Well, the story starts on Wed. when I took my nephew to ride his bike on the property beside my house. He was out in front of me and stopped his bike and yelled that he saw a turkey with a red head. I really didn't believe him because he is always "seeing" deer, turkey, bear, coyotoe, and bobcats. He's got a good imagination. Well, this time he wasn't kidding and I was able to put the bird to roost in the evening. Thursday I woke up to a heavy thunderstorm but after checking the radar I noticed that a break was coming. I headed out as the rain stopped and set up. The story was pretty boring as I set-up about 120 yards from where the bird was roosted, when he flew down I did a few yelps, and he headed straight in and gave me a 20-25 yard shot. He wasn't a big bird, around 16.5lbs with a 3-4" beard, but I wasn't picky as I have only ever killed 1 other spring gobbler and 1 fall gobbler. Fast forward to yesterday and I decided to try to get my best friend a turkey as he has never shot a gobbler. We headed to his family farm early and weren't able to locate any birds. I told him we should come back to my house and I would take him to a piece of property where I killed my first bird. When we arrived we found 2 jakes, 2 hens, and 2 long-beards in the field. We got in the woods and headed towards them. We closed to within 150 yards and set-up. A few yelps and the birds were headed in. When one of the gobblers got to what we thought was around 37 yards Matt fired his Remington 870 20 gauge with 3" mag's and a super full turkey choke. The bird was hit, but ran into the woods. We took chase but he was gone. Matt went from the highest of highs (finally getting a turkey after 16 years of trying) to the lowest of lows (loosing a big gobbler). We stepped the distance off and found that the field was very decieving and the shot was nearly 60 yards, the 20 gauge didn't have enough power. I called Matt last night and told him to meet me at my house this morning and we would take my blind over their and try again. He didn't want to as he thought the woods would be ruined but he showed up. We headed out early and set the blind up where they were strutting yesterday and right at day light the gobbler sounded off less than 100 yards behind us in the woods. After nearly 100 gobbles he flew off the roost into the field where he was joined by the jakes, the other gobbler, and the hens. After nearly 40 minutes the bird closed the distance to 55 yards but this time Matt was ready for him with a Mossberg 835 12 gauge with 3-1/2" mags. He squeezed the trigger and his 16 year drought was over with a gorgeous 22 pound bird with 1-1/4" spurs and a 10" beard. I was more pumped for him to fill his tag than I was when I shot mine. His bird is now at the taxidermist where he is having a full body mount done of the bird perched on a limb in half strut and gobbling. Some of my bird went on the grill yesterday and the rest is in the freezer. Monday I will be taking my grandfather out and next weekend I will take my girl out and hopefully the luck continues.
Thanks Tim, these dang turkey have been the most frustrating animals we have ever hunted. They are so highly pressured around here that when they hear calls they go the.other way. It took me years to finally find a spot where they aren't over called to and I know exactly where to set up social don't need to call. I put a bird to NRA tonight so hopefully I can guide my grandfather to another bird in the morning.
There aren't any turkeys in my immediate area so I've never hunted them. I enjoy reading about your hunts, Frans and seeing how TeeJay does every year. Our season starts when we are getting ready to farm so traveling is out of the question to do it. Would be fun to try it. Again good luck !! Tim
I'll tell ya Tim, I love deer hunting but there is nothing like sitting in the woods and hearing a gobbler sounding off less than 100 yards away. The bird I killed Thursday was gobbling 6 to 8 times in a row when he heard thunder in the distance....each time he did, the hair on my arms stood up. Saturday morning we were lucky enough to hear all the turkeys fly off the roost and land in the field within 75 yards of the blind. The audible aspect of turkey hunting is incredibly addictive!
Troy says hunting elk is just like that... when I have no time to hunt in the fall due to harvest. In my next life... I will not work on a farm and miss all the fun !!!!!! Tim
