2015 Spring Recap!

[zelmo1]

Great season, I see more in your future. Congrats.

[datrip]

We are in Rutherford county. Not too far from you datrip!

Great man.....I am in Caldwell County. Congrats again!

[Burney Mac]

Strong season. Good to see some fellow Carolina boys getting after em!

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

I'd be interested in hearing the story behind the white bird if you feel inclined.

[Cove]

Congrats to you fellas! And I tried to tell y'all about those "black" roads after a rain!! But like me, I see you had to find out first hand. 

Your brother showed me that awesome gobbler you killed before the deed was done. What a magnificent bird! Congrats again on him! You gentlemen are tough one them!

[publand_slams]

Congrats on a great season!


I ran across that truck in TN.

[troutfisher13111]

Congrats on a great season! Was that bird a true albino?


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[hermiehunter]

I don't know if the white gobbler was truly albino or not.  His spurs and toenails were even white, however, he did have black eyes.  Perhaps someone else can chime in about it, as I've been told there are no such things as true albino birds.  In talking with the guys at Hazel Creek Taxidermy though, they told me they have seen and mounted them with both pink eyes and black eyes.  I would have to assume an albino would have pink eyes, but idk...

As for the story behind him, it started in the summer of 2013 when my buddy and I first seen the hen with a white poult.  They were raised around a field behind our office in Burke County, NC.  Throughout the summer we seen the little fellow growing with the rest of his brood.  The sighting carried into the fall and at that point we both chaulked it up to be a hen.  Most color-phased turkeys that I see are not gobblers, and at such a young age we couldn't distinguish if this one would be any different.  However, one day in the fall I got a close look at her and could see the beard starting to show!  IT WAS A GOBBLER was my first reaction! 

Fast forward to the spring of 2014, where the white jake was hanging with 6 others behind our office a lot in the pre-season.  We watched several longbeards and the jakes as they began to establish dominance.  We were able to capture several trail cam pics during this time, before he vanished just prior to the season opener.  Not that it mattered, as we had both agreed to not hunt him until 2015 in hopes of him being mature.  To kill him in 2014 just wouldn't have meant as much and even though we were taking a chance of someone else killing him or mother nature having other plans, that was our decision!

The last week of 2014 season he reappeared!  With a longbeard and several hens.  I was tagged out, but my buddy still had a tag so he made a setup and killed the longbeard.  Ole whitey was side-by-side with the gobbler when he shot.  Even at that point, with him in range, my buddy didn't have any desire to take him.

After the season he stayed nearby for several weeks, which gave us hopes for 2015!  However, after ZERO sightings during the summer, fall, and winter of 2014, we wondered if something had happened to him....Until one day in late winter when a contractor that works for us told me a story of an all white turkey he had seen the day before about a mile from us!  I knew right away it was him and figured he would return come spring.

Pre-season 2015, still ZERO sightings.  Actually, zero gobblers in the field all of March!  I don't know if the abundance of left-over acorns kept the turkeys from using this area or what but for whatever reason they just weren't visible...

April 10, 2015...the last day of youth season and one day prior to the season opener...I pulled up at the office mid-morning and immediately noticed a large white spot back in the field!  IT WAS HIM!!!  FULL STRUT!!!  That was the first sighting as a mature gobbler and the first time seeing him strut.  I called my buddy and my boss and both arrived back at the office in short time.  We watched for nearly an hour, as he courted 4 hens in the field.  Only problem is...the field is on a pretty active highway, so every truck that came down the road stopped as well!  He wouldn't last long standing around in the open, as I think someone would have poached him!  Knowing he would be in the area tomorrow, I told my buddy he needed to be there to hunt him.  I reference my buddy throughout this story...but he is also a partner in the business that I work for, so he is my boss as well!  We grew up together and went to college together.  He brought me to work for this company, so needless to say I wasn't even going to pursue the white turkey, as I felt like he had the right more than I did.

He had plans already for the opener, as did I.  I talked to him throughout the afternoon, hoping he would go after him but he didn't intend to hunt there the next day.  He takes his father hunting a lot, so he was going to stick to that plan.  He did tell me to go after him countless times that day.  But...in my mind, it wouldn't have been right.  I went about my plans for opening day, all the time thinking about how someone was probably going to take the bird that day.  I thought about it all weekend, and on Monday my thoughts were confirmed as he didn't gobble or show up at all.  For the next two weeks we didn't see or hear anything from whitey!  I just knew he was dead...

Week three of our season, I was hunting some public land near the office for a quick before work hunt.  I didn't have any luck that morning, but I did get a call from my buddy who was at the office early.  He said he had heard a gobble across the creek that morning and wondered if it could have been him.  He didn't go after the bird though, as he had things going on that morning on the jobsites.

When I arrived back at the office to change clothes and go about my business, THERE HE WAS!!!  All alone in the field feeding!  Needless to say, I didn't waste any time making my way into position for the hunt.  At that point, getting in the woods was all I could think about.  I quickly made my way to the edge of the field, which put me 300 yards or so from him.  As I got into position, I could still see that he was in the field feeding.  I was in the game!  Now...he's 300 yards away across an open field (on the other side of it mind you).  I got myself into a good hiding spot and started to call.  He looked up the first sequence, but that was all.  I waited a minute or so and called more aggressively to see how he would respond to that.  IT WORKED!  He started strutting and working towards me!  From 300 yards to 34 yards, I watched him strut, walk, strut, walk, and strut.  I've never coached myself through something quite like that.  The whole time I was thinking "don't mess this up" "take your time" "aim small", all while thinking something could happen at any time to alter his route...  At 50 I almost couldn't hold back the temptation any longer, but I did, and I let him get inside of 40 yards...and at 34 yards, it was over!

The phone calls, pictures, texts, and celebration began!  My wife, brother, dad, buddy, boss, etc.  Quickly followed by a call to Cally Morris & Hazel Creek!  I had told everyone if I was lucky enough to kill him, he would be mounted in a full strut, so that's where he is at currently!  I figure it will be almost next spring before I get to see him again...

Sorry for the long-winded story, but I had to include the background in order to do the story justice!  In the end, I guess it was meant for me to kill him for whatever reason.  And yes...I still work for my buddy and there are no hard feelings...at least not on my end, lol!

[Tail Feathers]

Yeh you had a great spring!

Congrats on it.  Sounds like y'all had a real blast and were very successful.

[jordanz7935]

Congrats on a great spring! .And what an awesome story about the white gobbler.Great Job!

[WiLL B]

Congrats on a great season!!

[troutfisher13111]

That's a great story!


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[K9Doc]

Fantastic Pictures!!!
That white gobbler is one of a kind!!!!
It's Unbelievable that guy was able to ever
Reach adulthood!!!!  AMAZING!!!!
Congratulations!!!!!!

[KPcalls]

Nice...and congrats, on a bird of a lifetime.

[Burney Mac]

Thanks for the full featured re cap, figured there was a pretty good story to this one. Glad it all worked out and he didn't get whacked from the road. There's portions around me that always seem to have some white/smoke phase hens, never seen a gobbler though. I can only imagine how pumped you were. Nice call on getting Cally to do your work. Again, thanks for sharing.

[jepcho]

Great story of your white bird!  Thanks for posting, very fun read.  Congrats again!