rutnstrut
PMA Member
Well this spring was probably the most frustrating season I can remember. Its the only season since my first that I have not been able to tag out, although that was not due to lack of opportunity. Normally I have a decent number of birds scouted out and ready to hunt but somehow this year the season snuck up on me and I didnt make it to the woods to scout till the weekend before it started. I got out the Friday-Sunday before the opener and found a couple birds and made a plan for Opening morning. I got in and set up real early as I thought I was going to be very close to atleast one gobbler on the roost. The birds started gobbling early, and hard but the closest one was a few hundred yards away and I was worried someone had been in the area the afternoon before and bumped the ones I was hoping to hunt. I was starting to run a game plan through my head on how I wanted to reposition myself on the gobbling birds when one let loose about 40yds behind me and scared the crap out of me. Needless to say I wasnt going anywhere now so I just sat against the tree getting ready to start calling when I heard a hen start tree calling out in front of me so I just kept the calls in my lap and waited. It started to get a little light out and the gobbler started double and tripple gobbling then out of nowhere a terradactyl size hen went gliding over my head and right towards the roosted gobbler. At this point I figured I was probably out of luck and I started wishing I had gotten up and moved when the thought first crossed my mind, but I figured I was here might as well give it a whirl. Shortly after the hen lit behind me and over the hill the gobbler shut up, then I heard him fly down and it sounded like he flew away from me instead of towards me. I decided Id make a few calls and as I put my gun down in my lap and grabbed the slate he gobbled... and he was close. So I dropped the call and grabbed the gun again and rolled around the tree a bit so I could see his approach. I was set up on a long, narrow, steep ridge and he was over the edge half way down the hillside and when he popped up over the hill all I could see was his head and tips of his tail feathers as he strutted and gobbled back and fourth behind some brush and trees. I moved around the tree a little bit more for a better position and he must of heard my move in the leaves and thought I was a hen because he dropped strut and came in on a string gobbling his head off. Once he was almost to crest the hill he saw my decoys and headed straight for them when he got to about 15yds I couldnt take it anymore and let the shot fly, it literally took him off his feet and he looked like a circus stunt turkey as he appeared to do a doubled back flip in mid air then down the hill he went flapping. Ive killed turkeys a number of different ways but I think this is the first bird Ive killed off the roost without ever making a call. He was a touch over 26lbs... didnt have a digital so well call him 26lbs with a 10 5/8" beard and 1 1/4" hooks for a score of 72.25. Heres a pic of him against the tree I was sitting against
And a shot with the set up as he might have seen it
And a one more when I got to dads and had a camera man
Next was 2nd season, I went out opening morning in hopes of filming an old friend of mine, the guy that got me hooked on turkey hunting in the first place. We found ourselves sitting on the edge of a hayfield waiting to hear the first gobbles of the morning and make our plan of attack. The only bird that was gobbling was across a steep brushy nasty ravine and on a neighboring property that we didnt have permission to hunt so we just eased into the timber and set up on our side of the ditch. He was gobbling good and once again a hen that was roosted on our side of the ravine flew across and right to him. Once again I thought were were done and just wasting our time. We sat there and called a little and then he said well what do you think should we try and get a little closer, wait him out or head in town for breakfast. About the time we decided to try and get a little closer the bird gobbled again and he sounded like he had cut the distance between us in half. So we decided to hold tight for a bit and try to get him to gobble again to try and get a better idea of where he was, the last one caught us off guard and we werent sure if he was really closer or it was just wishful thinking. My friend started to make a couple soft yelps and the bird cut him off with a gobble and was even closer again. I grabbed the camera and started getting it ready and next thing I knew my buddy was throwing his slate in my lap and shouldering his gun saying you call you call. So needless to say there wasnt gonna be any footage of this hunt... I grabbed the slate and made a couple more soft yelps and he cut me off again and a little closer yet. We played that game for about 10 min and he just kept gobbling his head off well within range but just over the crest of a small shelf on the hillside we were set up on and just out of sight. I decided to try and get a little aggressive with the call and hope to coax