Finished in Alabama!!! (Long Read!)

[BrowningGuy88]

Well guys it is time to clean the guns because it's over for this season. When the season kicked off, I wasn't chasing 1 limit plus helping guests - I was trying to get 3 limits in front of the gun and then help guests...

My granddad has cancer so he is not able to get out by himself this season so instead of us taking new guys along we would roll together with a 17 year old kid I kind of took in tagging along. So the season started with no gobbling and 2 very anxious hunters and one clueless rookie. It has been the hardest season I have ever had in Alabama. With no gobbling we had to rely on scouting and little bit of luck!

I did take a bunch of pics, but out of respect for my granddad's wishes I won't post them up (he was in all of them).

The ice breaker was a super jake I killed in the rain one Friday morning. Then my buddy and I doubled the next morning on two long beards. The following weekend, my buddy and Pop hammered another double as I looked on. Two weekends ago, we managed to get Pop another bird down and that evened the score at 2 each. Last weekend was a bust, so with two weekends left we called the bull pen and brought in the ace. I took vacation Thursday and Friday so we would have 4 days to hunt this weekend. That would give us 6 days for 9 turkeys in South Alabama - no easy feat!

The home stretch started this past Monday when I called in the Ace - 800 acres of 50 year growth pines with intermixed hardwood bottoms and cow pastures. We only go to this place when all seems lost and the season looks hopeless. I made the call and notified the landowner that we would be hunting Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (today) on the property. Wednesday evening my buddy and I went out to the property and roosted some turkeys. And the hunt begins:

Thursday
Thursday morning found the three of us standing on the landowner's porch at 5:15 having coffee and waiting for the right time to move in on the turkeys. At 6:05 we were settled in the corner of an old fencerow looking down a line of oaks running 45 degrees away from us in both directions. To their backs was a creek with those long tall southern pines filled with gobbling toms! I was facing the pine ridge in case one back doored us during my calling. At 6:35 turkeys started hitting the ground in the field. My buddy whispers, "There are 4 toms in the pasture - we are going to take two." I said shoot. The double boom sounded and Pop says "Son they are jumping on the ones we shot if you want one!" I spun around and shot one off the top of my buddy's bird. All even at 3 - only 6 to go! This may work after all...

We made it back to landowner's and he said well there are plenty of turkeys here so roost some more and come back tomorrow. We cleaned the turkeys and gave him all 3 for his freezer.

My buddy and I went to the other side of the property and roosted two gobbling birds Thursday evening and built a natural blind to hunt out of on Friday.

Friday
The three of us found ourselves sitting in the blind we built at 6:00 Friday morning. at 6:07 the first gobble rang out and I could see the tom in the tree about 80 yards away. Then at 6:15 the two we roosted gobble about 120 yards away in the bottom. At 6:20, the lone gobbler answers a tree yelp from my copper pot and flies down. It is almost too dark to shoot and he is strutting not 25 yards away. Pop hammers him. The other two gobblers shock gobble at the shot so my buddy and I leave pop in the blind where he will be comfy and head into the other two. Long story short, at 7:35 we see the two strutters come around opposite sides of a cedar tree and do the 1, 2, 3 thing and blast both of them.

Incredible, 2 mornings, 3 hunters, 6 toms on the ground! 6 down - 3 to go! This is unreal!!!!

The landowner offered to let us come back Saturday (today) also, but we told him thanks and that we didn't want to take any more turkeys off the property. He said well, I may can help you on another place. He made a phone call and thanked the man. He turns to us and says you know the section that joins mine? - Yes sir. Well if you go on over there he will have your permission slips written out and you can finish the season there!

Now this may actually be possible! So we go get the permits and go to breakfast.

Saturday
Pop said Friday - there is no reason to roost turkeys there, I hunted that place for 40 years. I know where they are at!

So this morning we are standing on a ridge overlooking an oak bottom on our right and a 240 acre field on our left. I owl and a gobbler answers! He is close so we get set up with Pop as the shooter, my buddy as the back-up, and if miracles happen me pitching closer. At 6:50 the tom hits the ground about 120 yards out in the oaks and starts strutting his stuff. As he slowly makes his way to us, I see other turkeys enter the opposite side of the field almost 800 yards away. I am watching the turkeys in the field when I hear Pop's 1300 bellow and my buddy jump and run to the bird. Pop has his limit while fighting cancer at 70 years old! I am ecstatic!

