Give a little description of the best hunt, best kill, or best day in the woods period. Have at it
A double with my older brother in the mid 90's.
I guided that hunt. Ending with the double was the ultimate stamp of approval from a guy I look up to.
I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect. It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad. We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird. My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey. He doesn't get around like he once did. He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him. We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before. I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years. I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us. I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up. He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man. It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good. After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground. I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing. Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/FullCircle.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/FullCircle.jpg.html)
Quote from: guesswho on February 02, 2014, 09:43:11 AM
I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect. It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad. We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird. My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey. He doesn't get around like he once did. He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him. We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before. I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years. I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us. I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up. He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man. It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good. After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground. I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing. Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/FullCircle.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/FullCircle.jpg.html)
There are lots of reasons I hold a deep respect for this man. Most of those reasons have little to do with his hunting prowess, but have everything to do with this story.
Great read, Ronnie.
2 really stand out for me. 1st was when I called in a gobbler for Kamski. His first bird.My first time calling for someone else. Just like you read in the books. Located him at dusk with an owl hooter. Set up on hime the next morning. Called he gobbled and the game was afoot .3 hens came in close enough to peck kamskis boots. They finally left and I called again and here he come a gobblin. Boom time. :fud: High fives all around.One I will never forget.
In 2012 I never pulled the trigger but it was without a doubt one of the most exciting seasons ever.Birds everywhere .Gobbling like I ain't never heard. Too many hens though. Had hens at 3 ft. but the closest gobbler was at maybe 50 yds. Still a great season. :gobble:
My favorite hunt was with my grandson. We had three toms roosted about 60 yards from us. When they flew down, they landed about thirty yards to the right of us. The woods were very open and Kyle could not turn that way to shoot without the turkeys seeing us. So we sat very still as these toms strutted and gobbed continuously for the next ten minutes.
It was then that about ten hens flew down and gathered about 100 yards ahead of us. The gobblers headed to them as if they were on a string. I got very aggressive with my calling, cutting and cackling very loud and fast. The toms went into a gobbling frenzy , then turned and came straight to us. Kyle dropped the largest of the three at about 25 yards. He weighed 19 lbs , had a 10 inch beard and 1 inch spurs.
There are few that stick out but the first one I thought of was when I was calling for my buddy and his cousin. My buddy was the one who got me into turkey hunting and it was his cousins first hunt. Bad weather day so I decided to set them up in a field. Got some birds to gobble on the other side of the field probably 500 yards away. I wanted to make a move on them but these guys were feeling lazy. I thought there's no way this bird with come this far. Sure enough 2 birds came in the field. Saw the decoys and ran the entire length. Now I had these guys sit side by side incase there were 2 come in. Birds get to 25 yards and my buddy shoots! Didn't try to count with his cousin. Other bird takes off flying and the cousin shoots it out of the air at 35-40. Looked like a goose hunt.
favorite with son, 3 toms on b-mobile, ran to him, water splashing from the wings in the soggy creek bottom, 10 yards. Decoy way to close, i was just learning. Gobbling and purring the fight was on.
Telling him SHOOT THE BIG ONE ,( i was about to have a stroke) When he finally shot i jumped out the blind and ran to the tom, stepped on his neck and let out a big owl hoot. his first turkey at 7 and couldn't be prouder. 23 1/2 lbs 9 1/2" beard 1 3/8 spurs.
A handful of years ago my father and I went on a hunt with a friend of his. Opening morning was slow, but around 10:00am a gobbler came in silent. Dad was taking his morning pills and didn't see the bird. I took the gobbler and after showing him to my dad, he says "ok, call me in one now". I kinda looked at him funny and told him it just don't work like that. Dad is pretty stubborn, so I said I would try, just to appease him of course. Sure enough, within 30 minutes another bird came in on a string and dad had his first gobbler on the ground. Next morning I hop in the truck and am informed pops buddy is coming along with us. No sense in arguing. We set up in the exact spot as the prior day and right after legal light I put a bird in the guests lap. I figured what the heck, worked yesterday. Within 10 minutes gobbler #2 is on the ground.
Jump to the following opener and once again dad and I are sitting in our same palmetto root hide and by 8:00am we double on gobblers that could pass for twins. What really makes these hunts stand out to me is they were on a central Florida WMA that requires no quota permit and the line at the gate looks like the one leading to Disney World. A total of 6 gobblers taken in only 3 mornings over 2 opening weekends. Dad and I have had many successful hunts together since, but I will never forget these.
Has to be a hunt I had last year. Hunting during a wounded warrior hunt here in Va at Quantcio Marine Corps Base, myself and a wounded warrior doubled up on 2 big gobblers after I called in 4 longbeards together...it was his first hunt for turkeys.
Killing the Death Valley Bird.
Ttown and I hunted this bird for 2 years on our club. He was the one gobbler that would gobble at anything and everything all day long and always seemed to have hens. If the hunting was dead, we could always count on crow calling from the same spot and hearing him gobble.
The first season we devoted most of the season hunting him both together and separately. He almost always roosted on the adjoining property and would make the same big circle everyday through our club back to the other place.
The first season we could never get him in range, but I managed to call his hens in twice. The last day of the season I had him at 80 yards, but one of us moved and he was gone.
The second year we hunted him the first few weeks and then moved on to other birds. One day we were packing up to leave and Ttown suggested we hit the crow call one more time. The DV bird gobbled and we knew exactly where he was. We maneuvered around in front of him, heard his hen walking through the leaves and here he comes. After 2 seasons of hitting him hard, Ttown was gracious enough to let me take the shot. Rolled him at 42 yards and that was all she wrote.
I was extremely happy to have finally killed him, but we sure missed being able to hear him gobble the rest of the season and the next.
(http://i863.photobucket.com/albums/ab192/strutzone18/004.jpg) (http://s863.photobucket.com/user/strutzone18/media/004.jpg.html)
Number one is no brainer calling in my kids first bird at 10 years old next is calling in my 2 brothers and Bro. in law first birds great excitement in those first kills
Hard to pick a favorite..the morning my dad and I both killed turkeys 20 min apart while sitting in the same blind was one to remember. He shot his first and we let it lay out in the field as to not spook other birds..20 min later another tom came running in almost over top of his on the ground...fun hunt for sure
Would have to be my hunt with my dad in 2006. My dad taught me alot about turkey hunting and got me started in this great adventure! In my early teens my dad got very sick and was sick for many years and had to give all hunting up. But in 2006 the Lord blessed us to be able to share one last hunt together. I was able to call a nice 2 yr old long beard in for him. I live that hunt over in my mind alot and it was something I wanted to do for my dad for along time...I feel very blessed the Lord gave me the opportunity to do it!
God Bless
it's really hard to pick the best turkey hunt. i have had some outstanding hunts over the past 33 year.
some of the best hunts i have had is when i left the turkey woods humbled and scratching my head
over the butt whoopin that a old Gobbler just gave me.
one of those hunts that last for several hours with several moves and set ups.
those are the hunts that i remember and learn from. the quick hunt on a red hot bird is nice.
but it does not meen near as much as stepping on the head of a old Tom that has seen and heard it all.
Any time I get to go to Kansas to hunt I always have a new best hunt.
ooh thats a tough question, and I've only been at it 3 or 4 years.... two that I will never forget are my first turkey ever (a jake) and my first longbeard (on the same area of public land). The first turkey, I had snuck to a field edge with struttin toms, hens and jakes. I clucked and purred and one hen got pissed off and came running to 5 yards with 2 jakes following, and one of those jakes was my first turkey. I still remember their bright read heads up close and personal and seeing one drop and lay on the ground, and thinking to myself I had just killed my first turkey.
The other was the next spring, it was my first long beard, same area, different field. I was on edge of river bank facing corner of field. At some point, another guy came in and set up a blind and 2 decoys about 350 yards across the field. Well I had 3 gobblers hammering their heads off at my calls and then 2 hens that showed up on my side of the creek. The 3 gobblers had flown down on the other side, but they came to the edge of the river and flew to my side. When one popped his head up 10 yards away, he saw me, my gun and camera and started putting and backed down. All the birds then cut out through the bushes into the field and went straight to the other guy's dekes. I heard the shot, and looked out to see the other turkeys just standing around. Then they started coming towards me. I set back and got the gun up. A little wait, and here comes the first one, a small grey head. Then the next one, a big red head. Boom, down, a fat 2 year old with a 12.5 inch beard. Me and the other guy got pics of our birds, he was visiting from arkansas, and we both had a great hunt despite setting up on each other accidentally.
The last one. As my Turkey adventures are winding down to an end due to age, and living on social security, I fully appreciate getting out another year. So many of my elderly friends are not able to do this any more, and living on memories, but I am still creating new memories. I am really looking forward this year to teaching a mother and daughter to Turkey hunt, which due to retirement, I now have the time to do.
Quote from: guesswho on February 02, 2014, 09:43:11 AM
I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect. It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad. We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird. My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey. He doesn't get around like he once did. He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him. We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before. I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years. I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us. I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up. He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man. It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good. After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground. I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing. Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/FullCircle.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/FullCircle.jpg.html)
Any story I could tell would pale in comparison to that one. So I'll just say, fantastic story Ronnie, you're a good son! :icon_thumright:
Guesswho, that's an awesome story.
I've had so many awesome days in the turkey woods, even when it didn't result in a dead bird, but one day stands out from the rest. It was opening day back in 2009. There was a lot of snow that spring so we couldn't even really get to our areas until right before the season started. The evening before the opener, my dad and I walked into an area to see if we could hear birds gobbling on the roost. I hit a coyote howler and a bird gobbled. He was the only bird we could hear in that particular spot, but as we were walking by to our truck we could hear a couple of birds gobbling way off in the distance to the west of us in a different canyon. The next morning we actually hunted a different area we knew was holding birds and we've done well in that spot in past years. The bird we set up on gobbled well on the roost, but he had company and several hens ended up taking him away from us. We figured we'd go try one of the other spots and come back and hunt this bird later in the day. When we got to the spot where the bird gobbled at the coyote howler, a rig was parked there so we drove down to where we heard those birds gobbling in the canyon to the west. We got set up and I started calling and a bird gobblers right away. He ended up being across the canyon from us and we watched him strut out to a logging road, he was hammering bigtime. Well, after a bit we hear another bird gobbling in the direction the first bird came from. Meanwhile, the first bird flies across the canyon and lands below us to our right and starts working his way to us. I could hear him drumming as he was approaching, but couldn't see him because he was below us a ways. The second bird come out right where the first bird did and now he's gobbling and strutting his stuff on the logging road at the edge of the canyon. I finally see the first bird's head and he's already about in range. He was walking towards a big stump and as soon as he walked past it, I'd have a great shot. My dad didn't have a shot the way he was facing. So the bird steps out and I shoot him and then I immediately grabbed my glass pot call and started calling to the other bird. He was still gobbling like crazy, the shot didn't even both him. So this bird also ends up flying across the canyon, but lands off in the distance to the left of us and that's the way my dad was facing. This bird started working his way to us and he was fired up. He actually joined up with two hens that I didn't know were there but he came running to the calls with the hens trailing him and my dad whacked him. I killed my bird at about 8:00 and my dad killed his at about 8:30. We excited to say the least! So we took a few pictures and tagged our birds and headed back to the truck and then we drove back to where we saw that rig at the other spot. The rig was gone so we walked back in there and on our way in we could hear several birds going nuts. I figured it was a group of jakes, but didn't know for sure. As we got further back into that area, the gobbling stopped so I'm guessing maybe we got busted. We sat down and on my first series of yelps, a bird gobbles at us in the direction the bird was the evening before the gobbled at the coyote howler. We ended up having to reposition on this bird 3 times, but he finally worked his way to us and was about 20 yards away when my dad pulled the trigger. He was hit hard, but he managed to flow a couple hundred yards and then we saw him land and start walking quickly along a logging road. We hurried over there and I was just praying we weren't going to lose this bird. Well I could see his footprints in the snow and then they went off the logging road to the edge of a canyon and I looked down below and he was laying there dead. So my dad is tagged out and longbeard number 3 is down. So we end up heading back to where we started that morning. As soon as I called a bird gobbled at us. I called again and he cut me off. And then it wasn't too long and I could him drumming. I got my gun up and the bird stepped up from behind a clump of brush and started walking right towards me. I let him get about about 30 yards from me and I pulled the trigger and longbeard #4 was down. The best thing about that day was that I got to experience it with my dad. We definitely drove off the mountain with huge smiles on our face.
