But I'm still happy with it.
I've been turkey hunting every AM this week & finally got some GOOD luck to come my way. The 1st pic is looking from my blind out thru a bottle neck in the hay field. 2 hens & the Tom came out just to the left of the brushy area out there. About 150yds away. I clucked & purred on the new box call that RJ Addams made for me a few weeks ago. It's a sweet one for sure. After about 5 minutes of this the lead hen started feeding my way slowly. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but our day ends here at noon. And it was 11:40AM!! I was setting low & ready to go while "talking" to them. They couldn't see me at all. I gave them another 2-3 minutes at their pace & decided if it was going to happen today then I would have to make it happen. So I put the box call down & started clucking sharper on a triple reed mouth call. It didn't seem to phase them much so I moved the call back further in my mouth & started clucking a little louder & raspier. After about 1 minute of this the lead hen decided it was "Game On"!! By then they were about 100yds out. She stopped & looked at my decoy hen which was to my left & behind me in the hay field. She started running toward the decoy!! This brought the other hen running too. Then the Tom kept fanned out while he tried to keep up. I didn't even see the lead hen go past me at 2-3 yards but she must have stopped right at the decoy because the other hen & the Tom stopped at 20yds out in a line so I couldn't shoot. Then the 2nd hen decided to check things out closer & ran toward the decoy. The Tom covered 5 more yards & came half way out of strut to see up over the little rise to the decoy & hens.
BOOM!!
It is now 11:50 AM & it's:
Game Over!!
19 1/2lbs with a fairly thick broken off 8" beard & 1/4" nubby spurs.
And if I've never said this before,,,, You've gotta try this spring turkey hunting!! It's so frustrating at times with such a huge reward,, to me anyhow,, that it's unbelievable the rush I get from it. I was hooked the 1st time I went 5 years ago.
My photoggin stinks!!
Way to go Glen! I got dressed and started out of town and got about 5 miles when the rain started - again. We got about 3 inches around here yesterday and the fields look like lakes.
Jerry
Congrads! Good looking bird!
Brent
Nice Tom Glen!!!
I hear ya about noon and crunch time.
JD
:yoyo: That'll work!!
Thanks guys!! I appreciate the kudos. These damn things just don't cooperate to my style of bumbling around hunting!! :roflmao:
Gawd I love this turkey hunting thing. I got my 2nd permit tonight!! :roflmao:
Where you at canine??
Best of Luck Jerry!! Hope to see a big bird on here tomorrow!!
And not a damn goose from one of those lakes either!! :roflmao:
In Ohio. Bellefontaine area. Worked my second bird this morning and another hunter slipped in on me while he was gobbling his way through the woods, needless to say he spooked the bird for me :argh:
Thursday I ran into a bird that would not cross a fence, I moved on him 4 times to coax him over to no avail, then 12 o'clock hit and I had to leave him in the woods gobbling :sad:
Looking forward to tomorrow morning, I'll finally get to hunt a full day.
JD
I had another hunter trespass to spook the bird I was working last year on the last day. Thats irritating to say the least. and that guy knew the woods well & was gone in an instant. :shrug: Good Luck!! I'll be out tomorrow AM too.
WTG Buddy! :congrats: :congrats: :congrats:
Thanks VV!! I almost had another one this AM!! :eyebrow:
Great lookin bird! Congrats! :highclap:
Thanks Semp!! :eyebrownod:
Way to whack em buddy! Great story Glen. I knew I shoulda kept that old wormy box here. You are going to be too hard on the turkey with it. Take care,R.J.
Thanks RJ. You make a real nice box call for sure!! That box is real smooth & it'll get em gobblin for sure. These are the last 2 days here in Ohio for 11 looooooong months so I'm gonna hit it hard & try for ol #2!! That would be real cool to get 2 in one month. :eyebrownod:
Get 'er done HaMer...... We'll be listening for the details :biggrin:
I sure hope I have some details to share Stu!! :eyebrownod:
Stu-- I'm so ready for tomorrow AM that I went back & read your post & looked at your bird. :eyebrownod: And just so you know,,,, even if I don't connect in the next 2 days,, it's been a very rewarding spring season for me. Not only did I get a nice Tom but in some small way I got to help you bag your 1st. For me,,, thats even better than shooting one myself. :eyebrownod:
AaaaaaaH HaMeR you're sooo sweet. :laugh2:
Works for me, but if it's all the same to you ........ I'd prefer to read the details of you capping it all off with #2 ending up in the freezer....... so play hard, play smart, and get out there and make like a horny hen :eyebrow:
Aw shucks VV. :yahoo: If you aint doin nothin swing down by. I got a call or two here I might be willing to part with. :eyebrow: :laf:
I made like a bitchy hen for the 1st one!! You can bet I'll do it again if need be!! I've always heard that if you can piss off the old lead hen then you can kill the Tom. It always made sense but I never got the opportunity until 3 weeks ago. :biggrin:
Nice bird.Better than I have done!!!Had two shot off my calling by other hunters,so haven't been out for two yrs :doh2:
"If it were easy then everybody would be doing it"
"Thats why it's called hunting & not shooting"
"If it's worth pulling the trigger on then it's worth putting a tag on"
Hunt hard,, shoot straight,, apologize to no one"
These were my thoughts this AM at 7:30.
If you're still awake you might find the story below interesting. :roflmao:
--------------------------------------------
This is the last weekend for turkeys here in Ohio. I have been stoked since Monday when I found out we would have this weekend off. It was hard to fall asleep last night too. So I guess that was why I got up late this AM & didn't get to the woods until 6AM!! :laf: Legal shooting time was around 5:45AM. They were gobbling as I stepped out of the fresh planted corn field into the woods. I went straight to where I wanted to be & got set up. They were still gobbling at 6:40 when I decided to move on them. They would gobble at the crows but not at my calling. Go figure. :shrug: There were 2 jakes & a Tom from what I could tell & they were within 300yds of me. Problem was,, I had to go further back into the hollow,, down to the bottom,, cross the stream,, then climb 1/2 way back up the other side!! So off I went. I knew there was a flat across that side that ran the length of that hill & that was where they were. As I got back deeper into the hollow then started up the other side they gobbled!! Right in front of me!! Dang it anyhow. :holdon: So I headed across the hill side until I was out to where they were originally. I sat to catch my breath for a minute or 3 :whew: & when a crow flew over the gobbled again. Right in front of me again!! And within 60yds. :madd:I couldn't see em but they were there with a couple hens that were clucking & purring away. This would provide me with noise to cover my steps. :eyebrow: I sat there for a few minutes pondering my next move :wo: when I realized it had gotten eerily silent. Suddenly to my right & just below me I could hear a hen clucking & my heart just sank. :sad: They were able to flank me & I would never get a shot thru the tree tops from the logging that was done during the winter. :sad: I turned my head real slow to make sure it wasn't a Tom & promptly got busted. :doh2: She started down over the hill sounding the alarm putt so I figured with nothing to lose I should try to cover her with my own calling so I started clucking real fast & loud. This woke those Gobblers up again & now they were within 35yds with no visual!! :eyebrow: So I started crawling toward them & when I could see one white head I stopped until it disappeared. Then I belly crawled another 5 yds or so up to a fallen tree that was laying behind a larger tree. :eyebrow: I used that for cover so I could set up. I sat there & watched 2 jakes & the hen for almost 5 minutes with the gun up. Every time the biggest jake would come into a clear shooting lane the other would stick his head in there. Finally the gun was just getting too heavy & when the smaller jake cleared out,,,,,,,,,BOOM!!!!!!!!!
Did I scare you?? :roflmao:
A 16lb Jake with a 6" beard & 1/2" spurs. The pictures suck but he's sure gonna taste good!!
:congrats: :biggrin: :highclap: :biggrin: :yoyo:
Very cool. Congrats on an excellent finish to the season!! Great story..... the gun shot is still ringing in my ears :eyebrow:
Mine too!! :roflmao:
Thanks Stu!!
BTW-- They were still gobbling at 8:15 when I grabbed the door handle on the truck to come home. :eyebrownod:
WTG Buddie! :yahoo:
:biggrin: Thanks VV!! I like spring turkey hunting more every year.