Tell the story about that one gobbler...

[CtRider]

Thread for telling stories about those gobblers that got under your skin, beat you more than you beat him, or just memorable hunts.

One that comes to mind for me is a bird my buddy and I nick named turkzilla. We found this stateland spot a couple years ago and know the layout pretty well. We've also seen turkeys in the large yard and small field at this house down the street. However there was this one turkey in particular that was bigger than the rest...like Dino big, hence the name.

One day we were hunting close to the state land border and heard this noise that we thought was a gobble. But it kept at it, over and over to the point we thought, there's no way that a real turkey. Has to be a dog or some other type of bird. We couldn't tell if it was answering our calls or just causing a ruckus.

Well my buddy couldn't take it anymore and snuck down a little closer to figure it out. Through the binos he could see it was turkzilla. He was gobbling almost back to back for stretches of 5 minutes at a time. He wasn't leaving his pretty field to cross a thick swamp on to state land no matter what but we always talk about that bird. It was just too far to pull him in.

Even tried to figure out who owned the place to get private permission but never got anywhere.

What's your story?

[Happy]

Never named the bird that sticks in my mind when asked this question. All I know was he was tough. I first met him in deer seson while deer hunting he was feeding with a flock of seven or so hens and poults.
I watched him with binoculars for a half hour or more as they feed on the flat I was watching. He was an old bird with a 10" 0r so curly beard and his spurs were about an 1 1/4" or so but pretty blunt. I decided to give him a try in turkey season.  It wasn't an area I hunt turkeys very much cause there generally aren't that many but at daylight he started up. At first I thought I was hearing a jake. It was a full gobble but higher pitched than normal. I could actually see him perched on the limb through my binoculars but he was out there a ways. I tried a few tree yelps and he never acknowledged me. He was throwing out perfectly spaced gobbles and never once was it directed at anything I did. I knew I was in trouble then. I watched him fly down and that was it. He shut up. I went elsewhere for a few hours and came back to try him again. I snuck as close as I dared and called softly. He gobbled immediately, not 100 yards from where he flew down. That was it for the rest of the day.  I proceeded to hunt that bird every chance I could and it was the same thing every time. Gobble on the roost and shut up. Sneak back later and get one courtesy gobble and that was it. I tried circling him from every angle and still the same thing. One "here I am if you want me gobble and that was it"
Once I got lucky and managed to use the terrain to get within 60-70 yards of him. I could. Hear him strutting in the leaves over the rise and hear the hens scratching around him. I managed to work one of the hens up and he would gobble at our cutting back and forth but wouldn't budge and she eventually led him off. 2nd to last day of season I snuck in early and waited about 60 yards from his roost on the edge of a small clearing. He never gobbled that morn but I heard him fly down. I never called and just scratched in the leaves when I heard him hit the ground. Nothing. A half hour later I caught movement and that sucker was skirting the clearing and scoping it out for the hen. I couldn't find an opening for a clean shot and he walked away. So the last day I snuck in way before daylight and sat within gun range of his roost. He was there and gobbled a few times and then dropped out of the tree. He landed right under my gun barrel. I yelped softly and if he would have even started to strut or Gobble I would have happily flattened him. Believe me I wanted to kill him more than anything. But he instantly went on red alert and froze. He didn't move for a few seconds and then cautiously walked away. I let him go. It just didn't feel right. And before anyone gets the idea that I am overly noble I have shot a gobbler so engrossed in the hen in front of him that he let me get within gun range undetected. This was different. He had done nothing wrong. I snuck in on him while he was sleeping and I just couldn't bring myself to kill him for just flying down from his roost. As much as I hated him for beating me so badly he just didn't deserve to die like that. The following summer his roosting tree was cut down in a large clear cutting operation and I never saw him again. I won't forget him though.

[tha bugman]

I have already told the story on here before, but short line of it....5 years old, hunting with my dad and hearing that sucker hammering back at my dad's yelps across that beaver slough...instantly hooked!!!

[CtRider]

@happy that's how I killed my very first turkey. We had set up to where we thought they were roosted in front of us until he gobbled behind us and practically overhead along a ridge that bordered a pond. I slowly spun around and when he touched down it was lights out at about 12 yds.

