22 days spent chasing turkeys. Most of the where are few hours before going to work. Terrible season for me. Only setup and called to 4x. Opening weekend is only morning we had a bird close. Had him about 65 yards and didn't close anymore distance, we watched him drift off and finally get with a group of hens. Many silent mornings, lots of very windy days, forestry burned a ton of acres this spring and they are still burning. Our private land had a good group of birds early. I dont hunt them until last 2 weeks of the season, I do keep tabs on them with cameras though. They bred hens just before season began and they all disappeared. Last week 3 big jakes finally came back to the farm. 0 gobbles out of any of them the last week. Took my babysitter only 1x this season. Had birds on our property owners actually home property. They beat us to the green field that afternoon. Got a few half hearted gobbles from them as we watched them feed. Another camera showed them with a few hens. Seen a bunch of cool stuff in the woods that you won't see on the couch. May have thrown dirt in the face of a bobcat 1 morning. This is the 1st year in a long time that I did not fire a single shot during deer season or turkey season combined. I'm not as made at the deer as I once was, turkey hunting will humble a person quick. Talking to a bunch of other folks they have experienced the same. Very few gobbles and once on the ground silence. Just 1 of those years. Gotta a bunch of things to get done around home and spend time with the family until planting season starts in July for dove.
Sent from my SM-S918U1 using Tapatalk
Season over here in North Florida. Pretty rough year. Timber company clear cut the bulk of our lease this year. I think it differently effected the turkey hunting. I was fortunate enough to take a 2 year old this year, the highlight of the season was my 10 year old grandson taking his first long beard opening morning.
The other bright spot was that we saw a ton of jakes this year so hopefully next year will be strong.
Me and my family had an awesome Florida season, getting to see my 9yo harvest his first was special and my 17yo getting his first one solo made me feel old. Saw more jakes this season than i ever have
Florida Season was a tough year here on south and central public land. Birds loved the private land and were hammering early in the season. A lot of bully jakes this year and the longbeards got quiet shortly after season opened.
Feel everyone's pain!
Hunted three non-permit WMAs with no gobbling heard.
Definitely saw more hunters than turkey.
Did have a close experience with a Bobcat that was the season highlight.
He was about to when he first noticed Funky.
Squatted, gave a few good tail flicks, took a few low crouching steps, then finally winded me and took off like a rocket.
No panthers up here. Just these. This was a big boy about 150 yards from my house 5 years ago. Got a nice one on a trail cam this year too. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250425/b0d295acffd28f2bf13c3fe87ef1068c.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk