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We are on the board. Yesterday was really cold and I didn't hear a peep. Today, I heard multiple birds. It didn't work out at daylight. I setup on one but he wouldn't cooperate. I moved around on him and tried to fire him up. After a few hours, 2 gobblers came in from behind me. I was not able to get them to come around me and then eventually eased off. I decided to give them a break and try another bird I heard gobbling at daylight. Sat down at 11:32. Called once and they hammered. Within 5 minutes I could hear them to my left. I spotted them going around a ridge. After a little purr, 3 longbeards came strutting in. They got nervous and I took the one closer to me. Hunt over at 11:40. I will get him uploaded at soon as I can.
Quote from: birdman67 on March 16, 2023, 07:43:24 PM
We are on the board. Yesterday was really cold and I didn't hear a peep. Today, I heard multiple birds. It didn't work out at daylight. I setup on one but he wouldn't cooperate. I moved around on him and tried to fire him up. After a few hours, 2 gobblers came in from behind me. I was not able to get them to come around me and then eventually eased off. I decided to give them a break and try another bird I heard gobbling at daylight. Sat down at 11:32. Called once and they hammered. Within 5 minutes I could hear them to my left. I spotted them going around a ridge. After a little purr, 3 longbeards came strutting in. They got nervous and I took the one closer to me. Hunt over at 11:40. I will get him uploaded at soon as I can.
Congrats man! Sounds like you were covered up in birds.
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It was on my bucket list to call a bird up for my dad. Though he's killed many birds in his life , and we only hunt together a couple times a year ... I've never actually called one up for him. Today that changed . He hunts with a 2.75" 12 with a fixed modified barrel and he shoots #4s so range is very limited . We've had some close calls in the past but with only a hunt or 2 a season.... It's tough to get him one , not to mention he's going on 68. This bird gobbled and strutted all the way to the barrel. Couldn't ask for much better .
Congrats to your Dad, dzsmith, and too you for taking the time to get out with him. Great pictures.
Quote from: birdman67 on March 16, 2023, 07:43:24 PM
We are on the board. Yesterday was really cold and I didn't hear a peep. Today, I heard multiple birds. It didn't work out at daylight. I setup on one but he wouldn't cooperate. I moved around on him and tried to fire him up. After a few hours, 2 gobblers came in from behind me. I was not able to get them to come around me and then eventually eased off. I decided to give them a break and try another bird I heard gobbling at daylight. Sat down at 11:32. Called once and they hammered. Within 5 minutes I could hear them to my left. I spotted them going around a ridge. After a little purr, 3 longbeards came strutting in. They got nervous and I took the one closer to me. Hunt over at 11:40. I will get him uploaded at soon as I can.
congrats! sounds like a fun day!
Quote from: dzsmith on March 16, 2023, 11:28:53 PM
It was on my bucket list to call a bird up for my dad. Though he's killed many birds in his life , and we only hunt together a couple times a year ... I've never actually called one up for him. Today that changed . He hunts with a 2.75" 12 with a fixed modified barrel and he shoots #4s so range is very limited . We've had some close calls in the past but with only a hunt or 2 a season.... It's tough to get him one , not to mention he's going on 68. This bird gobbled and strutted all the way to the barrel. Couldn't ask for much better .
Thats awesome! a hunt to cherish
Congrats!!
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Congrats guys! Sounds like a great start to the season!
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Rained all night and half the day today . Got on a public land gobbler yesterday evening , and he vanished on me while in shotgun range . Managed to semi roost him. But obviously couldn't hunt him this morning in a monsoon. I came out this afternoon when the rain quit and setup basically in the same spot but with a better view . And managed to call this bird up again. Only this time I was sitting on the ridge I shot him on and killed on the ridge I was sitting on the day before. A nice public land stud . 1&1/4 spurs and 10.25" beard. He managed to get behind a tree and stick only his face out of you can't tell by the pictures . Very proud of him, and proud to get a nice one before it gets even colder .
Congrats!! Great bird and love those hooks on him
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Got number 2 today. He came in off the roost but hung up at about 75 yards in the woods. I continued to purr and cluck as he walked off. He worked his way around and once he saw the strutter decoy he came in running. He was done at 10 steps. Both birds I have taken had 1 1/16 spurs but the first bird scores a little better for the team.
Heck ya guys!! Sounds exciting. Congratulations on all your birds. Love my strutter decoy!!
Dang I check back in after the seasons been in for a few days and we've already got birds on the score sheet! Sounds like y'all are having some great hunts. Congratulations!
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Another cold windy day gobbler , number 2 for me. Not a contest bird , but not far off . He still had 1 spur that was 1&1/4 and the other was only 1&1/16. 2 mature birds in 2 days is pretty good luck . He gobbled one time , about 5 minutes before I killed him . 4pm
Congrats. Nice pictures.
