Beau knows… Turkeys???

Most people know him for his Whitetail wisdom and expertise, but what some others may not realize is that Beau Martonik is a pretty good turkey hunter as well. Beau’s passion for all things outdoors comes full circle with his spring scouting for deer, that helps in his pursuit of mountain birds.  We talk some tactics, but more about the history of turkey hunting in his family.  His grandfather’s turkey calls, and what it’s like hunting birds in the big mountains of PA.

Paul is on the pursuit of another turkey, this time down in Alabama.  Looking forward to a recap of that hunt when he returns!  Andrew’s been hanging out with his neighbor Dolly (deer) that comes over to play with Champ (dog) on these beautiful sunny days.  One quick reminder, if you are outside, please be Tick smart!  Those jerks are out and about and with the mild winter, you will probably see more this year than in the past.

Have a great week and enjoy the O2 if you get out into Ohio’s great Outdoors!

Andrew Muntz: What’s up everybody? Welcome back to the oh two podcast. Tonight you just got Andrew flying solo. Paul is off on a Turkey mission once again. So I think tonight he is down in Alabama and they were out roosted birds. So I gotta put this one together here for you by myself, but it's okay. We can handle it.

We're we're getting used to this now. As far as, I don't know, I think we're, we had a year and a half into this show so I can handle it. First off, I wanna start by saying thank you to our partners the folks over at Gow Wild Time to Go wild.com. Check out the app, your online social media for all things hunting and fishing.

Absolutely great network of folks on there. We greatly sh appreciate their support and what they do for our show. Looking forward to one of the next events we've got coming up. We're gonna go for a little fishing [00:01:00] trip with the boys, get some walleye up there on Lake Erie. So we're excited about that.

But I just wanna say thank you to them. Check out their shop. One of the newer product lines they have is another one of our partners an X Vision. So X Vision is a thermal optics company, and that's what I've been using. If you listen to the show about my trip down to Missouri and Oklahoma that was a complete game changer as far as we weren't shooting anything at night without one.

Super sweet. The scope that I'm using is a TS 200 has got the ability to do some wifi so we can watch everything from your phone. You've got, if you wanna give the phone to somebody else, you can watch it on there. You can record to the scope to get the videos. I'm still working on trying to edit some of that stuff down to put it out somewhere.

I'm not sure where, but I am not in a visual or a video editing person by any means. So this has been a mild learning experience with that. However, ex vision optics.com [00:02:00] that'll be a link to their stuff in our show notes. Thanks to the guys over at half rack, half-rack.com, you got all kinds of fun things on their site, and those wall hangers are one of the newer things that they brought out.

Definitely a classy look for hanging a bow or any of your gear. I think it's up to 50 pounds. It's rated super, super cool. So they got all kinds of odds and ends. And hunting stuff that you guys can take advantage of. If you use our code. I should have this written down, hang on a second. I think it's Ohio Outdoors 15.

Ohio Outdoors 15. You guys will say 15% off your order there. Or their stuff. Some of their stuff is also available on Go Out as well. So thank you to the guys over there for their support of our show. We've got our buddies over at First Light. Thank you for their support. First, first light.com.

Hold on, let me make [00:03:00] sure that's right. Yeah. First light.com. L i t e. They're starting to come out with their new line for this spring, so they've got some spring Turkey stuff out there. The new orange vest. I really only endorse anything that I back a hundred percent and any of the gear I've had, I've loved, I can't.

Say enough. I'm actually getting ready to hop out this afternoon or this evening to hunt some coyotes with my exhibition and all my first light and all that stuff. So definitely big fans of the first light. Who am I forgetting? Midwest Gun Works. Oh, yes. And I'm taking out my gun from Ms.

Midwest Gun Works. So thank you, the Cameron and the folks over there for their support. Midwest gun works.com, all kinds of parts, gunsmithing, ammunition, tools, accessories, suppressors, all that kind of stuff that you might need. Really they're pretty good about having some of those obscure things that you might be looking for.

So[00:04:00] brands upon brands of things that they're carrying I encourage you to check them out in our code. Do we have a code there? I'm missing a code.

Hold on, bear with me.

I think it's Ohio Outdoors. Five. I really need to write this stuff down, like on the wall. That would be helpful.

Cameron's going to send me a terrible text message.

All right I'll find that. We'll get back to that. So let's see. Oh man, I'm close. I know I'm close.

Anyhow. All right, let's [00:05:00] proceed into a couple things from around. So we've got, and I'm gonna go through these relatively quickly. If you wanna find out more information, you can visit Ohio dnr.gov. But we've got the Ohio Natural Resource Honor Department, natural resources to honor state's most decorated conservationists.

So they'll have nominations for the 2023 Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame. And there have been a 186 Ohioans inducted since its establishment in 1966, including John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed Explorer, John Wesley Powell, conservationist Pulitz or Pri Pulis, or Prizewinning Novelist Lewis Bromfield, pioneering botanist Lucy Bran and Farming conservation Advocate.

None other than Bob Evans. Look forward to. This year's class There, [00:06:00] we've got the H two Ohio Coastal Wetlands projects commenced in the Sandusky Bay that hits back home to my hometown area, but anything they can do to help back there. Looks like plans for Pickle Roll Creek include restoring 44 acres of wetlands in the interior of the wildlife area by reconnecting the creek with its floodplains.

So good conservation efforts there. Bridge project along the little Miami Scenic Trail to resume in the fall. So due to a change in construction plans, the Ohio Department natural resources has re reopened a portion of the little Miami State Parks multi-use scenic trail just in time for the busy spring and summer seasons.

Let's see the trails abandon Bannon Bridge in Loveland, Ohio was closed in March as part of a project to replace the structure. So it looks like they originally scheduled for it to be shut down and replaced from made October. There are no on, while there are currently no [00:07:00] concerns with the structural safety of the bridge in coordination with the Ohio Department of Transportation, they'll monitor the structural integrity of the bridge.

If it is deemed unsafe pedestrian traffic by inspectors, it will be closed. They will start that again in the fall it looks like. What else do we have?

This was an interesting one. The Division of Wildlife sells $51,542 a forfeited jining. Looks like it was forfeited from illegal possession cases. And does it say they put it up for auction? The money raised in the auction was added to the State's Wildlife Diversity Fund. Which supports projects for species of greatest conservation need, such as sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, and lake sturgeon.

So hopefully that money's going to a good place. What else? What else? I think that's about it. [00:08:00] So like I said, Paul is out and about doing his Turkey thing. Can't wait to get an update from that. I know he is down south. I think he said with Mike Pentecost. You guys know I'm not the biggest in the Turkey world, but Paul has assured me that Mike is a very big name, so I'll take his word for it.

And so he should be having fun with that and come back with lots of stories. Myself I spent a lot of time out in the yard working on project this week. I dunno if you saw my pictures, but I have, you've heard of Dolly. We've talked about Dolly on the show and. Dolly is great for Instagram and go wild because she allows me to have so many fun pictures and posts.

