12 replies to this topic

[Chris M]

You may already know that I'm new to hunting. My wife, Audrey, isn't sure which side of the fence she wants to be on - her mother is an anti-hunting, "Why kill what you can buy?" type. I think I'm starting to sway Audrey over to the "enlightened" side. I've been getting geared up for my first Turkey hunt (this Saturday). I had to go out and buy camo, calls, and other gear. I've been practicing with the calls over the past few weeks, and apparently Audrey was interested in seeing how effective they were. She drove up into the hills by our house - just east of Milpitas (near San Jose) with my slate call. She was just sitting in the car with her mother on the side of the road, and started using the call. She actually got a nice big gobbler to come strutting in to what looked like about 20 yards from where she was at - according to the cell-phone picture she took. She got all excited and had to call me right away...while I'm at work, of course.I just realized something. She called in a turkey before I have! I haven't even had a chance yet to try the calls out, in the field.[edit]she just sent me a better picture. She called in 2 gobblers, and it looks like they are no more than ~40-45' from her.

[Jeff]

Pretty cool Chris. I think your wife will come around real quick now that she's got a taste of the allure to hunting.For what it's worth, my 10 month old son likes my duck and turkey calls more than breastfeeding. Weird kid, eh?

[airman]

Be careful Chris, the next thing you know you'll be buying 2 of everything for hunting . Ask me how i know..My wife is a turkey and pheasant hunting fool. She was never a hunter, but the first time she saw a turkey come in it was all over. She say's you know that new Beretta shotgun you have? Well it's mine now. Good luck with her and before you know it she'll be a hunting fool to!

[Chris M]

She say's you know that new Beretta shotgun you have? Well it's mine now.

Well, she's left-handed, and small stature...and I'm right-handed and 6'2" - She won't be taking my guns. My father is giving her an old 20ga Winchester Model 12 that was my grandfathers - although it's not a 'lefty', I think it'll be near-perfect for her.

[airman]

hey Chris don't let size fool you. I'm 6'2" also, the wife is 5'4" and shoots 12 ga no problem. I got her a 20 at first and it was not enough. She also took my 30.06 for herself. She hasn't shot my 300 winny yet, thank god! Hope she has a great time hunting with you!

[Chris M]

The 2 of us went up the hill to Camera-Hunt some turkeys. Parked the car, and went for a 5 minute walk - I spotted a Jake & Hen, sat down on the trail and started calling. The jake started walking my way, got a little weary, and stopped behind a tree. I backtracked and walked around a tree so I could spot him from the other side. He had turned around and went back to the hen. I walked up to within about 20 yards, in clear view of them - they were watching me the whole time. There was a total of 5 turkeys in all. I snapped a few photos and they started slowly walking away.Click to enlargeAs we were driving home, we spotted 4 deer on the roadside.This was all at a county park only a mile from my house, just outside San Jose - no hunting, of course. Not bad for a little 30 minute trip to the park. A friend of my brother's has hunting access to private land in the vicinity - maybe one of these day's he'll be kind enough to let me tag along. Seems like the hunt may be a little too easy, though.

[ShooterJohn]

Wow! You scored some serious animals there for such a short hike. It's nice to catch them with a camera too.

[Truckeedan]

Parks are a good place to practice calling. Just watch your back for when Mr. Coyote or Mr. Bobcat comes looking for that hen that's making all the noise.

[Chris M]

I'm not too worried. It's a county park just outside of San Jose - there's lots of people there, so I don't think the Coyotes or Bobcats are brave enough to come down...Although I have seen a Coyote there, but it was quite a good distance away from where the people are.Anyways, I need to get out and do some REAL hunting. My wife and I went up there again this evening, and I got some better shots (with my camera of course) of some much larger turkeys:The sun was behind the ones in the first picture, so I couldn't get a clear picture.And a little video:

[Thumper Dunker]

[Jeff]

Gobble, gobble!

[ShooterJohn]

Nice pictures!

[Chris M]

Nice pictures!

Thanks.Audrey and I made a day trip up to Daugherty Hill today to try to bag a turkey...didn't see or hear a single one. We did hear one gunshot...so someone probably didn't go home empty-handed. Oh well - one of these days I'll get one...with the shotgun, instead of the camera...after all, they taste better that way.