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Way to go guys. I have to wait until May 1...I'm jealous!!
That's awesome guys, it is great to hear all the great stories. I can't wait to get after them
You guys are killing it! Always love starting the season off hot
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Quote from: dzsmith on March 18, 2023, 11:43:20 PM
Another cold windy day gobbler , number 2 for me. Not a contest bird , but not far off . He still had 1 spur that was 1&1/4 and the other was only 1&1/16. 2 mature birds in 2 days is pretty good luck . He gobbled one time , about 5 minutes before I killed him . 4pm
Leave some for the rest of us! ????. Congratulations man, you're on fire
Quote from: birdman67 on March 18, 2023, 03:05:00 PM
Got number 2 today. He came in off the roost but hung up at about 75 yards in the woods. I continued to purr and cluck as he walked off. He worked his way around and once he saw the strutter decoy he came in running. He was done at 10 steps. Both birds I have taken had 1 1/16 spurs but the first bird scores a little better for the team.
Y'all are tough on these birds! Congrats!
Quote from: fmf on March 19, 2023, 06:51:37 PM
Quote from: dzsmith on March 18, 2023, 11:43:20 PM
Another cold windy day gobbler , number 2 for me. Not a contest bird , but not far off . He still had 1 spur that was 1&1/4 and the other was only 1&1/16. 2 mature birds in 2 days is pretty good luck . He gobbled one time , about 5 minutes before I killed him . 4pm
Leave some for the rest of us! ????. Congratulations man, you're on fire
I'm going back to work for a few. Nows your chance lol...just kidding, you'll get one . This weather is pretty miserable ....
Great job guys!!
I took my dad out Saturday to get his first bird of the year. We setup on a gobbling bird in a green field. At first light, about 15 hens flew over our head and across a creek. Not long after that, the bird that had been gobbling did the same. They flew down and the hens began to call constantly. I mean they never let up for over an hour. They called to each other every 2 to 3 seconds. It was crazy. The gobbler was joined by another gobbler and they were hammering every 2 or 3 minutes at the hens. I was in the mix with them also. I called and tried to convince them to cross the creek. Another gobbler sounded off across the creek to our right. Then another gobbled to our left but a good ways away. A jake came out and tried to gobble. But quickly walked off. I had a strutter out and I'm sure he was shy of that. I keep calling and the hens keep arguing with me. All of a sudden, 3 red heads appeared on the other end of the field to our left. They came running to the stutter. Once in range, I told dad to drop the one on the left. He had separated from the other two. After the shot, they jumped on the downed bird and whipped him pretty good before eventually walking off. 10.25 beard, 7/8 spurs, 16.25 lbs
Congrats Tandy!! Awesome story, Gotta love it when they wanna play right.
Quote from: birdman67 on March 26, 2023, 08:46:30 PM
I took my dad out Saturday to get his first bird of the year. We setup on a gobbling bird in a green field. At first light, about 15 hens flew over our head and across a creek. Not long after that, the bird that had been gobbling did the same. They flew down and the hens began to call constantly. I mean they never let up for over an hour. They called to each other every 2 to 3 seconds. It was crazy. The gobbler was joined by another gobbler and they were hammering every 2 or 3 minutes at the hens. I was in the mix with them also. I called and tried to convince them to cross the creek. Another gobbler sounded off across the creek to our right. Then another gobbled to our left but a good ways away. A jake came out and tried to gobble. But quickly walked off. I had a strutter out and I'm sure he was shy of that. I keep calling and the hens keep arguing with me. All of a sudden, 3 red heads appeared on the other end of the field to our left. They came running to the stutter. Once in range, I told dad to drop the one on the left. He had separated from the other two. After the shot, they jumped on the downed bird and whipped him pretty good before eventually walking off. 10.25 beard, 7/8 spurs, 16.25 lbs
congrats on a successful hunt. Great story
Congrats guys!
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Congrats guys. Great stories.
Well..... skunked in Texas again. Only went 2 mornings . All gobbling adult birds pretty much erased n the first hour or 2 of opening morning. Birds all roosted in one wad on this place . I was only there 2 mornings and the one evening . Lots of jakes ... but I figure this parcel is pretty much done . You never bank on having to make a 3rd trip to to Texas .... Looks like I will be lol. Hope I can keep the steam rolling for my other trips .