him over the edge so I cutt a couple times and yelped loudly, this time no response. I thought oh crap I screwed it up for him and scared him off. About that time he gobbled again but instead of out in front of us he was 90 degrees to our right and still in range but over the crest. We both slid around the tree a bit to get into better position and I called again, as I was calling he popped up over the crest about 20yds out and let loose a loud thundering gobble right in our face. I heard the distinct sound of the safety followed by a shot and the bird disappeared. We both jumped up and ran over to edge to find him on the next shelf down doing the kickin chicken dance. Now my buddy has been hunting turkeys a long time and killed a ton of these things but this was his biggest to date well heaviest atleast 28.5lbs 1 3/16" hooks and 10 1/2" beard
The next day I took my buddy Joe out... Born2hunt on the site for our annual turkey hunt. It was windy rainy crappy morning so we decided to bring the double bull and set up camp on a ridge to hopefully hunt a bird I had scouted the weekend before. We got set up and waited and nothing was gobbling, probably because of the weather but discouraging either way. I had been calling off and on waiting and hoping something would show up or atleast respond and let us know we werent out there alone. When suddenly we heard a gobble but with the wind we werent really sure exactly were it came from but we figured it had to be somewhat close. So I called a few more times and he would gobble but wouldnt come any closer so I started to really crank on the slate. Next thing we know hes gobbling just over the edge of the hill again in range but out of sight. I got the camera rolling and pointed in the direction I thought he would pop up. And up he came about 30 yds out let out a couple gobbles and was slowly working our way. I heard Joe shoulder his gun and then the bird stopped in his tracks and looked kind of spooked and started to take a coule steps away from us. I started telling him to shoot, and he said move the camera, move the camera, I grabbed it and pulled it to the side about six inches before the shot rang out and folded him up like an old lawn chair. Hes definitely not Joes biggest bird but a nice two year old.
Well that was the good part of the season, I took off for Boar Ridge in Oklahoma for a hog hunt during third season so I wasnt around to tag along on any hunts but I was more than excited to get back in the swing of things When fourth season rolled around....this is where the frustratin started. This is the 1st year in a long time I decided to go stricly gun hunting and not get a bow tag so I didnt have a gun of my own to use and barrowed a buddys Super Nova and it worked flawlessly 1st season but once fourth rolled around it laft me hangin. I went out and set up in a good area opening morning of 4th season and had birds gobbling all around me. Once the hit the ground I thought I was in business I had one that sounded like he was coming straight in and hard but he got cut off by a hen and never came any closer than about 80-90yds. After playing with him for an hour with no luck I got up and moved acros the valley to the next ridge where a couple other birds were roosted that morning. I got set up and started calling with no answers. About 45min later I heard a gobble over the hill once again and probably 100yds out but he was getting closer. He finally crested the hill with three buddys and next thing I knew i had 4 gobblers within 30yds and when I put the bead on ones head and pulled the trigger nothing... I thought maybe I didnt get the safety off all the way so I clicked it on and off again and pulled the trigger and again nothing it wasnt even moving the 1/16" or 1/32" that all shotguns seem to have when the saftey was on. So I thought maybe the action wasnt closed all the way so I put pressure on the forearm trying to shut it but it was closed, at this point the gobblers had heard me playing with the gun and started to walk off over the hill. So once the got over the hill I slowly and quietly cycled the guns action and made sure it was loaded, the action was closed and the safety was off and started sneaking over to the edge of the hill wwhere I found not just the four gobblers that had just left my set up but two more and a tone of hens, I shouldered the gun and squeezed the trigger again with the same thing happening. That put me over the top I just stood up and let out a few choice words as the birds scattered everywhere. Turns out that for some reason the trigger wasnt resetting and it was locked all the way back, after I manually pulled the trigger forward it shot just fine. So that weekend there was a gun show and I decided it was time to get my own gun, I got a really good deal on a Mossberg 935 combo and went to BP picked up a Indian Creek choke and set out the next morning to give it a whirl. I went out with Dave the guy in the second picture I posted and we went to the same spot he shot his bird 2nd season except this time we set up about 80yds apart. I was working a bird again across the valley once again and when it decided to commit and come in he came my way instead of Daves. I waited for him to come into a clearing and in the open at about 25-30yds and squeezed the trigger only to watch the bird whirl around and fly off unscathed and to make matters worse next thing I know I hear Dave rolling around laughing his head off. I was just in amazement how could i miss a stationary target in the wide open at that range. We went out and shot the gun on paper only to find that the BOTTOM of the pattern was 8-10" high of point of aim at 20yds... I shot right over him. My own fault I shouldnt have just taken for granted that the factory sights were good to go, but now I knew I had to aim low atleast until I could get a set of adjustable sights. So out I went again to try and redeem myself, this time I went down south to a buddys farm for a change of scenery and set up in a spot thats historically been a goldmine. Only this year the birds were all across the creek. So when they all flew down and I came to the conclusion that nothing was on my side of the creek I decided to reposition myself on the other side. I crossed and got set up and immediately had a bird gobbling just out of range and coming my way on his own so I just held tight and waited. He hung up in range but out of sight in a bunch of brush so I made a few soft yelps and the next time he gobbled he was twice as far away and getting farther every time he gobbled. I figured he had some hens with him and they led him away. So I moved in closer and waited hoping he would come back my way again. well he did and this time I could see hijm coming the whole way and he was by himself so I thought I was in business. But the second I made a single series of three yelps he did an about face and started gobbling his head off again as he kept getting farther and farther away so I put the calls away and decided to try and put a sneak on him. I spent the next hour and a half army crawling closer to him stoping once in awhile to wait for him to gobble or for me to get a look at him to see where my next move should take me. So after all that time crawling through nasty muddy prickly brush I was with 75yds of him strutting in a natural opening in the timber that looked almost like a lane and he was strutting straight away from me but almost to the creek bank so I knew he couldnt go much further. I got up to one knee and shouldered my gun waiting for him to turn and come my way. Thats exactly what he did and as he was getting closer I was already considering it a done deal when a damn doe that was another 50-75yds farther than him either caught my wind or saw me getting into position and started blowing. I thought since the deer was on the other side of the turkey that if anything it would push him my way faster but of course not he dropped strut and trotted right towards the blowing deer. Talk about a miserable walk back to the truck muddy, wet and atleast 25lbs lighter in the vest than I thought I was going to be not too mention the fact that I went over my boots when I crossed the creek so I was splishing and sploshing the whole way back. Well the next time I made it out it was kind of windy and nothing was gobbling I went back to where I had started the season in hopes of getting a crack at one of the others that were there 1st season. I started calling and next thing I now a hen came running over the hill and right into the decoys, she hung out for awhile before wondering behind me and over the next hill. I started calling again and then out of nowhere two gobblers popped up from the same place she had and were right on top of me before I knew what was going on and needless to say they caught me off guard and I had my gun in my lap and the slate in my hand. I waited as they were trotting in for the moment they would both be behind some cover and I could shoulder the gun but no such luck. before I knew it they were behind me and over the hill slightly but thats where they stopped.... once again just over the hillside in range and out of sight. We talked back and fourth for an hour or so and I was losing my patients so I slipped off my vest so I could be a little more quiet as I crept up to the edge to get a shot. I got into position clicked off the safety and was just getting ready to slowly stand up to take a shot when that damn hen came in from behind me and picked me off scattering the gobblers. So that brings me to the very last night of the season I decided to give it one more try because I just couldnt stomach eating a tag. I got out about 3:30 and it wasnt until 5:30 when I heard my first gobble, to make a long story slightly shorter I spent the next 2 1/2hrs moving in closer and closer while every time I would reposition the bird would get farther away. At that point I decided screw it I give up I guess Ill let them live until fall... when hopefully Ill get a little revenge. So the season wasnt a complete wash I did fill one tag and had many other opportunities and I did get to be a part of five kills other than my own, but like I started this post it was the most frustrating season I can remember.