[BottomLand54]

There is 2 birds that have mastered me as a rookie and both of my experienced turkey hunter friends that I have taken to try to call this bird.

1st bird started seeing him in 2013 and he was atleast a 2 year old however he was a huge 2 year old, he had a huge beard Long spurs. Since 2013 we see him every year during deer season late winter he disappears however when spring comes he comes right back to his favorite tree and roosts, he flys down in the opposite direction of where you set up finds his hens and start with them all day. Same thing for that last 4 years. I do not know the life of a turkey however this bird is still alive and this is 2017 and I hope this is the year. He is smart he is old and his beard drags the ground and his spurs look like there another toe he is walking with.


The second bird showed up in 2015 spring and hasn't left yet, he is another monster roosts in same area has had his two sweethearts every spring season, want leave em. Now this bird I could have shot however I took a boy who never had shot one before and wouldn't shoot it out from underneath him. Both birds have not only challenged me but have taught me allot, I have gained allot of respect and both have made me a better hunter.

Hopefully in 2017 in NC these 2 birds will RIP and fill both of my tags. Bird number 1 would be like killing a 200" deer to me bird 2 would be like killing a 170" deer to me.

Both are birds I would have full body mounts done on.


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[BottomLand54]

Happy

I have allot of respect for you. That's a turkey hunter right there. Shooting a bird soon as he hits the ground what kinda sport is that in my opinion and I may get bashed you might as well kill him off the roosting limb.


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[Greg Massey]

First bird i ever killed was gobbling jake , that sounded like Mack Truck blowing his air horn going down the interstate. Till this day i still have no idea how i killed him, because i didn't have a CLUE what i was doing. I carried that bird over a mile back to the truck on public land. I rode around all day showing that turkey off like i had killed a 10 point buck..i was so proud and from that day on i was hooked on turkey hunting over 35 years ago... Thank you God for the great outdoors and turkeys ...

[BottomLand54]

I said 2017 I mean 2018 lol I keep forgetting we changed years


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[guesswho]

Had one I called No Show.   The story is very similar to Happy's so I won't bore you with the details.  Long story short.   Finally into the second season I guessed right.  He pitched down right in front of the gun barrel.   I put the crosshairs in his noggin and just said boom!  He turned his head, gave that oh crap look, flicked his wings and walked off.   Once he walked off out of sight he gave me what I like to think was a thank you gobble.  That's one bird I never did kill.   

[J.D. Shellnut]

Similar story to happy and guess who's except I pulled the trigger. I saw him a couple days before season and could see that he was a good bird. So I set up opening morning and nothing happened. But every time I went to that spot fresh strut marks were there. I could have probably hunted him like a deer and killed him sooner but I don't like turkey hunting like that. So every time I was in the area I would give him a hour or two of my time with no results. Then two days before season closed one evening I got some owls fired up and they was what he was wanting to hear! He gobbled at least 50 times probably more! It was well before dark and I'm pretty sure I could have killed him that evening but i dont really like hunting in the evenings. I wanted to kill him in the morning. So I grabbed a cold one eased down the road and listened till he flew up. I told my buddy at the store that morning that it will happen when he hits the ground or wont happen at all. He was drumming before daylight and when he hit the ground I yelped twice to make him pick his head up. Walked over to him thanked the Lord and him and brought him home. 21lbs 11.5'' 1 1/4'' spurs he's the bird on my avatar.

[g8rvet]

My brother and nephew had one they named "The Ghost Bird" that was roosted on public land right near their house.  Could hear him on the limb on a clear day from his porch.  They had been messing with him for a few weeks and time was getting short.  He would gobble a few times on the limb and then just do what he wanted. One day he flew down and came in to my nephew's calls, the only  day he gobbled more than a couple times and, as a young man old enough to hunt on his own, but still too young to know better had leaned against a 1" tree.  Of course as he raised up, it moved the tree and the Tom busted.  Couple of other near misses had them frustrated and they called me and another nephew in to help.  I listened one morning and we hunted the next.  I snuck in well before daylight and setup a short ways back from the roost area (about 3/4 mile of very thick creek swamp).  Sure enough he gobbles right in front of me.  I watched him strut on the limb through binos and all 4 of his hens around him, on the last day of the season.  They flew down and took him with them. he gone.  My brother called me on opening day the next year and told me how he had killed "the ghost bird".  So we met up (I had one down as well) to look at our birds and clean them.  I did not have the heart to tell him his bird was no where near old enough to be his ghost bird.  He had killed a fairly young bird, but I had a good look at the ghost bird and would bet good money it was not the same bird, but he has a good story, so why ruin it?