Got it done in South Carolina today. Up until this point everything about South Carolina has been a mess. That's not what this is about though so no need to elaborate. My buddy and I started the morning hunting some private that I got access to but the only birds were well off the property. We decided to go check out some public and I picked a good looking area where I could get down along a river bottom that doesn't have much access to it. Once we got to the bottom we began finding sign and before too long we heard a bird gobble about 300 yards or so down the river. We cut the distance by about 100 yards and could hear turkeys yelping ahead of us not too far. Before long we could see the birds working our way and we were kinda stuck out in the open. Moving little by little when I could I got to a pine tree that was about 3 ft to my right. About this same time we lost sight of the birds. I let a few minutes pass and yelped softly but got no answer. Another minute or two and I yelped softly again. Before long I could see birds moving our direction and could tell it was two long beards. Because of our less than great set up we knew a double was going to be nearly impossible. Eventually the birds came to the right (my side) and my buddy couldn't get a shot. At 40 yards the looker putted and started to leave so I let out a few yelps as I raised my gun and got the dot settled on the strutter. To my surprise he never seemed to see me lift my gun at all even though his head was raised and looking hard because of the other bird putting. A trigger pull and it was all over.
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Congrats!!
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Got to take my nephews Sunday morning for the last day of youth season. Probably fastest hunt I've ever been on. Got set up in a little field along a woods row. Got 2 boys. Had 2 screaming at the other end of the field. Put out decoys and crawled next to one of the boys. A hen started to talk so i talked back. this lasted about 5-8 minutes. I hear wings and 1 of the gobblers flies straight to the decoy bout 5' away. Second comes flying in and now they both are putting the hurtin on my decoys. we had a borrowed single shot with a safety for the youngest boy. We were trying to get heads to stop moving and do the 123 boom. Well it happens and all youo hear is a snap. The oldest was trying to give his little brother first shot but safety was on. Oldest boy shoots one of the gobblers and it goes down. Other one stands there looking and my brother hands me the gun cause he's not sure on the safety. I take it off, cock the gun just as the other gobbler flies off. I videoed all except about 15 seconds of it and the video is 1:48 long lol. Absolute great day in the woods. Were gonna take little man with us so he can score during our season.
tryin to get the pic to load.
Awesome!! I'm patiently waiting on WV season to start. In the meantime, I took my youngest on a fishing trip and he caught a huge rainbow trout.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230406/b1fce5f7807589c620b4fb12448e402e.jpg)
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Congrats guys!
Quote from: wvhoyt19 on April 06, 2023, 04:21:34 PM
Awesome!! I'm patiently waiting on WV season to start. In the meantime, I took my youngest on a fishing trip and he caught a huge rainbow trout.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230406/b1fce5f7807589c620b4fb12448e402e.jpg)
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My gosh that's a huge fish!!!! Bet that was a good fight. And I'd say so by the smile on that young man's face!!!
Those are some great hunts guys. My season started Saturday and the pressure was some of the worst I've experienced out there. If it doesn't let up I'm may be exploring new territories.
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Finally killed an Alabama turkey after 10 days spread across 3 years / trips to do it. Watched 2 birds die, the first 2 days there, one literally shot directly in front of me, the guy simply walked right over and sat down .I thought public was rough in Mississippi.... It doesn't hold a candle to the things I witnessed there this pass week... the first morning I didn't have to share a ridge with multiple other people and had the woods to myself , I managed to kill one at daylight . 637 to be exact. Sadly I'm more happy I don't have to go back , than I am that I killed a Turkey. I have no idea what's wrong with his fan .... It's like eat up. If you've seen this before let me know. I'm curious .
Congrats Dzsmith. I finally got out this morning. It's still a mad house out here. Fortunately I found a bird in a spot over never hunted. Almost pulled it off. I'm still hunting.
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I got it done on a military base not too far from my house here. The season on base opens a few days early and it doesn't count towards our statewide limit. Not too much of a story. I heard him gobbling and slipped in tight. One light series of yelps when he was on the limb just to keep him from flying down somewhere crazy. Heard him hit the ground and one more series of yelps which he answered immediately. 30 seconds later I was looking at him. I let him keep coming to about 25 yards and when he came out of strut it was all over(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230414/b2f12ef7e298c3af660e107ff70d6121.jpg)
After I got my bird I met back up with my buddy who was hunting the area next to me. I checked in to that area and we covered some ground finally getting an answer at about 10:00. There was a hen with them and she was calling a lot and coming fast. We sat down and could soon hear walking in the leaves. She popped up first but never spooked. Soon we could hear more walking and drumming. The longbeards came up right where she did but when my buddy went to shoot his gun just clicked. I started calling hard while he racked in another shell. The birds gobbled one last time at my hard calling and he was able to kill one.
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Notice the size difference in the heads of the two birds. His sure had a noggin on it. Mine wasn't close to being an upgrade but it sure was a fun hunt
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Congrats guys!