Two days later we were in Idaho and the first morning of our hunt, we had two longbeards come strutting their stuff up a logging road from about 300 yards away and we doubled on them when the got within about 20 yards. One bird was already in range and I was about to tell my dad to shoot him because the other one was below and little lip in the road and I didn't know if he'd present a shot. Well, he finally showed himself and actually hopped up on a blown down log. My dad shot him right off the log and I thumped the other bird. The turkey Gods were with us those two days, that's for sure. Sorry for such a long story guys, and I'm not a good story teller, but I just had to share those hunts with you.
I've got a couple that rank pretty high. As a complete turkey hunting trip, last year all of us with Gooserbat Game Calls finally got to hunt together. We started out in Colorado after Merriams, and in 3 days of butt kicking we had one bird to show for a lot of hiking calling, and glassing. We decided to break camp and head to Kansas to hunt public land and we found birds everywhere! 5 public land gobblers down in 4 days!
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/UKturkeyhunter/fivedown_zpsdc4ef3e4.jpg) (http://s126.photobucket.com/user/UKturkeyhunter/media/fivedown_zpsdc4ef3e4.jpg.html)
But probably my single favorite hunt was during the 2010 Missouri youth season. I took an 8 year old and his 16 year cousin hunting. We set up in a bottom where the 16 year old knew some birds were. I set out my new jake mobile 20 yards in front of them and sat 15 yards or so behind them to call. The 16 year old had killed a couple birds before and was setting by his cousin to keep him still and calm (or so we thought!). Two gobblers pitched down in the field and I have a few yelps, they stuck their heads up and ran at us! They got to the decoy and proceeded to beat the ever living crap out of it! The kid had a single shot 20 gauge and fired at one of the birds, but he was too excited and I watched the wad sail about 8 feet over its head! Both birds jumped straight in the air, landed, gobbled and kept beating the decoy! The 16 year old had all the extra ammo and was digging in his pocket for a shell as two long beards are still beating the decoy!
One of the birds started to get nervous, but they got the shell in the gun, clacked it back closed, cocked the hammer and the kid rolled a 24 pound stud with 1 1/4 spurs! That was such a wild hunt!
Not necessarily the best hunt, but the easiest hunt I ever had was one morning I parked the car and heard a gobbler gobbling his head off non-stop. I walked in to my hunting spot listening to him carry on. I sat down, got settled and tried one yelp. The gobbler ran 250 yards downhill to where I was. I yelped once to get him to stop, then shot him.
I was hunting for about 15 minutes total and was home before 9 am.
It was fun, but I'm glad they're not all that easy.
Quote from: jblackburn on February 03, 2014, 11:50:20 AM
I've got a couple that rank pretty high. As a complete turkey hunting trip, last year all of us with Gooserbat Game Calls finally got to hunt together. We started out in Colorado after Merriams, and in 3 days of butt kicking we had one bird to show for a lot of hiking calling, and glassing. We decided to break camp and head to Kansas to hunt public land and we found birds everywhere! 5 public land gobblers down in 4 days!
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/UKturkeyhunter/fivedown_zpsdc4ef3e4.jpg) (http://s126.photobucket.com/user/UKturkeyhunter/media/fivedown_zpsdc4ef3e4.jpg.html)
Joey you beat me to it, that was one of the best I've ever been on, but probably the finest was the first, not that I killed any thing because as a seven year old kid I didn't even have a gun or a call, but because it lit a fire and bonded me and my Dad. We've lived hours apart and never deer hunted together but come turkey season we would go to the same WMA on SE Oklahoma each year for our annual hunt.
Ronnie that was an awesome story and I love the matching photos. :icon_thumright:
There are many, but my most memorable moment was my first longbeard. Two of 'em came in straight off the roost, hard gobbling and strutting down a long, narrow oat patch. They came right past where I wanted the shoot them, and both double gobbled about 30 feet from me. They almost blew my hat off!
