4-29-12

[ccleroy]

I have been seeing this turkey for the last few day,and I knew something was seriously wrong with him and he was sick, glassing him he would never strut and the only beard that was visible were a few strands also he would not move far at all, earlier in the season he would gobble ,strut and had many hens.....he acted weird and I could see something was wrong head coloring as well. Well yesterday afternoon he was out in the open, My wife and I were supposed to go this AM but when I got up to get ready she elected to stay home. I got in the truck and figured that turkey will be where he was yesterday evening so I went after him.....I will not lie,there was no calling or strategy, it was a simple go sit here and he will be there then shoot him, it was in essence a mercy killing and I was intrigued as to what was wrong with this turkey.I went to the exact spot he was the evening before and say down. As daylight started cracking there were no gobbles, and as it was getting light enough for me to see I noticed off the field edge prolly 20 yards from me a dark object, then it moved and limped into view in the field, it was him........This was actually the moment where my heart races 180 miles an hour, but not this time......he limped a few more steps and I folded him......while inspecting him it was apparent he had been shot in his wing which was locked up tight and broken....I knew then that this turkey lived his last days without flying up to roost and how he evaded yotes and other predators is beyond me......Would he have survived? I Would normally say No.......but for him to live like this through hs final days like he did is a feat in itself.....RIP Crip.

[dcar_roll]

Good for you for useing your tag to put this poor guy out of his misery.

[Wrangler95]

Very nice going,congrats!!

[ccleroy]

Twas my last tag Theron however we've still got 2 days and my wife is still ready to go....pedal to the medal brother....have shooter will hunt!!

[seadux]

I had one that I called the gimp.  I watched that bird for at least 6 years.  He was on a dairy farm I hunted but I never saw him during season.  The first year I saw him it was during deer season and I flushed him near a pond a couple of times, he could get airborne and run as if nothing was wrong, but just walking he had a terrible limp.  After watching this bird for two years, I decided to hunt him.  In three seasons of hunting I never saw him while I was hunting, never heard a single gobble or ever saw him with another turkey in the spring or fall.  It was one of those falls that I actually saw him from a distance in a silage pit feeding.  I slipped within 50 yds to see if I could at least see why he limped.  Through the binos it was clear.  He had no foot at all on his right leg.  It was likely amputated by a hay mower when he was a poult, I see that quite a bit.  He was a very healthy looking bird with a nice beard and spur.  The last time I saw him was in the winter of 2010.  He crossed the dirt road in front of me headed toward the silage pit.  His head was so big it looked like a softball on a golf tee.  There is no telling how old that bird was but I watched him for 6 years.  I am sure he is gone now, but I would have like to had a crack at him.  He sure seemed to have a lonely life.

[DMP]

Another great season Ricky.. Congrats

[tomstopper]

Congrats. He might not have the "trophy" features but at least you put him down alot more merciful than a predator would have.

[TRKYHTR]

Congrats on a great year. That was a mercy killing.

TRKYHTR

[WyoHunter]

Congrats! You did the right thing. My hat's off to you.

[HARDCORE]

Congrats on another great season Ricky, the respect you showed that gobbler was a great way to end it. 

HC