Late Season Florida Osceola Turkey Hunt With Scott Ellis

This is a late season, public land Osceola hunt. Behind the gun is Scott Ellis (contributing writer for U.S. Hunting Today). Videographer: John Applewhite. This bird goes away from us at first but after moving into his “personal zone” things quickly start to move in our favor. Watch as we are able to tease this gobbler into gun range with some sweet talk. Lots of gobblin! What a movie star! (More videos!)

Florida State Calling Championship – Virginia Open Results

Florida State:
1st-Scott Ellis
2nd-Chris Graham
3rd-Tim Sanford

Southern Open:
1st Sadler McGraw
2nd Chris Graham
3rd Mike Pentecost

1st-Sadler McGraw
2nd-Colby Martin
3rd-Scott Ellis

Gobbling:
1st-Scott Ellis
2nd-Troy Floyd
3rd-Mike Pentecost

Owl:
1st-Sadler McGraw
2nd-Chris Graham
3rd-Colby Martin

Jr.
1st-Benjamin Pentecost
2nd and 3rd-Not sure

Va Open

Open

1st-Shawn Grant
2nd-Scott Ellis
3rd-Bobby Woods

Friction

1st-Scott Ellis
2nd-Brett Bowe
3rd-Mike Pentecost

15 Spring Turkey Questions Answered By The Pros

By Scott Ellis

Spring gobbler season is now on the horizon and felt it was time to touch on some important questions that are asked frequently by turkey hunters across the nation. I have enlisted the assistance of two my friends Sadler McGraw and Chris Kirby to aid in answering the questions. We will all shed different light with our opinions on these commonly inquired about topics.

Sadler McGraw has established himself as one of the most prolific competition callers in the last decade. He is a member of the Woodhaven Custom Calls Sting Team since it‘s inception five years ago. His list of accolades includes, 14 Alabama state titles, Yellville National and Southern Open Champion. As well he has been runner up at the World, Grand Nationals, US Open and Grand America calling competitions. He is also no stranger to friction divisions winning the 2008 World, 2008 Yellville National and 2007 US Open. He has won or placed in over 50 contests, including owl hooting divisions. Read more

Woodhaven Custom Calls – Diaphragms

Produced out of Heflin Alabama these calls are hand stretched one at a time. They are used by many callers across the nation for competitive turkey calling and in the field. I tried several of the different models and amazingly enough they all were easy to blow and attained good turkey tone and rasp. There size and shape seemed suitable to fit the roof of most anyone’s mouth. Read more

Woodhaven Custom Calls Vision Series

These friction calls are without a doubt the most realistic on the market today. With each oval on the calling surface the sweetest yelps you have ever heard are attained. The cutts are sharp and the purrs on melodious. Each Woodhaven call is hand assembled and tuned to perfection. There is no doubt if you put one of these calls in your hands you will be performing turkey music the minute you remove it from the package.

Each call comes complete with an instructional dvd, a surface saver cover, two strikers and a surface conditioning kit. There are two surface choices, crystal and anodized aluminum. Either one will be devastating on gobblers in your neck of the woods this spring. Read more

2009 Wild Turkey Bourbon Grand Nationals Finals

Senior Open

1. Jim Pollard, Charleston AR 453
2. Chris Parrish, Centralia MO 452
3. Sadler McGraw, Camden AL 446
4. Shane Hendershot, Zanesville OH 445
5. Mitchell Johnston, Purlear NC 444
6. Billy Yargus, Ewing MO 443
7. Mark Prudhomme, Georgetown SC 440
Doug Benefield, Newnan GA 440
8. Scott Ellis, Mulberry FL 439
Matthew Van Cise, Brookville PA 439
JR Lanham, Bunker MO 439
Josh Grossenbacher, Port Clinton OH 439
9. Kindell Keeton, Wilmington OH 437
10. Bradley Ruff, Elberton GA 432

Gobbling

1. Stephan Richardson, Springdale AR 226
2. Doug Benefield, Newnan GA 224
3. Scott Wilhelm, Chippewa Falls WI 224
4. Scott Ellis, Mulberry FL 220
5. Alex Vedrinski, Streetsboro OH 219

Turkey Calling Competitions

By: Scott Ellis

The lure of a turkey gobbling in the spring can be quite infectious. There are millions of hunters taking to the woods each year in pursuit of a wily long beard. A few are great callers, some are decent callers but the majority is well below average. We all know it doesn’t take great calling to harvest a turkey. The question is will better calling increase your odds of bagging a tom? The answer is yes. Learning to sound like a turkey and not a turkey call will give an added advantage over other hunters in the woods. Combining good calling and good woodsmanship will put turkeys in your vest year in and year out. Read more

Wild Hogs And “Song Dogs”

By Scott Ellis

As the summer heat sets in and turkey season is a distant memory, thoughts of the upcoming seasons are definitely weighing on my mind. What is a hunter to do to pass the time? Well I’ve got just the solution to get you in the woods with your favorite rifle.

Wild hogs are legal game on any private land year round and can offer some exciting off season hunting. If you were raised in Florida, pigs have probably been a normal part of the scenery during the general hunting seasons. Some of us hunt them with dogs, some of us hunt them with guns and some of us don’t hunt them at all but, they can offer a challenge and the ability to polish your predatory skills as a well. Read more

Fall Turkeys: A Bird Of Another Feather

By Scott Ellis

With summer winding down the arrival of archery, muzzle loading , early duck , and dove season is greatly anticipated. People are tuning bows, sighting scopes and plowing fields. It could also be a great time to tune those turkey calls for the upcoming fall season. That’s what I said, “tune your turkey calls”. Most states offer turkey as fair game during archery and all but a few offer a fall turkey season. (check your local game laws to verify your season and what is legal to take, gobbler, hen or both) Fall turkey hunting can definitely put your turkey hunting skills to the test.

When most people hear turkey hunting they generally associate it with a strutting tom and the beautiful sound of a gobble during the spring. Learning the art of fall turkey hunting not only increases your chances of putting a bird in the freezer for Thanksgiving dinner, it allows you to learn more about turkeys and how they live throughout the year, not just during the mating season. This can benefit the spring turkey hunter as well. By having more knowledge of your quarry, such as their pecking order, how to find them and their language, you can add more to your bag of tricks. Fall hunting requires more woodsman ship than calling ability. Locating your fall birds can be a challenge in itself. Read more

The Opening Of Dove Season

By Scott Ellis

After a long day on the annual planting of our dove field, one can do nothing but stand back and have a sense of pride and accomplishment. That’s the beauty of planting a dove field, it’s not only a gathering of friends, it’s a time of sharing memories and bonding. Three of my closest friends, my father and my uncle joined together back in July to get our annual dose of farming. We started this endeavor five years ago. That was my first time planting. With my father and uncle, I grew up hunting millet fields the mines had planted for erosion purposes. We had some great shoots and it is where I learned to hone my wing shooting skills. But there is just something special about standing over 12 acres of freshly planted earth and knowing you’ve done it on your own. You really appreciate the shoot and the all the camaraderie that comes with it. Read more

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