Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

Hey guys,
I was fortunate enough to connect on a beautiful gobbler this morning.

Mississippi's season opened yesterday, but the weather has been rainy and muggy both mornings. Yesterday morning, after hearing nada on the roost, I sat up near a field hoping to catch turkeys coming to it in the rain. At 9:30 I struck a hen, and we proceeded to have an obnoxious 20 minute conversation before she came to 25 yards. The whole time, I could see turkeys, including 2 strutters, on the opposite ridge. As open as the woods are right now, and as quiet as the flock was being, I left at 11:00 hoping to try them today.

This morning the weather was much of the same, and I edged quietly into the same area. As I am slipping in to find a tree, I hear a hen cluck in the tree about 150 yards away. I sat down and began talking to the same boss hen from yesterday. After 10 minutes I watched from a distance the entire flock fly on top of the ridge that I was at the bottom of. This hen would not be quiet. After 30 minutes of constant conversation, I decided to make a move. I moved up a drainage to get to the top of the ridge. As I near the tree I want to get to, I hear drumming. LOUD. I could not tell if he was at 5 yards or 100.

I slowly raise behind the tree to look over the crest. I see many hens, but no gobbler. Just drumming. Finally, I catch him. I go back down, back up, and work 10 yards over to get to a better tree. Once I make it, I slowly raise up again. He has disappeared again, but the drumming is deafening. Roughly 20 hens are 30 yards away, and finally he steps out from behind a tree in full strut at 45 yards.

At this point, he is 45 yards away on the face of the opposite finger ridge from me, with his hens between us and slightly to the left. Walking to them would close the distance and put him right in my shooting lane. I am in no hurry at this point. I hold my gun on him for 10 minutes as he struts and drums. It was quite the show. Finally, he started easing down, and once he broke strut, I finished it at 38 yards. It's still surreal that turkey season is upon us, and I'm very thankful to be able to break the ice. Early season is a different game almost, as I hunted this gobbler the past 2 mornings and he gobbled zero times.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220316/047dda4ad956f67d294d419e95987342.jpg)
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Way to go brother, beauty of a bird.......congrats......

Now, THAT'S what I'm talkin' about, son !!!!!

CONGRATS !!!!!!

:icon_thumright:

Congrats man!

So I let a 2 year old walk this evening. I was set up on a gas line right of way where I've seen 4 birds...one of them is a two year old that hangs out by himself and the others are 3+ and they travel together. I had the whole flock of about 15 birds total show up but I guess the lead hen picked me out. She slammed on the brakes, stared in my direction and let out a few putts. The edges of this gas line are still kinda thick even this early in the season so I was set up a little closer to the open than I wanted to be and she figured me out.

The 2 year old didn't care...he walked right past me at 12 steps, but the other 3 were around 25 yards to my left but I didn't have a shot. The hen turned around and went back the way they came with the 3 big boys strutting behind her the whole time.

I don't know what it is but it's tough for me to shoot a smaller gobbler on my own property knowing that there are bigger ones around, especially since they've been using this area regularly. I'll try again tomorrow!

Congrats Delmar! Great story and beautiful bird! Great pictures too.

- Keep after 'em Mossyguy!  Good luck today

Congrats to you, and to your team!  Great story and pictures!  Even though you are on the "wrong side"!   :D :icon_thumright:
(Personally, I always appreciate someone who honors their gobblers by taking some quality photos...and with a smile on their faces!  Good for you, buddy!)

Well done Delmar! 


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Congrats sir!

Congrats. Really nice job on the pics!

Congrats Delmar!!!!!! Awesome bird and story.

Congrats Nice bird.

Thanks gentlemen! I really appreciate it! I'm a stickler for slowing down and taking lots of pictures. When I'm fortunate enough to get one of these beautiful birds in hand, it almost hurts to take the knife to them and reduce them to parts. Pictures give me a way to quickly reminisce on my favorite memories. As for the quality, I give all the credit to the gobblers. They're pretty enough even a dumby like me can manage to take some good pictures with just an iphone on portrait mode with just a little extra effort. I do like to hang my birds from a tree for a little while after the hunt. Their wings, feathers, and fan set nicely for pictures.

Congrats on a good bird and nice pics!

Congrats delmar! That is one sharp looking eastern bird ya got. Y'all making an Indiana guy mighty jealous I'm still 5.5 weeks out!


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Always so impressed with your field photos! Not a feather out of place! Sounds like a great turkey HUNT!

So I've been fooling with a group of birds in this one particular spot off and on since Wednesday. The first evening I let a 2 year old bird walk by because there was a bigger group of 3 behind him but a hen ended up carrying them away from me before they got into gun range. Then on another evening hunt I had a gobbler catch me with my pants down as I was packing up to leave and he appeared out of nowhere and my gun was out of reach. I was getting frustrated to say the least...

I didn't hunt this morning but I had a good friend of mine I've known since the 1st grade coming in to town. We haven't hunted together in a couple years so we planned a hunt for this afternoon-he would run the camera and I'd be the trigger man. We got settled on the edge of a long food plot that the birds have been using, calling sparingly just to let them know we were in the area.

Not much happened for the next couple hours. We both sat there just quietly catching up on what each other had been doing since we'd last talked. Between one of our conversations I looked to my left and saw a hen walk out of the woods into the plot at around 60 yards, followed by another. They were slowly picking at the tops of the grass and not in a big hurry at all but they weren't getting any closer to us.

All of a sudden my friend whispers,"Three birds, 100 yards coming straight to us!" I slowly turn to my right and 3 gobblers are steady walking our direction. I ease the gun up and get ready. They are spread out at around 15 yards intervals and I'm focused on the lead bird.

This is where trying to film a hunt can be tricky. At 40 yards the lead bird notices the hens and picks up his pace-ALOT. I had switched vests earlier in the day and I forgot to put my mouth calls in it. My friend didn't have his in at the time either so the first bird gets by us. The second starts running and gets past us as well. The 3rd gobbler gets to us and my buddy had him with the camera so he lets out a half hearted yelp with his voice. Unfortunately when he stops he's not in a good shooting lane. I move the gun and of course he spots the movement and turns to get out of Dodge but by then it's too late. I shoot and he folds at 30 steps.

The bird wasn't the biggest of the bunch but it sure was fun to be able to share the experience with a dear friend of mine. This somewhat chaotic hunt is one I'll remember for a long time. I'll post up the score pics tomorrow.

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Congrats Mossy!!!!! Man the team is coming out swinging early! This is awesome and I'm freaking jealous. Nice work!

Congrats gentlemen, I've been working a one gobbler for the past several days. Sunday morning I finally got within 200 yards of where he was roosted. He hit the ground gobbling and must have sounded off 50 times over 20 minutes as he worked my direction, just when I thought he was committed I heard hens cutting and yelping and yep, it was game over. Gotta work for a couple of days but gonna try to get on him again middle of the week after a big storm front moves through. Hope to catch him coming into a big field he sometime frequents, maybe to dry off and warm up some. Good luck to everyone chasing those crazy birds.


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Freaking awesome, Del!!! Great pictures and story.

Mossy on the board with a great bird. Great story. It's always special sharing the hunt with a dear friend. Congratulations.

Mossy, awesome sounding hunt. Nothing like sharing a hunt like that with a buddy. Beautiful color on that bird. Keep hammerin boys!!


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Congrats Mossy!  Another great story, beautiful bird, and great picture!!

Way to go brother. Wow, beauty there......congrats

Way to seal the deal, Mossy !!!!!!

CONGRATS !!!!!!

The last 3 mornings I've been trying to get on a pair of birds but it has been tough. The area these birds like to be in is pretty thick and there's so many ridges and ditches it can be difficult to find the right spot to set up. My dad, who is 73, went with me yesterday morning and we got close but the terrain got us. This morning they were a good ways off and I was afraid I'd run out of time before church so I left them alone. My plan was to ease in this afternoon where they were roosted yesterday morning and stay until dark.

I called about every 20 minutes or so and just enjoyed the evening. At 4 p.m. I cut real loud and a gobbler answered just over the next ridge about 70 yards away. I kept quiet and it only took about 5 minutes before I saw 2 birds top the ridge looking for the hen that was supposed to be there. They'd take a few steps and strut, take a few more steps and strut some more. They made their way down the ridge and when the first one got to 25 yards I yelped, he stuck his head up and my second bird of the season never even flopped when I pulled the trigger. As I checked him out I noticed he was a fine doubled bearded gobbler! He just missed being an upgrade but it doesn't matter. It's only my second multi-bearded turkey ever. Man it was a great day to be in the turkey woods!
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Wow, way to go buddy. Love those black hooks......well done

Well done........again....... Mossy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   CONGRATS !!!!!    :jackson:

That bird's gonna REP-RE-SENT on the score sheet !!!!!     :you_rock:

Heck yeah, Mossy!!!!! Super jealous. I've always wanted to walk up to a multi-bearded bird. Congratulations.

Congratulations Mossy!!!!! Great bird and great story! Ahhhh.....this has me so pumped up!

Congrats!!!

Well done Mossy!


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Way to put em down mossy!!

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Had maybe the most perfect turkey hunt I've ever had this morning. The last few weeks have been absolutely brutal. Seems spring is a little later this year. The 2 birds I got on this morning are a couple of the few that have even answered a call. They were in a perfect mood this morning. I got fairly tight to them off the roost. They pitched away from me and started covering ground fast, and it definitely seemed like they had a destination in mind. Once they got to wherever they wanted to go, I was confident they would be ready to play if I got in their bubble.

I followed behind them and finally arrived on one of the prettiest ridges I've been on. They were on the far end and I got within a 100 yards and started playing the game. It was every turkey hunters dream. They answered the call well and let out one gobble so loud and so close at the very end that i could feel it. It also allowed me to point my gun barrel in the perfect direction, in the perfect opening, in the sun. At 7:45 one of the 2 stepped over the crest at 36 yards and I ended it. It was so perfect and I was sad the game was over after the fact.

I don't know how many "perfect" turkey hunts a man can have in a lifetime, but I am so blessed to have one this morning. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220403/b3c7d7cbeef2841e2fd4d87388bb44cc.jpg)



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I'd agree that was a perfect morning...congrats man!

Sounds like a "dream" hunt. Congratulations


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Congrats Delmar! Great hunt!!!!!

Perfect hunt.............perfect pics..............

You are on a ROLL, brother !!!!    CONGRATS !!!!!

Awesome!!!! Congrats Del!!! I can't wait for Pa to open

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I was fortunate enough to take my last Mississippi bird yesterday afternoon. After sitting out yesterday morning because of stormy weather, I decided to go out yesterday afternoon after getting some schoolwork done. While checking a trail for fresh tracks, I saw this gobbler through the woods, by himself, with a vibrant red head. He saw me, but I didn't think he would go too far.

I drove around him, and thought I better check him from a distance before diving in after him. I let out 3 bubble clucks, and he crushed it immediately. I quickly gained 100 more yards and sat up. He gobbled the entire way down my gun barrel. He came in throwing caution to the wind. Unfortunately, he was beep-bopping through the timber so much I couldn't get a shot I was comfortable with, despite him being at 20 yards. I watched him walk away gobbling, hoping I hadn't just blown my chance.

10 minutes later he gobbled about 300 yards away in another bottom, and it sounded like he was content being there after boogering slightly at the first set up. I didn't think I would be able to call him from that far as I did the first time, so I slowly worked my way down to his level. He crushed the call, and I was just sitting down when I saw his head rise from below the crest. I let him strut and drum one last time, and I used that moment to get my gun ready. When he raised his head again, it was between the tiniest gap in the trees, but at 21 yards I knew my pattern would meet its mark.

He's a beauty of a gobbler. It is always bittersweet to take my last bird here at home, but I'm very thankful for him. I'm also thankful for getting to play the game twice with him, finishing the hunt about 45 minutes after calling him up the first time.


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Congrats again!!! Way to go man!  Awesome story and pictures

ATTA BOY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!     Again.............   :you_rock:

Great story !!!   Ain't it great to have a willing participant for assisted suicide ???    :icon_thumright:

Quote from: Yoder409 on April 06, 2022, 02:40:02 PM
ATTA BOY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!     Again.............   :you_rock:

Great story !!!   Ain't it great to have a willing participant for assisted suicide ???    :icon_thumright:

Thank You! Yessir it sure is! You earn them all one way or another, but it sure is nice to run into one in that kinda mood! Best advice I give people is to go enough to get lucky; it'll make you forget about any hardships or struggles fast!

