The sun setting on a Florida pine block - I just called up a hen out of this and she went back in - these types of blocks are preferred nesting as the season progresses and you see hens going solo , and not in flocks -
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-21_19-39-48_49.jpg)
sun down - time to go back to camp and be with good and old friends , and a good thing too , they keep you company and keep you going with your spirits high
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-21_19-55-00_379.jpg)
I will share with you a few pictures from a special spot I keep all to myself -- its a undisclosed Florida live Oak Hammock , in it must be palm trees that are 100 years plus old , the oak trees are probably way older - its isolated in a hard to approach swamp on all sides --
This is to be one of my favorite Live Oaks , in years past I had a gobbler skirt the hammock for 1 hour he hung up just outside that Oak Tree - its very similar to a oak tree in another area , my father used to call his "7 gobbler tree" he just kept on killing gobblers while sitting under it year, after year - I dont bother hunting that spot anymore , its way too crowded but sometimes I go back to visit my dads tree
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-47-40_830.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-56-45_355.jpg)
sometimes if I am slow enough I can creep up on a flock of turkeys deer or hogs , nearby the day before I spotted a Mother Panther and cub tracks in a crossing --
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_11-16-55_901.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_11-19-22_260.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-55-03_731.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-54-53_657.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-54-50_873.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-35-45_916.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-44-45_462.jpg)
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-52-26_731.jpg)
Bird in hand...hope I live long enough to see the fog on a Live Oak Hammock with a gobbler negotiating his way through it a few more times -what can say ....people who don't turkey hunt don't understand and that's fine by me , less people in the woods is good thing
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-46-31_964.jpg)
push pin
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-30-04_13.jpg)
Walking out .... sometimes you have to take break on a nice morning and soak it all in , life passes you by quickly , remember and appreciate the good times, the great places, and special friends --
(http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t456/oldgobbler3/2013-03-23_10-50-04_702.jpg)
way to go . would love to hunt in fl one time before my time is up..
Beautiful hunting grounds right there brother! Congrats on a great hunt and time spent in the turkey woods!
Great photos and narration and congrats on a beautiful bird.
Thanks for sharing
Awesome area man!
Cool pics Shannon. That is a neat looking spot to hunt. Congrats on the bird!
Great pics. Nice bird also. :icon_thumright: that terrain down south is so much different than what I'm used too. Man do I need to make it down there one of these years.
Beautiful Shannon . I think we all have a special spot ,I know I do .I haven't been there physically in a while but I have sat there many nights in my mind just before I fall asleep .
Congrats on the bird and also the awesome photos. I could just lean back & imagine my self there (especially right now while I am stuck here at work :toothy12:) You got some great hunting grounds there....
Beautiful.
I, too, would like to experience that sometime.
Greg
Great story! Great pics!
Nice write up and pics Shannon...congratulations on a fine bird too.
My wife is bugging me to go to Florida in July for family vacation...I really don't want to go unless I can go fishing or something. I'm not into all the touristy crap. Heck, I'd much rather wait until next spring and come down for some turkey hunting. That looks like a whole different world from what I'm used to hunting.
absolutely amazing congrats
Great Thread and Awesome Pictures Shannon and congrats on the bird. It was great meeting you last week!
Beautiful pics Shannon. Never been to Fl. It sure looks different than Mi. I have a special place too,just can't find it . Place where I killed my first gobbler. I know the general area but I got so caught up in slipping in I didn't know where I was at.
Congrats Rasta. Good hunting with you this weekend as always. :you_rock:
Very nice Shannon! Beauty area, nothing better than slowing down and soaking it all in...
Thanks for sharing...
Nice pictures..reminds me of my old days living in Fl. and chasing Osceola's. Never could get used to how those birds would go into such thick stuff. I've watched them disappear into those palmettos many times.
Congrats Shannon,as usual it was nice to hunt with you this weekend,good times my frend
Thanks for sharing those pictures, and for the reminder to always stay present in the moment.
:icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:
I love that big live oak!
Great pics Shannon, I could almost hear a Osceola gobbling.
Quote from: Old Gobbler on March 23, 2013, 10:32:33 PM
Walking out .... sometimes you have to take break on a nice morning and soak it all in , life passes you by quickly , remember and appreciate the good times, the great places, and special friends --
:cross2: Amen to that, my OG brother.
:icon_thumright: Great hunt and photo's. Congrats
Wow! Thanks for sharing your secret spot. Felt almost like I was there.
Shannon, those woods are classic, pristine, old time Florida!! Undisturbed forever, except for the occasional visit from hunters such as you. I know of places that look like that. They are beautiful! I used to deer hunt in a live oak similar to yours. I would walk up a low branch and perch on a fat branch higher up. No need for a treestand. I've also seen hens nesting in thick stuff like that. You'd never think to see a turkey there, until they run across the road in front of you. ;D Always hens, always nesting. Good stuff, being one with nature!
Congrats on your bird!! Enjoy the sanctity of those woods brother!! :icon_thumright:
Fantastic stuff Shannon. Great pics and narration
I swear I need to make it down there before I'm old and grey. Thanks for the post :you_rock:
Love the big oaks, great times.
Brings back lots of memories. Born in Florida, live in Tennessee now. Of all the things in the woods I miss the most are the huge moss covered live oaks, don't miss the mosquitoes though! Of most of the oseolas I ever killed I would definitely say I had to really earn them, kind of spoiled with all the easterns around me now.
I enjoyed all of that---very nice!