So Dolly, if you're not aware, is a deer that I would say, I don't know exactly the deal. I'm guessing she was orphaned by an somebody in my general vicinity that gets out and she comes to visit. She's very friendly and I was out working in the backyard and I had, all of a sudden I heard my dog and he is big [00:09:00] bad, 80 pound yellow lab.

And I look over and here goes Dolly, like running. And he's got Champ has a little electric fence. So he can only go so far and he is acting all big and bad. And like he just chases deer out of his yard. Dolly turns right around and comes right back at him. Not in an aggressive way, just kinda Hey, what, what's going on?

Cuz she's not afraid of domestic an animals. And then all of a sudden, champ was like what's going on here? I I'm outta here. So he bolts crossed the yard, and then they played this back and forth thing for a while. And it was funny. I got some of it recorded. Then I was in the skid steer, and Dolly came up right next to me.

She's not afraid of it at all, so I got my selfie with her. But I think my favorite picture was there's two. One was I look over at one point, champ, my dog is laying on the patio and all of a sudden Dolly is right behind him. And Champ has no idea, [00:10:00] no clue that deer was there. She snuck right up on him.

So that was really funny. Eventually he did figure it out, but he didn't really care at that point. He had come to this grip that like, or they come to the conclusion that she was okay. And then the next day I looked back at my target. I have a couple. 3D deer targets in the back, and they're right next to each other.

It just, it looks stupid, but I have to move 'em around. I just haven't gotten around to that yet. But look, and I'm like, okay, which one of these doesn't belong? There's a 3D buck, target, 3D foam, buck, target dough, target. Obviously she's not Target, but Dolly's standing right next to these other two deer and it just, it was funny.

Adventures with Dolly continue and we'll keep you up to date on how that goes. But for myself, I actually had a landowner call me tonight that I've talked to him in the past. He does let me do a little bit of shed hunting on his [00:11:00] property. And I had mentioned to him one time, after being down with the Missouri guys and down in Oklahoma, I'm like, Hey, if you ever, want any help with coyote population, just let me know.

He's got some cattle and. He's got a good chunk of land. It's beautiful land and I didn't really think much would've come of it. But this afternoon about five o'clock, he sends me a text and says, Hey, we just had a controlled burn out here today on this like CRP area, crep ground. And he said, the guy's doing the burning set, if you like, to coyote hunt.

Tonight's tonight to do it. Like they'll be all over this controlled burn area trying to get mice and different things out. So he is if you want to come out, come over, I'll show you the ropes and then you can take a crack at it. So a kind of an impromptu coyote hunt. I'm gonna see if I actually learned anything from the boys in Missouri or if that was just dumb luck when we were out there, so I can't wait to fill you back in on that one.

I hope. Hope I can get you that here pretty quick. With no [00:12:00] further ado to this week's episode, we've got Bomar tonic. And I know most people know Bo he's industry famous east Meets West podcast, and he is just all over the place. Super smart dude, super down to earth. We talked to him for a long time at the Go Wild Booth and Harrisburg earlier this year and he is just a great dude, but Bo's really known for deer hunting.

But I don't think that people, you don't think about Bo when you think about turkeys. Obviously we're in Turkey season. Someday we'll get Bo back on to talk about deer cuz that's is his forte and he'll tell you that. But the dude's got stories and he's out scouting at this time of the year for deer. That's a major thing.

You watch him on his posts and stuff, he'll show you where he is out, finding sheds and beds and all that. Winter scouting over there in Pennsylvania. But he does have an interesting Turkey story to tell and. Paul was enamored when we found out that Bo's [00:13:00] grandfather actually used to make Turkey calls and he was big into the, making Turkey calls and all that kind of stuff.

So it was a very interesting conversation of aside the bo that I don't think most people know when it comes to, his relationship maybe with his grandpa and then some of the Turkey background. And when we think about Boat s slain whitetails all the time. But he's actually a pretty he won't say it, but he's a pretty good Turkey hunter.

He sent me some pictures to use for social media and stuff. He's got a lot more birds than I've ever seen. Anyhow, this was a fun one and I hope you guys enjoy it. We will talk to you next week. If you get a chance, you can leave us a review on iTunes or whatever platform you use. We greatly appreciate that.

Our website, the o two podcast.com. Instagram d dot o two dot podcast. Go wild. I think it's just O two podcast. What else? I don't know. There's all kinds of stuff. Usually everything's linked together on those. If you've got any questions, reach out to us and see what we can do.

Appreciate everybody for listening. Take care.[00:14:00]

Beau Martonik: Good.

Andrew Muntz: All right, so we got Bo Martin on here today, Bo how's it going man? What's new in your world?

Beau Martonik: It's good, man. It's 65, 70 degrees here in Pennsylvania today. I'm, I've got the window open in my office. I'm enjoying it. How about you guys? We're about to get

Andrew Muntz: shit house by some storms,

Paul Campbell: oh, they're coming? Yeah. We'll see what happened, but it's nice and warm. It was 78 when I walked in, so I'm ready man. I'm ready for spring.

Beau Martonik: Yeah, no, that's for sure. You guys been busy Turkey hunting a little bit, haven't ya?

Paul Campbell: I have. Yeah I've been out. He was, Andrew was out killing pigs and shooting coyotes the last couple of days,

Andrew Muntz: nice. Yeah, we've been

Paul Campbell: all over the place. I got my first Osceola, what, gosh, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, I guess at this point. Something like that. Headed down to Alabama. Headed down to Alabama in a few days. Man. I'm ready. About [00:15:00] you, you got any southern Turkey hadn't done

Beau Martonik: yet?

No I've never hunted turkeys anywhere other than Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, but nothing down south. Okay.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. I'm doing my first Montana hunt this year. I'm gonna be out there the fourth through the 12th, May 4th through the 12th. So I don't know what to expect, man. I'm gonna hunt, I'm gonna start out like an eastern half of the state, kind of southeastern, and then work my way towards towards Bozeman with some people that I know down there.

So see how

Beau Martonik: it goes, man. You'll love it. I guess in my short experience of doing a little bit of Turkey hunting there, it was like, if you can find the birds, you can kill 'em. It's they're in pockets on public ground, like through areas, but it's if you can find them they're a lot more killable than the Easterns, I'll put it that way.

Yeah. Was

Andrew Muntz: it comparable to hunting in

Beau Martonik: Pennsylvania? Not exactly. It's at least where I was at, was in the foothills of the mountains, so some open stuff with some pines and everything there, and they're just it was just crazy that [00:16:00] they'd really respond to just about anything. Like I was actually, even just this fall when I was elk hunting, I was el hunting in the same area.

I had heard some turkeys clocking and I just started making noises in my mouth trying to sound like a Turkey. And I am not good at doing that without a call. And two, two long beards came running right into 12 yards and I was really tempted to shoot 'em, cuz it was a fall Turkey season with my bow.