VERY well done my friend! Those perfect ones are the ones that will keep a guy coming back hoping to replay that very scenario again. A couple more weeks yet for me. My dad and I are headed in a merriams road trip over Easter weekend and then I'll be headed out to random places after that!

Way to go Delmar!!!! You sure know how to make a guy jealous! Congrats again!

Freakin AWESOME, Del!!!! Heck of a season for you in your home state. Hopefully I can have a little bit of that same luck. Congrats

MG!!!!!!! Congrats on a stellar bird! At the risk of calling you out and putting you on the spot, I think you owe us northern folk a story! Congratulations again man! Well done!

Way to go brother. Fantastic job! Beautiful pics again......

Thanks, gentlemen! I just got back from a 2 1/2 day trip to Texas with my best friend and his wife. It was an awesome time of hunting and fellowship. Our host was so gracious, and we managed to run into some turkeys as well.

Thursday afternoon, my friend and his wife went to a spot while I went with our host went to scout around his ranch. Within 30 minutes we spotted 3 gobblers with 9 Jakes. We made a wide loop on them, and I hit my glass call to cut through the 20mph wind. They answered immediately. As I watched a few Jake's about 80 yards out front, the 3 gobblers snuck in in full strut on my left. They went behind a tree and when they reached the other side, I took my first Texas gobbler at 17 steps, less than an hour after arriving on the ranch.
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After spending a few minutes appreciating this gobbler, we decided to get back in the truck and continue to scout. On the next property we go to scout, we spot 3 gobblers with 3 hens about 500 yards down a power line. We make a loop through the woods and set up on a dim road that runs perpendicular to the power line and meets it about 200 yards past where we saw the turkeys.I hit both my mouth yelper and trumpet without a response. The wind was gusting and deafening. I again took out my glass call and after a few loud yelps and cuts, got a response. The gobblers were still on the power line at a 45 degree angle to my left. They continued to answer my calls, and I told David, our host and now new friend, that they were moving to the right and towards the opening of the road. Sure enough, I see 3 hens come into view, followed by the 3 gobblers. They strutted, drummed, and gobbled all the way to 30 yard before I had my second Texas gobbler, a fine double beard, only an hour and a half after taking my first.
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This was the first time I have taken 2 gobblers in a day, and I'm truly blessed to have such memorable experiences in such a short amount of time.
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On Friday, 2 gobblers gave us the slip all morning in a creek bottom with a pecan orchard. I went back in that afternoon, and after 45 minutes of silence, the birds gobbled on their own. They answered my responding yelp immediately, and I watched them with the most vibrant red heads come to 100 yards before deciding they did not want to cross the creek. I watched them drift off, and after 10 minutes of silence, they gobbled about 400 yards away. I was able to put my eyes on them, and use the creek bottom to position myself 70 yards away as they strutted around 4 hens. I never made a call after that, and after 20 or so minutes, the hens began drifting back towards me. I took my 3rd Texas gobbler at 7:30 in the evening at 38 yards.
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On Saturday morning, I went after a bird I had heard the day before behind our lodge. He revealed himself in the gray morning light about 1/2 mile away in a creek bottom. I began making my way to him, but was slowed down by the herd of cattle that would not quit following me as I advanced towards the turkey. After letting the cows lose interest, I positioned myself 20 yards from the creek bottom, and began to play the game. He ate up everything I gave him on my trumpet. After 5 minutes of silence, he gobbled just below the crest directly in front of me. He then stepped out and drummed at a deafening level 15 yards in front of me for what seemed like several minutes, but was probably closer to 30 seconds. He finally periscopes his head, and I took my last Texas gobbler at 7:25 in the morning at 18 yards. He was absolutely beautiful, sporting slightly lighter back feathers for a rio, black, almost Osceola-like wings, and a nice 10.75 inch beard. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220411/3ead04380e3b4d69b84a490e11f7a21e.jpg)
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It was such an amazing weekend. My success and this story is certainly not a testament to my ability, but to the kindness and generosity of our host. I am so humbled to have spent the last few days in beautiful Texas hill country hunting with awesome friends, both old and new.

DANG, SON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You on FIRE !!!!!!!!!!!!   CONGRATS X4 !!!!!

God bless Texas !!!

WOW!!!! That's insane!! What a hunt and great stories. Sounds like a dream. Congrats, Del!! You're having an incredible season.

After all Delmar's updates I couldn't take it anymore. I made it down to Virginia Sunday afternoon to hunt the next three days with Twyatt. This morning started off with us hearing 5 different birds gobbling but we just weren't in the game. We made a quick decision to make a long loop and try to get on the two hottest birds. As we're sneaking in checking out sign I thought I heard a bird drum. We made the call to set up and give it a little bit to see if we could get one to gobble. We didn't have to wait long. As soon as my butt hit the ground a bird gobbled so close it almost blew my hat off. First time getting that close this year had my hands shaking while I was trying to run my slate call. Gosh I love that feeling!!!! Somehow I was able to scratch out a few yelps and he immediately answered. Two more series of yelps and he was thoroughly fired up and closing the distance. From the time I saw him to the time I shot was probably 3 minutes but it felt like 3 hours. Every step was so cautious and every time he paused he looked right at me and burnt a hole into my soul. So naturally I fell apart and whiffed.

While I'm beating myself up Travis is telling me to get my @$$ up because there's another bird gobbling further out the ridge. We hike out the ridge and get to a pond that has been drained with a grassy dam and he's gobbling on the other side. With nothing but 500 yards of grass between us and him we were pinned. We put the decoys out and decided to give it a shot. Nothing I threw at him worked but when Travis hit him with an EZ wingbone he did give us a pair of courtesy gobbles. Long story short he marched across that 500 yard grass field and sprinted the last thirty yards to the decoy. I shot him at 5 yards.......boy am I glad I didn't miss. We hunted hard the rest of the day and found a couple other birds that didn't want to play the game so we got a good starting point for the next couple of days. There's nothing better than hunting turkeys with good friends!

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Hell yeah buddy! Congratulations! Glad yall boys had a great hunt. I know the first one after such a long offseason is always special. Hope you meet the first bird again to settle the score!

Congrats to everyone! Looks like my season is over. Between my dad and I we managed to take home 5 birds. We like to leave a couple gobblers for next year and there's 2 left so we called it quits. I can't complain...any time I'm able to get out and enjoy time with family and friends is always a blessing!

Aren't we missing a story from someone?

ATTA BOY, Z !!!!!!!!!!!!    :you_rock: :you_rock:

Since you redeemed yourself, e won't cut nothing off your shirt tail.........this time.    :TooFunny:

CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!

Congrats team, wow. Great birds for all. Hopefully us late staters can contribute same. Fantastic job......

Great job guys! Delmar, I'm glad a couple of those birds challenged you a bit ;) . Way to redeem yourself sully!

This team dynamic is great, but man I just love that this team LOVES turkey hunting. I hope to contribute this weekend!

Quote from: Mossyguy on April 11, 2022, 10:37:50 PM
Congrats to everyone! Looks like my season is over. Between my dad and I we managed to take home 5 birds. We like to leave a couple gobblers for next year and there's 2 left so we called it quits. I can't complain...any time I'm able to get out and enjoy time with family and friends is always a blessing!

Aren't we missing a story from someone?

Mine were kinda boring, but here goes.  I'd been scouting a good bit last week and I had 2 gobblers marked for termination.  They were very predictable and one didn't mind hanging out in the exact same spot day after day strutting for the ladies.  That one was gonna be mine.  I put my buddy and his son on the other one.  I got a call Friday night and the landowner said he's letting this "chasing49" guy hunt where I was planning on hunting.  I have a lot to say about that but it's not very nice.  I had a couple of less desirable options so I decided I'd take one of those and put my buddy on the bird I had for him.  Saturday morning rolls around and I take my buddy to his spot and give him and his son the skinny on their bird and I unenthusiastically go to one of my backup spots.  Long story short my buddy killed his bird, which I was real excited about, and I thought about what I'd do next.  I set up in a spot where I had seen turkeys the day before and after 2 hours of trying to turn every sound and dark bush into a turkey I went to lunch.  I'm hunting in NC so I can hunt all day.  I decided on going to an old favorite spot where I had seen a gobbler recently.  I picked a good spot in the edge of the woods, set out my decoys and hit the call every now and then.  I heard a close spit and Saturday's turkey came up and proceeded to flog my jake decoy.  I killed him after watching for a bit.  So Sunday morning in VA I had one that had a lot of bad habits in mind.  I set up early Sunday morning to where I thought he was roosting, and repeated the process I had done with Saturday's bird.  Again I hear some angry turkey noises and he strutted into sight.  This particular Tom would strut a little, do his version of a stare down, walk and strut closer...it took a little while.  Eventually he began flogging my jake decoy and got on top and stood on him.  I'm picky about my shots so I waited until he gave me a good look.  But this bird would just stand still on the decoy with his head pointed the other way like a statue for minutes on end.  Eventually he presented his head and neck and I ended him.  I know, I sound like a turkey killer not a turkey hunter.  I much prefer when a bird is talking to me while I'm positioning and calling and repositioning and calling and trying to figure him out, often with only a mouth call and my gun.  But I'll take the high percentage shots if given the opportunity.  There's always one or two a year that want to dance, just haven't run across one yet.


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Quote from: Meleagris gallopavo on April 12, 2022, 09:57:51 PM

Quote from: Mossyguy on April 11, 2022, 10:37:50 PM
Congrats to everyone! Looks like my season is over. Between my dad and I we managed to take home 5 birds. We like to leave a couple gobblers for next year and there's 2 left so we called it quits. I can't complain...any time I'm able to get out and enjoy time with family and friends is always a blessing!

Aren't we missing a story from someone?

Mine were kinda boring, but here goes.  I'd been scouting a good bit last week and I had 2 gobblers marked for termination.  They were very predictable and one didn't mind hanging out in the exact same spot day after day strutting for the ladies.  That one was gonna be mine.  I put my buddy and his son on the other one.  I got a call Friday night and the landowner said he's letting this "chasing49" guy hunt where I was planning on hunting.  I have a lot to say about that but it's not very nice.  I had a couple of less desirable options so I decided I'd take one of those and put my buddy on the bird I had for him.  Saturday morning rolls around and I take my buddy to his spot and give him and his son the skinny on their bird and I unenthusiastically go to one of my backup spots.  Long story short my buddy killed his bird, which I was real excited about, and I thought about what I'd do next.  I set up in a spot where I had seen turkeys the day before and after 2 hours of trying to turn every sound and dark bush into a turkey I went to lunch.  I'm hunting in NC so I can hunt all day.  I decided on going to an old favorite spot where I had seen a gobbler recently.  I picked a good spot in the edge of the woods, set out my decoys and hit the call every now and then.  I heard a close spit and Saturday's turkey came up and proceeded to flog my jake decoy.  I killed him after watching for a bit.  So Sunday morning in VA I had one that had a lot of bad habits in mind.  I set up early Sunday morning to where I thought he was roosting, and repeated the process I had done with Saturday's bird.  Again I hear some angry turkey noises and he strutted into sight.  This particular Tom would strut a little, do his version of a stare down, walk and strut closer...it took a little while.  Eventually he began flogging my jake decoy and got on top and stood on him.  I'm picky about my shots so I waited until he gave me a good look.  But this bird would just stand still on the decoy with his head pointed the other way like a statue for minutes on end.  Eventually he presented his head and neck and I ended him.  I know, I sound like a turkey killer not a turkey hunter.  I much prefer when a bird is talking to me while I'm positioning and calling and repositioning and calling and trying to figure him out, often with only a mouth call and my gun.  But I'll take the high percentage shots if given the opportunity.  There's always one or two a year that want to dance, just haven't run across one yet.


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Keep at it brother, you WILL score!

So I owe a wrap up story on my trip to hunt with Twyatt down in VA. Tuesday we went and chased one heck of a hard gobbling turkey. He was the only bird that wanted to play and boy did he love the sound of his voice. Long story short we played cat and mouse all day and we ran out of time at noon.