DZ, could that turkeys fan be possibly from someone shooting high and left when he was in strut?
I limited out today in MS. He's an upgrade so I will post pics later. I went to a green field yesterday and set up for an afternoon hunt. The bird gobbled at every crow around but wouldn't answer or show interest in me. I finally got his hen agitated and she came out looking for me about 300 yards away. Right behind her, he strutted out into the field. The hen walked right by at about 20 yards. The gobbler gets to 100 yards and takes a left and walks over and flies the creek. He then walks down the other side of the bank and gobbles until the hen flies over to him. He then goes out of hearing gobbling every few minutes. After that, I decided to change it up on him today. I went in about 8 o'clock and setup in the same spot. But I put out a hen decoy. Wasn't long that I heard him gobbling and working his way toward me. Just like yesterday, he came out in the field about 300 yards away. He came to about 150 yards and some hens in the woods started cutting and he went straight to them. Right before he went in the woods I gave him one good set of yelps ands clucks. He stopped and looked before walking off. That's when I reached in my bag and pulled out the strutter decoy. I slipped out and set it up right behind the hen. From that point on, for the next hour, I clucked real light. Several hens came by and some jakes. He didn't gobble another time. But out of the corner of my eye I see a blur and he comes charging in and begins to work over my decoy. It happened so fast, my gun wasn't up. I eased it up and at 8 yards, I ended my season. He was the dominant bird in the area. Had no feathers left on his legs from breeding hens. 10 1/2 beard, 1 1/8 and 1 3/16 spurs, 15.75 weight. Run down from all the breeding no doubt.
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I guess it's possible . There was a shot directly below where I killed this bird the morning before but I assumed that bird was killed . I never saw the guy walk out so who knows . I looked real close and it doesn't look like mite damage , it looks like someone took scissors and cut it out , seriously . Day one somebody way down the ridge , fired out of shells at one .... Maybe this is him .
Killed a bird today for the Kentucky opener. Started off calling for my brother and he killed one right off the roost. We heard another bird gobbling pretty far off and closed the distance on him. At first he wasn't interested at all, never answering the call but gobbling every once in a while on his own. We changed that by scratching leaves and he got pretty hot pretty fast but still wasn't charging in by any means. He finally broke but I needed left when he went right and he drifted off. We made a few more moves back and forth and finally caught up to him with a good situation around 10:00 or so. One quick aggressive move and I had him at 25 yards. Not an upgrade but a great opening day. My dad also killed one this morning not far away (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230415/f3a9f6a13f4c83702c961b943f559d87.jpg)
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Got a decent 2 year old this morning. Watched him breed several hens last weekend while calling for my uncle. He had his fun before the big boys came in and ran him off. He was was with 5 jakes this morning and he was gobbling like crazy. The jakes came in to check out the spread just like they were scouring for him. He sat out at 100 yards gobbling his head off and then when I quit responding he decided he couldn't take it anymore. Strutted in and lost his head at 15 yards. Glad to be on the board on my first sit of the year. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230416/74c770162c7b3aff9b18a124ca1b2fb7.jpg)
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Congrats Dmason. That's a nice way to kick off the season.
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Congrats!
Congrats Gobblegetter and Birdman, great birds and pictures.
Congrats dmason
Congratulations guys!! Tomorrow morning can't get here quick enough!!
Had a couple that wanted to play opening morning. Absolute perfect hunt. Was actually in the same spot and same tree as we were during the youth season. Had 5 screaming in the bottom but could tell some were jakes. Few minutes later 3 jakes came to the decoys and wanted to pick a fight. We could still hear the other 2 gobblers bout 100 yards across this field and into the wood lot. The field is narrow but long. Didn't take much convincing for them to come see what the big deal was. Both gobblers run the jakes out of the way and it was a matter of time trying to get them to hold still. Finally its the 123 boom! both birds go down and the hunt is over at 6:32. First time my brother and myself pulled a double like that. Needless to say we were on cloud 9. This stuff never gets old!!!
I will take those easy days anytime, Congrats to you and your brother!!
Congrats men!!
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Congrats on a couple of nice birds!
Congratulations guys!
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Well done turkey harvester. Wish my opener in Arkansas was that good. Well done . I've never doubled myself .
Well no bird in Arkansas. I did complete my main objective which was to hear a bird there . Which I did. Unfortunately for the 4th time in 2 weeks , a bird was shot before I could finish the deal. That's got to be a record . I guess everytime I hear a gobble now I better break out in a sprint.... I prefer to play the long game with turkeys , to try and perfect the setup ... obviously I ain't doing something right. I've never encountered this . I would like to say I got whooped by the turkeys themselves but not really , I got whooped by the hunters . I have one trip left ... and it will be an attempt to either go back to Arkansas or Georgia . Got the rest of the week to ponder on it .
