Highlights for the year

[Happy]

Hope no one minds now that everyone's done and we have a full year till next season to reminisce. What were everyone's highlights for the year?

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[Sir-diealot]

May sound strange but hearing a gobble opening day, I did not hear one definite gobble last year so hearing one on opening day was already a highlight. Other than that the 5 that came into me yesterday which was the last day.

[Happy]

May sound strange but hearing a gobble opening day, I did not hear one definite gobble last year so hearing one on opening day was already a highlight. Other than that the 5 that came into me yesterday which was the last day.

I have always said if I hear one gobble, its been a good day. On mornings before season and on days I am home but can't  hunt I still step out on my back deck to listen to my "Boys" greet the morning.

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[GobbleNut]

I'm not sure I would consider it to be a "highlight", but one of the things I will remember most about this spring season is the night I camped at 9,300 ft. here in New Mexico and woke up to a blizzard that dumped 10" of snow on the ground in a couple of hours.  I had roosted a couple of gobblers at dark the evening before,...under clear skies,...and felt pretty confident about my chances the next morning.

As it was, a storm system rolled in, in the middle of the night, and I had to load my stuff an hour before daylight and get the heck out of there!  My most vivid memory will be of watching that dense cloud of snowflakes coming down in my headlights as I negotiated that high-mountain two-track headed for lower country. I will always wonder if, under different conditions, one of those gobblers would have taken a ride in my truck that morning.

[Happy]

I don't know if that would make a "highlight" moment for me. Unless there was some spectacular off road maneuvering done or you saved 3 maidens from a dragon in the process. But memorable none the less.

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[avidnwoutdoorsman]

Had to be after the youth hunter I took out for his turkey hunt ever took his first bird. (Pictures posted on another post) While we were waiting for the birds with the one he shot to unlikely come back through for a second pass or clear out of site so as not to stir them up too much if we chose to hunt them more he was shaking in excitement. He wanted to get his hands on his prize. Then when he finally did that smile was for the ages. My season was still two weeks out but was complete in that moment right there and then.

[GobbleNut]

Yeah, there is always something special about the excitement found in those "first bird" moments,...and especially when it involves kids!

I suppose the actual hunting-related highlight for me would be my first gobbler this spring.  Anymore, I always try to video my hunts if the situation allows for it, and this hunt was a classic.  Hunting solo and filming is a real challenge in my "go to a roosted gobbler, set up, and call him in" hunting style in our "big-woods, national-forest-type settings because you have to do a lot of guessing as to what a gobbler might do.  That is especially difficult when you are using a fixed tripod set-up rather than a barrel cam or something like that.

The scenario was that there were two gobblers roosted together on the slope of a pine-covered ridge.  I approached in the dark but was only able to get within about a hundred yards or so because of the somewhat open terrain and dry, noisy understory.   I set up at the top of the slope they were on and made my best guess as to how to position the camera.  They eventually flew down, but rather than come straight to me, they circled out-of-sight to a point 90 degrees to my right, wandered off a bit like they were going to leave, but then to my surprise their gobbling started getting closer and it was soon apparent they were coming back towards my calling, wing beats, and scratching.

I repositioned the camera towards them, and their regular responses to my calling told me they were gradually getting closer.  Even so, I was a bit surprised when, all of a sudden, there was a turkey peaking its head out from behind a tree thirty yards away.  The sun was not up yet and it was still a bit murky-dark, but peering at this bird, I at first thought it was a hen,...which surprised me because I had not heard any hens calling at all.  Regardless, my first thought was,..."that hen will surely be followed by those gobblers".

Anyway, that turkey eventually took a few steps forward, which put it behind a fortuitously-positioned shrubby tree between it and me, and which allowed me to reach over and reposition the camera in the direction the turkey was headed.  A few seconds later, as if I had scripted it, the turkey walked out into the opening where the camera was pointed and stood erect, looking up towards me at twenty yards or so.  Although this "hen" appeared large, I could not see a beard in the low-light conditions and concluded that it had to be a hen that was with the two gobblers I was hearing.  In addition, this turkey's head was not "lit up" like I would have expected a gobbler's head to be. 

Suddenly, from behind the bird, a gobble rang out,....and instantly, this bird's head jutted forward and gobbled!  What I had thought to be a hen, suddenly turned into a gobbler!  A few seconds later, he took a few steps forward and then the beard that had been laying flat against his chest swung out where I could see that this was indeed a mature male turkey,...which pretty much instantly took me into shooting mode. 