Wednesday we went back to the same property we started at just a different section. We set up in a good location where we got into fresh sign late monday. When the first bird gobbled we knew we were again just out of the game. We quickly repositioned and got in the game. Once we got set up on the correct ridge it was clear there were 3 gobblers within ear shot and we were between 2 of them. We called for about an hour and the birds would drift closer then drift away. Finally the bird gobbling behind us started coming. I adjusted to the other side of the fallen pine we were sitting in and got ready. One bird came in and I promptly whiffed. And watched two birds fly away off the ridge, but Travis got to cutting on a wingbone quick and they landed just out of sight down over the crest of the ridge and gobbled. Both those birds then worked back in closer this time and I killed one of the two longbeards. It was a crazy hunt and all I'm going to say is I need to get this first shot miss thing figured out. I shot the gun this weekend thinking I must have bumped the red dot..........I can confirm that I have no such excuse and the misses are all on me. I guess it's a good thing I don't shoot TSS. If I did I might need to get a second mortgage to afford ammo to finish out the season at this rate. The bird had a whopping 4 tail feathers, weighed 18.5lbs, had a 9" beard and 1" spurs not an upgrade so I didn't take any scoring pics.

(https://i.ibb.co/rbJZsYw/E7952-C8-C-E0-D8-439-C-BBCC-7-C450197-B408.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/JpCnsKy/C3139017-CCB1-4303-BE9-A-D923-A187-BE31.jpg)

It was a great trip!! I can't wait to get together again in May for round 2 in PA.

Atta boy Zsully!!! Congratulations on two great birds.

CONGRATS, Zach !!!!

Got your warm-ups in, now.............    :you_rock:

Way to go brother, congrats.....

Whew, what an awesome opening week here in VA.  Zach came down and we had an absolute blast for 3 days.  Got into birds all 3 days, and Zach filled tags Monday and Wednesday with 2 great VA birds.  I don't think we could have asked for a better 3 days.  Weather and birds cooperated perfectly.

On another note, earlier this year my youngest daughter (8yrs old) said she wanted to go try turkey hunting this year.  That was music to my ears, as neither of my daughters has ever really shown any interest in the past.  I promptly picked up a Stevens .410, and hit the patterning board.  I liked it so much I bought one for myself.  Well 2nd trip out with hers to practice, I noticed after cleaning it that there was a crack in the barrel.  Called Stevens, and they had me send the gun back to them.  Ok, no problem, my daughter can use the other one I bought for myself.  Back out to pattern this one, and I start to shoot some bird shot to get the dot lined up, and the trigger is SUPER stiff.  Like no way she'll be able to use this gun.  I get home and put it on my digital scale and the trigger is 11.75lbs of pull.  I call Stevens, and they tell me to send that one back too.  Now I've got a problem, no gun for her, and no ETA from Stevens on getting them back.  So, I go buy ANOTHER 410 - Mossberg SA410.  Get that one all set up and get her practicing, and that all goes well, finally.   So I spend time getting 3 different blinds set up at various places, get chairs in them, everything ready for the youth opener.  Opening week comes and it's cold.  Saturday we hear NOTHING.  I was worried she'd lose interest but she was ready to go back Sunday.  Sunday we hear a whopping 3 gobbles early and then nothing.  Around 9am she decides she's ready to leave, so I try to express the importance of not leaving early, but she's young, and I don't want to make her do anything she doesn't want to do.  Well, we leave at 9am, and at 10am I get a cell cam picture of a gobbler standing right in front of my blind.  I showed her that picture and she cried for 45 minutes.  She was devastated that she had wanted to leave.  To me it was the perfect learning experience.  Anyway, no luck opening weekend. 
Following weekend we sit a different blind, again cold Saturday, we hear a few distant gobbles, have a hen come in, and that's it.  Sunday, cold again, and this time there is a bird HAMMERING behind us on the ridge.  He gobbles from the roost, walks the ridge behind us, and comes down into the next field beside us, and proceeds to gobble about 300 times, but refuses to come into our field.  That got her fired up, but once again we leave empty handed, but she seems excited to keep going, and I'm beyond proud of her for sticking it out in the cold each day, but starting to worry about how long she'll keep interest if I can't get her some action soon.  Zach and I hunt this same place Tuesday, and chase a bird all over the place but can't close the deal, and after the hunt he helps me move my blind over into the field where we had the bird gobbling Sunday.
Friday she's out of school for Easter, and the night before she wasn't feeling too well, and I tried to tell her to stay home and get some rest, but she INSISTED on hunting Friday, and started crying at the mere thought of staying home.  Ok, let's go.  I have higher hopes now that I feel like our blind is in a better spot, and the landowner told me there was a gobbler in that field Thursday afternoon.
  We get there early and get set up, hear a distant gobble, and then a few gobbles out on this same bird's ridge.  Oh boy, here we go again with this same stubborn bird. 
We only hear about 3-4 gobbles early and then nothing.  About 8am, I was just blind calling, and I hear a hen answer me.  After some back and forth with her, I see her come around the corner and into our field, walk all the way to us, and literally stand behind and beside the blind yelping like crazy every time I hit the wingbone.  This went on for quite some time, she's standing 3 feet from the blind, and making all kinds of racket every time I hit the wingbone.  About 40 minutes into this, all of the sudden I hear a gobble RIGHT behind us, maybe 50 yards, but across the creek from us.  My daughter and my eyes got about as big as dinner plates and I told her to get ready.  Well then the hen that's beside the blind walks off behind us and towards him, UGH. I feel like it's over at that point and thought he had just called that hen right to him.  We sit there defeated for about 20 minutes, and I look up and about 80 yards down the field I see a hen pop back out, then another hen.  Hmm, this might get interesting.  I hit the wingbone again, and here come both hens right towards us.  As they get to about 50 yards, out pops a gobbler and quickly follows the hens, right into the decoys.  Now the shaking starts, I don't know who was shaking worse, me or my daughter.   The gobbler goes into full strut, and starts walking slow motion circles around my jake decoy, about an inch from it.  I tell her to get up on the gun, and when he walks back around, put the dot on his waddles and squeeze.  Well, he walks around, she doesn't shoot, so I pull her off and say, when he walks around again, shoot, again she doesn't shoot so I pull her off as he walks around again - this went on FOUR times.  I was about to come unglued and said on the 4th circle, you gotta shoot him when he comes back around, squeeze harder.  He comes around again and she plows him with a perfect shot!  Before saying anything I bolt out of the back of the blind, almost tearing the whole blind down trying to get out to get my hands on him.  I walk up and grab him and turn around and see her walking up to me trembling and crying in pure joy and adrenaline.  It was the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life, and brings tears to my eyes just typing this thinking about her reaction.  I promptly hug her and express how proud I am of her, and then of course I had to video her reaction because it was priceless.  She was shaking so bad she could hardly speak.  Once we both regained some sort of composure, she couldn't wait to call everyone she knew and tell them about the "monster" gobbler she had just killed.   I could not be more proud of her, she was patient, persistent, stuck it out in the cold, didn't flinch, squeezed the trigger like we practiced, waiting on a good shot, etc etc etc.  Everything just went as perfect that day I as I could have ever hoped for.   I think it's safe to say she's officially hooked, and my new best little hunting buddy.
(https://i.ibb.co/rv4sqQv/Riley.png)
 

Congrats to the young lady, and too you twyatt, for putting in the work. Great read and pictures!

Thanks Jeff!

Awesome read twyatt. Congrats to that little girl of yours! Some things just stick with ya forever and I'm sure that's gonna be one of em. T minus 10 days until Indiana opener. 5 full days of chasin.


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That story is what turkey hunting is all about. I remember when Easton (my oldest boy) killed last year I've never been so proud. On top of that I could tell how bad she wanted it. Congrats again man......I know that meant a lot.

Congratulations!  I know how good a feeling that is when your child kills their first turkey.


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Thanks guys, it was definitely a day I will never forget, nor will she.    I also don't think I had even finished packing up before she said "we have to call ZACH!".   I got a huge kick out of that.  Followed by this soft smiling question - "is my turkey bigger than his?"   Hahahahahaha
Almost honey, almost 

Fantastic story, great job. Congrats to all..........

Such a great story Twyatt. Again, congratulations to you both. Happy I was at least one of the calls in the line up to hear the full story over the phone.

FREAKIN' FABULOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:happy0064:  :happy0064:  :happy0064:

CONGRATS to the young lady !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (and all involved)

What an awesome opening week and a half it's been.  I finally got on the board this morning!  After ZSully coming down and having a great 3 days, then my daughter getting a bird, my hopes for the season were already fulfilled, but I can't say I wasn't still anxious to get after one myself.  I wasn't planning on hunting this morning, I had originally planned on trying to go Friday before work, but I saw the weather forecast looked awesome for this morning, and decided to give it a quick try. 
There's not much to this story though, it happened so fast.  I pulled up this morning to my hunt club, and decided to just sit on the tailgate at one of the main road areas that's got pretty good elevation, and has always been a good spot to listen.  I figured I'd just listen for a little while, and if I heard anything I'd try to make a move, if not, I'd head back and just go to work.  Well right off the bat I hear a bird gobble WAAAY down the road.   In hopes of hearing something closer, I sat for another minute or two and he gobbled again.  Ok, time to go.  I think I have a good idea where he is, and I think there's a dirt road leading into that block of woods.  I walk 700 yards down the asphalt road, and hear this bird gobbling every couple minutes.  I sneak down this road a little, around a few blow downs, and see a nice stretch of road that looks perfect to set up on.  Put out the jake and hen in the road, and get seated.  I sit down and look up and I can't see the decoys because of under brush and a little hill beside the road, so I reposition, cut some stuff out of the way, and finally sit back down thinking, man I hope all that rustling around didn't mess anything up, it's been a few minutes since I heard him.  I get my call out and yelp a little and he fires back at me immediately, and sounds like he's probably 200 yards across a creek and up on the next ridge.  I call again, he hammers right back, so I put the call down and wait.  Few minutes go by and then he gobbles again and it sounds like now he's closer, and has come right out onto the point of the ridge and is gobbling right in my direction from about 100ish yards.  Heart starts pumping, and I get ready.  A minute or two go by, and he gobbles again just over the rise and about 50 yards away this time and I almost jump out of my chair.  Then I hear footsteps in the leaves, and see a full fan come up through the brush and up the hill, and he walks in full strut right into the decoys and I shot him at about 12 steps.   Over and done at 6:45 this morning.   Absolute textbook perfect hunt.  Doesn't happen like that often, but it sure is fun when it does.  The 700 yard uphill walk back to the truck with my turkey lounger, decoys, gun, and bird wasn't the most fun, but my fat tail can always use the exercise.  Then I get home to my youngest standing in the driveway jumping up and down congratulating me.   Couldn't ask for a much more perfect morning, and it's always so special when I kill one with a call I made.
(https://i.ibb.co/MCsKrPh/Bird-Pic.png)
(https://i.ibb.co/gD7SgLD/Call-Bird.png)

Congrats Twyatt! Those "textbook" hunts, no matter how rare, are what keeps us coming back again and again.


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Great job Wyatt! I was grinning from ear to ear reading the story of your daughters hunt and wondering how it would all unfold with all those cold days.

Last weekend was my first go at getting after it since my Osceola hunt in early March. My dad and I were scheduled to go to merriams country as he and I both had a long weekend over Easter. We try to plan a turkey trip every Easter and it really makes the holiday even more special . Anyway, snowy weather and super cold temps (like highs in the high 20s and lows in the single digits) made us rethink it. We decided we'd head to Kansas, probably more for me to try and knock kansas off the list, as much as the nicer weather
. WOW! TOUGH! You never really know if it's lip service people are feeding you, or the real deal until you go experience it yourself. We were able to find exactly one group of birds with Toms in the bunch during the duration of our trip. We never even saw a tom AT ALL on private land. The cooler weather and high winds surely didn't help anything, but we got it handed to us. If you're thinking of going to Kansas just don't do it lol.

I ran into a couple guys from Alabama and they were completely bewildered. I said "well that makes me feel better. If a couple turkey killers from Alabama are feeling the same way as I am, then I don't think I'm missing a piece somewhere in here."

With all that said, I think we still could've killed a bird if I wasn't for other hunters. That's the name of the game hunting public but I really had my first run in with a couple turkey hunters I would've liked to have a word with. The first time these turkeys were all grouped up and in the corner of a corn field. We thought we had everything all to ourselves and worked around these birds a couple times trying to call with no results. I was going to have my dad crawl up and see what he could do when all of the sudden the turkeys bolt. I'm going "what the heck" when I see two "kids" walking through the field. I don't think they ever saw these turkeys and were just lazily walking around. Kind of just shrugged it off.

