(Sorry about the pics, I didn't know my dad was bad with a camera. He chopped the birds heads off!)
I thought it would be hard to top last years total of nine birds, but we got it done! Myself, along with my father and several cousins and uncles (nine in all) made our yearly pilgrimage to southern Woods Co. in western Oklahoma. We camp there every spring an hunt roughly a thousand acres of very open sandy and sparsely vegetated habitat north of the cimmarron river. Most of the trees consist of elm, hackberry, soap berry and blackjack oak, with some cottonwood in the low lying areas and near water. Water in the area is mostly windmill tanks with the accompanying overflow ponds. These make running livestock in the area possible, and the turkey are drawn to the areas as they spread out from the nearby river bottoms to nest and breed.
Roost sites are fairly predictable year to year since there are limited trees available to accomodate the large groups of birds. We split into groups of three to four hunters and try not to overhunt one area. This worked out pretty well for us again this year as we took eleven birds, only two were jakes. One tom my cousin's ten year old son took had four beards! Multiple beards are uncommon for this area we hunt so that was a nice bonus. After calling for family members the first couple days, I went solo to go do some running and gunning. My first bird came after locating him with binoculars strutting on a sand hill below one of the roosts during midday. I circled a good quarter mile behind him and up the other side of the hill he was using as his strut zone. When I was about to crest the top, I saw his fan turn and heard him drumming. He was only 20 yards away, so I gave two quick clucks and he raised his head and took a load of extended range #6's full force. He made a mess of a pair of camo pants and the butt pad on my mossy oak elite turkey vest!
The second bird I had roosted the night before and set up on him in almost the exact same place I took my first bird. Two hens flew out that morning and landed only ten to fifteen yards from me and they called back to him in the timber. He only answered once and I never heard him fly down in the small grove of trees they had spent the night in. The hens moved off to the west and were almost a hundred yards away when I caught the tom sneaking to my right around the base of the hill I had set up on. He saw me swing my Remington toward him and made it two steps before I had him in my sights. I touched off a shot at 40-45 yards and he rolled sideways and flopped a few times before coming to rest one final time. My two tags were filled and I had two sets of one inch, curved spurs and a nine and a seven inch beard to show for it!
I have one tag left for the state, but it's hard to pull myself away from my 7 month old girl. She obviously missed me by how she reacted when I came home. I nearly teared up a bit when I held her. Those four days were the longest I've been away from her since birth. Maybe I can make it one more time out there and finish it off like I did last year. Just wanted to share the wonderful luck we all had and hope you all have some good hunts like we enjoyed together this past weekend!
(http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab189/aaraymiller/Photo0031.jpg)
(http://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab189/aaraymiller/turk22011.jpg)
Sounds like some great hunts. A picture or two would be cool. Thanks for sharing, Mike
Congrats to you and your family!! Thanks for sharing. Now lets see some pics!!
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Congrats. Sounds like you guys had a great hunt. Can't wait to see the pictures..Mike :you_rock:
Congrats...Sounds like an awesome hunt!! :icon_thumright:
PICS?
Quote from: FttFttVroom! on April 11, 2011, 09:35:15 PMI have one tag left for the state, but it's hard to pull myself away from my 7 month old girl. She obviously missed me by how she reacted when I came home. I nearly teared up a bit when I held her. Those four days were the longest I've been away from her since birth.
Congrats on y'alls success brother!!! BUT, you are on the right track!! My daughters are fixing to turn 17 & 19, and basically have lives of their own. (Remember back to when you were that age) There is nothing like the unconditional love that your kids give you when they are very young. I work for a fire department, and we do 24 hour shifts. I remember when my kids were young, and I would get home after a shift, they would hear the garage door go up, and come busting out the door screaming, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, we missed you!!!", and jump into my arms. It was THE greatest feeling in the world. :love5: Those days don't last forever friend, but turkey hunting does. Enjoy your time in the woods, but spend as much time with that precious little angel as you can. Cause you can't get it back!!
Congrats on a successful trip!! :icon_thumright:
Way to go man!!!
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Congrats on the great hunt with your family!!! :you_rock: :you_rock:
Nice on the trip and success on the turkeys. Great way to return home and find you were missed also. Soon enough you can take her with you if she is inclined to do so. Congrats.
Thanks guys, still waiting on photobucket to get their stuff in order.
OK, photobucket finally got their stuff going again......my pics are up.
sounds like a blast! congrats!
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