As we stand there and discuss the season and my buddy and I tell Pop we are done our last ones don't matter anymore, Pop says "Why don't you boys let me take this one to the truck and y'all go get those on the other side of the field?" So we agreed after checking his cell to make sure it was charged and had service. He was to pull around and get us at 10:00 unless my buddy had text him to wait.

We drop our vests and seats on the truck with Pop and literally sprint over half a mile around the field to get set-up on the birds in the field. At 8:50, we are set up and the first note of a sweet yelp comes from the Yingling copper. We can see one strutter about 125 yards away. He has several hens and a couple young gobblers with him. I tell my buddy not to get his hopes up, but we will try. As I start to yelp again, my bud starts on his Ben Lee box too. This time the hens and toms take notice. They start to make there way slowly toward us feeding the whole way. I am purring and clucking and scratching in the leaves and I hear one gobble so close he shook the ground right behind us. My bud whispers - "Don't move there are 3 strutters behind us!" As we try not to have a heart attack, the strutters circle us and enter the field about 45 yards away. I yelp and they all 3 gobble and go back into strut. They are not getting any closer and it is 9:45 at this point and there is no way we can text Pop with turkeys that close! My buddy says "Can you kill him?" I said "Yeah - he's under 50 I got him." He said well shoot one and if the others hang around swap guns with me. I sent the load of Nitro Blends from the 935 and down the strutter went. The other two fly up in the air and come back down to whip up on their buddy! I take my bud's 20 gauge and hand him the 935 and he sends another load of Nitro Blends down range and BANG - SEASON OVER!!!!!

What a year!!!! 3 hunters, 16 days in the woods, 15 toms on the ground!!!! I don't know if it will ever get any better than that! The incredible part and the most amazing feat I have ever pulled off is by far 3 days, 3 hunters, 9 toms down!

[BrowningGuy88]

My friends it doesn't get any better than taking what amounts to your little brother (my buddy) and your granddad out and pulling it all together and getting it done!

The generations of turkey hunters was truly an all-star team this season. A true veteran that is leaving his prime years, an experienced hunter with a lot left to learn, and a pure rookie all working together and getting it done!

This is the best season I have ever had! I ain't gonna lie about it - I sat on the tail gate recapping it all to my granddad with tears rolling down my face. I hope he is here to do it again next season!!!

I got a new turkey gun (935) and my buddy got a new turkey gun (H&R single 20) and both got blood on them this season.

It is time to clean the guns, wash the camo, organize the calls, and take the wife to dinner. It's over and it has been one fun ride!!!!

God Bless You All!
Daman

[BrowningGuy88]

I also want to add one more tid bit:

Mike Yingling's Copper Pot and one of his striker's enticed every one of the gobblers that hit the ground this season.

A Hook's Executioner II was used a lot to help finish the birds.

When things were tough and the birds weren't answering I called on my Pappy's Long Box out of Butternut with Purpleheart lid. It got toms to gobble when nothing else would!

Thanks a million to Mike, Jack, Hook's calls - without you this season wouldn't have been possible!

I also want to thank Nitro Ray! 7 of the 9 birds over the last 3 days died at the hands of Nitro 4x5x7 or 2x5x7 Blends! It may have had the same results with other ammo, but the patterns produced in the 935 and 1300 with the Nitro's made the shots comfortable!

[hookedspur]

What a SEASON ! Congrats on making memories that will last a lifetime .

[DirtNap647]

congrats

[tomstopper]

Congrats......

[Isomaad]

That is amazing!  Man, you have had a dream season for sure and made memories that will last a lifetime.  Congrats to all of you!

[Wrangler95]

 


Very nice season,congrats!

[trkycaller]

congrats on a great season.

[alclark2]

9 in 3 days! That's awesome! Congrats to you 3

[boomer]

Congrats!!!

[BrowningGuy88]

That is amazing!  Man, you have had a dream season for sure and made memories that will last a lifetime.  Congrats to all of you!

Dream Season - no doubt about it!

I bet my buddy is going to be sorely disappointed next season. This was his first year hunting and he killed a huge 9 point buck thus fall and a limit of long beards this turkey season! He doesn't believe me when I tell him turkey hunting is hard... He will learn!

[BrowningGuy88]

It appears there will be one last run this weekend! I got asked this morning to guide a client on his first turkey hunt Friday and Saturday this week. So I will get one last run at the toms! Gonna feel naked without a turkey gun over my knee though!

[spur collector]

Congrats on a fine season.

[Mike Honcho]

Great season and story Daman....congrats!  Sorry to hear about your pop...just found out my father in law has cancer too.