April 2004 on Bowhunting.Net, the home of bowhunters & bowhunting, archers & archery.

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The Big News this month is the 4x4 Grand Slammer. Four bowhunters, each going for the grand slam, this Spring, with the bow.
April News & Articles

April Online Hunts & Events

4x4 Grand Slammer
TO HOME PAGE of 4x4 Grand Slammer...

Last Chance Osceola

Apr 23 at 7:46pm - At 1:08pm Ken Mayes of Florida Wildlife Unlimited picked me up at the Sarasota, Florida airport. We ate a fast lunch and drove to one of Ken's nearby properties. We went to a clearing and set up Ken's Double Bull blind on the edge of the woods. I'd been up since 3:00am and was tired so at 4:15 I told Ken I was going to take a short nap (That's another good thing about the Double Bull blind, it's big enough to spread out for a nap.) I quickly dozed off.
"5 gobblers!"
I heard Ken's words and instantly I was awake. To The Hunt...

Apr 23 at 9:46am - I'm at the Detroit airport updating from the Online Cafe. Ken Mayes of Florida Wildlife Unlimited will meet me in Sarasota, Florida and we'll get some huntin' done. Sunday is the last day of the Osceola season. To The Hunt So Far...

Osceola Hunt
Apr 17 - Things picked up for me after Tony Dukes got his Osceola. Ken Mayes and I hunted hard. To The Hunt...

Doug Crabtree Bags Gobbler #2, A Rio
Doug called every half hour with clucks & yelps. At 6:00 pm a gobbler answered. In turn, Doug answered it.
As an hour passed there were two more exchanges.
Then 2 longbeards appeared and they walked up behind the blind. But all the back shooting windows were closed. To The Hunt...

Day #4 & 5 - Tony's Birthday Hunt & the "Helicopter" Gobbler
At Florida Wildlife Unlimited)
Day 4 was Tony Duke's birthday, he set up in the Grove again. He heard gobbles and a hen flew down near the blind. At 9:00 he had 5 longbeards coming to his calling. And the most incredible thing happened.
Day 5 - Tony returned to the Grove and started seeing gobblers and hens again. And he met the "Helicopter" gobbler.

Day #5 - Last Hunt
At Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch

Day 5 - I set my blind up in the closest brush to the area with the small pebbles the turkey are picking up. 7 hens came through, every one passed by my blind. I took some cool pics of them. My favorite is the one of the hen in pic 5. At straight up noon I saw the first gobblers...

Day #4 - One Legged Gobbler & the Double Beard

At Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch
Two groups of deer started my day. Two hens came by me. Then I saw a gobbler in the road. I took pictures as it approached the hens. To The Hunt & Pics...
Soon 3 jakes walked in front of my Double Bull blind and went to the area with the small pebbles and picked away at them. Two more jakes joined in. Then 3 longbeards came walking up the road. One was the Double Beard bird. To The Hunt & Pics...

Chasing The Osceola...
At Florida Wildlife Unlimited in Central Florida

Tony Dukes & I are bowhunting for the Osceola wild turkey at Florida Wildlife Unlimited. We've been to the Badlands, the Barefoot & the Grove. To The Hunt...

Day #3 - The Gobbler Brawl
Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch - Afternoon: Downhill 200 yards a few hens and longbeards appeared. Six jakes walked up and the longbeards charged them. This happened several times and twice two gobblers fought. I took pictures but they were blurry due to their excessive movement.
More longbeards came. I began calling softly and a gobbler blew up. Several Toms came closer and I got some swell pics. To 12 Pics...
I put my camera down and concentrated on calling softly and clearly. I needed them at 20 yards. And I did it...

More Day #3 - Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch
Afternoon: I glassed 2 longbeards 200 yards down the road and called at them. They leisurely changed direction and walked toward me and I got some pictures of them. At 80 yards they cut into the woods on the opposite side of the road. Then they appeared by some cedar trees and let me get some more pics. From their vantage point they could not see my decoys. I kept calling but the birds hung up, one even laid down. I range findered them at 43 yards. To The Pics...

