4.13.13 (Opening day) I put a gobbler to bed behind my house the night before. I watched him from my woods strutting in a field I have permission to hunt. He went out of sight but I had a pretty good idea of where he went to roost. Got up there first thing that morning and was walking in a crouched position along the field edge trying to find the best spot to sit. Looking straight ahead, I thought he was roosted in a cluster of pines. I had just put on my ghillie suit in case I had to stalk up close to him. I decided to crawl on all fours from the field into the woods to start my journey toward him. Next thing I knew, I looked to my right at about 80 yards and there he was. He was completely the opposite direction of where I had thought. I couldn't move into the wood line because I feared he would see me so I sat right down in the field. Bino’ed him and saw he was a longbeard…great! I threw out a few yelps with my voice and he double-gobbled. He slowly made his way to me as I held my gun into position. Due to the hilly field, he got out of sight but I kept the gun pointed where I thought he might come. For a good minute, I could hear him spitting and drumming and then his head poked up about 10 feet right of where I was pointing my 12 gauge. I swung it over and pulled the trigger. BAM! First bird down at 0642 on opening day. He was only 20 yards away and the 3 1/2 Hevi Shot load I was using was way overkill. He weighed 20.6 lbs, 10" beard, and 1 1/8" spurs. 4.14.13 My wife gave birth to our baby girl, Maelyn Frances Wright. 4.17.13 My wife and I were just released from the hospital the day before and had brought home our little girl. Megan and her mom insisted I go hunting this day sincemy time was limited. The original plan was to go to my company's land (bowhunt only) but I overslept. Who knew having an infant was so tiresome. :D I had the alarm set for 0445 but was awoken by the wife at 0615 asking if I was going hunting. I sprang out of bed, got dressed, put some coffee on, and walked out onto our patio to owl hoot just to see. Yep, another bird had roosted behind my house. He didn't give away his location the night before when I tried to locate a gobbler. So I headed out the door behind my house toward him, shotgun in hand. He never again gobbled as I was making my way in. I decided to sit in the woods (only about 20-30 yards from where I had killed Saturday's bird). There were no nearby gobbles or anything to suggest a turkey was close. Still, I was patient and reflecting on all that had happened in the past few days of my life. Nature hit and I took care of business. Afterwards, I decided I would move locations but I slowly stood from behind the forked poplar I was sitting behind to make sure nothing was in the field. When I stood I couldn't believe it, I saw the top few inches of a gobbler's fan in full strut. Holy crap! Picked up my Mossberg 835 and rested it against one of the poplars. I had guessed this bird to be about 30 yards. I threw out a few yelps and his head popped up and I pulled the trigger. He dropped in his tracks and began flopping. Like any turkey I shoot, I took off in a dead sprint just in case he was to run. No worries there but I did spook a hen to the next county. Got to my bird and was pleased it was a nice longbeard (I couldn't tell beard length when I shot, just that it was a Tom's tailfan). Ranged the trees I was sitting at and it read 50 yards. I was really pleased because I decided to use my Hevi-shot 3" load that morning in case I had another close encounter. Wouldn't have thought it would kill a bird at 50...I was impressed. He weighed 20.2 lbs, 10" beard, and 1” spurs. 4/20/13 Since the mother-in-law came back down this weekend, I was able to make it out on my 3rd hunt of the season. I drove down to the company land to bowhunt. Hadn't been down there since I shed hunted in early March but I know where the birds are most of the time. I got the blind set up, both decoys set, and all settled into the blind. Once daybreak came, I heard tons of gobbles but not the ones you want to hear. These were FAR away which was a little disappointing. BUT I was not about to pack up and move. That’s why I prefer a shotty while turkey hunting. I don’t have to worry about blinds or decoys and I can move freely as I please. It’s just more fun to me. Anyway, my plan was to sit until noon since I might not make it out hunting again for a while. I called every so often and was doing some much need smartphone maintenance to kill the time. J The next thing I knew, it's 10am and I look and see a bird coming out of the woods (I'm set up on a field edge) and he was heading towards my decoys. He never strutted or anything, just casually walked toward them. I draew back settled the pin, and squeezed the trigger. The arrow hit the dirt underneath him. He "putted" and ran to my right. I nocked another arrow as I clucked with my voice. This seemed to calm him a little but he was still walking away from me. I guessed him at 25 yards and put the arrow in the middle of his back. I hit him good and he took off into the woods. I throw the bow down, unzipped the blind, and ran after him. I got into the woods and saw him lying down with his head bobbing. He was down for the count and I couldn't believe that I had killed my third bird on my 3rd outing. What a season!! He weighed 20.2 lbs, also a 10" beard, and 7/8" spurs.
Man, that was awesome. Congrats on three season's worth of success in three outings. Very cool. Your pics are really good too! Nice work and congratulations on having your daughter. She's a cutie.
Heck of a week for sure. Don't let weapon choice dictate hunting style.... Rock the bow for run and gun, its a blast. I too prefer a shotgun for turkey hunting, but only because of the seemingly high loss rate on birds. I've had a decent season as well. We killed 4 toms in 12 hours this weekend.
Congrats, again, Finch. Heck of a season. PA doesn't open for another week, yet, so you're killing me here.
Great season and a little miracle to boot congrats man Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2
