Most memorable hunts

[Ol'Mossy]

What are your most memorable hunts? I have a few in mind. Lets hear them.

Since I never had children I was just itching to take a Youth hunting when the Mentored Youth Program started here in Pa. Back in 2008 a friend of mine wanted me to take his daughter out with him and call one in for her. She was 12 then. I already had some gobblers located so off we went. We got set up on 3 of them gobbling their heads off on the backside of a ridge. I started calling and they answered every call. Soon one stuck his head up and came up over the edge. To my surprise it was a Jake!! Then 2 more came up over,  another Jake and a Longbeard. I wish I would have had a video camera with me because the sun was just coming up and was shining off their feathers, it was picture perfect. The first Jake was strutting and coming closer. She already had her gun up, an over and under that was her Grandfathers. She finally got the crosshairs on it and shot. It went down right away and I was on it like a wild man. It was a 12 lb Jake with a 4 1/2 inch beard. When I was walking back with the gobbler I noticed she was crying and asked my friend why she was crying, here the stock of her rifle slid under her arm and when she shot the scope gave her a black eye. She was a little gun shy after that.


Last year the second day of our spring season I had one located and when I was walking in before daylight to set up on him I busted him off the roost. That's not where he originally was the day before. When it got daylight I heard him gobbling up the mountain so I went up after him. It was a pretty steep climb up over the rocks. I got within 200 yards of him and started hammering him with calls. He gobbled and gobbled to every sound I made but he wouldn't move. This went on for about 45 minutes. So then I just sat back and didn't call for about 5 minutes. I was sitting looking up the mountain. All of a sudden I see a bird way up there sailing across the treetops. I'm thinking, what the heck is that? I watched it as it glided down off the side to the right of me and I realized it was the gobbler. It banked off the the right and landed straight below me about a hundred yards. I never saw one do that EVER. So I got up and moved down the mountain and set up again. He was down a the foot of the mountain gobbling. I would call and he would gobble but not move. This went on for another 45 minutes. I thought to myself, what's gonna make this gobbler move. At the time I was using a Lohman Thunderdome Slate call. So I just started calling more aggressive with cutts and yelps. Finally that old bugger started moving. He was still out of range but was coming. He disappeared behind a knoll and about 5 minutes later he gobbled and about blew my hat off. I turned to the left and he came up over a little hill and gobbled again.  I waited until he came out of strut and I shot and MISSED!! I thought I was gonna die. 


Another time last year I was hunting with a friend of mine on private ground. He was telling me of all the gobblers he was hearing there so I went along. We got in there before daylight, he set one place and I went to another. When it got daylight I heard a hen yelping out from me like crazy. I started calling to her. We went back and forth for about 15 minutes then I heard a gobbler ubove her. Then I saw him going down to her and off they went out the mountain. I sat there for awhile then my buddy walked over and we talked awhile then went walking out the mountain. He said we were going to a place where he was the day before and set up and just call blind. So off we went and got set up. I was leaning against an oak tree wider than me and started calling with my mouth call every so often.  All of a sudden I hear a cluck beside me to the right. Just as I turned my head to look I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Here a gobbler flew by me just above the ground, and only 20 yards away, and landed in front of me 45 yards away. He looked right at me, I couldn't move.  That was so awesome to see. I was so awed by it I just let him walk away, it was a jake anyway.

[sugarray]

Awesome stories!!!

I decided in 2009 to start turkey hunting to allow me to get my son in the woods sooner.  Weather nicer and we could be in a blind.  So I bought a double bull, a primos crystal, and a primos spring hen.  I sanded that call till my fingers were sore and finally got, what I thought, some decent yelps.  Went out the saturday before the season and didn't hear a gobble at all, even tried calling some.  Decided to set up on a lease we have where I had seen some hens.  Set the blind up Sunday.  I borrowed by brother's Rem 870 12 gauge, bought some 2 3/4" Remington, #6 shot.  I shot X1 at 30 yds and thought I was good.  We got up at 430, stopped and got sausage biscuits and off we go.  It is only 15 min, but my son was already back asleep.  We had a good walk, and I even had to carry him through some mud.  We were about 100 yds from the blind when I thought I heard a gobble.  I told my son to hit his call and 2 erupted just to our left.  I didn't know what to do so we hit the ground.  I decided that I couldn't sit out in the open with a 4 yr old, so we got up and ran to the blind.  By the time we got situated it was good and light.  When either one of us would call, those 2 would gobble and then a 3rd started behind us.  It was awesome.  It took another hr but at 715 the 3rd gobbler came in from behind us.  He strutted right over to the decoy and I shot him at 27 yds.  First day ever, first try, 3 gobblers gobbling and a kill with my son.  It was awesome and the best hunting day ever, until

April 30, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ag_aW2shyg

Now this is the best hunting day ever!!

