor Classroom Certification program, visit alabamawildlife.org/classrooms. If you think this is some great experiences and you want to give your kids a great outdoors summer, contact  Marla- marla@alabamawildlife.org and sign your kids up for the great slate of summer events at Lanark and the AWF!

Another great organization here in Central Alabama for us “Big Kids” is the Alabama Black Belt Adventures organization and they are STACKED with some great summer fun events for the outdoors across our area. Check out the winners of this past season’s turkey hunting photo contest, the World’s WIDEST YARDSALE http://widestyardsale.com/  a great street festival in Selma including the Billy Atchison Memorial Catfish Fry. (Billy was a good friend) White water rafting on the Chattahoochie and much more is listed here; http://www.alabamablackbeltadventures.org/

More next week…. including a turkey picture you will NOT believe!!

Enjoy Summer, go dig some dirt!

Post Oak… OUT…. doors..

2013 is in the books but, this old Alabama Tom is still strutting around! (postoak)

With the close of spring turkey season comes the saddest day of the year for us “gobbleraddicts” We have to come to grips with the fact that this is the longest space of wait time we must endure until next March 15th. However, if you are like me, the analysis never ends and the scheming for a better season has already began. I am trying to determine if  should quit my current leases and my hunting club membership to pursue new places to hunt so that next year will not disappoint like 2013.

I have been on a lease for several years that has produced some very good birds, but the area is well known as one with the most hard-headed gobblers in Alabama. I invited my brother in law, who is a confirmed gobbleraddict and he declined saying them “Mantua (the location) turkeys is all stone crazy”. While I reluctantly agree with that assessment, It is hard to let a lease go unless I have another lined up. The hunting club I joined this past year in Dallas county was sort of a bust since I only took one gobbler off it, but I did pass on gobblers opening weekend and the season was an odd one, so maybe it will be better next year. Oh well, I got some time to think about it and maybe a new hunting lease or a great club will turn up that I can switch to for 2014.

In the mean time, Some folks I know had a good spring so I have some pictures to share from them. Check out the awesome 4 bearded gobbler killed in Union Springs area by Montgomery hunter John Marsh took. John had a good year, taking four nice gobblers and this 4 bearded Tom is at the taxidermist! Good hunting John!

A four bearded trophy Tom taken by John Marsh in the Union Springs area.

Mike Midkiff, another central Alabama hunter took a couple of huge Gobblers in Nebraska and shared a photo of one of them with me for you to enjoy! A Huge Merriam Gobbler! It scored in the top 10 gobblers for Nebraska!

What a huge Nebraska Merriam! A top 10 scoring Gobbler taken by Mike Midkiff!

Brandon Parker, A “natural born killer” in the turkey woods, said he had to fight off the snakes and mosquitoes to get to where he could get a shot on this old swamp tom from Elmore county.

Brandon Parker said the biggest challenge to take this gobbler was fightin off the snakes to get to where he was so he could get that shot!

Hats off to all you turkey hunters! and lets endure the wait until dove season cranks up.

In the summer we can still do some Coyote and Hog control if you just need to hunt something! They both are running wild in the Alabama Woods and competing for the deer and turkey! Go get you some of that action this summer!

Next Week, Go FISH!

POSTOAK

Now that the 2013 spring turkey season is in the books I am ready for some relaxation on a nice quiet farm pond reeling in some big copper-nose bream and some of those F-1 tigers. Hopefully I can do that right after my three page “honey-do” list, yard work, and handling my job which always ramps up in the summer.

On second thought, let me reminisce for just a little while about the ”dearly departed” turkey season. It was about the worst season I have had in this my 52nd year of chasing gobblers. The turkeys just did not exhibit typical spring mating behavior except in “spots”, a day or two at the time. Yes, the weather was big part of the trouble in my opinion, but I can’t recall the weather being that big of a factor in previous years where it was too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, etc.

I email lot of folks across the web and on fB since I am an fB junkie like more and more folks, it is better that most of TV these days, so I spend a hour, or two on it many nights looking at turkey photos, deer photos and reading posts or emails from many hunters like me who wonder why it was so bad. If you have any thoughts you want to share with me about why it was bad, or not, if you killed a limit, drop me an email to my gmail account. postoakman@gmail.com  and I would love to hear from you about how you did. I also love turkey photos so send them on as well.