And I was like, no, we're three and a half miles back and I'm focusing on elk. Don't shoot a Turkey right now. So I kept myself composed and I didn't do it, but,

Paul Campbell: Not, may I have shot that Turkey right away that totally abandoned the deer hunter. Alcon, whatever else I'm on turned into a Turkey hunt real quick.

Beau Martonik: No, I, no, I understand that.

Paul Campbell: So when you hunt Ohio, are you hunting like the hilly part that we have here in the state, in that eastern.

Beau Martonik: Yeah, I had hunted some private farm ground for turkeys probably seven or eight years ago. It was more flat type country. And then but the other Turkey hunting I've done has been like in the hill, [00:17:00] big woods type setting, similar to what I hunt in Pennsylvania.

Yeah.

Paul Campbell: Are you using shotgun when you go out? Yeah. You okay? Yeah, boy.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. Now, no, I don't like to bow hunt turkeys, to be honest. Yeah.

Paul Campbell: I don't either, man. I'm not against it. And Andrew has got me it's funny man, I've told the story once or twice on this show, but I was talking to one of the most accomplished archers of all time is killed every, literally every big gay animal that you can kill with a boat in this entire world that's just this guy, this entire world.

And he made the comment to me, he said, the number one animal that I lost the most with archery hunting was a Turkey. I'm like, then why did you keep. Like, why did you keep hunting Turkeys with a bow, man let me tell you. And

Andrew Muntz: that story got told to Paul at about two o'clock in the afternoon and he was pissed all

Paul Campbell: day long.

He was, I just like up. Yeah. And this is, this guy's a legend and the and I just I'm like I gotta walk off, man. I gotta second gotta walk away. Why did you say that to me? You just ruin my day. So anyway, I, I shoot the shiny spot. That's what that's the key. If you gonna bow, hunt, turkeys, shoot the [00:18:00] shiny spot on the wing.

That's it. That's all I can tell you. See, Andrew, you got me all pissed off already thinking about people shooting turkeys with a bow. Anyway, one more tonic. So I asked this question a lot of every Turkey hunter that I talk to. And I ask it because I think I'm gonna ask this question a hundred times and I'm gonna get 99 different answers.

And that is like finding turkeys in the big woods. I'm not talking about ESS scouting, like literally, if I just drop you off on a WMA here in Ohio, I said, Bo, go find some turkeys. What, how do you do it? How do you go about finding turkeys in, in, in the hilly parts of Ohio or pa?

Beau Martonik: I'd be honest, I've never specifically targeted turkeys when I'm scouting.

It's normally when I'm deer scouting that I come across Turkey sign and I pay attention to it. But one of the things that I've found, which could lead to if I was doing this specifically for turkeys, is I like to look for. Ridges that have some relatively open woods versus some of the thicker stuff.

I'm looking for deer now. I've found that the hens will nest like on the [00:19:00] edges and the inside of that thicker stuff a little bit, but where those ridges have hemlocks or some sort of pine trees that come off the points cuz they like to, they seem to like to roost in those areas particularly and spend there.

So that's where I tend to look. And then the logging roads that kind of come around, those areas that they seem to work and scratch on and and so that, that's what I look for when I'm doing that. Also, like if I can find some openings that are mixed in with that too. So it's vegetation diversity like I'm looking for deer, but at the same time it's just a little bit different the way it's looking at it rather than looking for thick stuff.

I'm looking for some more diversity with open stuff.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. And that's why I love that question. Cuz no one has said, that's never been the response that I've gotten from someone. And that's one of my favorite I love using Google Earth for my eess scouting. If I know, if I'm hunting, if I'm scouting like eess scouting, like this massive piece of public property and I don't need the lines or whatever I don't know what it is.

The imagery, the [00:20:00] imaging is clearer on Google Earth from some of the other ones that I've used and the areas that I hunt, most of the images, they're all wintertime. So there's no leaves on the tree. Yep. So you can see the ground. And I love that. And it really, you can talk about hemlocks and your pines.

Those just pop, and that's what I like finding that, that transition, that habitat diversity. Oh, you find a logging road or a little clear cut that's fresh. I know where I'm.

Beau Martonik: I've been using so I've been using LIDAR a lot recently as far as finding logging roads from a Turkey hunting perspective.

So because unless you have a spot, even when you have a spot that doesn't, it has leaf off imagery. Sometimes it's tough to see those old logging roads where, so I've been testing the LIDAR layer for Spartan Forge here recently. They have one meter da one meter data for Pennsylvania. So every three feet that there's a difference in that train, you can see it.

And that's how I've been looking at as far as spots where the turkeys can go on the, on those hills. Especially when you start getting in terrain, it's like, all right, how, what is [00:21:00] their direction of travel gonna be? And a lot of times I'll look for where some of those places cross and meet up because it's likely that say, if they're on either of those levels, at some point they're gonna come to.

Point where it's a spot for them to pitch to, as they're coming outta the roofs versus just on the top of the hill. And and that was something I'd picked up from Turkey hunting, but I'd never really looked at it from a mapping perspective until recently. And like another thing that I'll do, like from you didn't really ask about ESS scouting, but one thing I do is I'll look for where there's a bunch of points that kind of come out and it creates like a bowl in there.

And I'll try to find the point where I can have the best listening spot to go to and just sit there in the evening and listen. Like I can think of a particular spot that I love to Turkey hunt that I'll go and I'll just sit there in the evening and just listen. Sometimes I'll, maybe I'll give an hoo maybe I'll just sit there and listen.

And typically I can start to hear birds on different points and they'll move [00:22:00] throughout like the turkeys, at least in a lot of the areas I hunt, seem to go on a three to five day. Excursion where they go in like a circle to different areas, but they always come back. So it's if I find 'em in one area, they might be on a different ridge the next day.

But if I can get to a primary listening point that I can hear all these different ridges, it really helps the opportunity to be able to find them.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. Just explain what LIDAR is, because that's the I've heard of it. And just for the people listening to this, what is that Lidar layer on Spartan Forge?

What is that? It's,

Beau Martonik: Laser detecting and ranging, basically. So think of it I'll explain that in layman's terms as it was like, explain to me when I first found it probably five or six years ago through Cal Topo. They had it in their mapping app. It just wasn't very clear. But essentially if you could take all the trees away, From everywhere and how the land looks underneath it.

Even taking the buildings away, it shows that it shows any sort of [00:23:00] pond, any sort of watering hole that you could find any sort of divot in the train. You can see it so much better Spring seeps that are coming off it'll almost look like a tree on the ground, but it's all the little parts of the spring seaport, it starts and then it hits the bigger stream and eventually, goes into a crick and then into a river.

And like you can see all those things as if there's no trees on the ground. So it's like a gray screen and it just shows like with almost like shading the indentations throughout. So it helps find like little terrain features that you wouldn't be able to see even on a topo map or aerial imagery. So it's I don't know, it's not something I use exclusively for anything.