[I-55Bandit]

Aweme video Sugarray!Congrats to hi

[ctwny1]

Priceless video Sugarray...

[Singlebarrel]

Mine was a hunt last year with my youngest daughter.  I told the story on here right after it happened, but think it's worth a re-tell...   

Molly and I headed out to hunt as soon as she got home from school Friday afternoon.  We had planned to sit in a blind in one of my best spots.  I was pretty confident that we'd get a shot but if not, we'd be in a perfect position to roost them for Saturday morning.  Well as so often happens when you are confident about turkey hunting, we totally struck out.  We heard 2 gobbles on top of the ridge about 5:30, but they never came down far enough  for us to see them - that is until they flew up.  We were able to make out 4 or 5 different birds as they flew up into some hardwoods at the top of the ridge - including at least 1 long beard.

These turkeys were roosted in the exact same spot as they had been last Sunday morning.  So I was pretty confident that they would fly down the same spot where they had that morning (that darn confidence again...).  I planned for us to sneak in very early the next morning & set up a small pop-up as close to them as I dared - within gun range of where they should land.

Miss Molly & I were up at 4:30, out the door shorty there after, and on the farm by 5.  After a short ATV ride, and a harrowing walk through a herd of black angus (scary stuff for an 8 year old), we safely arrived at the "landing zone".  I got the blind set up, decoys out, and all of our stuff situated in the blind.  We had just settled in when when he fired off right over our heads.  The grin on Molly's face alone already made this a great hunt.  She pointed and said in kind of a hushed scream (you know, that 8 year old loud whisper when they think that they are being quiet but it usually come out several decibels higher that a high school intercom.  The whisper that they usually use in the middle of church, weddings, and other occasions when they have been told to be quiet but have something that they deem really, really important to say.) "Daddy - he's right there!!!" 

I got her quieted down and then for the next 15 minutes or so, we just sat back and enjoyed the symphony.  It ended up being 2 long-beards and 3 hens.  The long-beards were the first to fly down, but apparently they missed the memo about where to land.  Instead of sailing down to our designated "landing zone" to a warm, welcoming load of hevi-shot, they flew down in the opposite direction.  My heart sank!  I had just told Molly "oh nooooo, he flew the wrong way!" when the first hen flew out and sailed right over our head.  She was soon followed by the other 2.  What a turn of events!  We were now directly between the Toms and their hens.

The Toms were really fired up now.  They were answering everything that I threw at them, plus I could hear them drumming about 75 yards up the hill.  I was starting to wonder why they weren't coming close when I spotted them through the trees - strutting back and forth - on the other side of a fence... 

We sat and listened and watched for about 15 more minutes until it became painfully obvious that they weren't going to cross that fence any time soon.  I waited until they they were out of sight and told Molly "come on sweetie, we've got to move".  We got out of the blind and headed down the hill.  My plan was to circle around and get on the fence line about 100 yards down from them.  Then hopefully they could be persuaded to strut down the fence line right to us.

Apparently they had the same idea, because they started moving down the fence toward our intended destination before we ever got there.  They were gobbling the entire time, so I could tell that they were REALLY close when we got to about 50 yards from the fence.  Luckily, there was some pretty thick brush between us and them.  I spotted a log about 20 yards ahead and told myself "that's were we need to get to - if I can get us to that log, we'll get a shot." 