I did wind my season up on a fun turkey hunt in Central Kentucky with a good friend of mine, AL, he is in a very nice hunting club on a beautiful section of rolling hills along the Green River. The property is a private tract owned by a doctor who has had it in a cattle farming operation for many years and it is a magic place with beautiful pastures, hill tops covered in old, pristine hardwoods where you can see 200 yards through the woods in some places and not a pine tree in sight. Huge Oaks, Hickory, Sycamore, Poplar, Ash and Hackberry interspersed with some equally impressive old Red Cedar trees and huge boulders. The woods were in a stage of spring foliage that we had last month in Alabama where they are very lush, new, and that bright Chartreuse green hue. It was gorgeous!

The turkeys in Kentucky are of course “Easterns” same as here but, they have some distinct differences that are very exciting! The average gobbler and hen are approximately 20 % larger than what ours average in size. For the most part, they are about 50% more vocal and 50% less stubborn!  We drove up with the plans to hunt four days, five if absolutely necessary but, the weather once again was as bad up there as it has been in Alabama this spring so we only got to hunt two days.

The neat thing up there was that the turkeys are almost as much fun in the afternoons as they are in the mornings! Including Wednesday afternoon when we arrived, we got in five good hunts and both took one nice gobbler apiece. The old gobbler I harvested was a field boss that I had spotted after the Thursday morning hunt as I was coming out of the woods. He was strutting out in a pasture with several hens, two jakes and a few dozen cows. As we ate lunch, I told AL that I want to hunt that gobbler and he agreed it was a good choice.

He dropped me off the farm road around the curve from the field and I slipped up a cow trail along a wooded bottom between two pastures and using cows and a couple of very vocal and curious burros for cover I was able to slip along to a good vantage point just past 900 cow patties and a watering hole full of patty makers, wow! What a smell! I got almost to where I wanted to “set up” and then I saw several turkeys in the field and I could not get across an open spot about 50 feet wide so I decided to just sit and wait for the afternoon to get a little later in hopes they would become more receptive. Since I could not see the old gobbler but, did see several turkeys under a large cedar at the other side of the field, I decided to call and see if he was interested in coming my way. After a couple of yelps he gobbled, but it was over to my right, down under the hill in a strip of wood between two other pastures. He was interested though, VERY interested! and he came up the hill gobbling and gobbler yelping very excitedly and was within 20 to 30 steps in just a few moments!

The only problem was, he was not visible since the pasture had a deep cow trail rut in it where four of the pastures intersected at the gates just to my right. I was in a spot in some briers against a tree and was hidden marginally but, I could not move, so I sat in a contorted position that was HE## on a 58 year old back side and held my gun up in a shooter position for more than 20 minutes while he strutted, wing beat the ground, like I have NEVER heard another turkey do! And, along with his gobbles and excited gobbler yelps, another thing most bama gobblers don’t do, He had me as excited in the turkey woods as I have been in years! As he was doing this strut, gobble, yelp, wing flapping, drumming just out of my view, I thought about just standing up and I was sure I close enough to shoot him if I could just see him over that rise. But a combination of twisted pleasure from listening to “his racket”, and a intense desire to not blow what could be my only opportunity to get a Kentucky gobbler on this trip, I just sat and prayed that I did not cramp up and be forced to move.

Finally, he stopped his thrashing the ground in his “mating dance” and walked back down the hill along with the several other hens and two jakes who had added their cackles, cutts, purrs, and excited yelps while he strutted moments earlier. I waited for about 20 minutes and stood up slowly, As I glassed the field and woods, not seeing anything, he yelped and then gobbled from a distance that assured me I could make a quick move. I left my brier patch hiding spot and quickly crossed over to the spot he had strutted in and found a good place to hide. On his next yelp, gobble combo, I answered him with a light, sweet little Alabama hen yelp and he triple gobbled and came gliding out of the woods across the field in a full strut!

In the glow of the afternoon 6:15 sunshine, with his feathers literally gleaming! and accompanied by an entourage of six hens and two big jakes bringing up the rear, he was absolutely everything I hunt turkeys for! He stopped twice on the way to me to chase the jakes in a circle and I was afraid they would distract him from coming on in. After what seemed like a 20 minute strut across the pasture, punctuated by the loud bray of a burro to which he stopped again and double gobbled, he and his whole gang, finally were standing in front of me at 30 steps in a full strut!  I clucked to get him to raise his head for my shot and instead he just gobbled, beat the ground with with wings like he was demanding the hen to show herself!

Instead, I showed him a number four shot!