It's just like an added tool that as I'm looking at something, it's usually like the last layer that I'll throw on and take a look at.

Paul Campbell: Yeah, that's it. That's interesting cuz in, especially in the hill country, there, there could be a spot that's 15 feet wide by 60 feet long that's just flat or [00:24:00] open or whatever it is.

That, that's where those turkeys, they pitch down, they do their thing with the hens and that's where they like to be, to just strut around and drum and display. And you would never see that just looking at lines unless you knew that it was like you walked on top of it. Yep. And so that's, that's the, the sage advice is like you, for any hunting, where are we gonna go hunt?

Where the turkeys wanna be, where do they want to be? And that could be just such a small, just. Really insignificant little spot in the woods. That's neat. I'm gonna have to check that out. I you have peaked my interest. Yeah,

Beau Martonik: and it's actually not, it's as the time of recording this, it's not even out yet to production.

That was just on the on my test phone that I was going through it. But I'll keep you in the loop when that comes out so you can check it out. Yeah. But it's pretty cool. So I know we're not talking about deer, but just to give you an example of, we're always talking about deer bo

Andrew Muntz: we're al we're always allowed to talk about deer.

Paul brings turkeys up in the middle of November, so we are allowed to talk about deer

Beau Martonik: now. Okay. I was out scouting a couple days ago [00:25:00] and again I was going through and I've been just trying to one of the things I do with testing the app is just try to break the app. And so I'm always testing it and I was out and I was like, I found, I was in a relatively flat, big woods area and there was like some beaver ponds and some kind of swampy type areas.

And there was a bunch of blow downs that I've hunted the area for a long time. I know doe is beded in there. There was this little like island of trees that went out and there was what I thought, what I'm pretty sure is a buck bed that was out there with some rubs leading out into it. And it is only about a two foot rise, for everything else is swampy.

So something that's not gonna show up even on the most detailed topo lines to be able to see that. Now you can see it relatively I guess you can see trees like as far as you're looking at the aerial map, but that lidar just popped. It was like, okay, this is an obvious spot that a deer could lay and just look at the entire open bottom around and just dive into the abyss, if somebody were to come up on it and that was, I've, I find a lot of, I've [00:26:00] found a lot of advantages with using lidar and from Turkey and deer hunting perspective here recently.

So I've. I've been testing it for six months. But like I said, I used Lidar years ago and it just, some areas it was okay, some of it wasn't. But it's really came back into my repertoire there, or my tool bag of things. And I was like, from a Turkey hunting perspective, it was like I started looking at some of the places, I was fine Turkey sign and correlating that with the map and it's this is really useful for doing that.

Yeah. That's

Andrew Muntz: awesome. I have a novice question. Okay. So I'm gonna bring it back to Turkey hunting 1 0 1. Yeah. I've hunted bo over where you're at, right? I think we, you and I looked at the map I've been in that zone before. And one of the things, as somebody who's new, Paul, please don't judge me, but.

I remember the one morning we had a bird gobbling and it was down, so we were up on the ridge probably right near the top when we heard him gobbling down below. And it's one of those [00:27:00] things, so like thinking about your point where you're sitting on the point and you can hear him out there trying to get down and closer to him and like for a while he would continue to gobble every time we'd hit him with a call and then he stopped.

How do you know when to just park it and when to keep going after him? And I, cuz I never got eyes on him, but he could definitely hear him down there. And it was like, you just keep going down and down the ridge after him. And I guess my bigger fear is to be too aggressive and scare 'em all him away.

And then you, he's gone forever versus sitting down and hoping that he comes back to you. Does that make sense? I just don't know where that line is to stop and sit or continue on. And Paul, you can add to it if you've got insight on your side. You were

Paul Campbell: hunting, that's from a fall hunt, right?

No, that was a spring. Was this spring.

Beau Martonik: Okay. So I guess, oh, you're, guess you go ahead. I'll ask a quick another question here off this scenario. So is were the tur, are the turkeys going away from you or are they coming towards you? What is the,

Andrew Muntz: I don't know. We heard him [00:28:00] gobbling, right?

Yeah. And every time he gobbled it sounded the same distance away. Maybe my ear isn't fine tuned enough for that yet. And then he shut up for a minute and I remember, I thought, okay he's gone away. And I think we had sat down at that point, but then a hawk or something flew over and next thing, shot gobbling or whatever, and he, all of a sudden he gobbled again.

He's not, he couldn't have been that far away. It was like he was in the same vicinity.

Beau Martonik: So at that point I typically, depending on the distance, but if he's, within, I don't know, 150 yards or so, I'm not gonna try to get any closer. If anything, I'm just gonna shut up and just scratch leaves and just take a break and just sit there.

And I might sit there for over an hour and just wait, because I've been burned so many times on thinking that they're not gonna come in or not gonna have an opportunity, and then getting up to move and then all of a sudden I've spook 'em and they blow out. And I don't claim to be an expert in this field whatsoever, but that's one of the things that I've learned is like on, with Turkey hunting, I treat it differently than I [00:29:00] do with deer hunting a little bit.

And I'm very patient and just it's something I learned from my grandpa is just he's just sit there. He's just wait. If he's with hens, he's probably not gonna come in anyways. And be able to, I'm not a good enough caller to really be able pull 'em off those hens.

So it's just If he's gonna come or let him play around with those hands. And he is gonna get really, curious what's going on over there? What did I hear there? And he might come in quite a bit later than you would imagine. So typically I'll wait now if the bird is like heading in the opposite direction.

My goal is to try to do a big circle as fast as I possibly can and get out in front, make a little bit of noise, and then just sit there and try to play it from that perspective. Paul, what do you think on that?

Paul Campbell: I definitely the, I like the hook the hook and ladder, if you will to get out in front of him.

I whenever, because I've done this. A hundred times where you're sitting there calling, you hear nothing, you get up. And then there are two turkeys that were 25 yards to your left and you had no idea that they were there, they're gone. One of the things that I've started doing [00:30:00] before I get up, if I've got a tom that's hanging out I'm gonna hit him with the loudest sha awa, whether it be a crow or an o something.

I think I kind of default to an owl call at all hours of the day just to see if they're close. Because if they're not responding to Turkey calls, which is a possibility, that call might yank something out of them. But I'm with you. If they're moving, if they're moving away, I'll try to get out in front of them.

If they are staying where they're at, and there's that little spot that you found in the lidar that they don't wanna move at, they're just, they're gonna gobble and stay. I'll start, I'll call and I'll start moving away from them. And they think that their opportunity is to breed us leaving. So they, you can I had a Turkey last year in Alabama that I did that same, that very same move.

He would not come off the spot and I just, I walked, I called, I walked 60 yards called, walked a hundred yards, called in. Within minutes. He was 60 yards from me. Because he thought I was, yeah. He thought I was leaving. [00:31:00] And so that, that is a very effective. Strategy. It didn't happen. I some Jack Sasses from Alabama saw, you could see this Turkey from the road in public property.