Florida Wildlife Unlimited - The Missing Picture Of Fred Lutger & Doug Crabtree with their longbeard Osceola wild turkeys. To The Hunt...

Fred Lutger Takes #2 Of The Grand Slam
Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch
At dawn Fred heard more gobbling than he has "ever heard before." It was coming from every direction. Later he saw a gobbler coming. He closed all the Double Bull blind's windows except one to shoot out of. Two gobblers ran up and went into full strut by the decoys. Fred dropped a shooting window open and one of the birds saw it and ran 50 yards.
Fred used his Knight & Hale slate and the smaller gobbler started back toward the Montana decoy Tom and a hen. To The Hunt...
Tony Dukes Gets His 1st of the 4x4
Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch
Tony returned to a mesquite flat and moved his Double Bull blind 200 yards to a place he'd seen lots of birds yesterday. He set out the Montana Decoy's Gobbler Mounting A Hen decoy and a hen. Gobbles filled the air and at first good light 2 hens approached the decoys.
Strutting' Tom Carroll (of Double Bull Archery) called with purrs and the hens circled the decoys. He saw gobblers coming and whispered, "gobblers". To The Hunt...

First Gobbler Of The Hunt
Tom Holmes "Greenfletch" Bags Gobbler #1
(L) Tom Holmes "Greenfletch" and (R) Mike McCullar of Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch

Late afternoon Greenfletch called up 4 Toms, they hung up and he worked them hard with a mouth call. Movement to his right got his attention. Two excited gobblers were coming in 20 yards away. He drew, aimed and released. ToThe Hunt...

Day #3 - Morning
Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch - Morning: I moved 250 yards South. It took two trips to carry everything. I picked up the decoys and called. Answering gobbles were dangerously close, I chunked the decoys behind a cactus and grabbed the blind. It's a good thing the Double Bull blind sets up in seconds because right after popping it up 4 nice longbeards came through 40 yards away. To The Hunt...

Day #2 - Fred & Robert's Hunts
WadingStream Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch - Bubba Gibbs checked the field for turkeys. He held up 5 fingers indicating there 5 gobblers. Fred began calling. No replies. 30 minutes later Fred heard a Tom spit and drum. The sound got louder as a big longbeard walked right to the Montana Decoy strutting Tom, broadside ... 20 yards. To Hunt
Robert - I had an active day and took some cool turkey pics and made a short gallery of them. To Hunt

Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch - Day#1

Fred Lutger described the morning hunt as, "the most gobbles I've ever heard." And it was. And there was plenty of wild turkey action too. To the Hunt...

Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch - Arrival Day
We all met at the Wulff Cedar Creek Ranch this afternoon. Joining the hunt are Tom Carroll from Double Bull Archery and Tom Holmes. Randall Gibbs and Mike McCullar used a Topo Map to show us the 5,200 acre area we will be hunting. THere is this hunt's Home Page.

Pro-Ears!
I opened the package and checked the Pro-Ears Predator unit. It was easy to see the worth of hearing better and further. However, I had a question gnawing away in the back of my mind. What would happen when I called with the diaphragm calls, would it be horribly loud? Mayby even so deafening that I couldn't call with them on? Equipment Evaluation...

Rio's - Opening Day 2004 - Never been one quite like it !!!
My Double Bull blind was already in place on the dam (where I got my Grand Slam Rio last year). It was fogged over big time and daylight came without a sound. I called with no response and waited an hour, listening for a gobble.
Suddenly I noticed something standing on the dam looking at my Montana Decoy strutting tom. It was a real big bird, but it was not a turkey! To The Hunt & Pics...

Day #4 Continued - Fred's Last Hunt ...
Florida Wildlife Unlimited
Fred & Doug stopped and called at two locations before they reached the Indian Mound. Once there, Doug called. A Tom gobbled in the distance.
They grabbed the blind and hurried 200 yards and set the blind and decoys up in a bend in a road bed bordered with palmettos. By the time they were ready the Tom was gobbling regularly 400 yards away.
Doug called. The gobbling stopped. So Doug game the gobbler his no holds barred, down and dirty, "Victoria Secret" calls. To The Hunt...