The next day, after driving to a high spot before sunrise we heard a turkey gobble. Nearly the same spot as the day before and no one is parked at the gate. SWEET! Bird flies down into the same corn field but on the other side as the day before. I wish like hell we would've just set up in that field before daylight. Hind sight. But we listened there the night before and didn't hear a peep. Anyway, we cirlce around the bird and it appears he's all alone from the glimpses we can get. Get my dad crawled up under a tree and start on him with the calls. He immediately gobbles back. I hit him again and he gobbles back. This is going to happen. 2 minutes later he gobbles on his own and is basically at the point where I'm hoping my dad can shoot him. I didn't answer. After another couple minutes I call and nothing. I call again, and nothing. 10 minutes go by and I crawl up to my dad to see what's going on. He never saw him but felt like he was really close. So I crawl up to where the bird was last and call. I'm met with hen yelps. Hmmm. I call again and am met with some more interesting sounding hen yelps and then a gobbler shaker call. Then more yelps and another gobblers shaker call. I start throwing my little fit, walk up to where I should be in site of these guys and call. Nothing. I'm kind of wondering how to approach this situation when I see the same 2 kids heading straight away from me right through the middle of the field...again.

A few other close calls in there but that was basically the gist of the trip.

I'll be trying some Rocky Mountain turkeys this weekend.

Thanks POk, and sorry to hear about the poor Kansas experience, that stinks big time.  Best of luck on your upcoming hunts, hopefully they go better than that one.

Great job, TW !!!!!!

Nice workmanship on the homemade call, too !!!    :you_rock:

Congrats to all!

Congrats Twyatt! That's awesome. Pok3, sorry to hear that. I will say of all the places I've been. Kansas and Nebraska are my least favorite....by a lot.

I've spent the last 6 days getting my butt kicked in Kentucky. I missed Easter morning, not because of poor marksmanship, but because I made an idiotic, shameful decision and took a terrible shot. I was pretty upset with myself after the fact, luckily I heard him gobble yesterday so he's no worse for wear.

Today was my last day, as I had to leave at 1:00 to meet some buddies in another state. It was a rainy, windy morning, and I heard no roost gobbles. I changed locations, going to a spot I haven't been all week. I saw a large field well back that I thought to check due to the rain. Sure enough, there was a gobbler and 3 hens in the field. I crawled into position, and had my bead on the gobblers head for at least 20 minutes. My rangefinder would not shoot past the brush on the field edge, and after Sunday's Miss, I did not want to take any chances. The gobbler kept moving to my right, and when he got to my 3:00, I knew he was well within range. I yelped to get his head up, and in my awkward position, jerked the shot so bad I don't know if I will ever miss a turkey as badly as I did.

After missing a gift bird at 10:00 on the last day of my trip, I was somewhere between depressed and angry. I knew I was about to have a five hour drive with no turkeys and 2 misses under my belt. I thought about leaving then and calling it, but this year I've really tried to keep a positive attitude and choose to be happy when things just aren't clicking. I decided to give it 3 more hours just for the sake of trying.

I biked another 2 miles to the end of the ridge and half heartedly cut on my trumpet. 2 gobblers answered in the bottom. They did not seem to have the best attitude, so I worked my way down the mountain into the bottom. I luckily saw them from the sharp crest and sat down on them. The flock was at 60 yards and would drift 10-15 yards away, i would yelp, and they would drift back. The last time this happened, I watched the gobblers head change colors and they finally broke. At 12:28 on the last day, I took this fine KY long beard. Redemption makes you forget your low points quickly!

Appalachia is absolutely gorgeous. Them mountain hardwood easterns are something special! (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220422/f31b238b6a18c9d9c3490c64c1ba47a9.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220422/1835d120c2d63cac10bbe12271f6f3d4.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220422/78f6995a274f83e68ff2ceca119b64f2.jpg)


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Can't say I disagree with you Delmar! Congrats on another fine bird!!

Great bird and great pics !!!!!

CONGRATS, again !!!!!    :you_rock:

POK3 sorry about the trip to Kansas. It's a real bummer to have the weather shut the birds down. You just gotta get back on that horse and get after them again.

Delmar!!!!!!!!  That's awesome! Congrats for like the 12th time this year!!!

I'm real pumped to get my oldest son out tomorrow. Hopefully we have an update mid-morning.

Congrats to everyone on the hunts so far this year!

POK...hate to hear about your trip to Kansas. The only time I have been there was a few years ago. The weather felt more like deer season-cold, rainy and windy but we hunted with an outfitter so finding birds wasn't a problem. We drove all day from Mississippi, scouted that evening, tagged out by the next evening, and drove back home the next day.

Congrats on your Kentucky bird Delmar...I lived on Fort Knox for 3 years and they had 3 things up there and they were all huge-bucks, turkeys, and mountains! It was one of my favorite places to hunt!

2 birds, 2 states, 1 day. 

I'm fortunate enough to have been raised right on the Eastern NC/VA border and me and my family own and have access to private land in both states.  I took full advantage of that today.

My day started out in VA on some turkeys I'd been looking at this week.  Got to my spot and set up, did a little calling and no gobbling on the roost.  About 7:00 AM one fired up on the ground about 200 yards away.  He doesn't respond to my mouth call so I switched to one of my pots.  Bingo!  He started cutting me off and gobbling each time I hit the call.  I gave him the silent treatment a bit, then I hit him again and he's closed the distance to about 75 yards.  I keep hitting him and he's coming in hot.  Once he spots my hen decoy I let him close until about 20 yards and I dust him.  I take him to my nearby commercial fridge at work and go to NC.  I ride around a bit, settle on a place and end up leaving to go grab lunch and take care of some honey-dos.

I go back to the same spot about 3:30 in the afternoon.  This is a turkey infested hole and I knew I'd see one at some point.  This is more like an ambush because they don't gobble in the afternoon around here unless you find one that really wants to die.  I hit the call a little and sat it down and waited.  About 4:30 I see a couple of birds coming to me, but they seem disinterested in the decoys.  About 5:00 I see 2 coming in hot to my left, both longbeards.  They approach the jake decoy with some trepidation and the smaller Tom backs off.  The larger Tom got a little closer but turned away like he was gonna go so I popped him. 

These birds did not score better than my previous 2, but one had a pretty healthy double beard.  One tag left and that's in VA.

On the way back to the truck I saw the bigger dominant Tom with 2 hens.  That bird was something!


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Pennsylvania Youth Day Success

Yesterday was the Pennsylvania youth turkey day. I've spent every morning this past week scouting before work and Thursday and Friday after work. During the evening scouting trips the boys learned about private property and permissions. They asked for permission to hunt three different properties and all three farms granted permission to hunt. So we picked what we thought was the best starting point for Saturday and a_jabbo and I took my oldest. The morning broke clear with high pressure......perfect gobbling weather......except the birds didn't cooperate. I think we heard a grand total of 3 gobbles from the roost and there wasn't anything close. After fly down a pair of gobblers lit up and there was no doubt that we picked the wrong side of the road to hunt. Around 8:00 those birds had gone silent and Easton was getting impatient. So we made the decision to pull everything down and move to another farm down the road. We get set back up in a new spot about 8:15 and things were pretty quiet for the next hour but about 9:30 there was a gobble down over the hill from our set up. A_jabbo started laying it on pretty thick with the cutting and yelping and these birds were really fired up and there is no doubt these birds are coming. At one point I thought the calling may have been a little too much and I may have telepathically wished A_jabbo would swallow that dang call. Regardless of my thoughts about "over calling" the birds were eating it up and coming hard and fast. When they broke the field the bigger bird went into full strut and worked right to the Jake decoy at 20 yards. At that point Easton showed great patience waiting for the second bird to clear the strutter and squeezed off a shot. When that little 410 barked the bird flipped over backwards and never flopped. Then the excitement and shakies set in. He's still floating on cloud nine and was telling everyone at our family get together about how he killed a giant longbeard. It really gets me fired up watching Easton fall in love with turkey hunting. I owe Adam a huge thanks for all the calling but more importantly being half a pack mule with all the gear we carry to make it happen.

(https://i.ibb.co/p2gfZK6/3209282-F-4-DD3-40-AB-84-AB-B98-A61-F51-E38.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/vwVx2MT/7-B595-CE6-3-CF9-4-E3-B-B5-D3-3314-CC628-BEF.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/t8MvxP2/6873-B532-4372-4-EF0-9610-91562-EA7-ABF2.jpg)

Well done!  Congratulations!


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CONGRATS to the young man !!!!!!!!!

:icon_thumright: :you_rock: :icon_thumright:

Congratulations! Great job by all involved.


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Congrats again bro! I know Easton is pumped, and I know the work you and AJab put in to make it happen.  Great job all around!  Congrats again Delmar and MG!  Looks like this team is on fire, with more seasons getting ready to start up north.

On another note - I scored yesterday on a quick morning hunt.  Got set up early on the same field my daughter shot her bird in.  Heard a few gobbles across from me up on the ridge about 200 yards away, and another bird gobbling like crazy but a LONG ways off, back up the hollow beyond where I had parked.  This far bird gobbled at everything, crows, me, the other gobbler on the ridge, he was fired up, but again he was a good ways off, and what I thought was too far away to want to play at the time.  Right at first light a jake pitches out of a tree and lands right behind me, walks around me at about 5 yards, and across the field I'm sitting in, making all kinds of racket when he sees the jake decoy.  The gobbler on the ridge starts gobbling back at the jake, and for a brief moment, I thought he was coming off the ridge, but the jake crosses the field, crosses the creek, and walks up the ridge towards the gobbler, and I only hear them gobble together once more, then all goes quiet.  I sit for a few minutes, call a little, and hear nothing. Well now the cows start coming into the field I'm in.  Wonderful.  A few cows feed by me, and the remaining 50 or so cows are spread out all around the field now. I hit the wingbone pretty hard, and with no response I decide that there's no way anything is coming into this field now, so I start packing up and go to pick up my decoys, thinking I'll go wander around and see if I can find that other bird way back up the hollow.  Well I make it about halfway to my decoys, and I hear GOBBLE, and he's CLOSE.     Oh crap! I turn around and almost dive back to my chair and try to get set up fast.  That bird gobbled so close I don't know how he didn't see me, but about the time I turn around and get settled into my chair, I see 2 gobblers come into the field.   They stare in my direction for a while, feed a little, walk a little, and I'm still thinking, there's now way those birds are going to navigate around 50 cows and come over here, but that's exactly what they did.  They literally slowly weaved in and out of all of those cows, and got to about 20 yards from the decoys, and then sprinted the rest of the way in, and one proceeded to start pounding my jake.  Finally one stood still long enough for me to get a shot, and fortunately I had a huge gap with no cows in my line of fire whatsover.   
He's not an upgrade, so I didn't post it.  He had a 9" beard, 1" and 1 1/8" spurs, but only weighed 16.75lbs.  Definitely the lightest bird I've ever shot.  It was a beautiful morning and an awesome hunt.  Very fortunate he gobbled when he did, or I'd have surely been busted.
(https://i.ibb.co/rc5S9sS/Turkey.png)

Fantastic job, congrats.........

Way to go, TW !!!!!!!!!!

:you_rock:

Congrats!


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Dang Pok, sorry to hear about the rough Kansas experience. I'd like to try my luck out there one day.

You're having a heck of a season, Del! Despite some rough moments, Congrats,,,, again! haha

Congrats Mel!!

As for the youth hunt and my calling...I definitely blacked out and forgot what I was doing. haha but given it was the first hunt of the season for us and those birds got so fired up, they made me even more fired up. Worked out to be a great hunt and a hilarious memory that will last a lifetime.


Heck yeah, Twyatt!! 

Today is our second day in NJ. I Hunted from daybreak yesterday, did not hear a gobble. Covered a lot of ground, hunted till 11:30. Went to another spot today where I pre-season scouted. He was there, but roosted lower. I originally set up above him, but when he started gobbling, I knew I had to get down, closer. I made 2 moves in dark, finally nesting against a big pine. He gobbled at crows. I hit my push pin, 3 clucks. He gobbled.  I know he knew where I was. I used my hat, and did a fly-down, then scratched leaves. He double gobbled. A few minutes later, I heard him fly down in my direction. He was in thick cover. I hit the flute with a low cut, followed with 2 clucks on my pushpin. He gobbled, I am done calling. A few minutes later, I heard him coming. He popped up on a log trial at 30 yards. I saw he was a large bird, once I saw the beard, I waited, he started walking up trail along side me. I made my move when he stepped behind a tree, then he stepped out, I handed him some Fed Heavyweight number 7's. I was a happy camper, great cloudy day hunt. Thanks for listening....

Congrats Tom, nice bird!


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Thanks my friend.....

Congrats Tom!!!!!!!