That's just how close we were. They saw him full strut, about 70 yards from me, and stuck their hand out. T a picture of him throwing shade

Andrew Muntz: in Parker down. Yeah. Scared him,

Paul Campbell: Parker. Yeah. Scared him off. But that was the, that's the back and forth. You can pull that maneuver, that's a really good one.

You start moving away from that Turkey, just slow. You don't have to do it quick. They think that you are, the, you are leaving. Because they are, they have an incredible ability to understand or determine and pinpoint how far away you are and exactly right where you are. And you start moving away from 'em.

They're, there's a good chance you're gonna pull them off their

Beau Martonik: little spot. Yeah. No, I like that. Yeah, that idea there.

Paul Campbell: And honestly, and like I've found that it's almost. The, if you're hunting flat farm ground, it is tough, especially in Ohio, if you're, or Pennsylvania, if it's relatively flat and it's that early spring season, the first two weeks of the season where nothing's leafed out or greened out, you can see 200 yards.

They can see like [00:32:00] 400 yards. Yeah. And Exactly. So you better have some hills to, to work with. Or be really good at crawling one of the two. So yeah. Yeah. That's my go-to movement man. I'm gonna try to Jay hook in on 'em or I'm gonna start moving away from 'em.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. The terrain is so beneficial to be able to use. That's, I love hunting areas with terrain for turkeys in the big woods, cuz it's you can get away with more, you can get a little bit closer no matter what the foliage is. You can, yeah, you can. And I always have something stuck in my head ever since I was a kid, my dad always would drill at my head.

He's you'd never pop up. Onto a different train level without just slowly just like barely peeking up and just scanning. Because yeah, that's when typically you, if you were out doing anything else in the woods, you could walk up there and not see a single thing, but as soon as you do that in your Turkey hunting, there's gonna be a gobbler standing there and he's gonna.

Pitch across the valley. Yeah. Gone.

Paul Campbell: And they, man they, those, turkeys deer, they blend in so well and we've all been there where they move and you're like, oh [00:33:00] crap. The thing was 30 yard from me. I didn't even see it. Yeah. If it wasn't for that bright red, white, and blue head, you're not gonna see a Turkey if they're just, and that's what's, that's what, I got the chance to hunt some flat farm ground last year here in Ohio.

And it was my first, cause I've always hunted like just hilly terrain for turkeys. That's just what I grew up doing. And we had turkeys gobbling and moving and my friends like, what are we doing? I'm like, I have no idea, man. I had another one I'm doing, there's no hills. I'm like, I'm looking around for a ditch to crawl through 'em.

I have no idea what we're gonna do. I can't figure this out. There's not a hill sight. Flat as can be. And I was like, we just sit here. Yeah, we ended up crawling through a ditch, getting right up on these turkeys cuz it was just, moved away. But it's I'm with you man. I like the hills, I like the trees, I like the ridges, the creek bottom river bottoms.

If it's flat farm ground, I am out of my league for sure. Yeah, no, it's,

Beau Martonik: yeah, one of the, go ahead. No. Go ahead. I

Paul Campbell: say one of the, one of the lessons I think too for new Turkey hunters is that early season, that first half when there's no leaves out, they gobble 'em. You [00:34:00] can hear 'em quite even hills flat.

You can hear 'em quite, quite a distance when things start to leaf out. Andrew, remember last year we were hunting the last day of the season and you couldn't see 10 feet. And I'm like, dude, Turkey gobbles, it's 15 yards from us because it's just so dense. That sound just doesn't travel as far.

You keep that in mind too. If you're listening, there's leaves all over the tree and they're closer than you think they are.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. And it's so hard to judge that as far as you start get, especially if like you're hunting weekends, okay. Say you ha hunt one weekend, the next weekend it becomes, quite a bit greener out, what you heard and what you could started to gauge as far as a distance of a gobble is so different that following weekend, especially when you get into May with our Turkey seasons in Pennsylvania, and I believe Ohio is pretty similar, but like with a lot of it being in May, it's really starting to green up at that period.

And I know I struggle with that sometimes and have been screwed as far as like just thinking of birds further away than he is. Like I do. I do [00:35:00] like that end of the season, as you're getting it, the end of part of May, it's really difficult, but I feel like once I get a bird going, it's, you have a lot more, you have a lot higher chance of closing because he's just, You can get closer because of the foliage.

You have the trainee and the foliage to be able to work in your manner. And usually if you're hearing 'em, you're relatively close already yeah, for sure.

Paul Campbell: Now, do you, what's your favorite part of the day to hunt? Do you like hunting that fly down? Do you hunt? Maybe especially public land.

Let the pressure, ease off, let the turkeys do what they need to do in the morning and go in for the second shift or you an all day sort of guy. I'm a I

Beau Martonik: like right off the roost is like I wanted, that's my favorite. And then I'd say second favorite would be about 9 30, 10 o'clock till noon, like that time period there.

It seems like I, that's another one of those things, like you get some, a bird to go. He's probably on his own. He's ready to come in and go. That's, [00:36:00] yeah. I think I've killed just as many in that later part of the morning as I have right off the bat, so that's yeah, especially if I'm going into a newer area or something.

I haven't scouted as much. I'm not sure exactly where they're roosted at. I tend to do better in that later part. And that's, again, that's something I learned. I brought him up a couple times, but my grandpa is like a, just a crazy Turkey hunter. Like he's had patented Turkey calls back in the seventies and eighties.

Like he's in some books from the Turkey hunting perspective and was just really in, he still is. And he is in his later part of his seventies and he's just, he's I let all you amateurs go play with him early in the morning. And he goes out about nine 30. He never goes out before then.

And he's still, and he's hunting some of the, The old birds that way. And I liked, I like that method. He's, he was also one again, taught me to just like being silent a lot of times and just being patient and waiting him outs, not trying to be the loudest guy in the woods. It's yeah, for sure.

Just playing with him,

Paul Campbell: That's a very great point that you said about not being the loudest guy in the woods. I got to hunt with Mike [00:37:00] Pentecost from Woodhaven a couple weeks ago and the thing that stood out the most hearing and the, and you talk about like elite Turkey hunters, so you, cus stricken likes to say there's Turkey hunters and there's Turkey killers and that Turkey killer that is rarefied air man.

Like your grandpa's in that. For sure. The three of us are aspiring to be Turkey killers, right? Yeah. Mike Pentecost is a Turkey killer and the thing that stood out the most, as soon as he started calling, I'm like, wow. I call way too loud. And I'm five feet from him and I can barely hear it.

That's how quiet his calling was. And I, we, I talked to him about it afterwards and he's just Paul, he's as Turkey hunters we know how good a Turkey's eyes are. We underestimate how good their hearing is. And he's you don't have to call that loud. He's sometimes it's really fun because you get 'em all worked up and they start coming in, and he's but most of the time it's just that.