WOW! Kentucky put a sweet ending to an otherwise bitter disappointment of a season! One thing is sure, I will be hunting back in Kentucky again next spring! (Lord willing)

Post oak

Alabama Wildlife Federation

PRESS RELEASE

Contact:  Marla Ruskin at 1-800-822-9453

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 29, 2013

Alabama Black Belt Adventures Win Best Overall at Tri-County Wild Game Cook-Off

House Cured Wild Hog with Jalapeno Cheese Balls, Seafood Gumbo and Spring Turkey Salad were just a few of the tasty dishes found at the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF) / Alabama Army National Guard Tri-County Wild Game Cook-Off and Silent Auction last Thursday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Prattville! With 28 cook teams and over 750 members and guests in attendance, Alabama Black Belt Adventures captured the top prize of “Best Overall,” with their original House Cured Wild Hog with Jalapeno Cheese Balls.

Alabama Wildlife Federation is proud to have BlackRidge Land Company serve as the lead sponsor of five Cook-Offs to help raise funds and awareness for the conservation of Alabama wildlife and natural resources.

There is no doubt the judges had a difficult time, but in the end Alabama Black Belt Adventures, including Philip Davis, Pam Swanner, Jack Crosby, Lee Shaffer took home the top award. Kim Adams a Cook-Off judge representing Alabama Power Company stated, “This is my second year to judge this event and I love it! Some dishes are pretty creative and the skill level of the cooks is impressive. As a judge, I’ve experienced everything from catfish to bison. I can’t say I haven’t liked anything I’ve tried.”

Other winners included:

Fish Division: First Place – Marshall Design-Build, LLC including Terry Craft, Chet Marshall, Eric Robertson, Andy Davidson cooking Seafood Gumbo; Second Place – City of Millbrook/The Pines including Harold Hogan cooking Crappie Cakes with Pico De Mayo; Third Place – CoOp Cut Ups including Kirk Green, Jimmy Sims, Steve Baker, Randy Raines cooking Southern Bayou Pie.

Fowl Division: First Place – CoOp Cut Ups including Kirk Green, Jimmy Sims, Steve Baker, Randy Raines cooking Spring Turkey Salad; Second Place – Wildlife Trends including Andy Whitaker, Allen Deese, Larry Crisp, Pete Russell cooking Quail Gumbo; Third Place – Marshall Design-Build, LLC including Terry Craft, Chet Marshall, Eric Robertson, Andy Davidson cooking Shrimp Stuffed Duck.

Game Division: First Place – Alabama Black Belt Adventures including Philip Davis, Pam Swanner, Jack Crosby, Lee Shaffer cooking House Cured Wild Hog with Jalapeno Cheese Balls; Second Place – Peppertree Pit Crew including Jeff Verner, Drew Bass, Donnie Watkins cooking Donut Venison Bacon Cheeseburger; Third Place – Bullish Flavor including Matt Burns, Lance Brown, Todd Brown, Billy Atkins cooking BBQ Venison Sliders.

The Alabama Army National Guard People’s Choice Award went to Southern Orthopaedic Surgeons, LLC. The 1st Place Presentation Award went to CoOp Cutups, while Marshall Design-Build, LLC received Runner-Up.

In addition to the great food, there was a silent auction, raffle and entertainment provided by Sam Marsal. Guests also enjoyed the Firestone Racing Simulator sponsored by Gipson’s Tires and a little golf pitching competition sponsored by TrustMark.

The purpose of AWF Wild Game Cook-Offs is to supply a place for AWF members to interact, for non-members to learn more about AWF, and to provide the opportunity to raise funds to support AWF and its programs and projects.  The Cook-Offs also demonstrate that sportsmen/women utilize the wild game and fish they harvest and cook it with care, skill and expertise to produce great table fare.

The Alabama Wildlife Federation, established by sportsmen in 1935, is the state’s oldest and largest citizens’ conservation organization.  The mission of the AWF, a 501©3 non-profit group supported by membership dues and donations, is to promote conservation and wise use of Alabama’s wildlife and related natural resources as a basis for economic and social prosperity.  To learn more about AWF, including membership details, programs and projects, call 1-800-822-WILD or visit www.alabamawildlife.org.

Alabama Black Belt Adventures won "Best Overall" at the Tri County Wild Game Cook off. Shown here with Tim Gothard, AWF Director,

The Alabama Wildlife Federation Held it’s annual Tri County Wild Game Cook Off at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Prattville this past Thursday night. And, while it was supposed to be a fundraiser for this premier conservation organization, for those of us who just came to pay our annual membership. It was not so much a fundraiser as it was a party!