They were so tight against each other I couldn't get a shot (1 bird limit here). Finally at about 6 yards the bird closest to me got a step ahead, still in full strut and I let him have it.
I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
I have some great memories in the turkey woods but that is the one that got me so completely hooked. I began to travel for turkeys the next spring, a one bird limit locally wouldn't let me get my fill of these magnificent birds.
I have had quite a few great turkey hunts but my two favorites occured just last spring. I called in a nice mature gobbler for my son(his first) without the aid of decoys or a blind. He was shaking like a leaf. I thought for sure the bird would see us but it all worked out and after nearly 15 minutes in front of us he dropped him with one shot out of a 20 ga. at about 20 yards. What a RUSH! That was during the youth hunt, then a week later on the first day of our regular season he was sitting right beside me while a called in and killed one of my nicest gobblers yet. It's pictured in my Avatar.
Quote from: TBab on February 02, 2014, 01:29:32 AM
Give a little description of the best hunt, best kill, or best day in the woods period. Have at it
The very first bird I called in a decade ago, close second was a double beard big boy. Worst both: No one around to share it with! :blob10:
3 years ago was the greatest hunting ever, i spent 3 days with my boys and got to tag them out before i even shot my first turkey. first day of youth my youngest smashed a nice tom with a 10.5 in beard 30 min later my middle boy missed a monster .we moved over the hill and watched him go off on another property we can't get on so we packed it in for the day . morning 2 took the middle boy and the oldest out to my honey hole they both shot turkeys, middle boy went first right at day break he crushed a monster tom with an 11.5 in beard. 20 min later my oldest boy gave a Jake a dirt nap ,then the next day took an old friend out to the same spot and he crushed a great tom with a 10.5 in beard them took my dad out the next day and he got a monster with a 12 in beard then i started to hunt chased mine almost all season long well worth it 12 in beard .i took other guys out but family and friends made it even better..
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Our last day in Kansas last year. Me, my buddy, and his dad had about 1.5 hours left in the hunt and we all had a tag left. We set up in front of several hay bales in a field that we've had success in before. After trimming some cedar bushes and making a temporary blind, I gave few yelps out with no answer. We were all chatting it up when I looked over and saw a big bird blowed up about 200 yards away. After every call he answered but wasn't coming any closer. After about 10 minutes he starts to walk out of the field and I thought he saw our strutted decoy and the game was over. He makes it to the field edge and I look behind him and there are two more birds strutting in the field behind him.
The original bird starts to walk the field edge in our direction and when he gets about 75 yards out, he commits and starts running in. It was my turn to shoot and I told the other two guys, when the bird gets in front of my barrel, I will shoot but sit still and I'll keep calling. He struts in to about 25 yards, I start to cut on my diaphragm and up pops his head. BOOM!! He falls stone dead and I let out a flurry of cuts and yelps and the other two birds come charging in.
They reach my bird and I count down for both of them to shoot and it's over in a flash.
So there we are with only an hour left and we all three tag out in 20 minutes. Best hunt I've ever been on and the only triple I've witnessed.
This one, when my 10 yr old daughter killed her first turkey.
http://youtu.be/PN8lPFbm-Pk (http://youtu.be/PN8lPFbm-Pk)
I spent 3 hours one morning trying to get a bird to leave a flock. There were 9 birds struting and who knows how many hens. Every time I touched a call they gobbled. I ranged them at 328 yards. I just sat tight. I had decoys out but because of the way the field rolled over I knew the birds couldn't see them. I was watching them with binos and saw that one of the strutters was getting tired of the party. He started flogging anything that got near him. That was my chance. I started purring aggressively and he and his buddy came running. The ran the whole 328 yards! When he got within range I smoked him. Here is is where he fell with my makeshift blind and decoy in the background. reflexl
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that's tough... I have had many great days in the turkey woods. but so far my most memorable is when I got my little cousin on his first bird. he has had a tough life kind of. we have a great family but he has no dad. and I try to be his big brother. and we got him on his first bird last year and we had to work for it but finally the bird committed and he laid the smack down on a bird at 20 yards. he gobbled that morning all total 71 times. he was a great bird 10 3/4 inch beard 1 1/8 inch spurs. to say he was excited was an understatement but I believe I was more excited then him. love seeing people get hooked on the sport like I did many years ago. he has been counting down the days sense turkey season ended last year.