And that is a very deadly deadly maneuver, man. That's that soft, quiet yelping. So what's

Beau Martonik: your It's hard to do but it, man, it is I know I like, like when they start getting worked up, I get worked up and [00:38:00] I just want to, just get louder. Yeah. Without, even, without even trying you just start I catch myself doing it, but it's it takes someone that's experienced those Turkey killers to really to that they've learned over time that, that.

Skill, I guess a discipline.

Paul Campbell: They that and everyone says, what's the key to tree hunting patients? I think discipline that, that virtue is it goes hand in hand. Like you said, those Turkey killers, they are the most disciplined, consistent people in the woods. And that's, yep.

Man, it's so hard cuz you just start hammering on a tube call or a box call and they start gobbling at it. I love that stuff. What's your grandpa's name? You don't mind sharing that?

Beau Martonik: Yeah. Francis Cherry. Francis

Paul Campbell: Cherry. So I, yep. I'll tell you what man. Like when we talk about northern Turkey hunters and just like the culture that surrounds.

Turkey hunting and it really starts in the southeast and just and swirls up. But Pennsylvania, where you're from that is like the epicenter of northern Turkey hunting culture and really the epicenter of Turkey hunting just in this country. So it's neat that your [00:39:00] grandpa's kind of, was in that, the beginning stages of the modern Turkey hunter that we know about.

Man, that's really cool. So

Beau Martonik: yeah and the guy I always laughed like, so I still have a box of his calls. He doesn't make them anymore, but there are these, it was a, an al hooter that was, had a slate on the end of it. And so it was really small slate and it was a super quiet call. And that's what like, he'd always just teach me.

He's like just being silent with it. He's this is the only call you need. And that's what I always say. He's you just need this call and just be silent and you don't need to, you, you don't need to have a million different things and do this. He's keep it simple and just keep going.

And one thing I've learned about Turkey hunting is like, it's just, Doing the same thing over and over again. Normally that's the definition of insanity, but a lot of times, like hunting these types of areas, it is just moving and calling and just trying to locate birds. And it's just like you do that enough, you're eventually gonna strike something up.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. We, I always say we're looking for the Turkey that's willing to die, and you strike up that Turkey at 11 o'clock or two o'clock in the afternoon, he gobbles at you. [00:40:00] That sucker's willing to die. That's I'm really excited at that point. Someone, Turkey gobbles at freaking anything at 7:00 AM those mid-afternoon early or late morning turkeys, those are the ones, man they're cranked up man.

They're feeling they're feeling a little reckless that day.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. That's, it's funny you say that because like I was just talking to someone else the other day and I was, like, I said, I'm not a great Turkey caller. I don't know. The terminology behind some of the stuff I'm doing.

I'm looking for that bird that's ready to die. Yeah. And I'm willing to just keep going until I find that bird. Yeah. And I've heard that like with elk hunters that are big into calling. And so they'll walk away from bugles that, it might take all day sitting on it to maybe be able to get after 'em.

They're like, Nope, I'm just gonna keep moving until I find that one that's hot and he is ready to go. And yeah, that's the way I look at Turkey hunting for my strategy. Cause I'm not, like I said, I don't claim to be, even a half decent caller. No,

Paul Campbell: it's all good. So I'm running out of time for this, but you guys feel free to continue.

This is a great talk. I do wanna ask you one of the, [00:41:00] one of the like, great debates in the world of Turkey hunting and really elk hunting. I've never elk hunted, but is that, that calling what's more important? Calling or woodsmanship? And so what's your take on that? And I think I know what the answer is, but what's your take?

I think it's

Beau Martonik: woodsmanship. That's the way I look at it is like call. I think calling is super, it can be super effective and super important, but at the same time, it's reading the land. It's reading how you think the turkeys are gonna move, or the elk or like trying to read the train, reading the vegetation and just like making moves without, you're not even really processing this all cognitively, like it's just happening as you learn skills over time and that, I think that woodman woodsmanship aspect comes over time.

It's not something that you can really just learn off the bat. You start recognizing things that turkeys do and you start, all of a sudden you see them do that multiple times in different scenarios. Okay, then I almost put that as, that's like a law, that's something that's, that most of the time they're [00:42:00] probably gonna do that.

So being able to read the woods and read the bird's languages and see, they're with a bunch of hands or they're doing this and you start to play off of that and I think you can. Trump being a good caller, and that's just my opinion, but that's how I look at it.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. That woodsmanship, that's the great equalizer.

You could be a champion caller and suck at, reading the woods or moving through the woods and it, it may not matter. So the, and that's, and I think the, those guys that have reached that rarefied killing level Turkey killer, those are the guys, they got both of it, yeah. And they've got, they can throw out any call. They understand when to use it, when not to use it. The, but they know where to set up, they know where the turkeys want to be. And that's something for years for me, it's just this looks great. This is where I want to be. And the turkeys go 80 yards away and they're just like, ah, this is where I wanna be.

Sorry, man.

Beau Martonik: So yeah, it's the same, it's the same thing as deer. Like it's the same thing as. So many hunters set up for deer based off of where it looks good to them or where they want to be. [00:43:00] But is that where the deer wants to be? No. It's the same, or maybe it is, but a lot of times it's not.

And it's the same thing with turkeys, in my opinion. It's like where do those turkeys feel safe? Where do they want to be at? Like it's, now there's different, obviously, strategies between the two, but it's the same concept. It's like trying to think of how the turkey's thinking it, and those certified killers, they are half Turkey.

Like they they know. Oh, for sure. Yeah. They know it. Yeah. Bird brain, absolutely.

Paul Campbell: They're birdbrain is what we like to refer. Is that always what you like to go? That's what I call it, bird brain. I like it. Do you, when you're ever, you're, this is just a really odd question, like when you're ever walking through the woods scouting for deer or deer hunting or Turkey hunting I do this all the time.

I find an area and it's like beautiful. I'm like, something needs to die here. Turkey deer. God made this spot, nature made this spot for me to kill something right here. So I'm going to sit here and I do that all the time. And I've never killed anything in one of those spots. I don't. Do you like, do you see something like, something needs to die here, I'm gonna this, I'm gonna hang a tree stand right here.

Cuz this is like visually the [00:44:00] perfect place.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. You ever get into that? Yeah, I, yeah. I've been in that in some beautiful like big Oak ridge forest that's just man, you sit on this side, you can look out and you can see this valley. It's just a beautiful spot to sit, but not a whole lot of killing that goes on.

Nothing's

Paul Campbell: ever location. Yeah. Nothing ever happens there, man. One of these, one of these years I'm gonna walk across the one of those special spots, be like, and it's gonna happen and I'm just gonna sit there and be like, yes I do it. I was, I guessed right. Yeah.

Beau Martonik: Funny. Yeah. I hear you.

Andrew Muntz: Bo on one thing I had, Paul, if you gotta jump, go for it.