Awesome job, congrats Tom, They were pretty quite in SJ also. Was thinking they got hunted hard for youth opener?

Quote from: JeffC on April 26, 2022, 12:38:51 PM
Awesome job, congrats Tom, They were pretty quite in SJ also. Was thinking they got hunted hard for youth opener?

CONGRATS, Tom !!!!!!!     :icon_thumright:

Killerz just keep on killin' !!!     :you_rock:

Thanks team. I want to thank you for taking me on, looking forward to hopefully adding to our harvest. Let's stay at em, we got some more hunting!

Way to go Tom!

Quote from: Mossyguy on April 26, 2022, 07:55:05 PM
Way to go Tom!

Thanks much....

Quote from: JeffC on April 26, 2022, 12:38:51 PM
Awesome job, congrats Tom, They were pretty quite in SJ also. Was thinking they got hunted hard for youth opener?

Thanks so much. I do not see many youth hunters in my area, not that there isn't any. It's just spotty with Tom's the last few years. I did about 20 days of scouting, only found a few Tom's. This is one of them. I did not go after him on opening day ( I should have) because he was in a tough spot that I felt he wouldn't get bothered. Thank god it seemed like he didn't, he gave me the opportunity and I got lucky...be well, best of luck moving forward...

Congrats  Tom007!!!!! Real nice bird. Way to go man!

Awesome bird Tom007!  Well done!


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Quote from: Meleagris gallopavo on April 28, 2022, 06:18:35 AM
Awesome bird Tom007!  Well done!


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Quote from: zsully on April 27, 2022, 08:30:47 PM
Congrats  Tom007!!!!! Real nice bird. Way to go man!

Thank you so much for the opportunity......Be safe guys....

Congratulations, Tom, on a great gobbler!!! Saturday is the opener here in PA and hoping to add some more stories for the group.

Quote from: a_jabbo on April 28, 2022, 11:36:37 PM
Congratulations, Tom, on a great gobbler!!! Saturday is the opener here in PA and hoping to add some more stories for the group.

Good luck my friend, nail a big one!......thank you......

Great bird Tom! Congrats. I hit it hard the last 3 days in Indiana. Unfortunately the birds just weren't in the right mood for me. Weather has been pretty pathetic here. I'm hoping to get another crack at them next weekend. I'm in the process of moving so my free time this year has been plagued plus trying to raise an 11 month old boy has been taking up more free time than birds this year but being a dad has trumped any bird I have taken and boy does he love turkey calls! Hopefully I can make it happen before the 16th!


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Quote from: Hoosier2 on April 29, 2022, 08:14:49 PM
Great bird Tom! Congrats. I hit it hard the last 3 days in Indiana. Unfortunately the birds just weren't in the right mood for me. Weather has been pretty pathetic here. I'm hoping to get another crack at them next weekend. I'm in the process of moving so my free time this year has been plagued plus trying to raise an 11 month old boy has been taking up more free time than birds this year but being a dad has trumped any bird I have taken and boy does he love turkey calls! Hopefully I can make it happen before the 16th!


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I am hearing that all over. Weather in NJ after Tuesday got horrible, windy as heck, and downright cold. Good luck to you, I am hitting NY tomorrow, weather looks good.....be safe

So, I put this guy to bed via long distance surveillance Friday evening.  He went up with 3 hens at the far corner of one of our fields.  I pretty much knew what this morning's game plan would be.  So I got into the woods edge bright and early........or more like dark and early and waited.  He fired up on the limb and gobbled a good bit.  Not a crazy lot.  But nice to listen to.  Toward flydown time I gave a few tree yelps.  He gobbled back but not aggressively.  I went quiet.......waiting for him to fly down.  I look out in front of me in the field and here comes a hen.   She was down and 150 yards up the field to me before the tom ever left the limb.  She started clucking and looking for me.  I heard the other birds pitch down and he gobbled once right after he hit the ground.  The hen clucking in front of me fired up the other two hens which were still 100+ yards to my right.  They were ALL SORTS of P.O.'ed and cutting up a storm.  They started to sound like the jealous type that would take the boy and go the other way. So I didn't call at all..........for probably 20 minutes.  Silence.  Then I hear one of the hens to my right yelping much more calmly.  I laid out a series just like she did and she answered back.  We went back and forth with friendly yelps.........her getting closer and closer.   Then I can see her coming.  Then I can see a full fan coming.  slowly she kept coming.  Slowly he kept following in full strut.  The hen passed in front of me with her white-headed boyfriend bringing up the rear.  At 30-31 yards, he semi broke his strut.  My red dot had been on his wattles for the last 30 yards or so.  The hammer fell on a Heavy 7 and opening morning success was mine.

The Delmar Odonnell photography award I will never receive.    :TooFunny:

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52040303042_bebd8c2279_b.jpg)

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52041595404_0f45b36bd0_b.jpg)

The weird thing about this morning............ The broken wing.  It is compound fractured and apparently it was self-inflicted as he did his death flop.  No pellets went through there.  But the bone was broken completely in two.  VERY strange.

Great job brother....

Congrats man....those are some pretty woods up there!

Quote from: Mossyguy on May 01, 2022, 10:34:06 AM
Congrats man....those are some pretty woods up there!

Thanks.

You'd have loved the pretty woods last Thursday when it was snowing...............    :z-dizzy:

Congrats! Nice plan and even better bird!


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Wooo! Finally on the board with a mature bird. I've been trying like crazy to get up to my usual stomping grounds in the black hills and surrounding areas but the weather has been complete garbage every weekend. Like, 2 DIFFERENT snow storms that dumped 1.5-2.5 FEET of snow depending on where you were. That was followed by bitter cold temps (like highs in the 20s). A buddy (who just moved to Wyoming from Oregon) and I had planned on hitting the black hills this weekend but the weather reared it's ugly gead again, dumping rain on already wet and muddy roads from the previous snow.

So we hit plan B which is Colorado. I had been a couple times and really couldn't wrap my head around anything there and find a "home". The birds are so spread out and nomadic that it just makes you want to pull your hair out finding sign but zero birds. Well this was the only game in town so we decided to really go for it.

We both left after work Friday and sped down there to roost birds. Nothing. Great. There was a spot I had heard a gobbler on two separate mornings but a year apart, and I couldn't figure out how to get into this piece of public. All the roads in there, came in off private land except potentially one. We decided it was our only option and we're up at 4 AM to make the 2 hour drive all the way around. We got there in perfect time to hear two different birds.

I wanted my buddy, Jared, to shoot first so we set up on bird #1 and got him into about 80 yards but never did see him as he skirted around. Jared decided to sneak up so I dropped to the back side of the ridge. After 5-10 minutes I see the birds all the way over to our right about 500 yards away. I decided I was in perfect position to make a move, so I did! I sprinted around to get set up ahead of the birds and gave out a series of yelps. He gobbled behind me! I moved a couple times and noticed he was over a steep bank from me. I snuck to the edge against a juniper and waited. I thought maybe I had bumped him when I heard PSST VRMM VRMMM right down my gun barrel. About that time he raised his head up above the brush. I thought "that's a 40 yard shot", called to him hoping to get him to come toward me a few feet and out of the brush but he simply moved his head higher. I decided it was now or never and dumped him there! A beautiful merriams in some different turkey country!


(https://i.ibb.co/wrLrcK5/0-ABA1-E6-B-E06-F-4151-A3-EC-7-EA9-F9-E7-C348.jpg) (https://ibb.co/sJPJWF8)

On our way out of that area we had a tom cross in front of us on the county road that bordered private land. We decided I'd drop Jared off at his truck, he would head back into the public side, while I cleaned my bird, searched for more gobblers, and roosted birds in the evening. About 7:00 as I climbed a ridge to listen, I got a text that there was no need and the bird was dead! What started as a trip with not much to go on, ended very quickly with both birds being taken on day 1.

(https://i.ibb.co/JCqxCrD/AF1-EFBEC-08-FE-4-F98-BBE6-EEC0-CFC542-FF.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Ws0DsBm)

Great stories and great pics !!!!!!!!!!    :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

CONGRATS to you both !!!

Fantastic job, great story.....congrats

Thank you gentlemen! What a whirlwind of a couple days but some fun times, and also PERFECT spring weather yesterday with blue skies and almost no wind. Really the first day all year it's been a joy to just be outside!

Also, as far as this contest is concerned, it looks like my bird will push us over that 500 point mark. Happy to have the lowest scoring bird on the team! ;)

Way to go guys!!!!

Well..................... The good is I was blessed to harvest another beautiful Easten longbeard at 6:10 this morning.  The bad is that he is not a team upgrade over my bird from Saturday.  The ugly is.......... I'm done.  Tagged out and it's 362 days til season opens again.    :(

I decided last night I was going to hunt one of my favorite "killing spots".  It's just one of those storied places.  To do well there, you have to get in EARLY.  The setup is only 90-100 yards uphill from the roost area and the woods is pretty open.  It's close to a half mile walk in the dark.....and this morning.....fog.   Can't use a light.  Bout only the last 125 yards is in the woods.  So I leave early, take my time and pick my way to a double cherry I call "the killing tree".  Got all situated by around 5:00 and waited.  At 5:27 a bird lit one off right down the hill.  Right where he was supposed to be.  I started glassing but couldn't pick him out.  But I did find a hen to the left of him.  He gobbled maybe 20-30 times from the limb.  The fog had pretty much dissipated and daylight was gaining fast.  So I got the gun on the stick and pointed downhill.  Dot turned on.  The hen I had glassed started tree talking softly.  And after a minute or two dropped out and landed 30 yards in front of me and 15 yards left.  Then another hen....maybe two..... dropped about 35 yards to my right.   The hen to my left came up the hill about 10 yards closer then crossed in front of me headed toward the hen on my right.  I glanced downhill from the hen to my right and see the top half of a fan.  Then hear the spit and drum.  From the time I saw him, I decided he was marginally in range and do-able if I had to.  The hens had gotten pretty much together to my right and were just milling around.  Then they started to walk on up the hill toward the level I was sitting on.  The gobbler had been strutting the whole time in the exact same spot. But he dropped strut and took a few steps up hill and fanned again.  I let out a series of soft yelps on a diaphragm.......waited about 10 seconds and did it again.  No change.  I really didn't want him to take the same path up the hill as the hens because shot opportunities were going to be few in that direction.  So I gave him another string of about 5 subdued yelps and he turned his big white head and spun to look right at me.  He strutted a few steps my way.  I had the dot on his wattles.  I let out another quiet series and he sort of broke strut ad his head came up slightly.  The trigger came tight and the deal was sealed.  6:10 AM with a 40-ish yard shot.  I went to my bird and found he was not the one I had hoped he was.  But that's huntin'.  I grabbed him up by the legs and he gave me something I've never had in 43 years of turkey hunting.............. A boo-boo.  Lousy turd didn't have monster spurs.  But one of them was sharp enough to bleed me through my Under Armour glove.

I didn't weigh him yet.   But I'm saying 17 pounds.  8 1/2" on the beard and   1" & 1 1/8" on the spurs.

So no upgrade.  But just a picture perfect, textbook hunt on a BEAUTIFUL morning.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52045089280_fa4cfdb4c1_b.jpg)

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52043533257_1123b9684f_b.jpg)

It's nice to have one of those spots where the magic happens year in and year out...congrats!

Thanks !!!

The place is just an ideal setup....... IF you get it figured out.   I hunted this particular place for years before I figured out exactly how to approach things.    There are several obvious, good looking setup spots that will get you nothing but frustrated.  About 5 years ago I figured it out.   It's been an AMAZING spot ever since.

Great job Yoder! I think you better make a road trip or two to scratch that itch a little more!

Quote from: POk3s on May 02, 2022, 12:25:57 PM
Great job Yoder! I think you better make a road trip or two to scratch that itch a little more!

I'd sure like to.............................

Heck yeah Yoder!!!! Couple great gobblers!! Congrats.

Way to go, POK!!!!!

Great stories fellas. I owe you fellas a story later today.

Gentlemen!!!!!!! Congrats on the birds and........Yoder!!!! Dang you don't waste any time do you? I'm glad I'm not a turkey in your neck of the woods! A_jabbo and I have been getting after them too after Saturday totally whipped us 2 have taken a ride in the truck the last two days. I'll let him tell his story from Monday. As for my story from today, it started yesterday when I saw a longbeard courting a hen on a historically good but small farm. This year they just haven't been there and since it's only a little over 30 acres it's a swing for the fences kind of farm. Yesterday evening when on my way home from work I saw a big old gobbler (maybe the same one) all by himself at about 4:30. Since my youngest had a t-ball game this would be the last look at him I was going to get for the evening. Apologies for the sideways pics. I don't know how to fix it.