That sucks!! Starting to be that way here on public. Huckleberry had the same thing happen opening morning. Guy rolls in, sees his truck, turns around only to park 150 yards away and must have ran past him to get back in there first.
Guys mad toms bird has put us for the time being in 1st place . Not that it matters but this will be the first time that I remember this team every holding 1st for any portion of the season, which is awesome . Congrats to everyone on a job well done!
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It all came together today! After roosting 3 last night and sitting right outside their bedroom this morning, I wasn't able to connect on any of them as several hens fired off at daylight and slowly drug them away. I patiently sat for an hour, belly crawled and finally waved the white flag as the hens had won for today. I hopped to another farm and slowly headed to the ridge which is my favorite spot here in WV. It's a huge strut zone. After 2 soft calls within 30 min, this 2 year old bird crested the top and was looking for love. His search was over!
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Congratulations!
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Congratulations!!
Way to go guys. Dang now the pressures really on to kill a bird. I've never not contributed a bird to the team score. This season though. Geez I don't know.
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Quote from: aclawrence on April 21, 2023, 06:27:59 PM
Way to go guys. Dang now the pressures really on to kill a bird. I've never not contributed a bird to the team score. This season though. Geez I don't know.
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your gonna kill one to keep us locked in number 1
Congrats guys! We giving some dirt naps this year! Great job! Hang in there aclawrence! Your time is coming
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Textbook roost hunt! Roosted 3 longbeards last night and with the raining moving in I decided to throw up a ground blind in total darkness. Decoys were set and I was in for an hour before the first gobble. All 3 pitched down to the decoys and 1 of em got a dose Viper Ammunition 20 ga #9! Tagged out in WV! Kansas is up next.
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Real nice Tom, Congrats
Congrats! Nice bird
Congratulations. That's a good bird!
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Congrats everyone! Let's keep it going.
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Good job guys. Looks like you guys are getting with it.
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I shot another young tom this morning. Scored about 5 points less than my first one. Saw where the toms were at last night and set up there this morning. They gobbled their heads off and I happened to be between them and the hens. Just when I thought it was over the 3 toms skirted the decoys and moved over to the real hens. After a little back and forth with the hens they started over and brought the toms with them. I had them under 100 yards for almost an hour. I really believe what brought them in was raking in the leaves.
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Congrats!!
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Wow you guys are having a really good season. I'm not going to make it out until the 12th of may and hunt all the way up to the end of this season. I decided to hold off for a few more weeks since there is a lot of flooding due to record snow amounts this winter here in Minnesota. From what Seeing in my area it might be a good year, and promising of picking up a few more properties.
Outstanding guys!!!
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Got it done on some public in Indiana with my dad this morning. 4 longbeards came in and got us all twisted around but we ended up pulling it off. I shot the wrong bird apparently cause the one my dad killed definitely would've been a decent upgrade but I'm not complaining.
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Nice congrats
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Congrats to you and your dad on the double!
Congrats on some nice birds!
I had quite possibly my greatest day of turkey hunting ever today. The double with dad in Indiana this morning. Then I connected with my second Kentucky bird in the afternoon and called a bird in for my wife this evening. A day to remember for sure
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Congrats!!!
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Congrats!! Thats stackin em up right there. Its always awesome when family is involved.
Thats an incredible day, congrats all the way around the family!
Dang can you take me hunting lol!
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Thanks guys. I was super lucky. Probably never have another day of hunting like that. I've been very blessed this season. I'm on the sideline until Wednesday where I'll be heading to Montana and hopefully wyoming if things go well. Our team is doing awesome this season!
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Very nice KY . Well done. Weather changed my mind from traveling this past week. Just didn't feel like making the drive and buying a license for 3 days to sit in rain . Looks like I'm calling it for this season. Too much to do around the house . This is probably the best the team has done over all since I've been here or at least that I can remember .
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Wow! I'm not sure where to begin...my buddy and I arrived in Kansas yesterday evening and didn't have any luck on roosting birds. We sat up in the bottom near some roost trees but we didn't have any roosted. We decided to go to plan B and hit another tract of land. We slipped in on the edge of a cut corn field with roost trees behind us hoping to strike a long beard on the other side and boy did we!! We struck up 3 long beards and had them at the decoys in a matter of minutes. 3 Rios walked in...only 1 walked out! Thank ya Lord!!!
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That sounds like a fun hunt wvhoyt19
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Quote from: aclawrence on May 02, 2023, 09:40:42 PM
That sounds like a fun hunt wvhoyt19
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It was a blast! We wrote the script and they read it perfectly!!