Day #4 Morning - The 40 yard gobbler
Florida Wildlife Unlimited - Fred's Hunt - Fred & Doug were back in the flag pond blind well before daylight. Daylight broke. 4 other birds gobbled, but not the Tom that roosted 40 yards away yesterday. Doug waited for good enough light for the gobbler to see to fly down and made a soft tree yelp.
The roosted Tom gobbled 4 times. When he hit the ground Doug started calling. Woops, a hen came into the field and ran straight to the gobbler. She squatted down and he bred her. When she left the Gobbler circled toward the hunters position. To The Hunt

April 2004 News
You hear it here first!

Taking the Mystery Out of 'Big Woods' Bucks, Part 1, by Steve Bartylla - In 'big woods', a mature buck's home range often spans five miles. Here's where to begin.

Deer Never Miss An Easy Meal, by Linda K. Burch - So why not put in your own food plot? Here's how I did it.

First Bowhunt, by Chantelle Fryer - Chantelle Fryer will never forget her first bow kill, an African Warthog!

What Happens When You Aren't There? TrailTimer Knows! - With EZ-Cam 'Plus 500' game monitor system from TrailTimer you'd know too.

Two Tips For Whitetail Fanatics - Approaching your stand and tips on getting there without leaving scent.

We Have a Winner Of The March Sweepstakes! - March 2004 Bowhunting.net Sweepstakes has a winner. Check the March Winners Page.

EVALUATION: BowTech Patriot Dually VFT, by Dave Conrad
Redesigned: a refined riser, new camo and changes in the cams, limb pockets & hush kit. Here's how it tested.

My Warm Weather 11-point, by Randy Oitker - They say deer don't move in warm weather. Not so if you make the bucks think there are does out there in heat.

BLIND INSIGHTS: Fabric Choice
New column from the masters of portable blinds, Brooks Johnson & Keith Beam of Double Bull Archery.

Win 44 Archery & Bowhunting Prizes - Enter our April Sweepstakes and win archery & bowhunting gear from today's top companies.

Nothing To Hunt?, by Ray Howell
Think again. Ray knows better, "It's Wild Hogs, brother, hogs. Florida hogs. It's a tusk of a time!"

EVALUATION: NO PEEP from Timberline Archery, by Jon E. Silks
"Trains you to shoot like a champ with less effort than shooting with a peep sight or kisser button on your bowstring.

BUCKMASTERS.COM - The Web's #1 source for deer hunting information from all across the country. New stories posted daily. Trophy gallery, news from state game agencies & much more!

The 'Eutropic' Venom Peep Site!

VENOM Peep Sight: New way to look at Peeps

There is nothing like the new Venom Peep Sight from Scorpyon. Self Aligning, large aperature and it's 'Eutropic'. (Find out what that means.)

What Do You Shoot? Does It Really Matter?, by Frank Addington Jr.
It's not about what type of bow you use but what you do FOR the sport of archery that counts. Don't divide --- multiply!

EASY-Eye More Than Wraps it up!

The best looking, most distinctive arrows use EZE-Crest. Get top accuracy with EZE-Center. And the EZE way to conceal yourself, you need the new BOX.

Day #2 at the NWTF 2004
Pics of Deer mounts, Youth Art & Calling competitions & Pics of the entries in the popular Decorative Turkey Call Making competition. Pics of each of the 6 wild turkey species.

See Your Arrows With TRACER NOCKS - Fast bow, but can't see your arrows hit? Losing arrows after the shot? Not with Tracer Nocks.

LIMBSAVER: Quietest Shot Possible When It Really Counts! - Ultimate shock and vibration dampening products for your bow. World's leader Sims Vibration Laboratory.

Clubs, List Your Shoots & Events
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