Guns N' Hoses Turkey Stories

[RutnNStrutn]

We'll use this thread for posting stories and pictures of our hunts, and for congratulating another team member's success.  A story does not have to end in a harvest to make it exciting for other members to read. 

[blackmagic]

Well, like I said, I quickly accepted my invitation to hunt a ranch in South Florida.  Plan was to hunt the early afternoon, roost birds and hunt the next morning.  This was a whole new experience for me.  I generally hunt moccasin infested swamps, not pretty pastures with small strips of oak hammocks.  After a late start due to a burning RV on the highway, we start hitting the fields with hopes to just find birds and see where they're heading for the morning.  Bumbled into a few jakes and hens, but finally after a bit of walking and calling I get cut off with a triple gobble from under a couple of palms in a field a couple of hundred yards away.  Threw everything I could at them and the three gobblers just strutted and walked in circles a couple of hundred yards away.  Finally two moved off in the opposite direction and the remaining bird walked to a spot to where I had a scrub oak between us and I could haul azz across a strip of pasture without him seeing me.  I get there and try to get him to close the distance...nope.  He's at about 60 yds and holding his ground.  Realizing it's close to fly-up, I leave him alone and see where he roosts.   Cool

Watch the second gobbler run behind the firsts' tree assume they're together but the third is nowhere to be seen. 
Fast forward to the morning....walking from the truck I hear a very strange noise.  My buddy starts laughing when he sees my expression and ask what the he11 that was.  "A lion."  is the response I get.  A LION?!?!!!!  He's been holding out on telling me we were hunting a property that bordered some kind of exotic animal safari type place, secretly hoping a lion would fire up for me.  Well, that makes the walk out in the pitch black kind of funky.  Great, now I've got images of a frickin African lion getting loose and pouncing on me. 
Lion behind us, we sneak to 65 yds from the roost tree and get set.  It's getting about that time and I haven't heard a peep.  Couple of soft yelps and purrs and finally hear hens from where we came from and the third gobbler fires off a couple hundred yards behind us.  Nothing from the two we set up on.  Well, the bird I watched flies down as does the one close to him and to our dismay, they head directly behind us and to their buddy that's gobbling.  This trio has been hanging together for a few weeks.  They meet up and only after getting really aggressive, do I get their attention. They start hammering and slowly I hear them closing the distance.....only problem is that this is all directly behind us and I cant see any of it.  I go quiet once I know they're moving our way and after about 10 minutes I purr and the gobbles are within 30 yds directly behind our heads.  They commence to drum for several minutes and I purr again and this time the gobbles are followed by seeing two birds moving in from behind my back left shoulder, the worst possible spot where we're pretty much exposed in front of this palmetto bush.  The bigger of the three stays about 50yds out in full strut the entire time as the pair moves in but they know something's not right.  They get into an angle where I have a shot but my buddy to my right doesn't, so I wait as they ease over a bit, heads high, looking like the funky chicken.  Then the bird that stayed out of the game starts to putt, uh oh, that sets the other two into putting.  I whisper to Wyatt that as soon as one turns and makes any kind of  sign of leaving I'm going to shoulder my gun and shoot.  Well, true to what I said, the left bird does a 360 with his head high and I put my gun up and introduce him to some HeviShot.  Wyatt shoots and we've got our first double.  Yeah the bigger bird didn't present a close shot, but I'll take the bird in the hand any day.  Pumped up to say the least. 
Couple things I've learned in this hunt:
1.  Sometimes the birds need some aggressive calling, they didn't seem to want to leave the safety of the middle of their pasture when I tried to seduce them.  My mentor (turkeywhacker) has taught me patience with calling and I had to go against everything I've learned.

2.  Finding a mouth call that works for me made all the difference.  I sat my pot call down and got that sucker wet with dew, forcing me to rely on a diaphragm.

3.  Gotta take the shot when the opportunity presents itself.

4.  The roar of a lion makes you feel mighty vulnerable walking around in the dark.

Sorry for being so long winded, but seeing that I'm one of the few hunting right now, you guys are probably itching to hear some turkey stories! 

[Twowithone]

Great hunt and congrats again on your harvest.

[RutnNStrutn]

Great job bro!!! Congrats!!
And I'm with you on the lion. There are a couple of cat rescue places over in Brevard, and I've fought a couple of brush fires near them. Catches you totally off guard when you're fighting fire and all of the sudden you hear a lion or tiger roar!!

[RutnNStrutn]

Well there isn't much to my story. I've been up in Carolina since late saturday night, but only got out for the second time yesterday due to all the rain. I went to my spot and setup, then spent the next 4 hours waiting on them without a sight or sound of a turkey. So I packed up and was slipping towards a second location, when I came to a curve in the trail. I always peek around the corner before I walk out, because in the past I've walked around corners and spooked birds. So I peek around the corner, and there was a gobbler walking away for me. I put a diaphragm into my mouth,  raised my gun, and called to him. He stopped and looked back, but then kept walking away. I called to him again with the same result. I wasn't sure why he didn't want to come check me out, but I was determined not to let him get away. So I took aim and dropped him at 45 yards. After the shot, two more longbeards and two jakes flew off that were out in front of him that I couldn't see. That's probably why he kept on walking, because he was trying to keep up with his group. Seems kind of odd to me that at this time of year three longbeards and two jakes would hang out together with no hens?  But that's the way it was. So that's my story, sorry it wasn't any better. 
I'll post up some pics when I get home.

