This is the story and pics from my first day.
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,10098.0.htmlDay two
On day two we struck out on our daylight setup in the blind attempting to get one with the bow. About mid morning we found a strutter and five hens in a small corn field. After obtaining permission to hunt the property, my buddy was able to get within 75 yards of the strutter before making a call. I was videoing the strutter from about 400 yards away while he was trying to kill it. After just a couple clucks and purrs on his mouth call he had four hens in his face with one hen only a foot from his gun barrel. This stand off lasted about ten minutes while the strutter took his time parading into gun range. I was trying to find my buddy in the weeds with the camera, as I knew the hens had to be looking for him, but at the same time I didn't want to take the camera off of the strutter. I was on the strutter when he suddenly run out of the frame just as I heard the shot. I quickly panned to find the bird just in time for the follow-up killing shot. Just before the shot, I had filmed the strutter gobbling a couple times. It was a lot of fun the way this hunt worked out!!! I have to set up a youtube account so I can share the footage.
19 lbs, 1" spurs, 10" beard
While driving back to the hotel we found six strutters 75 yards off of a state highway. We turned around, drove back and filmed them for a few minutes and of course had to give the obligatory horn honks to watch them all gobble at the same time. They had a couple jakes and a couple hens with them. This is where the story starts to get really good. We pulled in the nearest driveway to inquire about the property. We had in fact found the landowner, and he was pretty quick to give us permission to hunt. We decided to go eat lunch and then pursue the birds. He gave us his cell number. When we met him after lunch he had printed us off aerial photos with his boundary clearly marked and showed us the typical travel patterns of the birds as well as the places he and his four sons had taken toms. WOW!!
We found the toms and made a plan to set up on these big strutters. When we got into position, the toms had already moved into gun range without even the first call. They were at thirty yards. We took an easy double to fill our third NE tag!!
my bird - 20 lbs, 1-1/4" spurs, 10.5" beard
his bird - 22 lbs, 1" spurs, 10" beard
We took the birds to the land owner's house to show him and his boys. They were excited for us and even got out some of the beards they taken this Spring for comparison. When we started to leave he told us his wife was cooking a deer roast and invited us back for supper!!! We could not turn down that offer. After going to take pictures, clean our birds, and take showers to clean up, we spent a fun filled afternoon with this great family of fellow sportsmen and shared some of that awesome corn fed venison!!!
On to KS.
After supper, we left in time to get to a listening spot and roosted several birds in KS to hunt the following morning. Early Sunday morning we set up the blind in the edge of a cut corn field near a couple of birds we had roosted the night before. When the birds started gobbling, I figured out they were closer than we thought. I could see them on the limb in a dead cottonwood about 100 yards from our setup. I was able to get a little footage of them gobbling on the limb. I was worried they had watched us set up the blind and dekes in the moonlight and didn't feel real good about it. As it turned out there were other birds gobbling in the opposite direction as well. We called up three hens to our setup and watching them walk around and cutt and yelp was more than the longbeards could take on the roost. They flew down in the corn field about 125 yards away. The gobblers left the corn and slowly circled around us to strut up to the fence that was about 40 yards across the corn field from our setup in the bottle neck of the field. We could have killed them with our Benelli's, but I was determined to take one with a bow. When the gobblers walked away I was regretting this decision. I was unsure if they were spooky of our blind, or if they had seen us setting up, or were scared of my strutter? After the hens fed off a little the gobblers come back out in the corn field with the hens about 100 yards away. We got really aggressive with some fighting purrs, cutts, and even a few shakes of the gobbler tube. The hens came back and the strutters soon followed. My video camera battery went dead just as the gobblers started coming. We were attempting to make a battery change when the gobblers come into range and we had to abort the camera and switch to killing mode. I was able to make a killing shot with my Mathews at about 18 yards on one of the strutters facing away and my buddy took the other one with his Benelli about two seconds later at 25 yards. It was one of the better hunts I have experienced!!!
my bird - 18 lbs, 1-3/16" spurs, 9.5" beard
his bird - 18 lbs, 1-1/4" spurs, 10" beard
Both birds are at the taxidermist. Although defined as hybrids in this area, these two were definitely Rios and beautiful ones at that.
Amazingly, we found five strutters with five hens in a cut corn field after lunch. We found the property owners name in our plat book and called information to get his phone number. He told us others had been trying unsuccessfully to get these birds in killing range, but we were welcome to try. Once again, we found birds and had permission to hunt less than ten minutes later!!! We watched the birds from a distance for half an hour to determine their direction. We made a plan to get in position on the edge of the field where it appeared they were headed. We called to the flock once and they did a 180 and headed the opposite direction. We made a mad 3/4 mile dash around to the other side only to spook out two deer and drive the flock back where we had just vacated. One of the turkeys made us crossing an opening in the trees from several hundred yards away as we were crawling on hands and knees and the flock changed directions again with the dominant tom and the five hens going one direction and the other four longbeards breaking off in a different direction. We made one last 1/4 mile stalk to get hid in some cedars on the edge of the field just as the four longbeards were walking by at about 30 yards. We picked out two with nice long, heavy beards and doubled up for the fourth time in three days!!! What a trip!!!
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