It's Not the Arrow, It's the Indian

Turkey season is upon us here in Missouri. No birds in the bag yet, but I did get out last weekend and heard lots of gobbling. When I pulled out my turkey vest, I found out my hen decoy was splitting (probably due to leaving it folded all year in my vest in a corner of the basement). So, I went in search of a new one and found that there are tons of decoys on the market. When I bought the hen a few years ago, there weren’t many choices and they all pretty much looked the same. Now there’s foam, rubber, plastic, and even inflatable decoys. The ones I picked are by H.S. Strut (Delta Decoys). They’ve even got names now, so meet Jimmy and Sally. These things are so much more realistic looking than my old decoy, I couldn’t believe it. The paint schemes and molding are awesome now, on all the decoys I checked out. I looked hard at foam decoys at first, because they fold down to almost nothing which makes them easy to carry. They don’t have the realism that the rubber and plastic decoys have though, since they don’t hold a shape as well. It was really the paint scheme and molded feathers that sold me on the ones I got. They look great in sunlight, and have that iridescence that turkey feathers have. Anyway, they fold down very well and set up quick and easy. Also, if you haven’t looked at Zink’s new LCD decoys, you should check them out. They are by far the most realistic looking decoys I’ve ever seen. If it weren’t for the $80.00 price tag, I go with them. Maybe if I hit the Powerball… Anyway, I’m going to try Jimmy and Sally out next week, and hope to post a pic of a big tom and a review of how they work in the field.

The other day I picked up a new slate call made by Zink called the Thunder Ridge slate. It comes with a DVD, which is really good. It also comes with 1 striker, and a small piece of scotch brite pad to scuff the slate. It purrs easy, the clucks and puts are sharp and it yelps great too. I went back and forth in the store from the crystal to the slate before I decided on the slate. The crystal version was louder than the slate for sure, but to me just didn’t sound quite right. The slate is not super loud, but I think it’s loud enough, and it has a good “turkey” sound, to me at least. I’m going to try to film this year’s turkey expedition. I’ve got a small camcorder and a tripod. I’m going to get a camera adapter for it soon, and maybe camo it out. Not sure how well it will go, trying to film and call at the same time, and take the shot of course assuming I can get a tom close enough. I’ll let you know how it goes, and hopefully have some footage to post too.

So, this blog is supposed to be about competitive shooting, right? Well that was the plan initially, but it turns out I have more hobbies than just competitive shooting. I’m gonna keep the competitive shooting posts coming, don’t worry, but I’m supplementing with some hunting posts since I’m trying to learn to call ducks right now, and it’s so close to spring turkey season here in Missouri. So, above is a picture of my newest duck call, a Zink Power Hen single reed polycarbonate. It’s a great sounding call, with a raspy low-end and it will scream on the high-end. I am not very good yet, but this is an easy call to make quack. Fred Zink gives some great tips in the DVD too, it’s well worth the watch. I have to say that learning to call ducks has been quite a challenge. I have an experienced caller helping me, which is a must if you want to learn. I also have a couple CDs and DVDs, but the methods they teach vary. My advice, find a buddy willing to teach you the basics, get a CD or DVD from a reputable call company and stick with that method. I think I’ve confused myself more than anything with the different techniques. My first call was a Primos Original Wench, and I recommend it as a first call. They’re cheap and they work, get the DVD combo pack and practice your ass off.

Patterning your shotgun for turkey hunting is an important step if you want to be successful. A few years ago, I got an extended super full choke for my turkey gun as a gift. With all the guys on T.V. doing it, I thought a 50 yard shot was now as easy as aiming and squeezing. After 2 knocked down birds but zero kills, I decided that I needed to do some serious patterning work to figure out what the gun was capable of, and what a realistic distance would be for me. Turns out that the load I was using produced the least dense patterns of any I tried at every yardage (I tested them at 30, 40 and 50 yards). My new gun/choke/load combo is perfectly capable of killing turkeys at 50 yards, but after looking at the patterns on targets I can sure see why I didn’t kill those 2 turkeys with the old load. The photo above is the target shot with my Remington 870 Super Mag, with a Remington extended super full turkey choke shooting Federal Strut-Shok 3-1/2″ with 2 oz of #5s at 40 yards. While my 50 yard pattern would kill a bird, I think 40 yards is my personal range limit. As you can see, there are no holes in the pattern, and if I do my part that’s a dead bird every time. I was happy to find in my testing that the best patterning load in my gun was not the most expensive either. I tried 4 different loads from 3 manufacturers, and the one that worked best was the 2nd from the bottom as far as cost. The Super-Duper Spur Spanker Turkey Ninja Wad in the most expensive load didn’t work worth a crap in my gun past 30 yards. This is not to say that load won’t work in your gun. It is to say that you need to test different loads in your particular gun/choke combination to see which one patterns best. There are a ton of chokes out there, some costing $75.00 or more. I’ve never tried one myself, but I doubt that even they are ”silver bullets”. No matter the choke, pick at least 3 loads from a few ammo companies and put the lead downrange to make sure when you take a shot at that tom he goes down and stays down. Let me know what your favorite load and choke is.

In the fall of 2010, I decided that my list of hobbies wasn’t quite long enough. I mean, right now the only activities I have going on are 3-Gun, USPSA, IDPA, Sporting Clays, Reloading for all the above, hunting whitetail deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, coyotes and crows, working on my MBA, a full-time job of course, and my wife and I have our first baby on the way. So, with so much free time on my hands, I wisely went on my first duck hunt. Of course, this didn’t turn out to be the boring, bone-chilling, come home empty-handed cluster that it could’ve been, oh no. It turns out we slayed ‘em, and unfortunately I am now thoroughly hooked on waterfowl hunting. So, after a few months of driving my wife and everyone else nuts by playing various duck calls like a kazoo, I can quack (kind of). The photo is my new lanyard, from MuddyDog Outdoors. Top left is a Primos HonkyTonk short reed goose call. Below that is a Reactor double reed duck call from Buck Gardner. Top right is a Double Nasty double reed duck call, also from Buck Gardner and below that is a Strait Suzy double reed duck call from Foiles Migrators. I’d have to say that the Strait Suzy is the easiest to blow, and I think it sounds the best. The Buck Gardner calls sound very good, but it takes a bit more practice to get them to sound right (not that I have yet). Duck hunting, for those who don’t know, is an expensive hobby. There’s decoys, calls, steel shot, waders, layout blinds, and all sorts of expensive props you’ll need to play. The good part is, if you have friends who hunt waterfowl, chances are that they will have lots of gear. The bad part is, the pity hunts run out quick, and you stop getting invited if you have nothing to contribute. Once I learned this, I figured I’d better at least learn to call so I might get invited more often. A few $50.00 calls are a lot cheaper than 6 dozen decoys, or feeding a Lab for the next 15 years. So, I’m working on it, getting a little less terrible all the time. If you hunt waterfowl, and especially if you have tips for beginning callers, let me know.