AWF is so good at putting on fundraisers across our great State that they make it look easy! Now I know it was a serious event that took much planning, communicating, “networking” “as the younger crowd says.” setting up the event’s tents and auction items, which were beautiful. Getting sponsors to underwrite and bring in extra attractions is no small thing either, but Tim Gothard and his Staff are some of the most dedicated, outdoor loving folks I know, so for them it is just another day at the office.

The Overall winner in the competition was Alabama Black Belt Adventures for their First Place – Alabama Black Belt Adventures including Philip Davis, Pam Swanner, Jack Crosby, Lee Shaffer cooking House Cured Wild Hog with Jalapeno Cheese Balls.

Other competitors offered many great wild-game foods such as my favorite ground venison burger bites with donut buns! The venison was expertly seasoned and when paired with the sweetness of the donut bun, it was OMG good! The Pepper Tree Pit Crew offered it and several other great dishes such as grilled duck and oysters. Crew members were; Drew Bass, Jeff Verner, Scott Cone, Graham Gunn and Sharon Ewer.

The Pepper Tree Pit Crew was showing off at the AWF! wow! Great food!

Southern Orthopedics had some Great Wild Turkey Salad!

Ben Elliott and my long time friend, Andrew Harp, of Alabama AG Credit were serving some spicy Cajun Jambalaya that was super and I had to try it twice it was so good!

Alabama AG Credit offered up some spicy jambalaya! Wild game style!

Alabama Power, A proud supporter every year of the AWF, Served up some Wild Bananas Foster that was as good as the best restaurants serve in New Orleans! Team members who were being “sweet” were L- R Susan Griffin, Trey Hayes, Whit Dekle, Greg Sparks and Richard Dudley.

Alabama Power's Team served up "wild" Bananas Foster! Talk about good !

John Hall  Properties, A long time supporter of The AWF, a frequent winner,  and just a great group of guys to know, were once again cooking up some great wild game  recipes and had ran out by the time I got there! but, I enjoyed talking to them and joking about our mutual friend, Mr. Curtis Jones, who is the Assistant Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation.. Curtis.. we know you!

Pete Hall, Jerry Ingram and John Hall of John Hall Properties

As the 2013 Turkey Season ends tomorrow, I say so long to the hard headed S.A.L.T birds of Dallas County and Hope the ones in Kentucky are a lot dumber! I am headed up there on Wednesday! Wish me luck! If anyone has turkey pictures to share or comments about my blog, send me a note! -postoakman@gmail.com

Post Oak out.. in the Kentucky woods, hope to have a good report next week!

Russell shot this Tom with a home-made Osage bow, home-made arrow of river cane and a stone point! -postoak

Looks like the weather may finally cooperate toward the last of the season and if your season has gone like mine, you could use a break! This morning, I decided to go another round with them S.A.L.T. birds over in Dallas county and I was rewarded with some fairly decent gobbling activity at daybreak.

The hunt today went like this, after hitting the alarm clock snooze button more times than I should, I rolled out at 4:18 and hastily threw on my clothes, stepped in my Merrill’s and trotted out the door intent on making up some time to try and greet the daybreak from a Hill top in North Dallas. Well, so much for that plan since I was about at Burnsville at the time I should have been standing at a listening post watching the gray fade to green for another beautiful “Bama” spring morning.

Since I was late, I decided to stop of for some coffee (now) and gatorade (later) and I gave up on the first light approach. Instead, I decided to slow down, enjoy my Monday morning vacation day and slowly work my way across the club’s dirt road stopping a few times to listen for a gobbler  on the way over to where I intended to hunt. Of course there was no one on the whole 4600 acres but me so I felt like I could be choosy and just try to strike up a gobbler from my truck. Well on my second stop, I turned the truck off and stepped out on the dirt road letting fly a loud crow call from my old Eddie Salter crow caller. The gobbler’s response felt like it would blow my cap off! He so close I thought surely he would see me and it was just a shock gobble and he would most likely fly from the roost as a “get away”. I just stood there a few more minutes and he resumed gobbling at some “real crows” so I slipped away from my truck with my gear and tipped down a small logging rd over to the left about 40 yards and started a slow pace toward his gobbles. Then another gobbler joined him and the gobbling got more rapid in pace and was a good as I have experienced this season. I only slipped about 60 more yards and found a good hiding spot before letting them know I was there. I gave a soft yelp and they stopped gobbling. Oh great! I thought, these two are as call shy as all the other ones on this place so I just sat there for about 20 minutes looking for them to show or gobble. Gobble or show is a routine that many of us “play” as I am scanning intently for that first glimpse, I am also hoping to hear a fresh gobble, closer than the last one. Well, This time I saw that white crown at about 120 yards across the open woods that had been select cut and I watched him strut around in an opening. After a few minutes, I sent a couple of sharp clucks and he gobbled an immediate response as did the other gobbler that I still was not able to see. Something else I saw, was brush piles and tree tops between us that were going to be a problem.  Well, I watched the two Toms strut and gobble for the better part of an hour but, since I knew my position was blocked by brush, I had to just sit tight and hope they walked off so I could get up and move to a more open area where they would not get hung up on their approach. when I felt sure they had left the area enough for me to move, I eased on down the logging road about 50 more yards to a spot where they would be able to walk to me with no obstructions. The only problem was, I sat there another hour doing some light yelping and clucking but, not getting any response. I thought they must have seen me move so I will just wait until they gobble to move or say anything. After another hour went by, I tried a light series of calls and they answered but, were over 300 yards away and despite them answering my calls each time over the next 25 to 30 minutes, they continued to leave. I decided to do the same.

When I was working them earlier, I had heard another gobbler sound off from on top of a hill across the road so I trekked up there and slipped up to where I could see a nice green field but, he was not there. I walked across two more hills and hollers before giving up and the wind was blowing so hard it would have proven difficult to hear one anyway. I walked back to my truck, drove on around to the section I had intended to hunt originally and off loaded my four wheeler. One good thing about a windy day is that it covers the sound of a four wheeler so I decided to ride and listen and I covered several miles of trails, stopping to listen and give some crow calls to locate a gobbler. The S.A.L.T. was beginning to show again and  not a gobble was heard by me for the rest of the morning. so I loaded my four wheeler for the ride back home.

But, I decided to try the two gobblers from early that morning again,so I drove back around  to where I had heard them and slipped off down the closest trail to the right and around to a small clover field that was planted on a sandy hill side. The clover was sparse and I was disappointed but, it was the closest spot for my tired legs so I sat in the shade on the back corner so I could watch the log lane. I thought about taking a nap but, It was near lunch and my breakfast was long gone so I decided to yelp about 15 minutes and wrap it up. On my first yelp, Not a peep… I thought, I am wasting my time but, since I walked down here let me give it a few minutes. Five minutes later, I made a couple of sharp cuts on the mouth call and the gobblers both answered from down under the hill! After another yelp and response I could tell they were coming up the log lane from the bottom of the hill. My stomach growled, my throat was dry as “powder-house” and I was just about ready to forget about it, when I was delighted to hear that unmistakable sound of a gobbler drumming and then, the gobbler stepped out at about 40 paces and made a few more steps and a couple of drums. Then he stopped and stuck his head up as if to ask my approval and I gave it to him!

I never saw the other gobbler but, at that point I was just glad to have one on the ground.  As I walked to the truck, I found myself reciting, “season winding down, number 3 on the ground”. It has been a tough one and I am usually glad to see it end since I hunt too hard when I don’t have a limit. But 3 is not too bad..

I served my wife, kids and granddaughter fresh fried turkey “fingers” for supper tonight. All in all, not a bad day to be an old turkey hunter..

Turkey hunting can really try your patience so I am in awe of those who take a turkey with a bow. The hunter in the photo at the top of the article, Russell Aradine, not only achieved that feat, he took that turkey with a traditional bow and arrow, all home made, stone point, native American style! Now that is some patient turkey hunting and some great bow skill! Thanks for sending in your Photo Russell!

Winding down, three on the ground..

Post Oak..

Mike Midkiff with a Big Grady Alabama Gobbler! postoak

Salt,  it is great on fries, and most everything else I eat that is not sweet. Heck, I even like it on some sweets such as watermelon. But, I recently got introduced to a new kind of salt or at least an acronym that spells it.