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Love it when a plan comes together. Congrats to both of you!!!
Quote from: turkey harvester on May 03, 2023, 08:48:22 AM
Love it when a plan comes together. Congrats to both of you!!!
Thank you!! Long drive but definitely worth it
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Drove 20 hours to Montana. Arrived mid day and hunted hard with no action. Caught a nap and went hunting in the evening. Heard some birds gobble on the limb that evening but didn't have them even close to pinpointed. The next morning we didn't have anything close but had a general direction and kept working that way. We finally found a henned up bird and chased them around for awhile without much luck. After we finally lost them we heard a distant gobble and started working that way. After getting in the general area where we thought they were I hit a call and one gobbled about 150 yards out. Once he got cranked up 2 more started gobbling not far from him as well. I got them cranked up but they were on the hill across from us and it was clear they weren't coming off of it. We repositioned and called again and could quickly tell they were coming. Two popped over the hill around 60 yards but didn't see a hen and went back to their hang out spot. Repositioned to the other side and got them worked up again but they wouldn't move. Finally we made an aggressive move using the terrain to get within 60 yards of them and they hammered at a couple soft yelps. At this point we're on our knees looking over top of a small bush with the birds just over a roll with a couple pines between us. Almost instantly we can hear hard drumming right behind the pines. Before long I see a tail fan coming our way. The first bird comes strutting out from behind the trees at about 15 yards and either of us could have killed him easily. Since he hadn't gotten nervous yet we decided to wait and try to double. About 20 seconds later the other gobbler struts up right beside him. Their heads are practically touching when we start the count to 3 and pull the triggers ending the hunt on a perfect double at 12 yards
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That's awesome. Sounds like it was worth the drive! Congrats
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Congrats!! Beautiful birds and awesome memories made! Hopefully next spring I will be in MT for my Merriam.
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Congrats to you and your friend KYgobblergetter, 2 fine Toms out in the "Big Sky" country.
Thanks guys it was a lot of fun. We had some fun hunting in wyoming this morning too. We set up on two off the roost but only one would commit. I told my buddy to kill him and he ended up missing. We kept hunting and had another close call with a bird that would literally just sprint past us gobbling his head off without slowing down then get to 100 yards and hang up and gobble. He did that to us a couple times. We heard another bird after that so I sent my buddy after him and I split to try and find a bird myself since it was our last morning. Got a close "oh sh*t" gobble and had to just drop down in a ditch. Birds came right in but it was 5 jakes. Played around with them for awhile then heard another gobble a long ways off. Made a loop on him that was right at a mile. Hit the call and he answered but I could barely hear him. Moved over a finger and same thing. I decided at this point he was at the bottom on the other side of the next finger over from me. I made my move and I guess he was making his at the same time. We met at the top of the finger. Luckily I saw him a couple seconds before he saw me and was able to get my gun off my shoulder. He saw me about the time I was turning my sight on and I raised up and shot him on his second step getting out of there. Fun stuff but he ended up being a jake. I really hate that and never shoot jakes but it is what it is. For a shorter trip this far from home we had an absolute blast
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Sounds like y'all are having a blast. I need to do this one day.
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Yesterday was the first time I got out to turkey hunt, so here is how it went down. I knew the forecast for Saturday was going to rain here in Minnesota. I got out Friday to setup the bílind so I can dry during the rain. When I was approaching I saw a flock of turkey in the field I was going to setup in. They bugged out when they saw my truck approaching. I setup on this high point on the field because in years past in know if the toms aren't roosting in this one area then they will approach on this high point of this field. Saturday I got out and set my decoys out as if they were breading in the field and got in my blind and waited for the rain and turkeys to sound off. I was getting worried because they weren't sounding off at the time I usually hear them. I had several sound off and I had this one sounded pretty close he was acting really weird. I was thinking it must have been a Jake. The first hen came out and was feeding in the low spot of the field. She work her up to me and started to cluck, so I joined in with some yelps and clucks. A short time later two Jakes and a hen joined the field and were feeding in the low area. The original hen went back in the woods and another hen joined the three feeding in the field. As the five turkeys workimh the field, I would take my box call and give a few yelps and I would hear a distant gobble very faintly. I did hear one much closer and steps out another Jake. Lol I thought to myself you got to be kidding me. The two Jakes met with the newest Jake and then begging to circle each other and then started to feed with the two hens. I had watched thosefive turkeys for two and a half hours and I would call about fifteen to twenty minutes with some yelps and clucks on my box call. I was getting tired because I only had about two to three hours of sleep because I can never sleep the night before I start one of my hunting season. I figure I would rest my eyes as the five feeding below me . All of a sudden I hear a cluck I raised me head and look to my left there stood three more Jakes. I'm looking further to my left and I see a long beard. He was started to make his way down the back side towards of the rye field and turn to get my gun and saw his head coming back up from the back side and fired. He dropped and I rushed out to get him and this here thing gets takes a turn. I went back to get my chair and camera to some photos of my bird. When I was looking him over the long bird I shot he had a half a beard. I was confused did I shoot his beard off? What in the world happened, so I started to at the spurs and that's when I realized I got one of the Jakes instead. I figured what had happened the tom was making his way down the hill and at the same time one of the Jakes that was with him was making his way up as I was getting my gun that was propped up in the blind and out the window. I mistaken the head of the Jake for the long beard I intended to take. My tag is punch with a legal bird here in Mn that I'm grateful for. At this point I just look towards next season when I head to OK and KS. I didn't take any pictures because the bird was so wet and wanted to get the meat out and chilled down.Now I'm just waiting on my buddy's schedule to clear up so we can take out his son on his first turkey hunt.