Molly had been hanging in there with me the entire time - she was doing a great job of keeping up and moving quietly through the woods.  I was confident that we could make it so I dropped to my knees and started to crawl.  I had probably gone about 10 yards when I heard it "PUTT PUTT".  Huh?  I know they couldn't have seen me?  I look back to make sure that Molly is still right behind me.  She is, but instead of down on her hands and knees like I expected to find her, she is standing up, grinning from ear to ear, saying in that hushed whisper / scream "DADDY, I can see his fan!!!".  Of course, I never told her to crawl - I just assumed that she would know to do what I did...

About that time, the other bird gobbled again so I didn't think that they were too scared.  I motioned for her to get down and told her that we had to crawl for just a few more feet.  I had almost made it to our log when I crawled past a box turtle.  He didn't seem to mind me as he kept inching along.  I remember thinking, "I hope Molly isn't scared of him - I won't point him out and maybe she won't see him..."  The turkeys are still gobbling, and had closed the distance even more.  They are now probably within 40 yards and gobbling every 30 seconds.  This is it - we've got them - slam dunk!

I was in reaching distance of the log when I heard the loudest "whisper" to ever come out of my sweet little girl's mouth "DADDY - LOOK - IT'S A TURTLE!!!  CAN WE KEEP IT??!!!" 

No we didn't get the turkey, but we had one of the best hunts of my life.  We were blessed with front-row tickets to Nature's greatest symphony.  We had been in sling-shot range of 2 huge Toms.  We had braved the vicious herd of cows in the dark.  We picked up some really pretty rocks and a strange looking nut.  We got to spend just about the prefect morning together in the turkey woods!

So after all of the excitement of the day, the first thing out of Molly's mouth when we got back home was "MOMMY, WE FOUND A TURTLE!!!!"

Thanks to my sweet little Molly, I was treated to a magical day in the woods through the eyes of a child.  I was reminded of a simpler time when turkey hunting was more to me than putting another bird in the freezer.  I was reminded about what I so love about turkey hunting. 

[Ol'Mossy]

Awesome video, a BIG congrats to you and your son 

[Ol'Mossy]

Great story Singlebarrel    Keep them coming guys 

[TauntoHawk]

Great hunt guys!

One of my favorite hunts was a NY opening day, I arrived the night before and my buddy informed me that it had been raining so hard and so foggy for days that hadn't been able to roost any birds. As we mulled over where to go the next morning we decided we would go and sit under the very same tree I had killed both my birds the year before. "you honestly think we can get that lucky to kill a 3rd bird in a row from that tree" he asked me. "no, but I love the view from that spot even if we don't hear anything", the spot sat on a large open ridge that ran about 90yds above and parallel to the Hudson river of the backside of about a miles worth of green fields. The view from the ridge of the river is absolutely breath taking on a nice spring morning. The next morning was NOT a 'nice' spring morning however. There was a slight drizzle, everything was soaking from days of cold rain and the river was socked in with fog like I had never seen before. We slipped down a deer trail at the crest of the ridge and plopped down about 200yds from the fields having no idea if we had any type of view of the woods with about 3ft of visibility through the fog. After about 20min of darkness we hear a ruffling of feathers and soft tree clucks from so close I check to make sure the bird wasn't perched on my shoes. Then another hen and another, the fog began to lift as the sun peaked up over the river and we could see the tree about 8yds in front of us and only 15-20ft up was covered in dark blobs of birds like a Charlie brown Christmas tree. The fog lifted a little more just as 3 jakes 25yds to our right cracked the air in unison which was immediately answered by a booming throating gobble that I still believe shook the ground. The gobble woke up the entire woods and hens started cutting and cackling from everywhere, the jakes let lose gobbling at every sound shy of a mouse fart. Another gobbler down the ridge chimed in which provoked 2 birds out on an island to parrot back anything that was said on shore. In a matter of minutes the Fog disappeared and we were there counting in disbelief 16 birds in the trees within 50yds of us and could hear at least 7 different gobblers sounding off. At this point we remember that we had staked out a turkey fan in front of us... not a decoy just a fan on an old election sign holder. The fan is at the base of the 'hen' Christmas tree and was getting a good bit of attention from the hens which were now all staring at it wonder where the heck was the rest of that Tom down there. We thought for sure we were busted and those birds would go sailing off like a fleet of planes from an aircraft carrier. It was then that the intruding bodiless bird had attracted the attention of old boss gobbler a mere 35yds away. The gobbler went into full strut on the limb and walked right down it, hopping onto another branch taking a few steps and hopped up onto another effectively approaching the tail fan through the trees. He worked his way right across the limbs til he was sitting right about it, cocked his head to the side like a bewildered dog, roared a booming gobble at the unphased fan. This apparently didn't sit well because he jumped pretty much straight out of the tree at the thing landing only a few yards from it in full strut. The load of lead 6's hit him so hard he rolled over the edge of the ridge and out of sight. I jumped to my feet and the trees erupted with birds flying in every direction, several of which glided out over the river to join the smart birds safely gobbling from the island at passing geese.