As a turkey hunter, we have many names for the prey we hunt.  Gobblers, Toms, Long beards, hook haulers,thunder chickens,swamp roosters,etc. are of course the type of turkey we seek, a BOSS gobbler is a dominant turkey male,usually an older male with long sharp spurs we call hooks, who has physically whipped the other gobblers in a particular section of the woods and has claimed it as his kingdom as far as breeding rights go. The Boss Gobbler will chase down and whip (by spurring, pecking, wing beating and kicking) any other gobbler that shows up in his area that struts, gobbles, or tries to mate with the hen turkeys. This is referred to as the “pecking order” and it is more than just a catch phrase if you are a wild turkey.

I have hunted areas before and am hunting several  this season where it is clear a dominant, Boss gobbler is in control. In north Dallas County, the old boss lives in an area we hunters have labeled as “area 31”. The old Boss gobbler there has the other gobblers shut down and you never hear a peep out of them, although I have personally seen 5 other gobblers in the 31 area, he is the only one who ever gobbles.

The worst part is that his gobbles bring the hens in the area running to his location so he never has a need to gobble over three or four times from his roost limb just to let the “girls” know where he is and then he flies down to his “strut zone” where he struts, drums and displays how great he is and the hens just bow down and “get the job done”.

 Now, as a turkey hunter, whose hope is that his man-made calls mimic the “sweetest hen“ around and those calls entice that lonesome gobbler to come looking for her, his antics are wrecking my turkey season!  In areas where there are good populations of gobblers with no clearly dominant males, the gobblers use the strategy of who gets there first gets the “prize” of the hen’s affection. These are the turkey hunting woods that favors the hunter and when I can hunt in woods like that, I often get to meet the lonesome tom and greet him with a load of lead to the head.

On the tract of land I hunt in Greene county, Boss gobbler troubles have “bloomed” again this year ( I killed two boss gobblers over there last season) and the old boss over there is calling section number 8 and over to the “Horse Shoe Road”  as his home range. However, even the gobblers in the adjoining sections are being very quiet so far this season.  Add in the fact that the adjoining tract is being logged so there is a lot of tree cutting equipment noise to deal with as well! The other morning I had old # 8 gobbling good and walking to me getting closer with each gobble, then a log skidder cranked up and the back up beeper shut him down like a COLD SHOWER! I sat there for two more hours listening to the loggers rev engines and trees popping as the cutter blade hit them. I know they got to log, but not in turkey season!

Another  part of the “Boss problem” equation, and one that may have even more weight in the matter, is the crazy spring weather. I know, I have lamented on it several times already this spring but, the very cold weather of March prohibited a lot of the turkeys from getting started so the breeding calendar appears to have been compressed so that there is an almost frenzy among the hens to not get left out and they are literally running to the dominant gobblers so they can get their nesting started.

The good news, if there is any, is that hopefully the hens will “cool down” quicker than a bride after the honeymoon and they will go “all maternal” on the old toms. When the hens turn to setting the nests with their “clutches” of eggs for the next 28 days, the gobblers will bust out and start gobbling again as they go looking for a last session with a “sweet hen”and I plan to be there sending out those calls when that happens, if it is before April 30^th when the season closes!

I have managed to get a few gobblers to “come see” though. But, none were above average and several were not even worthy of a “Heavy Shot Samich”.  I am saving that for the “Boss”.    Besides those Heavy Shot shells cost $6.00 a pop! That is painful to me!

Ohh, and the S.A.L.T. acronym ? Let me explain, this is my first year in this particular club and I noticed on the sign in board, under game hunted, they did not list turkey, but, several listed S.A.L.T so I finally asked one of the guys and he just smiled and said “hunt here a few days and you will figure it out”. Well, I was sitting in the woods yesterday morning and once again not hearing any gobbles when it hit me, S.A.L.T stands for Sorry A## Lockjawed Turkeys!  I almost laughed out loud!

Get to the turkey woods while you can.. season closes in 18 day and counting down too fast..

Post Oak…out.. saying ”hold the salt please”, it runs up my “pressuh” as we say in the country..

I like to talk an old gobbler in to a ride in my Truck! ..postoak

Lets face it, Spring, warm weather, sunshine makes for a much romantic setting outdoors than cold, rainy, windy plain old “yuck” days!  The cool and sometimes cold, spring days we are suffering through have really put a damper on the turkey “mating games”.

Lots of my hunting friends and hunting contacts who help to report how things are in “their neck of the woods” are all seeing the same thing.. Much less activity than you would normally see in the first week of April!  I normally have two or three birds down by this time of year and often have already called in birds for other folks. Not so this time around, I have had shooting opportunites at three gobblers but none of the shots were the “in your face” kind I like to have so, I passed on them cause the worst thing to do is take a long range, desperation shot. Like a long shot on the basket ball court, they just don’t find the hoop too often. That was the hunt I had last Saturday.