[Twowithone]

Way to go RutnNStrutn

[strutzone]

He guys,
I'm finally getting around to posting my story and pictures of my bird.
Got to my spot early and put out a hen and gobbler decoy and waited for daybreak. I was not able to roost this bird the night before but I had hoped he was in the same spot as the morning before when I located him while scouting. Daybreak came and suddenly I heard a loud gobble to my left that was only about 150 yards away, which was the same spot he had roosted the day before. I started looking in the direction of the gobble when I saw a dark object high in the tree that appeared to be changing shape.  I wondered if that was a strutting gobbler in the tree.  However, visibility was still poor so I wasn't 100 percent certain that it was. Well, a few minutes went by before he gobbled again and when he did that it confirmed it was him. I couldn't believe that I had a perfectly unobstructed view of him and he could clearly see the B-Mobile and hen decoys. The hens soon followed with some soft tree yelps of their own that slowly got louder and more numerous over the next 10 minutes. I decided now was my time and I yelped softly on my slate call and he double gobbled and continued strutting on the limb. I noticed one hen in particular was getting a little louder than all of the rest so I figured she must be the boss hen. So I started copying the sounds she was making and matching her intensity and it seemed like it really got to her and not to mention it was firing up the gobble, so I kept doing it. Several more minutes went by before the first of 7 hens pitched down one after another landing 50 yards from me.  Next it was the gobbler's turn as he hopped off the limb and sailed in, hitting the ground about 75 yards away. He wasted no time and quickly came in strutting and looking to challenge B-Mobile. He started his approach from the rear of the decoy and started circling around to the front when I squeezed the trigger and dropped him. It was one of the most incredible hunts that I've been a part of and one that I will not forget.

[RutnNStrutn]

Sounds like an awesome hunt!! Congrats man!!

Sent from my 1950's rotary phone using Tapatalk

[Twowithone]

Way to go congrats on your hunt don't get no better than that when it all comes together.

[RutnNStrutn]

Got me a California mountain Rio Grande gobbler!!!
Stories and pictures when I get home on April 8th. He isn't an upgrade, so my previous contest entry stands. Had an awesome trip though!

[TrackeySauresRex]

  The weekend before opening day, my buddie who has invited me to his place for the last 15 years to hunt turkeys tells me the coyote's are gettin to the birds. He Say's they ain't much gobbling at all, and they have been quiet. I'm thinking the honey hole has finally dried up. 
With my truck packed the night before, we start out at 4am. With not much sleep going on the night before the season, it's two cups of Coffey for the ride. I always tell my boy stay awake keep an eye on me for the drive. Not that I needed it,because I'm pumped for the season opener. For the first time ever he stays up with me for the ride. He's just as excited as me. 
Arriving at day break my buddie meets us and we chat a bit, not in a hurry to go anywhere. Now it's day light, and it's still fairly quiet. I'm thinking it's going to be a tough season. However, I can still see the excitement in my son's face. We get dressed and go for a stroll. Not walking to far, a bird sounds off a good ways,then another. My hearing ain't what it used to be. So I ask him how far,He Say's a few hundred yards. So we start to use the terrain and cover to cut the gap. In that time all hell breaks loose, with hens yelping and cutting and a symphony of gobbling! This all happens before we can find a good set up.
  We decide to circle around them and get on the other side. (good choice) The set up was further away then we would have liked. but we had to go with it. Then it happens DEAD SILENCE. What do you think at a time like this? Were we to close? Did we spook em? Son of gun.. 0h well! What do you do when the birds get quiet? get quiet back! When in Rome is what I'm saying.
  So were quiet and my boy decides he's going to play a little love song on his wing bone. A bird gobbles way off in the distance, and were not knowing if he gobbled at his call. That's how far away he was. He waits a little while to resume playing "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and he has cut the distance. Then I decide to join the conversation cuttin on a Hooks, and  we get.. Gobble,double gobble He is on his way,he's on a string! We clam up.. soft yelp scratch.. scratch scratch. We get quiet again and GRrrrrobble 50 yards away we still can't see him yet. Now I here him drummin. He finally shows himself walking down the logging road. 7am....  Dead Bird Walkin'!

Stats for the future Guns-N-Hoses team member.
19lbs
9-½" beard
1" spurs


Switching gears. After this photo was taken, we continued to sit in the same set up for 45 minutes or so. Quiet again. A Bird sounds off far away so were hot footin it over a couple of hundred yards to change the setup.
Were quiet and comfortable. Without calling he sounds off again. So I put some sweet talk out there and.. nuttin. So I don't give him anymore. Twenty minutes go buy and he sounds off again probally in the same spot. So I give him something different and ... nuttin' again. So I give him some more silence. I close my eyes for 15 minutes staying completely still to thank the big man upstairs  .  I here walking in the leaves. Opening my eyes without moving shifting my eyes toward my boy he snaps his head up to look and.. PUTT...PUTTT.. O well he's gone. So I try and come him down by calling some sweet stuff. I thought it didn't work at the time, but it looks like he is circling around way out. I look over at my boy and he starts to tell me,you didn't want to shoot a Jake did you? All I could do was laugh. My best hunting experiences have been with my boy and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
Time to clam up again. Closing my eyes slipping into screen saver mode,I was again awoken by a gobble. Right where we heard the first one. He gobbles again and again.. I cut and yelp aggressively and the suicidal Tom, who I ?? We ??.. (HIM!)..... He spooked him!  because I knew I was rock solid! He came charging back thinking his ladies were going to be stolen and at 9:34AM I steadied the bead.  Dead Bird Walkin'!   

Stats:
19lbs
10-½" beard
1-½" and 1-¼" spurs


   
Thank You




B-Well Everyone   



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[WildSpur]

Great stories guys!

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[RutnNStrutn]

Sounds like a heck of a morning. Congrats Trackey!!