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Killer B’s Story Thread

Started by zsully, January 27, 2020, 09:07:33 PM

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zsully

This hunt was a blast. Day 1 may have been the easiest turkey hunt I've ever been on. I saw that bird scouting Wednesday morning then again with Travis Wednesday evening. He was on a farm literally a mile down the road from the house and only about 150 yards off the road. To make things better this little patch of timber was surrounded by fields so we knew he had to be roosting there. I had no idea we'd be that close though. My favorite part of that hunt was the hen that landed between the decoys and Travis. We set the decoys close, probably 10-12 yards, so that hen landed at about 5 yards. After that I was a little concerned for days two and three after we hunted all of 15 minutes day one before Travis killed his first bird. Day two we hunted hard. Right off the roost we had two birds hotter then a two peckered billy goat. I mean they were screaming at everything. Unfortunately the only bird we called in was a hen. Late morning we ran into a big longbeard loafing in a bottom but just ran out of time since we had to stop hunting at noon. Day 3 was a day I had been hoping to avoid all season. There is this one farm we hunt that is an absolute mountain. It looks innocent enough from the road, just a big grass hill, but  that b!/*h will try to kill you. There's birds up there though and if you see them in the field the night before you know they'll be close. Well Adam saw them there. Two longbeards at least...... for me that's pretty much worth taking an @$$ whoppin to have the chance to call at two longbeards. So we made the hike and we're rewarded with a couple hens yelping and not a single gobble from those birds. Off to the next. There was a bird a ways off trying to wake the dead with all his gobbling so he should surely play if we get close. We used the fog as cover and closed the distance to be rewarded again with a grand total of 0 gobbles. I did think that a rabbit was the upper half of a turkey in the fog and that was worth a good laugh. It sure was nice to get rewarded after all the walking and hard hunting though with 15 minutes of pure gobbling mayhem to finish off the trip. Such a good time creating new friendships, drinking beers and telling tall tales. I imagine these last couple days are going to be hard to beat for a long time.

a_jabbo

One of the highlights of the hunt with Travis was on the 3rd morning as I was sitting there and watched Travis as he jumped out of his skin and did a little dance just as it was getting light out and hens were just about roosted above us. I didn't realize what the heck was going on. Appeared as though he sat on an ant hill, but once I saw him throw a stick at something and watched an opossum scurry off, I realized what the commotion was all about. At first there was anger, but seeing the opossum I couldn't help but laugh. It's been a heck of a season.

 

POk3s

Wow! Sounds like an awesome, fun filled trip had by all! Love the stories and pics!

Yoder409

Great stories and pics, guys !!!!

WELL PLAYED !!!!!!!!!
PA elitist since 1979

The good Lord ain't made a gobbler I can't kill.  I just gotta be there at the right time.....  on the day he wants to die.

Delmar ODonnell

Way to go guys! Great stories. It's always a great time chasing these birds with like minded folks. I'm in SW Wisconsin till Friday. My dad missed a bird yesterday morning. And he did perfect, I mean on a string to 25 yards. It was a heartbreaker but hopefully we can kill him tomorrow. The ungalaciated or driftlest area of Wisconsin is beautiful, hopefully we can put one on the ground before we leave Friday. It's been a great 3 week trip regardless!


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Delmar ODonnell

Well, today marks the first day of the offseason for me. It's sad to think about. While I love bowhunting deer, the thought of it doesn't begin to fill the void that the ending of turkey season leaves.

I was able to fill my WI tag on the last evening of our trip. After dropping my dad off at camp to get work done, I drove back to a piece of public and walked to the end of a high ridge to sit and listen around 12:00. I wasn't there 10 minutes and a bird gobbled off in the distance. I hiked down and up some brutal terrain and got in position, but the bird sidehilled me all the way to directly behind me.

While I was working that bird, another was gobbling equally as well on a bench down and up another hill. After the first setup proved a failure, I moved to him. He gobbled at everything, I used the terrain and got within 75 yards of him, and gave one yelp. No response. This troubled me, as he was gobbling at every noise he could hear. I thought he was either breaking to me or moving away. Sure enough, he gobbled 5 minutes later on the ridge I was just on, and his hen companion gave a few yelps.

After these 2 failed attempts, both the birds worked onto private, and a third was gobbling was gobbling wayyy off in the distance. I made the grueling track back to the truck, and it was 3:30 by the time I made it back. Everything had shut up, but I thought what the hell its my last night, so I walked the opposite direction I had worked those birds. At 4:00, I heard a gobble about 500 yards away. I moved closer and found this bird would only gobble at a purr on my glass call, and he'd hit it every time, but wouldn't touch any other call or sound.

This bird was on the original ridge I had started on, 20 yards from the first tree I had sat on. This ridge was wide open, and there wasn't really a play I could make. I glasses him in full strut, and after seeing him to over the crest, I sidehilled to the saddle in the middle of the ridge. There I was able to seal the deal at 5:00. I walked over 9 miles for this bird, and ended up killing him right where I started, go figure.

I feel so blessed to be able to hunt these birds another year, and can't wait till next year already. Congratulations to everyone on a great year, this team has done some considerable damage on the turkeys in the past 2 years!




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zsully

Great way to end the season Delmar. You're right this team sure has been tough on the longbeards these last two years. Awesome to get to know a bunch of guys that are as turkey crazy as I am.

Mossyguy

It was fun for sure this year. Can't wait to do it again next season!

Yoder409

All thumbs up, as usual, Delmar !!!!!

The fat lady hasn't sung JUST yet, here.  Took my younger boy out this evening for a sit in a blind.  Had one gobbling...........just not playing the game well.  Saturday is our last day.  I have a game plan for this guy (who I shoulda killed on Monday, but.........) if he's gonna keep roosting where he has been.

Hopefully there's details to stay tuned for..................
PA elitist since 1979

The good Lord ain't made a gobbler I can't kill.  I just gotta be there at the right time.....  on the day he wants to die.

POk3s

Proud to be a member of this team of killers! Hopefully a few more trips for me next spring!!

Yoder409

OK..................fat lady sang.

Season closed out yesterday.  My brother hunted last week and said the birds gobbled a little but were totally ignorant.  He was right.  Had a couple birds gobble early on.  They were on the property, but at distance.  They had completely shut off by 6:30 AM.  I had stuff to do.  So I called it a season around 10:00.

Weird year.  The bird I killed never gobbled.  Called 4 in that busted me for (STILL can't figure it out) no known reason.  I haven't been picked off by 4 birds in the last 10 years COMBINED............so to have 4 in one season............and not know why........   I'm a bit disturbed.

Anyhoo..............only 11 months til our season opens again.  But HOPING to shorten the curve a couple months by doing Florida in 2021.

Super team we have thrown together here !!!  Hope all yinz are up for a return gig next year !!!
PA elitist since 1979

The good Lord ain't made a gobbler I can't kill.  I just gotta be there at the right time.....  on the day he wants to die.