Limb Chicken
Active Member
My father and I have been turkey hunting together since 1990 when we decided it would be fun to start hunting them. Neither one of us knew what the heck we were doing but out of dumb luck and the Knight and Hale Fighting Purrs we were able to connect on our first bird together.
Fast forward 22 seasons, 5 states and a ton of dead longbeards we still look forward to the spring turkey season. I am very fortunate every season that passes that he is able to get out and is still getting ready a week before we go. Other than being blind out of both ears he is still in great shape.
Friday was his 72nd birthday and we were scheduled for a Saturday hunt. With wind and rain in the forecast for the early morning I texted him and asked whether he wanted to get up early or head to our honey hole for the afternoon. To my surprise I received a text back shortly he wanted to sit the morning out. So after being somewhat relieved a 3 am alarm was going to end up a 7 alarm clock I gathered my stuff and got it ready for the honey hole hunt.
Last year was a difficult season for me for some reason the birds just wouldn't cooperate and when they would, my learned muscle memory wouldn't cooperate. There were two noisy longbeards in this particular spot that I called in no less than 4 different times last year within 10 -15 yards of the blind but they always, and I mean always came to the back of the blind. Drove me crazy but I really wanted to get video so I chose to not shoot out of the back of the blind. So, they were named the backdoor brothers. I wanted one of these birds head on a platter on Saturday and with Big Cese behind the 835 we headed to their favorite strut zone.
Getting set up and settled in and it was 9:22 am. I waited my mandatory hour to start calling and nothing but wind and mist. I was not optimistic at all, I figured these clowns had already looked the set-up over and silently slipped away laughing at our attempt to fool them once again. About 11 am I was in the middle of using the back window of the blind and heard a shock gobble. Got the call out and made a loud cut and they fired back. Sweet! That was more than I had expected for the day anyway. They worked their way along the edge of the field and we were 80 yards in the timber or so and they stood and looked and strutted then walked back to where they came.
At that point I thought the game was over as they had seen our set-up and had enough. I was kind of getting antsy and thinking about moving and I got the feeling that Cese didn't want to move. So, I decided to take a nap to keep myself from thinking about all the other spots we could move to give them a different look and calling location. Fast forward to around 1 pm and a gobble in the timber without being solicited. Game on! I started a series of calls and they gobbled back and everything. I'm thinking great, they will come to about 40 yards behind a tree, look at the decoys and turn and walk away. These birds were in my head, bad. I couldn't see them real well because they were coming from the left side but Dad could see them fine. I told him to make sure they were committed and if they ever looked like they were getting nervous shoot the strutter.
He said he thought there were going to come all the way in so I told him to let them beat the decoys so I could get some video. Well, that part of our conversation must have fallen on the blind ears of his as you will see in the video...
I could care less about the video really. It really was an awesome day. I am truly blessed and really appreciate every day we can spend in the blind together. Big Cese dropped the hammer on one of the back door brothers! I can sleep...
Click on the picture for the video
Big Cese
Fast forward 22 seasons, 5 states and a ton of dead longbeards we still look forward to the spring turkey season. I am very fortunate every season that passes that he is able to get out and is still getting ready a week before we go. Other than being blind out of both ears he is still in great shape.
Friday was his 72nd birthday and we were scheduled for a Saturday hunt. With wind and rain in the forecast for the early morning I texted him and asked whether he wanted to get up early or head to our honey hole for the afternoon. To my surprise I received a text back shortly he wanted to sit the morning out. So after being somewhat relieved a 3 am alarm was going to end up a 7 alarm clock I gathered my stuff and got it ready for the honey hole hunt.
Last year was a difficult season for me for some reason the birds just wouldn't cooperate and when they would, my learned muscle memory wouldn't cooperate. There were two noisy longbeards in this particular spot that I called in no less than 4 different times last year within 10 -15 yards of the blind but they always, and I mean always came to the back of the blind. Drove me crazy but I really wanted to get video so I chose to not shoot out of the back of the blind. So, they were named the backdoor brothers. I wanted one of these birds head on a platter on Saturday and with Big Cese behind the 835 we headed to their favorite strut zone.
Getting set up and settled in and it was 9:22 am. I waited my mandatory hour to start calling and nothing but wind and mist. I was not optimistic at all, I figured these clowns had already looked the set-up over and silently slipped away laughing at our attempt to fool them once again. About 11 am I was in the middle of using the back window of the blind and heard a shock gobble. Got the call out and made a loud cut and they fired back. Sweet! That was more than I had expected for the day anyway. They worked their way along the edge of the field and we were 80 yards in the timber or so and they stood and looked and strutted then walked back to where they came.
At that point I thought the game was over as they had seen our set-up and had enough. I was kind of getting antsy and thinking about moving and I got the feeling that Cese didn't want to move. So, I decided to take a nap to keep myself from thinking about all the other spots we could move to give them a different look and calling location. Fast forward to around 1 pm and a gobble in the timber without being solicited. Game on! I started a series of calls and they gobbled back and everything. I'm thinking great, they will come to about 40 yards behind a tree, look at the decoys and turn and walk away. These birds were in my head, bad. I couldn't see them real well because they were coming from the left side but Dad could see them fine. I told him to make sure they were committed and if they ever looked like they were getting nervous shoot the strutter.
He said he thought there were going to come all the way in so I told him to let them beat the decoys so I could get some video. Well, that part of our conversation must have fallen on the blind ears of his as you will see in the video...
I could care less about the video really. It really was an awesome day. I am truly blessed and really appreciate every day we can spend in the blind together. Big Cese dropped the hammer on one of the back door brothers! I can sleep...
Click on the picture for the video
Big Cese
