I've been hunting a tough, smart, old, bird for weeks & killed him yesterday, Sunday 5/1/11 on the last day of season. I left my truck about 2:00 yesterday afternoon & started down a big hill, got to the bottom of the hill & thought I heard a turkey drumming. I stopped & sure enough, it was a turkey. I froze. To make a long story short, he was in a side road that turned off the road I was on & was behind a big cluster of vines. I was able, after 10 minutes to find him as he stepped out from behind the vine cluster about 40 yards away, and killed him. I have hunted him hard for weeks & finally got him. My buddies are calling me a bush-whacker.
Am I?
whatever it takes...right now I would shoot a bearded hen if that helps... :cowboy:
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
You are a turkey hunter. If that means accepting a gift when presented with it so be it! I can tell you that when I am in the woods and have tags in my pocket, if opportunity knocks I open the door!! :you_rock: :you_rock: :you_rock:
Did you get excited when you heard the bird gobbling? Did you get excited when you thought you might get a shot? Did you get excited when you took the shot? Did you get excited when he was flopping?
Who cares whan ANYONE else thinks? You did got your turkey legally so tell you friends to get a life!
Good job!
I would've done the same thing.
I don't know if I'd call that bushwhacking, but instead capitalizing on the opportunity that was presented. Killing them that way is not as fun as one strutting and gobbling into the call, but there is nothing wrong with it.
How many guys do you know that would pick up on the sound of a bird drumming while walking through the woods or down a logging road for that matter. Most wouldn't........many of them can't pick it out when a bird is strutting up to their calling. You made the best of an opportunity............if your fine with it..........enjoy your good fortune.
I love most of all to call them in Strutting and showing off. But if the good Lord gives me the opportunity to take one. by chance I will.
Call them Kentucky Fried Chicken eaters cause that's what they'll be eatin besides turkey breast. Sounds like a hunter aware of his surroundings or you'd have flushed him for sure.
No your not a bushwacker. Tell the Loard thanks for a great gift!
I'm not sure about the whole ethics part. If it was legal, then it's all good. You take them as you get them. I would just say 'I wonder how many turkeys you walked by because you didn't hear them drumming'. Anyway, good job.
Sometimes the best call is no call at all. Those old birds are tricky and it sounds like you made the best of a good opportunity. I was thinking the other day while driving to the woods about all the what if's I have had in the past turkey hunting. Well - you don't have to worry about that about this bird. Sounds like your friends are a little jealous. You will forget about those remarks, but that bird stepping out will be with you forever. Congrats!!
If they are off roost, they are legal and ethical as far as I'm concerned.
Quote from: hobbes on May 02, 2011, 04:50:46 PM
I don't know if I'd call that bushwhacking, but instead capitalizing on the opportunity that was presented. Killing them that way is not as fun as one strutting and gobbling into the call, but there is nothing wrong with it.
How many guys do you know that would pick up on the sound of a bird drumming while walking through the woods or down a logging road for that matter. Most wouldn't........many of them can't pick it out when a bird is strutting up to their calling. You made the best of an opportunity............if your fine with it..........enjoy your good fortune.
I agree 100% congrats on the bird
Thanks for the votes of confidence. They really had me second-guessing myself for while there.
I'd have shot that bird everytime I had the chance. Without fail...Mike :you_rock:
Bang!
Quote from: TheTwistedOne on May 02, 2011, 05:57:23 PM
Bang!
End of story :D
Those easy ones come well deserved for hardcore turkey hunters.
Quote from: CASH on May 02, 2011, 04:42:55 PM
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
BINGO!!!
Quote from: CASH on May 02, 2011, 04:42:55 PM
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
Exactly! Turkey HUNTING!!!
If you shot him out of a truck window that would be bushwhacking. What you did was use good hearing to capitalize on a great opportunity. Congratulations!! As stated earlier a lot of hunters can't hear drumming when they are sitting still and watching a bird strut up close. It sounds like you are tuned in to it very well.
If it's legal,I'd shot him standing on his head.nothing wrong with the way you harvested your bird.the easiest bird to kill is the one who is receptive to the call and marches in.
when it comes to a bird I really want to kill im going to do anything Legal to get him
congrats on the stellar Stalk
I would have shot him in a half a heart beat. Wouldn't even cross my mind. Bush-whacked before and will do it again whenever the opportunity presents itself. I prefer the gobblin and strutting but will take whatever comes along, AS LONG AS IT HAS LONGBEARD.
I only have on thing to say on the matter " boom "
Dang it why can't that happen to me!!!! :character0029: Bushwhack my a** it's called hunting and that's what you did, hunted most guys would've stumbled through and bumped the bird!
You did the one thing that I try to teach new turkey hunters all the time be aware of your surroundings be alert listen, look then move. You played it perfect!!!
Neal
You are a turkey hunter.Congrats. on your bird.
I can probably guess that in that instance your woodsmanship exceeded 90 percent of all hunters, (maybe not 90 percent of everyone on here but possibly). Myself, I put you in the top 90 percent of all hunters with your awareness, patience and skill. Congrats..
Quote from: Sherrell on May 02, 2011, 07:05:24 PM
If it's legal,I'd shot him standing on his head.nothing wrong with the way you harvested your bird.the easiest bird to kill is the one who is receptive to the call and marches in.
This! Beginners are always talking about calling in a turkey only, with that being the main thing, but after killing dozens of gobblers, to put the shot on a struttung drumming boss gobbler doing his thing, thats 10x better!
:z-guntootsmiley:
As far as I'm concerned, bush whacker is a term used by a bunch of scrubs who probably couldn't stalk and kill a turkey one-on-one in the woods if their lives depended on it. Why talk em if you can stalk em I say! The more 300 degree eyes in the mix the bigger the challenge and the bigger the rush!
Congrats on your hard earned bird.
never second guess yourself. when you pull that trigger you mean it. every shot you make is made for a reason. and that reason that day was to kill that gobbler. be thankful you killed a nice bird. many hunters every year that don't get the chance to kill a bird much less see one. its always a blessing to kill a turkey. congrats!
AS long as it was not blindfold and tied there. Bang
I would have killed him. Way to go.
those that won't come to a call are harder to kill than those that will
I snuck up on both of my birds from this year. Tell your buddies to try and sneak up on one and then let them determine whether it is bushwacking. A deer is not difficult to sneak up on, but until this year I could not get within 65 yards of a turkey by way of stalk. Their eyes are amazing and I would say 1/5th of the time you will get busted by them. Congratulations on the bird. You have good woodsmanship and that is very important in our sport.
Quote from: Hognutz on May 02, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
I'd have shot that bird everytime I had the chance. Without fail...Mike :you_rock:
:agreed:
my goodness... you picking out the drumming of a turkey at 40 to 50 yards while walking is enough said about that hunt. Most hunters would have heard PUT PUT>>> and seen the vanishing manuver of that bird. The other fact of the matter is you walked up on a bird at 40 yards and didn't spook him. :groupwave:
CONGRATS> oh and where are the pics of this bird.
You set out to kill a turkey and did so...legally.
Woodsmanship counts and getting that close ain't easy.
Yeh, we all want them to come in gobbling their heads off but the fact is, not all of them do.
If you'd set up and called and he had come in with nary a sound, wouldn't you have still shot him?
Enjoy your trophy and don't worry about what others may say. :z-guntootsmiley:
Thanks again for input. I felt good to start with about the entire deal, especially that I could hear him drumming between 30 & 40 yards away while I was walking.
At first, I dismissed the sound as music from a car going down the nearby highway. But, after 1 or 2 more "vrooooooms", I knew it was not music. I immediately squatted in the road where I was, no headnet, no gloves, no call in my mouth. It's a thousand wonders I didn't take 3 more steps and be directly in the intersection of the road I was on & the road he was on. I was in the middle of a road...I had nowhere to hide that wasn't at least 4 steps away in any direction. After 5-10 minutes, I thought to myself, "Well, he didn't see my squat down so maybe he won't see me stand back up." All this time he was spitting & drumming, but I could not see him through the cluster of bullous vines. I eased up all the way to my tip-toes & spotted him in full strut about 40 yards out. He came out of strut, & I hammered down.
That was possibly the most intense 10-15 minutes of my turkey hunting experiences, from the time I first heard him drumming until I shot because it was so "all of a sudden." But, I started feeling kind of bad about it after some so-called "buddies" called me a bush-whacker.
I'm 40 years old and unfortunately didn't start turkey hunting until I was 25. But, I realized after my first season how important hearing is to being successful at this sport. Since that time, I wear ear-plugs if I'm doing ANYTHING that makes loud noise, and I believe it has paid off.
I'll try to post some pictures later today.
Hearing drumming when I least expect it has become one of my favorite adrenaline producers. :icon_thumright:
You heard the Drumming before anything, so that is a skill in itself. The fact that you used your senses to start this and skill to finish it, make it legit. The bird is going to tast the same as it would if you sat down and called him in from 200yds after catching him on the roost and getting him to fly down.
Your "Buddies" are haters
Enjoy the victory.
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 02, 2011, 04:49:20 PM
I would've done the same thing.
:you_rock: :you_rock: :you_rock:
The GREEN eyes envey.Congrats on a good hunt.
You did absolutely the right thing. When turkey hunting gets tough one thing separates the successful hunters from the unsuccessful. That is the ability to HUNT turkeys. That means taking all the clues the woods has to offer and knowing your quarries habits. Also the ability to move freely and undetected in the woods. When the going gets tough successful hunters get going. Congrats!
Here are my 3 kills this season.
1) The picture of me with my sunglasses on is the "alleged" bush-whacked gobbler. 9 1/4" beard, 1" & 1 1/8" spurs killed last day of season 5/1/11
2) Picture of me with the other guy is my second turkey. 9 1/2" beard,
1 1/8" & 1 1/4" spurs killed 4/28/11
3) Other pic is my first bird of this season. 9 1/2" beard , 7/8 spurs killed on 1st day of season 3/12/11
This is my first time to post pics. Excuse me if they aren't good ones.
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Quote from: CASH on May 02, 2011, 04:42:55 PM
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
AMEN!
Quote from: CASH on May 02, 2011, 04:42:55 PM
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
:z-winnersmiley: :z-winnersmiley:
No way to be sure about , but I think you were calling him by walking and sounding like a hen, I believe he thought you were a hen, thats why he was drumming, Congrats on a good bird, dont pay any attention to your buddies.
tell your freinds to go pound sand.Congrats on the bird.Atleast you was honest and told them how it happened,could have told them a whoppper of a story.
Quote from: CASH on May 02, 2011, 04:42:55 PM
It's called Turkey Hunting. Tell your friends to buzz off. They're just jealous.
:icon_thumright: