deerhunter93
Well-Known Member
I'll start this off with a big thank you to Skip for allowing me to hunt a farm this spring. I picked a turkey hunt out of the prizes for the big buck contest and it was amazing to share the hunt with my Dad and be on a great deer/turkey/wildlife/habitat farm!
The plan of attack was to get into a big field and walk a little ways down it and wait for the gobbles. First gobble was at 5:17am and shooting light was 5:24. Nothing was real close but one was hammering so we decided to go after him. We followed the big bend in the field and Dad set up about 150 yards from the end of the field while I went to the end to increase our odds. At about 6:10am I had two toms spitting and drumming within 15 yards of me but they were straight behind me in some thick nasty cover (great habitat!) so I couldn't have shot even if I somehow was able to turn on them. I could hear them walking off and I thought they were heading towards Dad. A gobble between us confirmed my suspicion and at 6:20am Dad smoked a good tom right in his decoys. I headed his way to celebrate since not much was gobbling around.
After swapping stories and taking some pictures we decided to hunt our way back to the truck (about 3/4 of a mile) where we'd clean his bird since it was going to get warm quick. About half the way to the truck I spotted a black blob which turned out to be a bearded hen. While glassing her I saw the top of a tail fan over the ridge so the game was on. Well, as soon as I started my reap I couldn't see the strutter so I just kept heading towards the hen. I got within about 40 yards of her and she headed off. I continued on towards the top of the rise and as I hit the top I saw two pairs of toms about 150 yards out. They see the fan and one of the pairs heads my way. They didn't run or get to me in a big hurry so when one stuck his head up at 30 yards I said it was close enough and laid the hammer at 8:20am.
Dad's bird:
23 lb 11 oz
9 5/8 inch beard
1 inch and 15/16 inch spurs
score - 62.3125
My bird:
18 lb 8 oz
9.5 inch beard
3/4 inch spurs
score - 52.5 I guess I have a thing for shooting two year olds and my 2nd season tom was slightly bigger
The plan of attack was to get into a big field and walk a little ways down it and wait for the gobbles. First gobble was at 5:17am and shooting light was 5:24. Nothing was real close but one was hammering so we decided to go after him. We followed the big bend in the field and Dad set up about 150 yards from the end of the field while I went to the end to increase our odds. At about 6:10am I had two toms spitting and drumming within 15 yards of me but they were straight behind me in some thick nasty cover (great habitat!) so I couldn't have shot even if I somehow was able to turn on them. I could hear them walking off and I thought they were heading towards Dad. A gobble between us confirmed my suspicion and at 6:20am Dad smoked a good tom right in his decoys. I headed his way to celebrate since not much was gobbling around.
After swapping stories and taking some pictures we decided to hunt our way back to the truck (about 3/4 of a mile) where we'd clean his bird since it was going to get warm quick. About half the way to the truck I spotted a black blob which turned out to be a bearded hen. While glassing her I saw the top of a tail fan over the ridge so the game was on. Well, as soon as I started my reap I couldn't see the strutter so I just kept heading towards the hen. I got within about 40 yards of her and she headed off. I continued on towards the top of the rise and as I hit the top I saw two pairs of toms about 150 yards out. They see the fan and one of the pairs heads my way. They didn't run or get to me in a big hurry so when one stuck his head up at 30 yards I said it was close enough and laid the hammer at 8:20am.
Dad's bird:
23 lb 11 oz
9 5/8 inch beard
1 inch and 15/16 inch spurs
score - 62.3125
My bird:
18 lb 8 oz
9.5 inch beard
3/4 inch spurs
score - 52.5 I guess I have a thing for shooting two year olds and my 2nd season tom was slightly bigger
Last edited:
