rutnstrut
PMA Member
Season Recap WITH PICS
Well this has definately been a season to remember. I had back surgery six weeks before the season opener so I was toting a Xbow for the 1st part of the season this year. Between having a Xbow and a 30lbs weight restriction all season I decided I would run n gun so that I wouldnt have to find a way to tote a blind everywhere I went. I had opening morning off of work but with the rain in the forecast and not using a blind I decided to go to work and take the next two days off instead. I had a spent the previous 2 weekends scouting a particular bird in hope of scoring on my first sit. I was talking to a friend of mine opening night and he said he would love to try turkey hunting so I told him if he would tote the blind around for us and get a 1st season tag I thought I could probably get him on a bird. After a late night trip to walmart and an early morning trip to the woods we had snuck into the birds bedroom that I had scouted earlier. Once it started to get light we had birds gobbling all around us but none close to us. About the time that I started to get worried and think maybe he had roosted somewhere else he let loose about 75yds away. So now Im thinking this is a done deal but the only thing that worried me was that all the other birds had been on the ground for ten minutes before he had even let out a peep, and I could hear hens coming into our set yelping the whole way. Shortly after he hit the ground but instead of flying down to the ridge top like he had on all my scouting trips he hit the dirt on the hillside and headed towards the hens that sounded to be within 50yds but just over the crest of the hill. We had to listen to him and the hens talk there heads off for the next 20min until we heard two other gobblers let loose roughly 80yds out and coming fast. as soon as they let loose the one that we had originally set up on started to work his way up the hill to meet them which would put him at less than 30yds in front of us but before this could happen 5 deer came running through the woods and put the birds on full alert then the culpret followed shortly after, a damn coyote. A couple putts later all the birds flew back into the trees where they stayed for about a half hour before they felt it was safe to fly back down. The only problem was they flew down to the bottoms and the next ridge over. We sat there for another 10-15min trying to coax them back to us before I heard some footsteps in front of us over the ridge. I got the Xbow ready and waited only to see a 6-pack of jakes crest the ridge and make there way into our decoys, as they started to loose interest and wonder off I heard footsteps once again but off to our right. A quick look out the side of the blind showed yet another group of jakes making there way in silent, this time a 4-pack. So with 4 in front of us and 6 to our left and all the gobblers quite aways out and across a valley I asked my buddy if he wanted to shoot one. He looked at me like I was stupid and said well **** yes I do, so I told him to get it done already then, one quick shot from the 870 put his 1st bird on the ground
I went out the next morning and set up by myself in the same place but there wasn’t a gobble to be heard anywhere. It took awhile before I could make it back out between work and CRAPPY early season weather on the weekends, but when I finally did make it back I set up without the blind and by myself and even closer to the area that bird had been roosting in the earlier part of the season just hoping he had moved back into the area. Well it started to get light and once again a lot of gobbling but all quite aways off, and then boom there he was again. But this time only about 50yds off, so I opted to just sit there quiet and hope he flew down to the ridge top this time knowing he would be in range the moment he hit the ground. Lucky for me thats exactly how it happened, he hit the dirt 45yds out and in the open so as soon as hit held still I let an arrow fly and left him flopping less than a minute from when he flew down. I sure wish all hunts would work out like this, then I could leave all my calls and decoys at home and be eating breakfast by 7am
27.7lbs
10 3/4" , and 4" beards
1 9/16" , and broken off 1 1/4" spur
So with it being late in the season I decided to just buy a 4th season gun tag and finish out the season with the 12gauge. I had went out a few times with some friends and helped them get there birds b ut it wasnt till the last morning when when I actually got to shoot another one myself. I got a call from buddy that he was going down to clarke county and wanted me to tag along and try to call him in a bird, knowing there were a ton of birds on this property I gladly accepted. We got to the spot about 5:10am and the moment I opened the door I heard birds gobbling in every direction. He asked which ones I thought we should go after and I pointed in the direction that it sounded like 2 or maybe 3 birds were roosted together and in a spot that has produced 5doubles in the last 3 seasons. We were set up against the same tree and ready to go by 5:30... 5:38 I heard a bird fly down so I made a couple calls, and he sounded off in the creek bottom not far away shortly after I heard another bird hit the ground and gobble his head off as he made his way towards the 1st one. A couple calls later and my buddy says theres a BIG bird coming in right off the front of my barrel. I told him if theres only one and he could make the shot to do it, about that time he started to get excited and said "wait, wait a minute theres two of them theres two birds coming in" about that time I see the first one hit the clearing about 35yds out followed closely by his buddy. As I started to put the slate down and pick up the gun the first bird putted, so I whispered "shoot, shoot him" about that time I heard his gun let loose so I swung over and got on the other one that had just turned around and was starting to attempt a retreat and dumped him. Yet another quick and awesome hunt, set up at 5:30 and boom, boom done at 5:50. Heres a pic of mine where he quit floppin.
25.8lbs
1 1/4" spurs
10 1/2 beard
And another of both of them back at the house, they didn’t look so good after being drug through waist high wet grass for a quarter mile ;-)
Here are a few other pics from the season, just a heads up to all of you that hunt cattle pastures…BEWARE OF THE DECOY EATING COWS, theyre out there.