And a shot with the set up as he might have seen it
And a one more when I got to dads and had a camera man
Next was 2nd season, I went out opening morning in hopes of filming an old friend of mine, the guy that got me hooked on turkey hunting in the first place. We found ourselves sitting on the edge of a hayfield waiting to hear the first gobbles of the morning and make our plan of attack. The only bird that was gobbling was across a steep brushy nasty ravine and on a neighboring property that we didnt have permission to hunt so we just eased into the timber and set up on our side of the ditch. He was gobbling good and once again a hen that was roosted on our side of the ravine flew across and right to him. Once again I thought were were done and just wasting our time. We sat there and called a little and then he said well what do you think should we try and get a little closer, wait him out or head in town for breakfast. About the time we decided to try and get a little closer the bird gobbled again and he sounded like he had cut the distance between us in half. So we decided to hold tight for a bit and try to get him to gobble again to try and get a better idea of where he was, the last one caught us off guard and we werent sure if he was really closer or it was just wishful thinking. My friend started to make a couple soft yelps and the bird cut him off with a gobble and was even closer again. I grabbed the camera and started getting it ready and next thing I knew my buddy was throwing his slate in my lap and shouldering his gun saying you call you call. So needless to say there wasnt gonna be any footage of this hunt... I grabbed the slate and made a couple more soft yelps and he cut me off again and a little closer yet. We played that game for about 10 min and he just kept gobbling his head off well within range but just over the crest of a small shelf on the hillside we were set up on and just out of sight. I decided to try and get a little aggressive with the call and hope to coax him over the edge so I cutt a couple times and yelped loudly, this time no response. I thought oh crap I screwed it up for him and scared him off. About that time he gobbled again but instead of out in front of us he was 90 degrees to our right and still in range but over the crest. We both slid around the tree a bit to get into better position and I called again, as I was calling he popped up over the crest about 20yds out and let loose a loud thundering gobble right in our face. I heard the distinct sound of the safety followed by a shot and the bird disappeared. We both jumped up and ran over to edge to find him on the next shelf down doing the kickin chicken dance. Now my buddy has been hunting turkeys a long time and killed a ton of these things but this was his biggest to date well heaviest atleast 28.5lbs 1 3/16" hooks and 10 1/2" beard
The next day I took my buddy Joe out... Born2hunt on the site for our annual turkey hunt. It was windy rainy crappy morning so we decided to bring the double bull and set up camp on a ridge to hopefully hunt a bird I had scouted the weekend before. We got set up and waited and nothing was gobbling, probably because of the weather but discouraging either way. I had been calling off and on waiting and hoping something would show up or atleast respond and let us know we werent out there alone. When suddenly we heard a gobble but with the wind we werent really sure exactly were it came from but we figured it had to be somewhat close. So I called a few more times and he would gobble but wouldnt come any closer so I started to really crank on the slate. Next thing we know hes gobbling just over the edge of the hill again in range but out of sight. I got the camera rolling and pointed in the direction I thought he would pop up. And up he came about 30 yds out let out a couple gobbles and was slowly working our way. I heard Joe shoulder his gun and then the bird stopped in his tracks and looked kind of spooked and started to take a coule steps away from us. I started telling him to shoot, and he said move the camera, move the camera, I grabbed it and pulled it to the side about six inches before the shot rang out and folded him up like an old lawn chair. Hes definitely not Joes biggest bird but a nice two year old.
Well that was the good part of the season, I took off for Boar Ridge in Oklahoma for a hog hunt during third season so I wasnt around to tag along on any hunts but I was more than excited to get back in the swing of things When fourth season rolled around....this is where the frustratin started. This is the 1st year in a long time I decided to go stricly gun hunting and not get a bow tag so I didnt have a gun of my own to use and barrowed a buddys Super Nova and it worked flawlessly 1st season but once fourth rolled around it laft me hangin. I went out and set up in a good area opening morning of 4th season and had birds gobbling all around me. Once the hit the ground I thought I was in business I had one that sounded like he was coming straight in and hard but he got cut off by a hen and never came any closer than about 80-90yds. After playing with him for an hour with no luck I got up and moved acros the valley to the next ridge where a couple other birds were roosted that morning. I got set up and started calling with no answers. About 45min later I heard a gobble over the hill once again and probably 100yds out but he was getting closer. He finally crested the hill with three buddys and next thing I knew i had 4 gobblers within 30yds and when I put the bead on ones head and pulled the trigger nothing... I thought maybe I didnt get the safety off all the way so I clicked it on and off again and pulled the trigger and again nothing it wasnt even moving the 1/16" or 1/32" that all shotguns seem to have when the saftey was on. So I thought maybe the action wasnt closed all the way so I put pressure on the forearm trying to shut it but it was closed, at this point the gobblers had heard me playing with the gun and started to walk off over the hill. So once the got over the hill I slowly and quietly cycled the guns action and made sure it was