I had already positioned my shotgun, and with a slight movement I was on his head and a second later the trigger was pulled.  Down he went, flopping.  Another gobble rang out, and in a couple of seconds the other gobbler, which heretofore had been unseen, ran up in full strut and started chasing my flopping gobbler around in a circle.  I had a second tag to use, and could have easily killed this second gobbler, as well,...but I have this personal "rule" of only one gobbler at a time, so rather than pull the trigger again, I grabbed the camera and tried to get a bit of film of the goings-on. 

I was also in the middle of trying to get to my feet,...which, at my age, is a feat unto itself anymore,...so the "trouncing" gobbler, although thoroughly engaged with the "trouncee", quickly spotted me arising and momentarily headed for the hinterlands. 

After all was said and done, I had harvested my first gobbler of the year, could have harvested my second one, as well,...and had gotten the entire affair on video!  The highlight of my season indeed!   

[Happy]

Congrats Gobblenut. Glad it worked out the way you planned. I would say I had 2 major highlights. The first involves teaching my landowner buddy the 2 or three things I know about hunting them. We had a blast this year, he completely lost his composure the first day and missed a nice one. And would up killing a very nice Tom the 3rd time we went out. It was just nice to spend time with someone who had no ego, worked hard and was willing to learn. He has a long way to go but if he keeps the right attitude and works at it he will be doing alright for himself in a few years.

My second highlight was my boys tom. It was a pleasure watching him making the right moves to react to something I had no clue was going on. I had struck 2 birds about 100-150 yards out. Motioned my boy to the tree he should take and found myself a good calling position where I could drag the birds in front of his gun. The birds were closing quick, prolly 75 yards or so and closing. I noticed him slowly wiggling and moving his 275lb frame to the right. I hissed at him and pointed about were the Tom's were going to come out directly in front of him. He slowly shook his head and touched his ear. A few minutes later a tom was in our lap, full strut and looking for love. Unfortunately for the turkey my boy had picked up his drumming and was ready for him. Proud of him for that.

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[eggshell]

I don't know if that would make a "highlight" moment for me. Unless there was some spectacular off road maneuvering done or you saved 3 maidens from a dragon in the process. But memorable none the less.

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there are maidens in New Mexico?

Not many highlights here. I suppose hunting a new farm in Ky that we had never even scouted good. Yup, we totally pooched it up, but look out next year. we now know how they like to move. Actually, my best memory is a morning after a huge rain and I (like an idiot ) decided to go hunting without checking the radar. Just as I got as far as possible from my truck, the monsoons set in and I retreated to a rock shelter on the family farm. By the time I left it was a water fall and then the sun came out and lit up the gorge, it was a sweet view. I videoed it but I can't post a video here. I did send that video to you didn't I, Happy. So my best morning never even had a turkey in it. I resorted to hunting morels and then going fishing.  My best turkey morning was a two hr duel on the third day and I never killed the gobbler. The two I killed danced right in undramtically. 

[Happy]

Yeah, I got that video. You have some pretty property their eggshell. I know you keep threatening bad things to trespassers but if they are tracking your shooting record you might have a busy year keeping an eye on it. As far as maidens go in New Mexico I have no idea. Been out there a few times and can't say I saw any but I guess thats all personal perspective. I did get invited to a Navajo pow wow and that was pretty cool.

I can't say I messed with any turkeys more than once. I had one day I felt out of pocket and just screwed up on two different Tom's. I could have probably killed the second but it would have been a crawl and shoot and thats just not my style. I tried the first Tom again the next day but he wasn't home. I found another gobbler about two miles away a few hours later.
Overall I would say the season went about as planned. Hated that I had to do so much work while in the woods. Thats my away time and it sucked to have that ruined. It was a fun year and I had a lot of fun and watching someone else experience a tom doing his thing at less than 30 yards for the first time is always a highlight.


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[eggshell]

Thanks for the reminder Happy. I try and not let too many specific details out, but I forget how resourceful the offenders are now. I only killed one bird there this year, the other was a property 10 miles away. We were under quota this year and only took three birds.

I probably sound like a real arse, but I am not. I just try and do what is right for the turkeys.

[Happy]

Just giving you a hard time eggshell. Glad you have taken the time to take care of your property and the wildlife. Its refreshing to see. Thats something I have been trying to impress on my landowner buddy. The need to always leave some for next year and the need for quality habitat and not over hunting it. He only has 120 acres and we heard shots daily on the property surrounding his. So I am teaching him to factor that in as well. I hope you reap the rewards of your efforts for years to come.

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