Due to some “other items” one of which was the untimely death of my Boston Terrier that I loved way tooo much. (No that is not possible, he was like my child, some of you know what I mean.)I did not hunt except last Saturday and that was more in an effort to distract myself from the pain of his passing.

A "best friend" I lost on Good Friday, My Boston Terrier, "Nixon" postoak

Well, on Saturday at daylight I was on the hunt for the same old gobbler that I nearly killed on the opening weekend. He is clearly the boss of a big hardwood bottom on the club I am in over in Dallas county. Any turkeys that are gobbling at daylight, hush immediately after he gobbles once or twice from his roost as kind of a warning to the subordinate toms and an invitation to the hens all in the same breath. And sure enough, He announced his location in response to the first blast of my old Eddie Salter Crow Call about the same time some real crows started crowing in the western realm of the woods I was in.

I decided to just wade on in to his sanctuary instead of trying to call him up the hill  to the clover patch where I last saw him. I have found that getting in an old gobbler’s comfort zone can bring great reward if you use good “woodsmanship” and don’t call to him until you get as close as you dare. It took me the better part of a half hour to make a trek around the end of a hardwood ridge and then drop off in a “oh my Goodness” beauty of an open hardwood bottom with open areas large enough to sustain fescue patches. The bottom had old growth oak and pines 5 to 6 feet in diameter and I worked my way into the floor of the bottom, slipping from tree to tree, as I waited for his next gobble, never giving any hen calls, just listening for his gobbles and moving on in. I got within 150 yards and figured not to push my luck anymore so I found 3 big pines and using one for a shiield, I made my set up.

At the first yelp I made, he thundered back a double gobble and I just gave a loud “Cutt” that he responded to with another blasting double gobble. I got my gun up on my knee and pointed in his direction and waited for about 10 minutes, then I saw him coming across the open bottom in a full strut! What a site to see! At about 90 yards, he came out of his strut and stood straight up, looking for the hen that had came to see him.  When he started walking again, it was a very careful, slow walk and his head was bobbing around as he was intently staring my way, looking for that hen. As he went behind a big water oak, I clicked off my safety and took aim waiting for him to step out. He apparently had played this scene before and when he stuck his head out around the tree I said to myself, “I got you” then, as if he heard me, his reply was “no, you don’t” and he pulled his head back behnd the oak in a millisecond and took off running directly away from me, keeping a tree on me to prevent any shot. I sat there and watched him leave wondering how many other hunters had contributed to his p.h.d. in “lead head avoidance”.  Like him, I have played this scene too many times but, learned to stay still and let him leave the area. I sat motionless for 20 minutes then slowly relaxed and sat still another half hour. I have had times when a gobble just “showed back up” as if he was not sure of the “boogy-bear” that spooked him and was still wanting to find that “sweet little hen”. That was not the case this time but, after 50 minutes, I hit the crow call and he gobbled from over the next ridge only 300 yards away. I got up and walked quickly across the open area of the bottom and got hid in some privet hedges near a blown down hickory tree and when he gobbled again, I gave a sweet little reply on my glass friction call that was a different sound than the mouth call I used in the first set up. He gobbled double and triple gobbled from the ridge every 3 or 4 minutes for the next 2 hours and strutted, drummed and just got hmself all angry as he could not understand why “the hen” was not coming on up the hill. I would cluck and purr very lightly on the glass from my hiding spot and got quite amused at how he would respond.

Then I gave him the “silent treatment”, not responding to any of his gobbles or drumming and that seemed to start reeling him in. Again, I got my gun up, tapped off the safety and was ready to squeeze when he hit the next opening, but like before, he seemed to lose his nerve at the last minute and he turned and ran back up to the ridge top. Another hour I sat and watched him strut and when he got barely in sight, I belly crawled away and dropped off in a running water branch with 6 foot deep banks and used it as cover to leave his area. I did a circle move and got 180 degrees on the other side of his location for the third act of our dalience. The old gobbler did exactly like he had twice before but, I was worn out. My watch said 2:30 p.m. and he first gobble at me around 6:50 a.m.  Between his “cold feet” and my empty stomach, I decided I had enough and slipped out of the bottom. It was about a mile back to my truck, all uphill, and I was glad to see that red Ford. As I sat in the seat and munched on a  apple, I had to tip my hat to the old tom. He still had his head and I sure had a great time trying to take it. Who knows? next time he might be a little hotter.. if the weather is too..