The you're talking about the woodsmanship stuff. So when you're out in this time of the year, you're doing a lot of deer scouting, right? You're checking for sheds, trails, whatever, beds, cameras, anything that's out there. If you come across an area and you're like, okay, there's a lot of Turkey scratching here and a lot of Turkey sign in general, maybe you come up on the birds when you go, if you go back to that area for Turkey, are you like, [00:45:00] just, I'm gonna set up here and think that they're basically right in this general area?

Or how do you navigate finding that spot for your opening

Beau Martonik: day? I typically try to look at then and I look at the map or or I just know from being in there scouting of like, where can I get to that? I can hear towards that area. Or I even look at okay, what looks like a good, if I see scratching, it's okay.

It doesn't mean they're roosted right here. So where, what kind of looks like good areas to roost. And a lot of times, like that'll be those hemlocks, they love roosting in the hemlocks around here. Whether that's in creek bottom that has it. But a lot of times I find 'em off the points of ridges that they'll be roosting in those areas.

So if I'm out scouting and I happen to check out those areas and I start to find some droppings and stuff below those trees and, start seeing a lot of it, it's okay, maybe this is it. But if I don't know that I just want to get to an area where I can hear that particular area. So then if I'm wrong, which a lot of times I am like I can still [00:46:00] hear potentially where they would be at.

Andrew Muntz: Gotcha. And the only other question I got off the top of my head is and you're scouting and stuff this year, and this is all anecdotal, right? But what's the population of birds look like over there this year compared to recent years?

Beau Martonik: Better? Good. So it's been really terrible, I'm gonna be honest, in the last five to seven years, maybe even longer here of finding birds.

Like I spend a lot of time in the woods and I rarely come across Turkey sign, so it's, but last year I started seeing a bunch of Jakes and I was like, okay, this is good. This is real good. And this year I've been seeing groups of long beers together, like quite a few. And I'm like, this is great.

It seems like it's better. Than I've seen in my particular areas. And

Andrew Muntz: That's really good to hear. We did an interview the other day with our Turkey biologist for the state of Ohio, and he's echoing the exact same sentiment. And we talked about how you guys, at least at the biology level, they do communicate with the surrounding states to see what, their pull surveys are saying and all that kind of [00:47:00] stuff.

So fingers crossed we are on the the rebound here.

Beau Martonik: Yeah and I was having a conversation with someone the other day about like, when you see things in particular areas, like the state agencies do the best they can to control populations as far as with tag allotments, all those things, but they can't see every little individualized area.

And like you could go 15 miles down the road and it could look completely different than a particular spot. So it's like it takes hunters to control. Put it on their own. You know what? What are you seeing? Like for example, Pennsylvania, you can kill two gobbler in the spring. Now I might buy two tags, but after I kill one in the last, I haven't tried to fill my second tag and I can't tell you how many years because it's like that.

I'm not seeing the numbers to support that. Now could I go to different areas and do that? Maybe, but I just, I don't know. I think it takes some hunter discipline on seeing what's in their area instead of, I just see a lot of people complaining like, why aren't the state agencies doing this? Why aren't they doing that?[00:48:00]

They're doing, whoops,

my blind fell down. They're doing the best that they can, those state agencies to figure things out and have a good idea of what's going on in those areas. And I think it takes the hunters to really self-govern, on some of those areas. And yeah, that's just my opinion.

Paul Campbell: Here in Ohio, we talk about what state agencies control.

So four, I think it's 4.8% of the land in Ohio is public, is regulated by the state of Ohio, 4.8%. So when you talk about, that's such a small percentage of the land that the state controls and can do the habitat management and do the stuff. The role of private landowners in the, in, in every state in this country that has turkeys or deer or wildlife management, right?

The role of private land owners is crucial because we, we lo you know, hate at the state agencies and you, they're like we're trying to, we're doing the best we can on the 5% of the [00:49:00] land that we can do work on. And so that's an important fact that people overlook.

And I know last year at tier in Ohio, I saw more Jakes in the landscape than I have in years. And so when we look at like cyclical, cyclically what's happened with the populations? Pa, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan all this, Alabama, everywhere that we're having population decline, I think you're starting to see, those, the repercussions of those cold wet springs we had, three or four years that we're just miserable.

And then now we're starting to see a little bounce back. Will it be what it was like, in the nineties or early two thousands? Probably not. I don't, I didn't want even Turkey hunt then, so I have no idea what it's like, but yeah. But I think that's good to hear that, that you're seeing more, you're seeing more long beards and the Jakes are good.

So I think, yeah, the role of hunters and the role that we play in reducing the those long beards every year, that's a real thing, I don't think, yeah, I don't think people have that honest conversation with themselves. It's easy to blame a raccoon or the state or, a coyote, whatever it is, but.[00:50:00]

We kill quite a few turkeys every year as

Beau Martonik: honors. Yep. Yeah. Now I will say like Fishers have their population in Pennsylvania has increased like crazy. There's not a TRO camera that I have in the woods that doesn't get a picture of a fisher at some point. And I went from never seeing them in the tree to last year.

I saw probably on six different occasions, I had a fisher come by me and it, and I'll say this, it was, there's probably only two separate fishers in that, because one was just like to frequent the area and I know I was seeing 'em, but I'd see the turkeys. I was hunting a spot right where the two turkeys were roots of that, which was funny.

On this side hill, this point, turkeys would come down, they'd move off. Here come the fisher turkeys would come back through. Here comes the fisher. Now I are they doing, any damage as far as to the turkeys as they're full grown? I don't know. Probably not, but like that, There's definitely a little bit of correlation in my opinion, based off what I'm seeing there with them now.

I do not think that's [00:51:00] the primary reason for the population decline in blaming it all on predators and doing that. And this is, again, very uneducated. This is just my personal experience and what I'm seeing in the woods of spending time in, in there. But yeah I think it's, it made me feel good though the amount of Turkey sign that I've been seeing.

Like I remember as a kid though, I could go on ridges here by where I live at, and I used to have so many opportunities. My dad would take me out and I'd just miss turkeys like crazy when I was 12 years old. And it was like, it was always more opportunities. And now just finding the birds is a lot more difficult.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So I've got time. We're good on my end. When you're hunting those big public land tracks in PA or Ohio, wherever it may be how much, you're parking, like how far into the woods are you going? Do you have just man, I'm gonna walk two miles, or, are you looking for, because when I scout, if it's a new area, I find the parking spots and I find those areas that I want to be, like, I'm gonna be pretty far away from access points.

And I'm crazy [00:52:00] enough that I'm willing to walk. I once to walk 17 miles Turkey hunting. I'll move. So are you in that mode? You're like, all right, boom, I'm gonna hit this spot. I'm gonna walk three miles that way because I've seen some ridges that I like or do you just ease your way in and just work your way through, once

Beau Martonik: the sun comes up?

No, I typically like to get back in ra at the, at first light, especially on areas that get a lot of hunting pressure, cuz it's like, all right, I just don't want to be dealing with people from the safety aspect and just be in the woods with people. So I do try to like almost start my way back and move, if anything, I'm moving back towards the truck as the day, as the morning goes on versus going further.