At least you got to see some good close up turkey action. Good luck on your other states.
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The older i get.... the more a legal turkey is satisfactory for me lol. Sounded like an exciting hunt.
Thanks guys, to be perfectly honest. I wasn't going to share the story, but it's better then eating tag soup. When it comes to the outdoors there is not reason to lie about what happens. It was that bird time, and that long beard will be that much better next year.
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I was finally able to get my hands on a turkey this season. It was private land to the rescue and I still had to work my butt off for this one. I'll be back for the story later.
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Congrats on the bird. Seems like you had a tough season
Quote from: Moore on May 15, 2023, 04:18:04 PM
Congrats on the bird. Seems like you had a tough season
Thanks and yes I did. I'm going to try to squeeze TN for one more bird.
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Congrats!!
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Outstanding!!
Congrats!
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Congratulations! Way to hang in there!
Let's go! Turkey Man is on the board!
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An "As Found" picture.
I killed this bird on Monday the 16th in an area I've hunted before...not where I had done some pre-season scouting.
It was quite cold and the only bird I heard. He didn't gobble on his own, I had to raise him with some soft yelps about a half hour after sunrise. He came in pretty good...like they're supposed to! Shot him at 35 yards. He scored 51.5.
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An "As Found" picture.
I killed this bird on Tuesday the 17th in my favorite spot where I've gotten several birds. It was very cold...30 degrees and I was leery of hearing anything. Normally in this spot I can expect to hear a few gobbling but this morning only this guy. Due to generally expecting to hear one sound off I set up in the dark so as not to spook them. Well...he gobbled darn near in gun range to my left. I didn't hear any hens so figured it may be a good morning. Well, he glided about 75 yards away from me and down into a dip. That's when I heard a few hens where he glided to. I ran a quiet string of yelps on my glass call and he immediately responded. He would gobble every so often telling me to join them and I called very quietly every so often telling him to come to me! Finally he broke and came in, strutting and drumming...my absolute favorite turkey sound. I shot him at 33 yards after he came from behind a big tree which enabled me to get my 835 up. He scored 55.65.
Congrats! I agree drumming is one of my favorite sounds and I don't think I got to hear any drumming this year.
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Congrats Trukeyman, that's a great 2 days of hunting.
Congrats!!
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Man I'm getting my butt absolutely whooped in Minnesota. First day around 9:30 I was able to pull two off of private onto the public but they hung up at 80. Ever since then all the birds have been roosted and stayed on private. Got permission where I heard a bunch of birds on private then the landowner was mushroom hunting yesterday evening right where they had been roosting so they were all off the property today. One gave us some fun but ultimately wouldn't come in. Met and hunted with a really nice guy from Arkansas and he killed this morning on a different piece of public and said he heard some more birds so I'll be in there tonight trying to kill or roost one and that'll decide what I do for tomorrow morning
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Quote from: Kygobblergetter on May 22, 2023, 11:58:42 AM
Man I'm getting my butt absolutely whooped in Minnesota. First day around 9:30 I was able to pull two off of private onto the public but they hung up at 80. Ever since then all the birds have been roosted and stayed on private. Got permission where I heard a bunch of birds on private then the landowner was mushroom hunting yesterday evening right where they had been roosting so they were all off the property today. One gave us some fun but ultimately wouldn't come in. Met and hunted with a really nice guy from Arkansas and he killed this morning on a different piece of public and said he heard some more birds so I'll be in there tonight trying to kill or roost one and that'll decide what I do for tomorrow morning
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Sounds like a fun trip. Good luck tomorrow!