loaded, the action was closed and the safety was off and started sneaking over to the edge of the hill wwhere I found not just the four gobblers that had just left my set up but two more and a tone of hens, I shouldered the gun and squeezed the trigger again with the same thing happening. That put me over the top I just stood up and let out a few choice words as the birds scattered everywhere. Turns out that for some reason the trigger wasnt resetting and it was locked all the way back, after I manually pulled the trigger forward it shot just fine. So that weekend there was a gun show and I decided it was time to get my own gun, I got a really good deal on a Mossberg 935 combo and went to BP picked up a Indian Creek choke and set out the next morning to give it a whirl. I went out with Dave the guy in the second picture I posted and we went to the same spot he shot his bird 2nd season except this time we set up about 80yds apart. I was working a bird again across the valley once again and when it decided to commit and come in he came my way instead of Daves. I waited for him to come into a clearing and in the open at about 25-30yds and squeezed the trigger only to watch the bird whirl around and fly off unscathed and to make matters worse next thing I know I hear Dave rolling around laughing his head off. I was just in amazement how could i miss a stationary target in the wide open at that range. We went out and shot the gun on paper only to find that the BOTTOM of the pattern was 8-10" high of point of aim at 20yds... I shot right over him. My own fault I shouldnt have just taken for granted that the factory sights were good to go, but now I knew I had to aim low atleast until I could get a set of adjustable sights. So out I went again to try and redeem myself, this time I went down south to a buddys farm for a change of scenery and set up in a spot thats historically been a goldmine. Only this year the birds were all across the creek. So when they all flew down and I came to the conclusion that nothing was on my side of the creek I decided to reposition myself on the other side. I crossed and got set up and immediately had a bird gobbling just out of range and coming my way on his own so I just held tight and waited. He hung up in range but out of sight in a bunch of brush so I made a few soft yelps and the next time he gobbled he was twice as far away and getting farther every time he gobbled. I figured he had some hens with him and they led him away. So I moved in closer and waited hoping he would come back my way again. well he did and this time I could see hijm coming the whole way and he was by himself so I thought I was in business. But the second I made a single series of three yelps he did an about face and started gobbling his head off again as he kept getting farther and farther away so I put the calls away and decided to try and put a sneak on him. I spent the next hour and a half army crawling closer to him stoping once in awhile to wait for him to gobble or for me to get a look at him to see where my next move should take me. So after all that time crawling through nasty muddy prickly brush I was with 75yds of him strutting in a natural opening in the timber that looked almost like a lane and he was strutting straight away from me but almost to the creek bank so I knew he couldnt go much further. I got up to one knee and shouldered my gun waiting for him to turn and come my way. Thats exactly what he did and as he was getting closer I was already considering it a done deal when a damn doe that was another 50-75yds farther than him either caught my wind or saw me getting into position and started blowing. I thought since the deer was on the other side of the turkey that if anything it would push him my way faster but of course not he dropped strut and trotted right towards the blowing deer. Talk about a miserable walk back to the truck muddy, wet and atleast 25lbs lighter in the vest than I thought I was going to be not too mention the fact that I went over my boots when I crossed the creek so I was splishing and sploshing the whole way back. Well the next time I made it out it was kind of windy and nothing was gobbling I went back to where I had started the season in hopes of getting a crack at one of the others that were there 1st season. I started calling and next thing I now a hen came running over the hill and right into the decoys, she hung out for awhile before wondering behind me and over the next hill. I started calling again and then out of nowhere two gobblers popped up from the same place she had and were right on top of me before I knew what was going on and needless to say they caught me off guard and I had my gun in my lap and the slate in my hand. I waited as they were trotting in for the moment they would both be behind some cover and I could shoulder the gun but no such luck. before I knew it they were behind me and over the hill slightly but thats where they stopped.... once again just over the hillside in range and out of sight. We talked back and fourth for an hour or so and I was losing my patients so I slipped off my vest so I could be a little more quiet as I crept up to the edge to get a shot. I got into position clicked off the safety and was just getting ready to slowly stand up to take a shot when that damn hen came in from behind me and picked me off scattering the gobblers. So that brings me to the very last night of the season I decided to give it one more try because I just couldnt stomach eating a tag. I got out about 3:30 and it wasnt until 5:30 when I heard my first gobble, to make a long story slightly shorter I spent the next 2 1/2hrs moving in closer and closer while every time I would reposition the bird would get farther away. At that point I decided screw it I give up I guess Ill let them live until fall... when hopefully Ill get a little revenge. So the season wasnt a complete wash I did fill one tag and had many other opportunities and I did get to be a part of five kills other than my own, but like I started this post it was the most frustrating season I can remember.
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