It felt like the longest hunt of my life with each second worth a memory but it was barely 6am opening day. The bird was 18lbs which is my lightest gobbler still to date but had two thick double beards of 5.75 & 9.5 with warrior spurs that were both cracked and busted off at 1 1/4inches.

The fog allowed us to un knowingly to get ridiculously close to those birds and everyone else we talked to didn't even hear a gobble that morning, but it was something special for us.

[TRKYHTR]

Awesome stories!!!

I decided in 2009 to start turkey hunting to allow me to get my son in the woods sooner.  Weather nicer and we could be in a blind.  So I bought a double bull, a primos crystal, and a primos spring hen.  I sanded that call till my fingers were sore and finally got, what I thought, some decent yelps.  Went out the saturday before the season and didn't hear a gobble at all, even tried calling some.  Decided to set up on a lease we have where I had seen some hens.  Set the blind up Sunday.  I borrowed by brother's Rem 870 12 gauge, bought some 2 3/4" Remington, #6 shot.  I shot X1 at 30 yds and thought I was good.  We got up at 430, stopped and got sausage biscuits and off we go.  It is only 15 min, but my son was already back asleep.  We had a good walk, and I even had to carry him through some mud.  We were about 100 yds from the blind when I thought I heard a gobble.  I told my son to hit his call and 2 erupted just to our left.  I didn't know what to do so we hit the ground.  I decided that I couldn't sit out in the open with a 4 yr old, so we got up and ran to the blind.  By the time we got situated it was good and light.  When either one of us would call, those 2 would gobble and then a 3rd started behind us.  It was awesome.  It took another hr but at 715 the 3rd gobbler came in from behind us.  He strutted right over to the decoy and I shot him at 27 yds.  First day ever, first try, 3 gobblers gobbling and a kill with my son.  It was awesome and the best hunting day ever, until

April 30, 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ag_aW2shyg

Now this is the best hunting day ever!!

Great hunt. Get excited!!! I thought you were going to knock that boy over when you high fived him. Reis did great. Attaboy way to get it done.

TRKYHTR

[stone road turkey calls]

Great video, congrats to your son.

[Basin_hunter]

This story took place in north east Kansas April 2011:

My buddy and I set up Saturday afternoon on a known roosting area. As soon as we got down the ridge to the strip of woods we were going to set up in we heard a bird sounding off. He was gobbling his head off at a donkey across the fence by an alfalfa field. We sat down and made a little blind. After a few minutes we heard several more gobblers sounding off in the same direction. We figured they were too deep into the neighbors property to try to lure them accross the steep bank of the creek, and they were in there strut zones. This was about 5:15pm. A little while later another bird sounded off that we knew that was on our side of the creek. I called and about three of the birds accross the fence hammered back. I figured well maybe that bird wasnt on our side. A few minutes later I did some soft clucks and purrs on my pot call an he hammered at us. I said he's he's heading our way. I think I called one more time and he gobbled at us from about 50 yrds. We dropped the calls and had our guns up, then i see the white head walking fast through the under growth. I said I see him and he's on my bad side. I couldn't turn anyway because there was a bush on my right side. Then I heard my buddy say Im on him, I said kill him ! He rolled him at about 35 yrds. He went pick him up and brought him in the blind with us. This was 600pm. Had been set up less than 1 hr. Boy we were pumped up ! About 30 minutes go by and some of the birds started to sound off again. There were 2 birds in particular that were loud mouths and would gobble at anything ! It started getting close to fly up time and some hens started to fly up in some cotton wood trees in front of us. There was a highline about 35 yards to the right of us that the 2 loud mouth birds were walking down. Every time i would call they would hammer at us, at this point i was just doing soft yelps, and clucks. They got directly accross in front of us but we could not see them beacuse of the under brush and the slight decline on the ridge. They stood there, about 35 yrds from us and would absolutely hammer. I tried calling a little more aggressively to try to lure them on the edge of the woods were we could see them. But they stayed put on the highline. When they would gobble I could feel precussion they were so close but could not see them ! While all this was going on turkeys started pitching up to roost all along the fence line, some even right on the side of us ! Then all of a sudden the 2 birds I was trying to work pitched up in a cotton wood maybe 70 yrds in front of us. We could see them strutting on the limb and they continued to gobble at coyotes until 30 minutes after dark. We left the decoys set out and my chair set up and waited until well after dark and had to crawl out of there ! We are still not sure exactly how many gobblers were down there but it was an amazing hunt, the best turkey hunt I have ever been on. I killed my second bird of the trip off that highline the next afternoon at 4:30.