I will be back in the woods tomorrow for a whole week of turkey hunting and am going to finally get the opportunity to hunt my turkey lease over in Greene county. Hope I find some hot weather and some hot gobblers over there who want to ride in my truck!

POST OAK …OUT IN THE TURKEY WOODS..

Dr Joe with a nice Sumter County Gobbler

As I sit in my office at home listening to the rain outside my window, I am reminded that the weather is always a big part of our spring and especially the turkey hunting success or failure.  Last weekend was a sterling example of that fact.

Friday 3-15 saw the season open to a mixed cloudy daybreak and the gobbles were “mixed to cloudy” in their passion and number. The five gobblers I got in close enough for a look were not real “hot” for any activity, “of any kind” and they just “puffed up” and hung around with a look of only mild interest in my sweet hen calls and they appeared truly intimidated by the decoys I opted to use that morning.

Saturday morning was a bit colder, cloudy and the woods were “dead” I did not hear a single gobble or hen yelp and none of the other 5 hunters on the lease heard a yelp, cluck, gobble, or peep! What was really weird, I got reports from Tuscaloosa county, Greene County, Lowndes, and Sumter that their birds were totally silent as well. Of course, there were some turkeys gobbling around the state since I saw a number of gobblers posted on AL.Deer.com and on several face book friend pages. But, for many of us turkey chasers, Saturday was a poor day.

Sunday morning I watched a very nice daybreak from the top of a ridge deep in the hardwoods that made the whole getting out bed and driving an hour thing worth every minute of it. Then, the gobblers started calling from their roosting trees at six different spots within earshot and I headed to the closest one.  I walked about a quarter mile down to the end of a long ridge and made my first setup overlooking a very lush little clover patch surrounded by old hardwoods and after I sat there for a moment listening to the gobbler about 150 yards off in the bottom, I again said a prayer of thanks to the Lord and smiled about how lucky a man I was to be hearing that old gobbler serenade me with his calls to “come on down”. Once he started gobbling, he could not stop! I would only answer him sparsely, playing “hard to get” like the best girls used to when I was in the dating game, AND it was working!

He got all worked up and was slowly, but clearly, closing the distance to me! Then I was treated to the sight of his white crown, red and blue wattles and shiny, iridescent black feathers as he stepped from the woods and stood in the sunlight about 60 yards out! He was a MAGNUM! Long rope beard with a big old apple head and an altogether regal appearance!

I watched as he gobbled repeatedly, strutted, drummed loudly and generally expressed his frustration that the shy hen who was calling could not be seen! Then I heard the sound of trouble! A couple of those “low-class” “easy girl” hens came waltzing down the hill from behind my location, yelping, clucking, and  “yakking” like two Jr high girls on a cell phone conversation and they walked right by me! When I saw my chance as the gobbler was in a strut with his tail toward me, I threw a stick at one of the hens trying to run them off! She just cackled, and ran a little circle around me and kept on going to him! What a trollop!

Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, another gobbler came strutting in to the far end of the clover patch and the old big gobbler in the field took off after him and ran him back down the road he came in on! Well, I sat there feeling “jilted” for about 45 minutes and with him still answering my every yelp from down off in the bottom, I decided to cut the distance and try again. I slipped down the hill with a quietness and stealth that would have impressed Geronimo!  I slipped right up on three does in another, even smaller, clover patch in the hardwood bottom. I was close enough that I could see glimpses of the gobbler and his entourage of lady friends as he bred several and they mingled around scratching in the leaves and feeding. After I felt comfortable, I sent out a light yelp with my red wasp mouth call and he thundered a gobble right back, but he was not making any move toward me, he was quite happy to stay put in his “strut zone” and keeping some nice company. He would strut, turn and strut some more, he produced some strong drumming “ftttt- hmmms”  and his life was good. Mine, not so much! But I had to admit after they walked away across the woods and I got up and made my way back toward my truck that it was almost noon and the morning had passed like a pleasant dream. That  to me, is the definition  of a fantastic turkey hunt!  

And I will be back in the woods again in the morning unless the rain keeps me away! I believe the weather will get better next week, or the next and I will find myself another gobbler minus those “cheap girls”..

Post Oak.. Out…doors..