So that's how I've looked at Turkey hunting in a lot of these spots. Now it's, I won't say that all my spots are way, way back in. Not at all. And but typically in the heavily hunted areas, like I'm looking for some of those bridges that are back in ways and tend to find more birds back there just, or ones that are, haven't been called to a [00:53:00] bunch, especially as the season goes on.

That seems to be a better way of that I've found looking at it.

Paul Campbell: Yeah. So when what's your calling method that, first light comes up, Turkey start gobbling. If you don't hear anything call, will you hoot at 'em? Will you call at 'em or you just start moving?

Beau Martonik: I hoot. I'll hoot at em and then. It's so weird Sometimes I'll find birds and I'll usually learn this pretty quickly, whether birds have either been called to or they just aren't gonna respond to me. Cuz like I'll know, if my hoots not like they understand it sounds like a hunter because then all of a sudden a real owl will start going off and they'll gobble to him.

And I'm like, okay, mine's not working. But I also use crow calls a lot during the day bec as I'm moving one because I can actually do that with my mouth and it, I think it's comical at the same time. I like doing it. And can you get it to us? What's that? Can you give us one?

I can't do it. It's gonna be too loud. Fair enough. Yeah. [00:54:00] It might blow the mics at me. I could, but. Crow calls are my favorite thing to, to be able to do as far as a locator. And then at that, and this is from what I've tur talked to a lot of other people, it's an unpopular opinion, but I will use a box call.

I start loud and then I get quieter as I go through, but I start loud especially if I don't know where the turkeys are. And then but if I know where turkeys are, then I go to my slate. And then as I move in close, I'm usually with my mouth call. So I'm not making a bunch of.

Paul Campbell: Yeah, I love the move of if it's quiet, I haven't heard anything goblin and it's eight 30, dude, I will try to be the loudest Turkey in the woods at that moment.

Box call. I'm gonna hammer that thing. Tube call is my preferred method, but I will go as loud as I possibly can just to see if I can get something to shot gobble. Yeah. And if I can scare a gobble outta something, I'm not above that or below that, no, that's, you're in the game, man. You might have to, move a little bit, but dude [00:55:00] I don't know who would have an unpopular opinion about that.

I love being the loudest Turkey in

Beau Martonik: the woods, man. I was just talking to people recently and they're like, do people carry box calls anymore? I'm like yeah. I like having a box call in my in my box, in my bag. It's just like a, I do use a box call I dunno quite a bit and. And yeah, so I, and I don't always do the exact standard thing, like I do a bunch of different things with that box call, but that's typically my method.

It really depends on if, I don't know where a turkey's at. I'm trying to be loud. I'm trying to be obnoxious and see what I can drum up and it's fun. Yeah,

Paul Campbell: there aren't many absolutes in Turkey hunting. Bo the one thing that I can say that is an absolute that a box call has been the last thing a wild Turkey has heard more so than any other call out.

I guarantee it, I guarantee a box call has killed more wild turkeys than the rest of them combined. I guarantee it. Paul, I got a light,

Andrew Muntz: I got a Turkey guarantee for you. You might not always be the loudest Turkey in the woods, but you are the biggest Turkey in the woods. [00:56:00]

Paul Campbell: That is true. That is true.

So I was hunting the big Cypress down in Florida just a couple weeks ago. I had some time I wanted to experience it. I'm gonna save you the trouble boat. Don't do it. Unless you are a glutton for punishment. So I was down there, I hadn't heard anything and I'm in the middle of the Everglades, man.

It is hot. There's snakes, there's alligators. Nothing. I had heard absolutely nothing. So I'm like, you know what? Screw it. Let's see what happens. And so I take out my tube call. I've got this one tube called, it's around here somewhere. It's a prima's foggy bottom tube call. And I put two reads on it and I like.

Reach back, like when you're trying to throw a baseball and your crow hop into it. I like Crow hopped into this Turkey call and hit that thing with every ounce of pressure and effort that I could and it hurt my ears. And I had two quick like Yelps and I had the craziest noise. I'm like, what the hell just happened?

Like what? Something like just screamed at me and I see some movement like off to my left, [00:57:00] maybe like 70 or 80 yards or whatever. And I was like, man, what was that? So I pulled my phone out, I put it up, I'm like, I was recording just from my friends. Oh my God, I just had the craziest like thing yell at me.

And so I was in this like little general story later that day and asked, like how my hunt had been. And I told 'em that story and they're like, oh, that was a panther. They're like, if it, yeah, they're like, if it screamed at you, if it sounded like someone's screaming at you, that's a Florida panther.

And they're like, you just, it was probably a sleep under a tree or whatever, and you scare the shit out of it. And this like yells and takes off or man, and I'm like, oh my gosh. Gosh. It was the craziest sound. I was like, I and I had no idea. Cause I live in Ohio, we don't want free. And it's basically a mountain lion, right?

Yeah. It's like closer to a puma after what I was reading. And they're like, oh yeah they're everywhere. They're like, you probably scared it awake man. And it was just yelling at you on its way out. So

Beau Martonik: they, how crazy is

Paul Campbell: that? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I, loudest Turkey in the woods, man, [00:58:00] scared a panther up.

So that was

Beau Martonik: pretty cool. That's wild. I don't know, you probably saw the videos like on Instagram or something of this Florida panther coming into a decoy set. Yeah. How crazy was

Paul Campbell: that? Yeah.

Beau Martonik: I guess I, I knew that Panthers lived in Florida, but I didn't really ever think about it much.

And I've never hunted down there to Yeah that's wild.

Paul Campbell: That's super cool. It was, man. And you know what, maybe it was like just following me through the woods trying to see what I was, I have no idea. I didn't know it was there until it sw out or whatever. It yelled at me and took off. Man, it was, I wish I would've gotten that.

I wish I could have gotten that on camera. It was on, it was.

Beau Martonik: Yeah. It didn't, it probably was watching you and it was mad because it looked, and it's that's not a Turkey, so it just gave you a yell get outta here, I'm going with you,

Paul Campbell: deal. Yeah. Or it was like, oh, I'm gonna eat that fat boy, look at him eat for a month off of m.

So that's good stuff. Bo, I've appreciated your time today, man. I enjoy I enj I enjoy your podcast and [00:59:00] the way that that you relay information and the way that you ask and you run your show. I really enjoy it, man. And I've enjoyed our time today. So where can people find you on social media?

Beau Martonik: Yeah. Again, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it and glad we got the link up and talk turkeys. I don't get to ask to talk turkeys very much. So that was really fun to, to be able to do and getting to learn from you and some of your strategies as well. But people can find me either at East Meets West Hunt or just my name, Bomar.

You search that on all the platforms. You can find it. The podcast East Meets West Hunt, and got video and audio podcast there. Good. Thank you so much man. Yep, thanks. Yeah, thank you.

‍