MS Turkey Down

[Southernbuck01]

Well, I got to the camp Saturday around 4pm and got the report from my podna that he did not hear a single bird that morning with the nasty weather.  We set out and did some scouting before dark and tried to roost one but had no luck.
He decided that in the morning he would go to the other side of the lease and I was gonna hang around the camp side.  I had gotten this picture of this longbeard and about 18 hens (best we could count on another picture) and I was hoping for a different, lonely bird to be looking for some companionship.
We woke up, Sunday morning,to a heavy fog so we didn't have much expectations, but I set out early to make sure I cleared the big food plot behind the camp before any daylight broke.  I got to the back along the edge of some hardwoods and decided to wait there for a while and see if anything happened.  The turkeys usually like to roost in the hardwoods about 100-150yds off the back of the plot and I hoped they would be doing the same this morning. 
7:15 rolls around and not a peep has been made, so I ease up the bike trail into the hardwoods a little more and get up beside a big white oak and get out my slate call.  I make a few soft yelps and it seemed as if the girls were just waiting for someone to sound off because the next thing I new 3 were yelping and flying off to the plot and another sailed into the tree next to me! Oh crap! Haha.  A few minutes go by as I hide behind the tree and she flies off the opposite direction of the other 3 towards another big plot, crisis avoided.
I hear the 3 yelping in the plot and I couldn't convince myself that they were all hens, so I snuck about 40yds back up to another large oak and scanned the plot and I guess they dipped off the plot as I was sneaking because they were gone when I got to the tree.
As I was standing there scanning I hear clucking behind me, right where I just came from, so I slowly turn and sit in one motion,  I couldn't even get up against the tree due to briars, but i had no choice but to sit it out.  A few minutes pass and I can see them in the bike trail about to hit a curve and be 10yds from me.  The lead hen makes it to the curve and stops and scans.  She knew something wasn't quite right but she never spooked, nor did the other 6 hens I saw with her at that moment.  Well, she settles down and turns into the thicket and walks in front of me, from right to left.  She really settles down and starts scratching in the leaves and that's when they really started to filter out.  Hen after hen after hen, after hen.  All on front of me, yelping, sparring, scratchin and just doing turkey things.  I knew at this point that this many hens had to be the group with the gobbler and he had to be there somewhere. 
I dared make a few soft yelps with my mouth call, just seemed to be the right thing in that moment, and the hens responded in kind and never got angry with the other hen in the bushes, they just kept feeding and yelping.  It was at that moment that I heard it...pffffft vrrrroooooommmm.
Oh yes, he is here, I just need to find him!  The drumming was off to my right, still down the bike trail and the hens began to feed off to my left.  Hen number 12, 13, 14, 15,... I quit counting and started looking harder for him.  I can still hear the drumming to my right and closer, then, there he is, I can see that head glowing like a neon light bulb.  I only have a small opening to shoot through and when he hits it he stops and throws the head up and that's where he dropped at 25 steps. 
He never gobbled but I don't think I've ever been as shook up as I was with this turkey.  He was a bona fide limb hanger and had 1 3/16" sharp spurs and a 10 1/4" beard, my best turkey ever.  He was definitely the man of the woods and the ladies started cutting up about 20 minutes after, as I was taking pictures.  Sorry girls, he's going home with me!
Sorry for the long story, but I just try to tell it like I lived it.  Thanks for looking.


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[Rio Fan]

Awesome story and bird.  Congrats!   

[tomstopper]

Nice bird. Congrats

[rem 300]

Congrats!!

[Cut emSC]

Good deal. Congrats

[Tail Feathers]

Congrats on a great bird!

[Gold Spur]

Congrats on a fine gobbler!

[southwestms81]

Nice bird and story. Where in MS do you hunt?

[taylorjones20]

Great story and great bird.  Congrats!

[Gooserbat]

Great Job

[TRKYHTR]

Great story. Congrats,

Joe

[Southernbuck01]

Nice bird and story. Where in MS do you hunt?

I hunt in eastern Madison county.  The birds really gobbled good this morning with the nice weather.  They got henned up pretty quick though.



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[renegade19]

 

[porcupine]

  nice!

[jblackburn]

  congrats!!