June 2009 Updates page 2
3 June
Third Year Member Report
Hi guys.
I'm a third year member from Pennsylvania and wanted to let you know how my hunt in [location deleted] went last fall. My hunting partner and I hunted in [location deleted] County and had an excellent week. The property we hunted was awesome; remote, great cover, excellent travel corridors and lots of deer. We hunted dawn till dusk everyday and both saw multiple bucks each day in spite of not hitting the peak of the rut. We each got an opportunity at a good buck and I'm happy to report taking my first P&Y whitetail, a 135" net /143" gross bruiser that allowed me to achieve my personal goal of harvesting a P&Y whitetail within 5 years of joining the club. We've now bow hunted club property in all three states and are anxious to start the cycle again, building on the knowledge gained over the past 3 seasons. I'm ashamed to admit that I don't have good field photos of my buck to share but I am attaching a couple of the mount I got back last week.
In closing, I wanted to complement you on the properties you've secured for the membership and the great website you maintain to educate new members. I think I've read every update since I've been a member as well as all the tips you have on deer hunting in the Midwest. I particularly enjoy the photos from your land runs, it's always nice to see the new properties we have to hunt and the game you spot while in the field. Thanks again for allowing me to be a member of such a great organization.
Bob
Congratulations Bob and thank you for sharing your hunt story. You have put more pressure on us to do better.
2 June
2008 Spring Turkey
Typical of unpredictable Mid-West weather, the majority of April and the beginning of May were cold, wet and windy, which made turkey hunting conditions tough.
The bird numbers in southern Iowa and north Missouri were down, but there were more than enough birds to work with on the hundreds of farms our hunters have to choose from.
For those interested in numbers, below are the stats we gathered from the 2009 spring turkey season:
This spring, a total of 298 members hunted MAHA leased land in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. 168 hunted Missouri, 155 Kansas and 28 Iowa.
Fifty three hunted multiple states and 4 took on the challenge to hunt all three states. Two out of the four that hunted MO, KS and IA filled all 5 tags with mature gobblers, a third (one of our few women hunters) filled four tags. One of the two hunters that filled five tags harvested two 4-bearded toms and the other harvested 5 mature toms in 6 days, one with 3-beards. Two of the four were a husband and wife team that filled 9 out of 10 tags.
The heaviest bird reported weighed 28 pounds, the longest beard was 12 inches and the longest spur was 1 7/8's inch.
In Missouri, one member reported a flock of 12 long beards that hung up at 70 yards and several others reported 6 to 8 jakes in flocks together in Iowa and Missouri, which is encouraging for the future.
The majority of the members hunted 4 to 5 days on the average, but two local members broke the record for the most days hunting. One was an archery hunter that hunted 29 days and the other was a shotgun hunter that hunted 19 days.
As always, Nichole and Shaun enjoyed talking to all of the members before and during the 2 month spring turkey season. With or without tag filling success, it seemed to be another successful season.
Worth Sharing
John,
I ran across this video from a California waterfowl group. One of the best that I have seen. Click on the link to watch. http://www.calwaterfowl.org/web2/programs/heritage/whyhuntvideo.htm
Mike
Upland Bird Forecast
The current upland bird forecast checkpoint of May rainfall statistics is posted to the 2009 Upland Bird Forecast web page.