(https://i.ibb.co/q7dgqjK/56-F567-EE-6-ED1-40-F7-A002-4130-EF07-D0-C4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wBRQGgV)

That big ole rope out front was too tempting not to take a swing before work this morning though. So we met early and picked the perfect spot for an early morning meeting.....if he was there. As we got everything set in the pitch dark a bird down over the hill let's put the first gobble of the morning....he's close-ish but not real close and he's across a road. About the 6-7 time he gobbled I can't stand it anymore and decide we need to move down the hill and chase this bird. On our way down the hill in the pre-dawn grey we run into a tree with 3 birds roosted in it. They are all still tucked and none the wiser so we backed back up the hill and set up hopeful that one had a long beard. Just about the time we get set up in our new location a bird with a deep throaty gobble let's one rip from right where we left. I've never been a patient man when it comes to turkeys and it looked like it was going to bite me in the butt again. Things looked even more grim when the birds roosted below came in......5 jakes. They proceeded to beat the ever living daylights out of my decoy while the bird we should've been set up on keeps gobbling from the tree. At about 6:45 his gobble changes and it's clear he's on the ground now. We make a move up the hill to get on the same level as him and as we're moving Adam spots a bird in the field about 90 yards out. We hit the deck and I take the only cover I had which was a small tree the size of a broomstick. Now it's at this point where one would think that the jig is up. There's a bird in a field who has seen something but isn't sure what and a man the size of a respectable NFL lineman hiding behind a broomstick with a gun and another man sized man laying on the ground trying to turn himself into a log. While I'm this predicament Adam has the brilliant idea to scratch the leaves like a turkey feeding and that bird in the field starts coming. When he enters the woods he was behind a thorn bush at 35 yards coming closer and I'm thinking I'm a hot second away from a slam dunk. That's when this bird finally realizes that there's a fat guy behind a broomstick with a gun in his living room. He putts 2x and starts making his departure but not before he cleared one final opening and the new 20gauge barked. That bird hit the deck and never flopped until I had my hands on him and what a bird he is!!!!! Score pics coming tomorrow. He is an upgrade! Keep after em gents!!


(https://i.ibb.co/XXx0whd/1-EC80167-EA35-4-BCE-A1-CD-DCA490-A6-DC24.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Zdz4Znw)
(https://i.ibb.co/cCxQCjB/7-E9-F6689-35-EF-46-BC-97-CC-28-C6-F6224-D78.jpg) (https://ibb.co/fnQHnsg)

WAY TO GO, ZACH !!!!!!!!!!!!!       :you_rock:

Great job, fantastic bird....congrats......

Turkeys don't have a chance with this team...laying 'em down!

Heck yeah boys!  Keep up the good work!

Way to go, gentlemen! Great birds and great stories! This has been a great year for this team! This "competition" is my favorite aspect of OG; hearing y'alls success stories never gets old!

I bought an Iowa tag before the season started, which I though I would use last week, but I unfortunately had to come back to Mississippi for a funeral. I had school exams this past weekend, and after taking my last exam ever on Sunday (woohoo), decided to hit the road for a few days so I wouldn't eat this tag. After an 11 hour drive, I pulled up in Iowa at 3AM and kicked the seat back to get an hour of shuteye.

When I got out of the truck, the weather wasn't great: cold, clammy, and windy, but after a short hike I could hear 3 different gobblers, all across the river. I went back to the truck, drove around, and made my way to them. I began hunting one gobbler, but it quickly became apparent he had company and was not ready to play. His buddy across the holler, however, had quite the attitude. The woods were WIDE open, so I couldn't really close any ground on him. While I am inching my way to him, someone on private began target practicing, and the bird shut up and drifted down a little bit.

I made my way to the ridge where he was and sat down, waiting for him to crank up again. After an hour or so, my impatience got the better of me and I decided to try my best to strike him. As the woods were so open, I stayed in a thicket of briars and soft called/scratched as I picked my way through. I stepped into a small opening in the thicket and me and this gobbler were 5 yards from each other, about to step on each other. I don't know who was more surprised. He obviously took off after finding out this hen was a big clumsy redneck, but slowed down at 30 yards. He came into one last opening and I shot at 10:30. It was certainly bittersweet; it happened so fast there was no chance for the adrenaline to kick in. Still, he was an absolutely beautiful Eastern, and a huge one at 25 pounds.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220504/543448ce8e9c8f0e29d8dd2410c0235d.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220504/04b9223459b1d345f17ea2b5c62a42f9.jpg)
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The Machine !!!!

Strikes again !!!!

Way to go, brother !!!!!!!    :you_rock:

Quote from: Yoder409 on May 04, 2022, 11:03:46 AM
The Machine !!!!

Strikes again !!!!

Way to go, brother !!!!!!!    :you_rock:

X10, wow. He is the "Executioner, Hammer, Turkey Duster" all wrapped into one. I am so glad I am not a Turkey in any woods that you frequent!. Congrats, Wow.......

Congrats again Delmar!!!  Once again great story and pictures!!!

Can we just go ahead and unanimous vote Delmar MVP of the OG turkey slaying contest and get that dude a trophy? Good grief Delmar! Congratulations!!

Quote from: zsully on May 04, 2022, 10:12:22 PM
Can we just go ahead and unanimous vote Delmar MVP of the OG turkey slaying contest and get that dude a trophy? Good grief Delmar! Congratulations!!

I'm not sure who'd even come in a close second...............     :agreed:

Congrats guys! Y'all are killing them, literally!!


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Quote from: Yoder409 on May 04, 2022, 10:15:34 PM

Quote from: zsully on May 04, 2022, 10:12:22 PM
Can we just go ahead and unanimous vote Delmar MVP of the OG turkey slaying contest and get that dude a trophy? Good grief Delmar! Congratulations!!

I'm not sure who'd even come in a close second...............     :agreed:

It's unanimous, "The Mighty Delmar" is our MVP!.............

I sure do appreciate the kind words guys, but my successes are much more a product of the time I get to spend in the woods than it is any skill. I start my job in June, so I won't be able to hunt this much for very longer. I'm certainly not trying to add up numbers, just trying to enjoy every day I'm allowed to be outside chasing God's greatest creation and not take a single one for granted.


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Delmar!! Congrats once again, and a big congratulations on taking your last exam ever! I, too, did that one time, but unlinked you, I didn't know that would be my last one!  :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

Certainly can't fault a guy for hunting as much as he can when he's gifted that much time! Good on you! You never know when this opportunity will present itself again! MVP!

Quote from: Delmar ODonnell on May 05, 2022, 01:43:46 PM
I sure do appreciate the kind words guys, but my successes are much more a product of the time I get to spend in the woods than it is any skill. I start my job in June, so I won't be able to hunt this much for very longer. I'm certainly not trying to add up numbers, just trying to enjoy every day I'm allowed to be outside chasing God's greatest creation and not take a single one for granted.


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You a humble guy, congrats on those birds my friend

FINALLY able to find some time to hit the keyboard and do a little story time.

Bird #1

After getting our butts absolutely handed to us on Saturday, I was feeling rather humbled. Given my work schedule, and having the ability to get out for a couple hours in the mornings during the week, I really wanted to hit it hard. Sunday I took a drive to try and do some long distance observing. Well, it didn't take long for me to hit one of our spots and be greeted with 3 gobblers out in a field. It was around 6:30, so I had a couple hours before fly up and I was committed to sticking with these birds to watch their every move. Motto- Don't leave birds to go find birds. I watched these birds for hours as they slowly made their way up the hill, and I watched them dip over the crest around 8:30 and new they wouldn't be far. I immediately called Zsully to go over the plan of attach. I arrived at 4:30 to our spot the next morning, and drove up the well road to make sure there wasn't anyone else there that had beat me to our spot. My heart sank, as I saw a truck in the headlights. Stopped and asked the gentleman if he was hunting, and it happened to be the well tender. SPHEWWW. Zach arrived shortly after I got parked and we made the walk in to get setup. Shortly after daylight, the gobblers started going off right out in front as I expected. The gobbles continued as it got lighter and lighter. We were setup probably 50 yards from a well road, and little did we know there was going to be a TON of well traffic that day. Truck after truck started passing, and I was sure it was going to mess the hunt up and push the birds away from us. It didn't seem to have an affect on them, as the gobbles continued to get closer. We had a hen come out to our right, and shortly after, 3 more hens came over the hill and we hanging out at 20 yards. Off to my left I saw a Jake crest the hill, and I heard Zach say he saw a full fan behind it. I saw the gobbler, and I could see a second gobbler behind him. I wanted us to double up, so I was trying to be patient and see if they would work into the decoys. The Jake came over and start pecking the decoy for a bit, and seemed to get uninterested pretty quickly. The gobblers were at about 25 yards to my left, and Zach was to my right. The hens started drifting away and appeared to be toting the gobblers with them. Zach said take the shot when I get it. Both gobblers were in view standing at full strut. BOOM!! I took the first one the gave me the most clear shot.

(https://i.ibb.co/j4gkMFH/IMG-0934-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0JhyM3Q)

Bird #2

What can I say, besides, this mornings hunt was absolutely incredible. I got out late last night to scout around all of our properties we can hunt, and given the weather we had and the late evening, nothing was looking very promising for the next morning. At the very last property I was going to swing by, and mind you, it was about 8:20. I knew it was a shot in the dark and more than likely everything was roosted by now. I turn down the road, and just as I thought birds were roosted, but I had luck on my side and I was able to see them in the trees with my Bino's from a distance. Again, called Zach and came up with a plan for the morning. We knew we were going to be getting in pretty close to these birds, so we showed up pretty early and we were able to get through the woods to the gas line, luckily, without having to use any lights. And THANK GOD we were able to accomplish that. We pick our spot and sit and wait. As it starts to get just a little bit lighter, I could see a black blob in the trees at about 60 yards. Sure enough I was able to make out tail feathers moving up and down. We didn't realize just how tight we were going to be to these birds. Im watching this bird go in and out of half strut in the tree, and I slowly look around the tree to my right and can make out 5 other birds in a tree about 125 yards. The closest bird flew down around 5:50 and pitched out below us. Not a peep on the roost, but once he hit the ground he started letting every other bird know that it was time to come join him. The hens started in the trees, and then slowly one by one they all pitched out in his direction. Now there's two gobblers going off down the hill below us. I started getting mouthy with them on the call. Then out in front of us, 2 other gobblers start going off at probably 100-150 yards, and it sounds like they want to join the party. So I'm going back and forth with the hens, and all the gobblers are loving it. Responding to almost every call. The birds below us are working their way up to us, but behind us in the woods (we're setup in some brush on a gas line, facing the open gas line). I let out a series of cuts and fast yelps, they hammer at about 30 yards below us. I slowly look out the corner of my eye to the right and see 2 gobblers at 5 yards, They gobble and rattle my chest. Little did I know, there were actually 4 gobblers behind us, and then they all start sounding off in unison. Meanwhile, the two out in front are coming in hot. So I keep my eyes out in front, as the drumming from behind me was deafening. 2 jakes pop up to my right with a hen, and they stick to the edge of the woods on the other side of the gas line at about 30 yards. Then I look to my left and see the tips of a full fan. Then two heads pop up over the crest of a little lip in the terrain. We were using a strutter decoy and a feeding hen, but these two gobblers weren't looking for a fight. The slowly and cautiously worked their way closer. They start skirting the decoys at about 15 yards, and their gonna walk right in front of my gun barrel. When the strutter lined up....LIGHTS OUT!!! I was toting my grandfathers old Remington 11-87, that I started using last year, and this year I was determined to tag out with it. Mission accomplished. After the shot and a little quiet celebration, I said some words to the sky, and basked in the awesome morning we had just had.

(https://i.ibb.co/pR5sNzP/IMG-0050.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BrF7vZP)
(https://i.ibb.co/tB95Gph/IMG-0054.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4WHxqRf)
(https://i.ibb.co/L0GCyDp/IMG-0057.jpg) (https://ibb.co/YNrtS4j)

Congrats again on a heck of a season man.  Short, but definitely sweet. You guys have had some stellar hunts so far.   I could hear in both of ya'lls voices on the phone yesterday that #2 was definitely one you'll never forget.   I was grinning from ear to ear listening to the recap.  Days like that don't happen often, but boy are the special when they do.  And getting it done with your grandfather's gun - stellar work my man.

