Well this years turkey season has been less than stellar in my areas. So I didn't need much convincing to join up with my old buddy quiksilver for a late season hunt. If y'all remember last year, he called in a bird for me on the last day of the season. So, we arrive in the dark, take a long walk to our spot & get set up. The dense fog severely limited our visibilty. At least 2-3 birds start going off to our left. We sat tight in hopes they'd make thier way to the field. Things started to quiet down, when one fired up to our right. 20 minutes or so, we figured him to be strutting about 100 yds away & not going to come in. Just then we spot 5 hens heading across the field and right for him. Quickly we jump up and spook the hens before they killed our chances. Then the long loop around to get above the bird began, and while we did, he shut up. As we closed in from the top, a few soft yelps fired him up & he was CLOSE. I quickly scooted 10 yds ahead of Fran as the bird gobbled a couple more times. Scanning the woods I could not believe I couldn't see the bird. I finally caught movement behind some brush. He was full strut & slowly drifted out into the clear. A few seconds to admire his strut and then it was game over. 18#, 9.5" beard, 1.5" & 1.375" spurs. By far my biggest bird. I'm not sure who was happier, me or Fran.
Awesome spurs on that bird! I shot my second 10" gobbler of the season today. I'm glad i finally get to sleep in.
Congrats, Ryan. Glad someone is having success. This has been the worst season for me by far. That's a good bird.
Congrats Ryan, I'd have thought with big old spurs like that the bird would've been a little heavier, but that's the way to close out the season, that's FO SHO....
Rybo: I'll pencil you in for the last day again next year! LOL OHbow - here in SWPA, our birds aren't all that heavy. I watch all the local turkey pool, and my buddies and I do a lot of turkey hunting - the biggest bird I've ever personally seen was 25 pounds, and that was a fall bird. I shot a 23 pounder on opening day a bunch of years ago. The thing is, as the season progresses, the birds aren't eating and they're getting stressed - so they lose weight. Our local turkey pool winners will usually come in right around 21 pounds, give or take. This gobbler probably would've definitely weighed over 20 pounds if we could've rewound the clock back to late April or the first week of May. He's already down to his June weight. If he was still around, he'd pack it all back on over the summer and fall. Think of it like the rut: The bucks are bulked-up coming into breeding season, but if you happen to get into a big buck in January, he's lost a lot of weight after a grueling rut and a stressful hunting season.
Great bird. Never have luck late season. Good job. If your not going to use those primary wing feathers, I can use em for my fletchings. I pay shipping.
Wow Ryan... congrats on an awsome bird... those hooks are sweet. I have never saw a bird in PA with 1.5" hooks... no matter how big they are, they usually don't get over the 1-1/8" mark... that thing is a freak. Fran... good job on the hunt as well... and you are right about our birds not weighin that much... my first gobbler which was shot in the fall weighed in around 16-17 lbs and had 1" hooks and a 10-3/4" beard.