[guesswho]

Similar story to happy and guess who's except I pulled the trigger.

I don't know why but that tickled me

[wvmntnhick]

I've got a bird on a piece of land I've hunted the last few years. Can't guarantee it's the same bird but if it's not, he's left his genes and intelligence behind. This bird hammers while on the roost. A loud fart into a stiff breeze will get him going. Not even gonna beat around the bush about it, if I'd get just one good crack at him, I'll dump him. Anyway, he gobbles well I'm the roost. Soon as he flys down, almost complete radio silence save for the occasional gobble just letting me know he's going the other direction. If I set up on the left side of the roost, he goes right. Set up on the right and he goes left. Last spring, when the leaves got thick, I slipped in as close as I dared. Like close enough I could've killed him on the roost. Watched him fly down, straight away from me. He gobbled 2x when he hit the ground, again going the wrong direction. At a range that's not acceptable to talk about here I got a real good look at him. Was the gun capable? Yes. Did I want to shoot? Yes. Still asking myself why I didn't. Not gonna say anything about it not feeling right because honestly, I'm not that kinda guy. Had it been any other bird I'd probably let the lead fly. I just wanted this bird to cooperate a bit better I spose. That's typically not my style. Never been ashamed of ambushing a bird and until the past several years the majority of my birds had been killed with a rifle of some sort. Will he bar afforded the same gratitude this year? I'd like to think so but who really knows until the time comes? Either way, been thinking about him off and on wondering if he's made it through the fall. Guess I'll find out in the spring. Sure hope so.


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[MK M GOBL]

I guess I would say I have some, Once I learn a bird and he has been able to beat me I kind of get determined about him. I have literally spent 4 seasons trying to kill a "certain" gobbler and spent countless hours trying to do so. And then the day came I beat him, on a day I never planned to hunt him and he went down that day.

Just thought I would share this with you!

I have had some history with this "bad" bird and have been hunting him for the past 3 years, he was the kind of bird who would always answer but never come in, seems he always had hens with him and 5 or 6 of them at a time. Well here we are in year #4 and have seen him out strutting with his harem of hens and have set-up on him a number of times this year already, actually killed a couple of satellite birds in his area during our first couple of seasons. So we are now into our 4th season and after a tough few days and a unsuccessful morning hunting with a buddy I was headed back to the house to mow my lawn that seriously needs it. My buddy says you can always mow lawn in 2 weeks when turkey season is over... Took his advice and went out to the blind, got the DSD's my Cody and BIG PUFFY out. Once I sat down this guy gobbles once at my hen talk and then shuts up, I gave him a few more calls and no response... Next thing I see is a head pop up in the field and disappear, the a fan appears and he is strutting in and doing the fast walk. Eleven minutes into it and he's down at 15 yards! This is the one I was after and he was lonely today. This is a bird that I knew all too well and finally taking this longbeard "Hook" was worth the wait! He weighed in at 23lbs 7oz, a 10 ½" beard and spurs were at 1 7/16"

MK M GOBL

[dutch@fx4]

My first turkey. I hunted this gobbling Tom every morning of the season. He either spotted me went the other way or just ignored me four 20 days. Second last day of the season I said to heck with it I'm staying here until 7 p.m..end of legal hunting. He flew down off the roost 80 yards away from me and spent the morning with his hens  They wandered off around 9 a.m. into the gullies. I just sat there wondering what next. I sat for another few hours with not a sound heard.. I had a hen decoy out all morning so I decided to pull the Jake out of my pack unfold him and stand him right in top of my hen decoy.sat for another hour and called softly.and out of the blue I hear a gooble and he came running right into the decoys. Knocked that Jake right of the stake i shot him at 15 yards.well what a bird. Two beards 10 inch and 8 inch with 1.5 inch spurs.i have been a turkey junky ever since. I have his tsil and the breast skin with both beards mounted.wish I had a full mount done. But cost to much back then.