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It's been lots of fun. My wife is tagging along too so lots of cool pictures and videos didn't get anything roosted tonight so we have a decision to make on where we're going in the morning. It's been a great trip regardless but I'd love to kill one to finish out the year
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Ended my season on a good note. Tuesday morning we had to be out of Minnesota early to get my wife on a flight Wednesday morning. The bird was roosted close. Gobbled a few times on the limb then flew down and shut up. After 30 minutes I decided to sneak out and take a peak in the field. I stopped before I got to the edge to listen and after a couple minutes I heard a bird putt directly behind me. I slowly turned my head and could see his head over the hill. I think he was actually clucking looking for the hen he had heard. I was somehow able to get ahold of my gun and turn and shoot him at 35 yards. He ended up being a jake which I really hated as it was my second in a row. Which is more than I had killed in all my years of hunting before that. It was with my wife and she was pumped so it was still cool but I was pretty disappointed. No big deal. Made the ten hour drive home so she could get some sleep before her flight and decided to pick my brother up and turn straight around and drive 7.5 hours to wisconsin so we could be there in time to hunt in the morning. A flat tire made us late but we heard a couple birds that day and couldn't do anything with them. The next day was pretty uneventful so we only had a couple hours to make it happen this morning before I had to be home in time to get to work tonight. My brother went after a bird we had messed with the last couple days and I just decided to head in blind way back and try to find a bird to hunt. As luck would have it, I heard a distant gobble and took off. He was way farther than I thought but I eventually closed the distance and got to him after he was already on the ground. I had to make it up one last lip to where I wanted but it was covered with rocks. I slipped from rock to rock and made it to the top of the hill about 90 yards away from the bird. When I got up there I was on the edge of some thick under brush and he was in the pretty woods. He was HOT. Gobbling every 30 seconds. I finally got where I wanted and stood behind a tree and hit a call. After a couple seconds he gobbled but definitely wasn't hammering my yelps. I gave him a couple more soft ones and same reaction. I was really pressed for time because of how far back in there I was, so I decided to try and sneak 15 yards to a small drain beside me. The leaves were dry so moving quietly was impossible. I figured he'd hear me so I started scratching in the leaves every step as I moved. When I made it to the second tree on the edge of the drain I realized he hadn't gobbled in almost two minutes and figured that meant he was either coming or had picked me off. I stood up straight to be able to see and got my gun ready. Instantly I began hearing drumming and knew he was on the way. After 30 seconds or so of listening to drumming I was able to spot his fan coming up over the hill. He came in to view at probably 60 yards but couldn't pick me out cause he had been over a little hill and the under growth was so thick I was hidden pretty well. He slowly strutted and drummed his way closer and closer slowly. I finally decided he was in range but his head was behind a big vine so I just let him keep coming. Since I was standing up the butt of my gun was on my shoulder but my gun wasn't aimed at the bird. He finally stepped out into the open and I told myself the next time he went in to strut I would just raise my gun and that would probably be enough to make him raise his head. As luck would have it he never went back in to strut. At about that time, he tucked his wing and turned to start walking away. I knew it was now or never so I gave 3 yelps as I raised my gun and settled the dot on his head. He never even flinched and I pulled the trigger putting an end to my 2023 season. I shot him at 6:02, walked up to him and snapped a couple pictures then threw him over my shoulder and walked non stop back to the car. We started the drive home at 7:01 and I made it home in time for work. Couldn't have asked for a better way to finish off the season. I shot a bird on the last hour of the last day on my last 3 trips. As much as I love hunting with friends and family, it was special to me to end the season by myself. Just me and the bird. He wasn't an upgrade but he sure was special
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Good job...congrats.
That's awesome!! Great story too!!! Last hour of last day... that's taking it to the end!! Congratulations brother!!
Hey guys I just killed a last day bird. It's going to be a little bit of an upgrade. I'll post pics when I get home.
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Congrats guys!!
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nice job ac
Great!! Did you use that trumpet on him?
Quote from: Turkeyman on May 28, 2023, 08:59:01 AM
Great!! Did you use that trumpet on him?
No it was mostly mouth call on this one but I did use my Lonnie Mabry long box to strike him with and get him going so I was excited about that. I never used my trumpet but the last bird I killed I used it a good bit.
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That's freakin awesome AC!! Last day to boot. That's commitment right there!! Congratulations
Quote from: turkey harvester on May 28, 2023, 06:37:10 PM
That's freakin awesome AC!! Last day to boot. That's commitment right there!! Congratulations
Thanks. I didn't think it was going to come together this year. I've been sick and not feeling great, not hearing any birds and literally on the way back TJ the truck I found him and killed him. I couldn't be more happy.
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Congrats Kygobblergetter and aclawrence on 2 fine Toms.
Great job! Congrats