See you guys soon

ps - your pictures didn't work

Great stories !!!  LOVE it when they get in tight !!!

CONGRATS !!!!!!!

Yep.......... Need those pics fixed.  Wanna see these birds !!!

Bird #1

(https://i.ibb.co/Cvv14gH/IMG-0934-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WFFx7Z2)


Bird # 2

(https://i.ibb.co/NSXsJgy/IMG-0050-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/X89bKfC)
(https://i.ibb.co/GTCycd8/IMG-0054-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WtBZgHM)
(https://i.ibb.co/qyKVBz2/IMG-0057-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZL57d3b)

Wow, fantastic, unreal team, wow

Well, after spending almost everyday since Sundays NY opener, I finally nailed him. I found him pre-season, he seemed to be with a Jake too. On the May 1st opener, at daybreak he wasn't there. So I sat, finally at 8:00 am, he started gobbling. The Jake, (at least he sounded like one) also gobbled, but sparingly. Stayed with them till 11:00 am, they never came close to me. Answered very sparingly. Went back Monday (rain), no gobbling at all. Tuesday, Wednesday same silence. Yesterday, finally I heard him on the roost, but farther in the woods. He only gobbled on the limb, then silence. I sat till 10, then walked in to where I felt he was. Wala, found fresh gobbler tracks and the infamous J-shaped you know what. The logging path where he was led to the road where I parked this morning. He was well within the clubs property, so this am, I got up to a bad forecast for rain. I left at 3:30 am anyway, I wanted to give him a shot right at daybreak. I set up right off the path where 2 logging trails intersected. I set a Jake, and hen at the intersection. Daybreak hit, bang, he gobbled. I would guess about 200 yards away. Then, the Jake gobbled to my right about the same distance. I did 2 fly down flaps, and rustled the leaves. Boom, double gobbles. I scratched the leaves and clucked till around 7 am, they were gobbling sparingly, but not getting closer. It started raining, so I hit them with my Old Gobbler pushpins, a quick series of fighting purrs and cackling. They both hammered back. Silence for five minutes until a crow called, Boom, he gobbled about 50 yards away. I knew it was the big guy, then he appeared in full strut right behind my Jake decoy. 30 yards, bang. He took a ride home in my pick-up as the sky's cut loose. Thank you Lord....

Greatly job gentlemen! Sounds like some memorable hunts are happening!

Persistence pays off!! Way to go, Tom. I love the coloration of that beard.

Nice work fellas!  Keep after them!


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Quote from: a_jabbo on May 06, 2022, 01:42:42 PM
Persistence pays off!! Way to go, Tom. I love the coloration of that beard.

Thank you, yea it has a blonde streak in it...very different.....be well....

Well done team, you guys are killing it....

Way to go Tom!!! Congrats!

ATTA BOY, Tom !!!!!!   Way to zero in and take him down !!

OUTSTANDING !!!!!!!    :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

Congrats Tom...beautiful bird!

Congrats Tom!!!!!! Great story and great bird!

Thanks for the kind words friends. I am glad you all gave me the opportunity to join the team. It really is fun....great job! Be safe......

Unfortunately this will probably be my last story of the year, as our season here in VA goes out on Saturday, and the weather tomorrow and Saturday is calling for thunderstorms, clouds, rain, etc. and I'm not sitting in that, last day or not.

Just got back from 3 days in PA with ZSully and A_Jabbo.   As usual, the hospitality, friendship, and hunting were all first class.  I absolutely love this PA trip every year, and look forward to it all year long. 
Day 1 - I got in town Sunday afternoon, and we cruised around looking for birds that evening, and spotted a nice bird in full strut, late in the evening and decided this was the bird we wanted to go after.  Devised a plan, and were set up early the next morning.  First light comes and we hear NOTHING except a bird way back behind us.  After a little while, a hen comes out, then another, and then here comes a full fan over the rise.  To make a long story short, he proceeds to stand there and walk back an forth at about 75 yards in full strut, gobbling at everything we threw at him, he just would not come.  He stayed with those hens until he finally went back over the hilltop and we decided to bail and go try to find a bird that wanted to play.  Setup #2, A_Jab has to go to work so Zach and I set up on another spot and decide to just blind call and see what happens as the morning passes.  We hear a bird gobble a few times, but he seems way off, so we eventually move, and then get him and another bird pretty fired up.  One bird gets really fired up, and loops around the whole block and ends up planting his feet at the first spot we were at of course, and never comes and closer, nor does the other bird, and we run out of time at noon.   Fun day, had birds around, but none that wanted to cooperate.
Day 2, we set up up on a hill facing a power line nice and early.  First light comes and a hen starts talking.  A_Jab gets on the hen, and she starts talking back quite a bit.  Then it starts to seem like she's going to come up through the woods from way below us, and as he's sweet talking to her, a gobbler fires off.  Ok, now we're in the game.  It sounds like she's going to come up through the woods behind me though, and Adam and Zach are behind me, so at this point I'm convinced Zach is about to shoot this bird when he comes up through the woods.  Well he doesn't come up through the woods.  I catch a glimpse of a hen coming up the power line, then another, and then I see a white head appear, full strut, following the 2 hens slowly up the hill and towards the decoys, which are about 15 yards from me.  The hens make their way in, and when the gobbler gets into my clearing, I shoot.  He hits the dirt and goes into a violent flop, feathers fly everywhere.  As I stand up, he gets up and starts to run back down the power line.  OH NO! I shoot 2 more times at him, missing both times as I watch him run out of sight, which actually isn't far, I just can't see down the hill.  As I stand there about to puke and cry, Adam and Zach walk down the hill about 50 yards, and fortunately he's dead right on the side of the power line.  Whew, what a relief and a roller coasters of emotions all packed into about 1 minute.  Excitement, adrenaline, oh no!, dejected, depressed, embarrassed, shocked, disbelief, back to excited, adrenaline, and high fives, all in about 1 minute.  I don't know what happened other than I think the excitement just got the best of me and I didn't make the greatest shot, but I ended up with a beautiful bird, at one of the prettiest places I've seen.  10" beard, around 17lbs, and 7/8" spurs I believe.
Day 3 - Zach and I saw a great bird in a field Tuesday evening at the same place we had walked away form those 2 birds gobbling Monday late morning, so we made a plan to try it first thing Wednesday.  We get set up nice and early, and a bird across the street is gobbling his brains out, a bird sorta behind us is gobbling, and right at first light a bird gobbles about 30 yards from us in a tree and scared the crap out of both of us, and we watch him pitch out behind us and disappear.  2 Jakes and a couple hens pitch out from all around us, and this is looking great.  Once all the birds hit the ground, everything goes silent, and we see nothing.  All the birds have gone different directions, and now we see nothing in the field in front of us.  The sun starts coming up right in our face, so we re-position a little bit and now are looking longways down the field.  As the morning starts to pass, we hear some very distant gobbles, but it just doesn't seem like we're in the game at all, but we decide to wait because there has been a gobbler in this field regularly the past few days around 9-9:30.  Well, around 9ish we see a hen come out into the field, and shortly after here comes a gobbler, across the hard surface road and into the field, and starts following the hen around.   We'd call a little, she'd start coming towards us and he'd follow, then they'd go back away from us, and then repeat this over and over.  We threw everything and the kitchen sink at them, and they would come from about 200 yards to about 100 yards, then turn back around and go away, over and over and over.  A couple times we lost sight of them in the dip in the field just ahead of us and I thought for sure he was about to pop up over the rise, but no such luck.  No matter what we tried, they just wouldn't come, so we watched him follow her, going in and out of strut until finally around 11:30 I had enough and needed to get back and packed up to hit the road back to VA.   
We definitely spend 3 days in the action, gobbling, strutting, there was no real down time on any day and we had a blast.   As always, a heck of a fun trip, and these guys are just first class hunters and friends.  I'm already looking forward to next year.   
This year was very good to me, and by far my favorite of any season I've experienced in my turkey hunting life.  My daughter killed her first bird, I got to watch Zach kill 2 when he came here, and I killed 2 here in VA and 1 in PA.  Watching Zach and my daughter be successful on some great hunts far outweighed any bird I could possibly kill.  I couldn't ask for much more.   
I look forward to reading some more stories from guys that are still hunting, and look forward to this team again next year - and we may just win this thing.   Here's my PA bird
(https://i.ibb.co/8XFhHrr/PA-Turkey.png)

CONGRATS, brother !!!!!!!

Great story !!!!

Congratulations Travis!


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Thanks guys!  Sorry for the long post, had a lot to try to fit in, and probably could have made it twice that long if I'd have included everything, lol.   
It really was a special season, and seeing all of you guy's success stories and pictures has been awesome. 

Fantastic brother, great job!!!

Great story man...congrats on a superb year!

I concur...let's close this thing out with a win!

I posted above.............but gonna put it here, too.  Skimerhorn killed a bird that's not been tallied yet.  His details need some clarifying, I think.  But we've got a team bird that is yet unaccounted for.

Sounds like a sensational hunt! Good job guys!

Tagged out in VA on the last day.  Saw him with 3 hens walking the edge of a field at 300 yards, but I figured they'd cross the field to my side far to my left.  I sat tight for about 15 mins and he gobbled once, still pretty far away but on my side.  I yelped and clucked a bit but no answer.  About 10 mins go by and I hear one of the hens yelping.  I yelped back and she answered back.  She brought him right to me in no time and I popped him.  That ends my season.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220514/b1f620a1878b65479b9536654ae6ce78.jpg)


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Congrats MG!!!!! And on the last day! Great job

HOT DOGGY !!!!!!!!    :z-guntootsmiley:

Nothing like pulling out a win in the bottom of the 9th !!!!!

CONGRATS !!!!!

Quote from: twyatt on May 14, 2022, 05:05:17 PM
Congrats MG!!!!! And on the last day! Great job

Thanks man!  It was a wet morning for sure where I was.  It stopped raining by 9:30 or so and I actually dried off a bit before I killed him. 


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Quote from: Yoder409 on May 14, 2022, 06:31:17 PM
HOT DOGGY !!!!!!!!    :z-guntootsmiley:

Nothing like pulling out a win in the bottom of the 9th !!!!!

CONGRATS !!!!!

Thanks!  I did that last year too.  Must be a thing for me.


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After leaving work friday evening I headed straight to my predetermined hunting location, getting close enough at about 11:30 and pulling over at a rest area for a couple hour snooze. Back up at 3:00 AM and walking up the hill by 4:00.

A handful of years ago I had found a roost tree. It's a big, dead ponderosa pine surrounded by live trees, and the turkeys love it. So that's where I was headed to setup. I figured if they weren't there, I'd be on the hunt. It's about a mile walk in from the nearest road, maybe a touch more, and just a gem of a public land spot.

I set up a single hen decoy, and got cuddled up to a wood pile. After the first hint of daylight, I got surprised when a gobble thundered from the tree. I'm within 150 yards, maybe even 100 yards, and things were looking up. About flydown time I let out a few yelps and it became apparent that I was surrounded by turkeys. Hens and jakes joined the party and quickly flew down while the big guy stayed in the tree.

I called the hens and jakes to 10 yards a couple different times, just trying to compete for the attention of the gobbler when he decided to make his appearance. Finally, after some hand to hand combat with the hens and jakes for 45 minutes, those turkeys moved off and the gobbler flew down. I was in perfect position as he flew down and worked his way toward the single hen decoy. When I figured I could kill him, I did just that and a perfect morning in the turkey woods was over. It was a great end to the year!

Sadly, he's not an upgrade for the team. It's hard to kill one smaller than I already had at 48 points but this guy had basically no spurs, the same whispy 8" merriams beard I'm accustomed to, and I never weighed him after noticing all that.

I had all the time in the world so I really tried to channel my inner Delmar and nail this pic. I think I did. Also, I made a video of this hunt and it will be out soon!

(https://i.ibb.co/LpmSQY5/330-A7531-F2-F0-4-BDF-980-E-9-F34-B7-D1370-B.jpg) (https://ibb.co/9Y6nwct)

Way to go POk!!! Congrats.  Great story and great picture!!!   What a beautiful bird

Nice job POk!  You and Delmar need to give me some tips on improving my photo skills. 


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Quote from: POk3s on May 15, 2022, 08:36:36 AM..... so I really tried to channel my inner Delmar ......

:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

I'm STILL laughing !!!!!!!!!!!

Best Killer B's post of the season !!!!!!!!

:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

Great story and GREAT pic !!!!   Pretty sure itll get the Delmar Stamp of Approval.    :you_rock:

CONGRATS !!!!!!!

Quote from: Yoder409 on May 15, 2022, 09:32:41 AM

Quote from: POk3s on May 15, 2022, 08:36:36 AM..... so I really tried to channel my inner Delmar ......

:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

I'm STILL laughing !!!!!!!!!!!

Best Killer B's post of the season !!!!!!!!

:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:

Great story and GREAT pic !!!!   Pretty sure itll get the Delmar Stamp of Approval.    :you_rock:

CONGRATS !!!!!!!

HAHA! I always take great pride in pics but that dang Delmar just takes it to a whole new level! I really had to buckle down and nail every aspect!  ;D ;D

MG- I'm far from an expert but the biggest thing for me, is just utilizing self timer. I'll either prop my phone up on a log, my turkey vest, my turkey vest on top of a log, etc. you want your camera to be lower than you, but not so low where you're shooting nothing but grass. Then I'll have my turkey splayed out how I want him and be able to easily run back, spread the fan, and smile, is usually the way it goes. In that case I had my camcorder on a tripod already and it had a photo with self timer option.

Thank you TW! (It's weird typing that as that's also my initials  :jackson: )

Way to go my friends, your knocking down. Hunting NY this week to try and add to our Talley.......

Quote from: Tom007 on May 15, 2022, 06:29:40 PM
Way to go my friends, your knocking down. Hunting NY this week to try and add to our Talley.......

Go get em!

Congrats TW, MG and POK! Freaking good week right there. A_jabbo and I took a swing into Ohio for a couple days. It was hard hunting and man I got my butt kicked but A_jabbo owes us another story!! It was an awesome trip and we got to hang out with some traditional archery guys that were an absolute blast! Now I'm back and focused with one Pa tag left in my pocket. Time to go to work.

Quote from: Mossyguy on May 15, 2022, 08:30:28 PM

Quote from: Tom007 on May 15, 2022, 06:29:40 PM
Way to go my friends, your knocking down. Hunting NY this week to try and add to our Talley.......

Go get em!

Close, had him in at about 50, couldn't see him, bad set up. Going back at him..........thx

Hey dudes, here's the video if you'd like to watch it!

https://youtu.be/M27lIptMG1M

Fantastic video, great job. Congrats!

Thank you Tom!

Great video ...I haven't had the privilege of hunting a Merriams but he sounded just like they do on tv!

He was particularly loud...especially being so close! Gotta love em!

The white ring on those tails is unreal, fantastic job! Beautiful birds

Any word on Skimmerhorns's bird? I looked at the scores and we're in second place now.

Hope it's a whopper :turkey2:

Quote from: Mossyguy on May 17, 2022, 11:10:16 AM
Any word on Skimmerhorns's bird? I looked at the scores and we're in second place now.

He did post up the missing pics, so..........   Should be a bit of a team upgrade, I think.

Still at them in NY. Got one located, just have to close it......he's smart.....

Quote from: Yoder409 on May 17, 2022, 02:42:19 PM

Quote from: Mossyguy on May 17, 2022, 11:10:16 AM
Any word on Skimmerhorns's bird? I looked at the scores and we're in second place now.

He did post up the missing pics, so..........   Should be a bit of a team upgrade, I think.

Any update on his score?

Quote from: Tom007 on May 18, 2022, 06:10:01 PM

Quote from: Yoder409 on May 17, 2022, 02:42:19 PM

Quote from: Mossyguy on May 17, 2022, 11:10:16 AM
Any word on Skimmerhorns's bird? I looked at the scores and we're in second place now.

He did post up the missing pics, so..........   Should be a bit of a team upgrade, I think.

Any update on his score?

I can't read the numbers on the goblermatic score sheet.

Skimmerhorn, post up a better pic of that so I can make the adjustment.

Thanks.

Does anyone have his phone number? He may be done for the year and not be back lol. For what it's worth, I see "22.5 lbs, 9" beard, 1 and 1 spur length for a total of 60.5

That's what I see as well.


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I shot him a PM to see if he could re-do the calculator pic. 

He re-did the calculator pic.  All good to go.

60.5

Absolutely amazing birds and stories, guys! Trent, great video and beautiful picture! My stamp of approval isn't worth peanuts, but you for sure got it!

I've been AWOL hunting in the Pacific Northwest the last 2 weeks; the first with my best friend, and the second with my dad. It's been a great trip filled with long days and short nights, some struggles, some misses, and some success. The landscape here is so beautiful; it humbled a Mississippi boy like myself.

I'll include some pictures, but I don't know if I could summarize 2 weeks into a story and do it any kind of justice. I will include the one of the most special hunts I've ever had: doubling with my dad.

After getting lucky and finding a turkey in the perfect mood on the first morning, we found 3 gobblers in a valley the next day. They proceeded to beat us handily the next 3 days, including having them at 25 yards without a shot taken. While frustrated, we took solace each time in knowing they were there to hunt the next day.

These 3 turkeys made the same big circle around the valley every day, and on the 4th day, we had terrible weather. It was snowing with wind gusts of 20 mph. We decided to set up in a spot they had passed through the previous 3 days. We heard no roost gobbling, but 30 minutes after sunrise they screamed 100 yards away and proceeded to walk down the hill towards us. As luck would have it, instead of taking the route they had taken precious days that would have put them at 15 yards, they went around a pond levee at 60, gobbling and strutting the entire way. When they worked their way uphill and out of sight, I told my dad it was time to be aggressive.

They drug us up a mountain in the snow and gusting wind. The weather had gotten bad enough that they had completely shut up. With some crawling and sprinting up the mountain, we were able to get in front of them, and eventually win the game. They gave us their best, and we gave them ours. While the memory we made was one that will last our lifetimes, it was bittersweet in knowing these two wouldn't be in that valley the next day.

I'm not going to lie, gentlemen, I shed some tears standing over those turkeys. My dad is not a hunter, but he is a great father who loves to spend time with me, and I with him. He's a selfless man who enjoys my success more than his own. Hunting those same 3 turkeys for 4 days and finally winning the game with my dad overwhelmed me with emotions. We hugged and prayed, and thanked god for a memory that will last us a lifetime.

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/3b460acb301c9281bb35bdf6d962a1e0.jpg)


Some more pictures:
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/667129b495e7691d4bc50422519f88e7.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/b037d28dc44e444a2a1571c785660d5c.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/86c92add528030e05661afb5528c8c74.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/20c8513ebf843b827f19d27476a86e73.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/b051555f98da9329c41021bcc74d1522.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/d87ddb6032b1b64ffdf4ea14e711d341.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/8cd872e067e1a023b53a8980b431e3a0.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/fe70166528ba08e2bde2e5e600b6def7.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/a31bfbf8617242ed7abccd5a1abcee8b.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/8a6267b191f2db7f0786b4a0f2de5df1.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220521/0e325454ba3c37777b7d592dc44483b0.jpg)

Fantastic Delmar!


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Way to go.....

OUTSTANDING !!!!!!!!    :z-winnersmiley:

Great story and pics! Congratulations to you and your dad.


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Quote from: Yoder409 on May 20, 2022, 07:00:36 AM
He re-did the calculator pic.  All good to go.

60.5

Can we get this posted? Should be an upgrade..

Awesome Delmar!!!

By my calculations we need need one more 5+ point upgrade! Not sure how many are still hunting out there.


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I got this week in NY. Will hit it hard and do my best........

Good luck!


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Quote from: harleytom on May 23, 2022, 06:19:06 PM
Good luck!


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Yea, gonna go at them. Hopefully a big Tom likes what he hears...thx

I'm still after them too. Been battling this bird for 3 of the last 4 days who has either been lucky or good, I'm not sure which. Last Thursday A_jabbo and I snuck in where he had been roosting. Turns out he picked the opposite side of the road and strutted down by a pond until I had to go to work. Friday dawned clear and hot!!! This time I sat down near the pond on a solo excursion. This time a raccoon fight in the dark shocked him into giving away his position early. Of course he was across the road where I set up Thursday. I beat feet up and around him and got within 100 yards of him in the roost. Naturally he flies down and walks away from me and directly to the pond I just left. Again I watched him strut from 500 yards away till I had to go to work. Saturday A_jabbo and I again joined up and we had the plan to sit all morning by that pond. Of course he was on the other side, it's ok though he's ended up at the pond both of the last two mornings. This time he didn't. On his way (he was about 100 yards) the farm decides to check his field in his side by side and pushes them back up the hill. We try to make a big loop and get around them and it worked. Except the 3 hens toted that gobbler past at 50 just over a small rise in the hill.

Today I took a break from him just to be tortured by 3 birds that would gobble at anything but never moved more than about 50 yards from their roost. Im heading in tomorrow and going to try to get super tight and see what happens.

Delmar, you sure have a gift of picture taking and story telling! Well done! It just flat out makes me happy when guys go have a great time with your dads!

Good luck to you boys still after them!

Del!!! Incredible season and that sounds like you had a dream for two weeks.

So I'm finally getting around to typing up this story from Ohio. As Zach said, we went to Ohio to meet up with a huge group of old friends and new ones. The first morning I hunted with a couple buddies and a new friend that was trying to get a bird with his recurve. I had 4 gobblers going that morning and one that committed but got squirrelly at about 25 yards and putted away. After the early morning hunt, I ventured out by myself. I got to the property and as I was walking in I spotted a Hen out in the field by herself, so I backed up and went and tucked myself into some Autumn Olive bushes. Called to her and had a response. I didn't like my setup, so I tried to reposition to be able to see more of the field, and as I was coming around the point of the brush, sure enough she was out just far enough, that if I took another step, she would have busted me. She comes to 15 yards, as Im standing there and facing the bushes. She putted once, so I yelped to see what she would do, and sure enough a gobbler rang out at about 100 yards. I called again and he responded immediately. The hen starts to walk away and just as she was going to go over the hill so I could sit down, she starts coming back and then he pops out at about 30 yards. They meet up and I tried getting my gun off my shoulder. As I got the gun in my left hand, the wind blew and took away my cover, and the jig was up. I turned and shot, and I believe I didn't shoulder it good enough and get my face down, and shot over him.

Next day, Zach and I ventured out and didn't hear anything off the roost. We decided to make a move and sure enough we heard one gobble off in the distance. We came up with a plan, but Zach had a work call he couldn't miss, so I was going after it solo. I got to where I felt was a good position to call and where he would have to come looking for me. He was out in  a field and wouldn't come in the woods. This lasted about an hour. I decided to go down in this bottom and make a big loop around him to get out in front, but then he started coming my way. I went back to almost the last place I sat. We played the back and forth game until he finally committed and came into 30 yards. We forgot the scale so we couldn't get a weight on him or anything, so I don't know if it was an upgrade or not. My buddy got some great pics though.


(https://i.ibb.co/Jk1jtdh/Ohio-2022-3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pX7jwPm)
(https://i.ibb.co/Zhkyp0T/Ohio-2022.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jL17PS4)
(https://i.ibb.co/x2Fm3BH/Ohio-2022-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4F1sJXd)
(https://i.ibb.co/FxMrmvr/Ohio-2022-4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0DS7mN7)

Amen team. Great job. We are in it till the end. Great stories, fantastic pics. Proud to be a part of this journey with you all.........thanks for including me.....

Well went back after the three amigos this morning. Got in and set up early thinking I would be right under them. Well long story short. Their hen was there but the three gobblers were over on the other side of the valley......you know, where Adam and I were yesterday. These birds have my number lately and work is really getting in the way of my turkey hunting. I really hate walking away from gobbling birds.

Quote from: zsully on May 24, 2022, 09:57:56 PM
Well went back after the three amigos this morning. Got in and set up early thinking I would be right under them. Well long story short. Their hen was there but the three gobblers were over on the other side of the valley......you know, where Adam and I were yesterday. These birds have my number lately and work is really getting in the way of my turkey hunting. I really hate walking away from gobbling birds.

Today's ANOTHER day for one of them to die.    :icon_thumright:

GOOD LUCK, Z !!!!! 

Good luck my friend. Lots of hens yesterday, hung around me for 2 hours. 8 total. Heard a distant gobble, but he never showed. Gonna give it one last shot Tuesday, last day.....we will see...

Good luck...my season has been over since the 1st week of April and it's been great reading everyone's stories. Just been fishing some and doing work around the property to pass the time!

Amen brother, gonna go Sunday and Tuesday. Last hurrah. It's will be sad to put the gear away.......always a somber day......