Easy - My son's first turkey 14 years ago this spring and I'll never forget it. Turkey's were fairly recently reintroduced to Maine and you had to draw a permit to hunt them then. My son drew a permit on his second try at 11 years old. As you might expect at 11 years old, he reveled in the whole experience. Patterning, scouting and all of the preparation. The very first time we went scouting we walked into up along the edge of a field before first light and I told him, "Sometimes when you hoot like and owl a turkey will gobble back at you". So I hooted and a big gobbler sounded off less than 100 yards away. His eyes got as big as saucers. :)
We attempted to roost a bird for the first day, but the weather was very rainy that evening and we were unable to find one. We hunted until noon that first day, but never struck a gobble. His next chance to hunt was a week later on Saturday and we went out Friday evening to try to roost one. It was very overcast and threatening rain. We covered most of the ground that we had available to hunt, but we never struck a gobble or saw a bird. Then, just as we were getting back to the truck we heard a gobbler start up. He must have gobbled 20 times for us. We pinned down his location so we could come back in the morning.
When we got up the next morning it was raining hard enough to drown a frog and I almost decided to stay home. If we hadn't roosted one the night before I probably would have. It rained hard the whole way back to our hunting spot (about a half hour drive) and I wondered if I was crazy for being out. Fortunately, just as we got there the rain stopped. We made our way in to within about 100 yards of where we had the gobbler roosted and set up in an opening we had picked out the night before. It was still very overcast and there were no gobbles as shooting time came and went. Then probably 15 minutes into shooting time he started up gobbling. I gave him a tree call twice and then shut up as we waited for him to fly down. It seemed like he took forever to fly down, but finally we could hear him on the ground. I started calling to him and he answered us each time, but he was going the other way. Getting desperate I gave him what I thought was my best excited cutting and he went silent. I thought for sure that I had messed up. We waited for what seemed like forever, but was probably only fifteen minutes or so and I heard him drumming. I whispered to my son to get ready and then we both saw his red head bobbing through the woods coming our way. He saw our jake decoy and came right in on a string. I told my son to shoot whenever he was ready. As the gobbler was rearing back to thrash the deke, my son let him have it. After my reminder to make sure his safety was on and to watch his muzzle direction we high fived and went to pick him up. Great memories.
He still has the tail and beard on the wall in his room.
Quote from: guesswho on February 02, 2014, 09:43:11 AM
I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect. It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad. We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird. My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey. He doesn't get around like he once did. He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him. We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before. I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years. I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us. I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up. He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man. It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good. After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground. I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing. Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/FullCircle.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/FullCircle.jpg.html)
Right On! :icon_thumright:
It's a toss up between these 3
(http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg299/TrackeySauresRex/IMG_0433.jpg) (http://s251.photobucket.com/user/TrackeySauresRex/media/IMG_0433.jpg.html)
(http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg299/TrackeySauresRex/spring2009jake.jpg) (http://s251.photobucket.com/user/TrackeySauresRex/media/spring2009jake.jpg.html)
(http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg299/TrackeySauresRex/IMG_0643_zps51bfda93.jpg) (http://s251.photobucket.com/user/TrackeySauresRex/media/IMG_0643_zps51bfda93.jpg.html)
Mannnn the years are flying by. The last Tom he shot was a great hunt. My boy got him going on the wing bone again. We called him up together. I sat in back of him about 40 or so yards away. We called together/seperate back and forth with no coaching at all this time. I never saw the bird come in. The young man was up and ready.
Booom!
;D
In the past, I would say it was difficult to name just one. But, after this past spring hunting with my son (8 years old at the time), the choice is simple.
As daylight neared we made our way down an old logging road on national forest land. As it often goes, no turkey gobbled where I expected it to. We waited, but soon decided to head deeper into the hollow towards a distant gobbler. We set up across a creek and after a short while I concluded it wasn't going to happen there, so we decided to make a move. However, when we stood up I heard someone hooting on the other side of the gobbler so I decided to ease on back the way we came.