[FullChoke]

I had taken several birds in previous years from a particular field that bordered a National Forest and I wanted to do it again. I eased into the corner of the field one afternoon to see if I could spot any turkeys out in it. I sat there all afternoon seeing nothing. At the close of legal shooting time, I stood up and kept looking. Suddenly a hen pitches up from just out of sight in front of me and lands in a tree on the edge of the field. Seconds later, a gobbler takes off from the same location and lands in the trees in the far corner of the field. He gobbled twice and I slipped out the backside.

For the entire drive back to the house, I set to studying as to how I could position myself to get a chance at this gobbler. I knew that he would sail out of the trees the next morning and land well out in the field, so setting up on the edges was a waste of time. I remembered that there were windrows pushed up in several locations throughout the field and craftily deduced that I might have a chance if I slipped out and set up in one under the cover of complete darkness the next morning.   

The next morning way before dawn, I eased out into the field, set up Britney, my hen decoy, and snuggled up in amongst the roots and thorns of a nearby windrow. Once daylight came, I heard the hen pitch out and land just the other side of the windrow from where I was. I heard the gobbler cut loose a few times and got to feeling pretty good about what might happen.

A quick picture of the field; 80 acres all told, golf course clean between the windrows with a deep drainage ditch running through the middle of it about 40 yards away.

As the sunlight finally reached the far treeline, I see something over there. I pull out my binoculars and spot the gobbler over there strutting in full glory in the thin strip of bright sunlight. I watched him engage and start fighting with another longbeard that had come into the field who had high hopes for debauchery with one of the members of the harem of hens in the field. My bird whupped his tail feathers thoroughly and chased him out of the field. Eventually the big bird started following a hen and a jake as they fed down towards the ditch and out of my line of sight. I was at a loss here. I felt that I could break out of my blind and probably move around and call that other gobbler to me in the woods given his present state of unrequited lust. Just about that time I spot the hen and jake feeding up the far side of the ditch coming towards me. I strain to see around the brush I'm sitting in when Bully McStrutter comes floating into view. I estimate that at his present path, the closest I can hope to get him would be about 43 yards away. I wait until he is as close as he is going to get and I yelp one time on my mouth call. He stops, takes a look at the gorgeousness of Britney and drops out of strut and walks over to the edge of the ditch.

I could not believe what I saw next.

He jumped over onto a log that had been pushed into the ditch, wobbled a bit to regain his balance and then hopped onto the bank on my side! He stood there a moment, oomphed back out into strut and started sashaying over to commence wooing this new hot mama. Once he got even with me, I cutt at him loudly, he stopped and threw up his head at attention and was promptly sent off to the loving arms of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I slowly walked over to him, knelt down, laid my hand on his body and with tears in my eyes, thanked God for this magnificent animal that he has given us to hunt in this most awesome season of the year.

I hung him on a limb by his spurs, took several photos of him and on the walk back to the truck, noticed that the wildflowers and all of creation had gotten so much more brightly colored than they had been all season.

FullChoke

[FullChoke]

Dear God, what a fantastic story. Wish mine was still around.

FC

[Neill_Prater]

Great story Singlebarrel    Keep them coming guys 

I second that. One of the best I've ever read. Neill