Well this has definately been a season to remember. I had back surgery six weeks before the season opener so I was toting a Xbow for the 1st part of the season this year. Between having a Xbow and a 30lbs weight restriction all season I decided I would run n gun so that I wouldnt have to find a way to tote a blind everywhere I went. I had opening morning off of work but with the rain in the forecast and not using a blind I decided to go to work and take the next two days off instead. I had a spent the previous 2 weekends scouting a particular bird in hope of scoring on my first sit. I was talking to a friend of mine opening night and he said he would love to try turkey hunting so I told him if he would tote the blind around for us and get a 1st season tag I thought I could probably get him on a bird. After a late night trip to walmart and an early morning trip to the woods we had snuck into the birds bedroom that I had scouted earlier. Once it started to get light we had birds gobbling all around us but none close to us. About the time that I started to get worried and think maybe he had roosted somewhere else he let loose about 75yds away. So now Im thinking this is a done deal but the only thing that worried me was that all the other birds had been on the ground for ten minutes before he had even let out a peep, and I could hear hens coming into our set yelping the whole way. Shortly after he hit the ground but instead of flying down to the ridge top like he had on all my scouting trips he hit the dirt on the hillside and headed towards the hens that sounded to be within 50yds but just over the crest of the hill. We had to listen to him and the hens talk there heads off for the next 20min until we heard two other gobblers let loose roughly 80yds out and coming fast. as soon as they let loose the one that we had originally set up on started to work his way up the hill to meet them which would put him at less than 30yds in front of us but before this could happen 5 deer came running through the woods and put the birds on full alert then the culpret followed shortly after, a damn coyote. A couple putts later all the birds flew back into the trees where they stayed for about a half hour before they felt it was safe to fly back down. The only problem was they flew down to the bottoms and the next ridge over. We sat there for another 10-15min trying to coax them back to us before I heard some footsteps in front of us over the ridge. I got the Xbow ready and waited only to see a 6-pack of jakes crest the ridge and make there way into our decoys, as they started to loose interest and wonder off I heard footsteps once again but off to our right. A quick look out the side of the blind showed yet another group of jakes making there way in silent, this time a 4-pack. So with 4 in front of us and 6 to our left and all the gobblers quite aways out and across a valley I asked my buddy if he wanted to shoot one. He looked at me like I was stupid and said well **** yes I do, so I told him to get it done already then, one quick shot from the 870 put his 1st bird on the ground
I went out the next morning and set up by myself in the same place but there wasn’t a gobble to be heard anywhere. It took awhile before I could make it back out between work and CRAPPY early season weather on the weekends, but when I finally did make it back I set up without the blind and by myself and even closer to the area that bird had been roosting in the earlier part of the season just hoping he had moved back into the area. Well it started to get light and once again a lot of gobbling but all quite aways off, and then boom there he was again. But this time only about 50yds off, so I opted to just sit there quiet and hope he flew down to the ridge top this time knowing he would be in range the moment he hit the ground. Lucky for me thats exactly how it happened, he hit the dirt 45yds out and in the open so as soon as hit held still I let an arrow fly and left him flopping less than a minute from when he flew down. I sure wish all hunts would work out like this, then I could leave all my calls and decoys at home and be eating breakfast by 7am
27.7lbs
10 3/4" , and 4" beards
1 9/16" , and broken off 1 1/4" spur
So with it being late in the season I decided to just buy a 4th season gun tag and finish out the season with the 12gauge. I had went out a few times with some friends and helped them get there birds b ut it wasnt till the last morning when when I actually got to shoot another one myself. I got a call from buddy that he was going down to clarke county and wanted me to tag along and try to call him in a bird, knowing there were a ton of birds on this property I gladly accepted. We got to the spot about 5:10am and the moment I opened the door I heard birds gobbling in every direction. He asked which ones I thought we should go after and I pointed in the direction that it sounded like 2 or maybe 3 birds were roosted together and in a spot that has produced 5doubles in the last 3 seasons. We were set up against the same tree and ready to go by 5:30... 5:38 I heard a bird fly down so I made a couple calls, and he sounded off in the creek bottom not far away shortly after I heard another bird hit the ground and gobble his head off as he made his way towards the 1st one. A couple calls later and my buddy says theres a BIG bird coming in right off the front of my barrel. I told him if theres only one and he could make the shot to do it, about that time he started to get excited and said "wait, wait a minute theres two of them theres two birds coming in" about that time I see the first one hit the clearing about 35yds out followed closely by his buddy. As I started to put the slate down and pick up the gun the first bird putted, so I whispered "shoot, shoot him" about that time I heard his gun let loose so I swung over and got on the other one that had just turned around and was starting to attempt a retreat and dumped him. Yet another quick and awesome hunt, set up at 5:30 and boom, boom done at 5:50. Heres a pic of mine where he quit floppin.
25.8lbs
1 1/4" spurs
10 1/2 beard
And another of both of them back at the house, they didn’t look so good after being drug through waist high wet grass for a quarter mile ;-)
Here are a few other pics from the season, just a heads up to all of you that hunt cattle pastures…BEWARE OF THE DECOY EATING COWS, theyre out there.
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