We spent time wading in the creek and eating a snack....just hanging out enjoying the woods. As we we crested the ridge to walk back to the truck, I heard a turkey gobble in another nearby hollow, so off we go. After two set ups (one real tight), nearly two hours, I woke my son up from his nap and told him we were going to slip out quietly and go find some lunch. It was 12:30.
As were about to drop off and cross the little draw back to the main ridge, I stopped to call one more time. Boom!! One gobbled not 100 yards away. It was real open, so we hurriedly got closer to the break of the hill and sit down. Before he could even get comfortable between my legs, I heard them in the leaves. Quickly got his gun on his knee and shouldered just in time as a hen ran into about 15 steps. She immediately picked us out and ran back the way she came, running past the jake that had just crested the hill. As he walked left and I told my son to find him in the red dot scope, I heard "pffftdoooooom". The big gobbler crested the break of the hill in full strut, immediately seen a booger, broke strut, and turned to walk away. At that same moment my son had finally found the jake and boom!!! I was elated to see the turkey flop. In shock I think, he yelled " I got him!!!"
We admired the turkey for several minutes in what is some of the most beautiful woods on earth and said a little prayer together just thanking God for providing the opportunity to experience such an amazing thing. He shot at about 12:45, so I was able to have a teaching moment about patience. I said most folks would already have given up and been at home taking a nap. It's a day I'll never forget and looking forward to many more.
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/crowdertim/CARSON-ARTURKEYPIC1_zps0e727767.jpg) (http://s818.photobucket.com/user/crowdertim/media/CARSON-ARTURKEYPIC1_zps0e727767.jpg.html)
(http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz103/crowdertim/CARSON-ARTURKEY2_zpsd3c9e76c.jpg) (http://s818.photobucket.com/user/crowdertim/media/CARSON-ARTURKEY2_zpsd3c9e76c.jpg.html)
Quote from: guesswho on February 02, 2014, 09:43:11 AM
I've had many, but my Full Circle hunt is as good as a man can expect. It was a hunt several years ago with my Dad. We were on a hard gobbling stubborn bird. My Dad told me several times during the hunt to leave him and go kill the dang turkey. He doesn't get around like he once did. He never once left me as a kid and I sure wasn't going to bail on him. We sat there talking strategy like we have done hundreds of times before. I could see his deep breaths caused by excitement, and I could see it in his blue eye's the same as I had for the last forty years. I finally hit on the right combo and the bird ever so slowly made is way towards us. I saw the bird first and told my Dad to get his gun up. He can't put it on his knee anymore so he has to free hand it, which is tough even for a young man. It was timed about right, he saw the birds head and put him down for good. After the shot I realized it had been forty years since he helped me kill my first longbeard, and there I was helping him put one on the ground. I remembered the picture of my first longbeard and got us to pose as close as I could remember without him knowing what I was doing. Then For Fathers day I had the two pictures put in a fold out frame side by side.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/Firstlongbeardrestore.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/olesixbeards/FullCircle.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/olesixbeards/media/FullCircle.jpg.html)
Won't even try to match this one, family at it's finest.
I've been a part of a couple very memorable hunts though. One being a Wheelin' Sportsman Hunt in Texas a couple years back. The girl that I was guiding had been in a wheelchair for 14 years. We hunted hard for 3 days, heat, chiggers, thunderstorms... Finally on the afternoon of day 3 it came together, what a great feeling.
(http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad191/tgs_2010/texas%202012/DSC_0141.jpg) (http://s935.photobucket.com/user/tgs_2010/media/texas%202012/DSC_0141.jpg.html)
Second one, I was on a hunt in Connecticut pursuing my self set goal of a New England States slam. I had three gobblers, all separate to the call, come in within 90 minutes of each other, all from the same spot, felt like a duck hunt. Try carrying 60lbs of gobbler out to the truck, lol.
(http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad191/tgs_2010/2012%20hunting%20pictures/troyctbirds_zps86f53ac8.jpg) (http://s935.photobucket.com/user/tgs_2010/media/2012%20hunting%20pictures/troyctbirds_zps86f53ac8.jpg.html)