Your most lucky harvest?

[rblake]

My early turkey hunting years, I hunted one bird several unsuccessful seasons using field edges, roads and saddles. On the last day of that WV season I did a 180 on him. I went in an hour before sunrise, as usual, but set up on the lone wide tree on the only "hunt-able" flat of a steep river face WV "hill". As I went to place my decoy, I bumped several deer that ran straight toward where he usually roosted. As civil twilight began, he began to gobble. I then threw some tree calls at him. It didn't impress him but a red tail hawk decided to harass me. Despite the hawk making a fuss, the Tom remained tight lipped. Once the hawk could see me, it flew way in his direction. After things calmed down I called again - Nothing. The river valley wind picked up some and the rocky soil let me down as my decoy flopped over. Thinking that I had nothing to loose, I crawled out to stand up my decoy. I took my shotgun just in case he showed up. On my way back to my tree he gobbled. He apparently liked the crunching leaves. He was clearly on the ground and low on the hill side. I scrambled to my tree. Turning to get set up low on my tree I caught a glimpse of him at about 150 yards cresting the edge below. I took a deep breath, rested my gun on my knee and spot welded my cheek to the stock. Then panic set in, my 3M adhesive Stick on fiber optic back sight was GONE. Just then he announced his arrival with one more gobble and stepped up and into my decoy. The decoy flopped again.  While he stood there, I then sighted down my rib vent and pulled the trigger. He dropped in place at 15 steps. My biggest bird to date, 11 inch beard with 1.5'' spurs.

Lets hear about your lucky hunt     

RB

[beakbuster10]

Awesome story. This past season entailed one of my luckiest hunts. My hunting partner and life long best friend went after a few birds that we had saved for the very end of the season. We ended up getting a late start after driving rain moved out around 10am. When we got out of the truck, the bird I eventually killed was gobbling. We set up on  a ridge above the gobbler. He was on the edge of a large swamp. I yelped, he cut me off. He gobbled again closer. I cut him off with and he triple gobbled. I figured the bird would be dead within 30 seconds. Well he wanted to enjoy life for another 30 minutes. He went directly away from us gobbling every breath. He crossed a small bottom that was part of the bigger swamp full of briers and mud up to your knees. He proceeded to gobble on the next hill over for 15 minutes every breath. We decided we had to get on that ridge with him. So as we're fighting the swamp thicket he went through to get to the hill, he gobbles and he's close. 40 yards close. We were in briars up to our waists. There were two trees directly in front of us with an opening about 10 yards by 10 yards just beyond that. All we could do was hunker up against the trees and pray he came to the opening. I clucked and purred once on my copper Hersh trough call and he went off. Gobbled and strutted every step to 7 yards. We heard him drumming the entire way but never saw him until he hit the opening. I put an arrow in him and once he finished flopping, we found the hooks. 1 5/8" spurs 10.5" beard 20#. The craziest turkey hunt I've ever been a part of and the best bird I've ever killed. He's at the taxi right now. I figured if I didn't mount a bird that good after a hunt that unbelievable, I never will.

Keep this thread going. Love these stories




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[vaturkey]

Calling a gobbler across a river & a main highway & killing it with a 20 Gauge !

[Marc]

I killed the bird below about 3 years ago...  I had promised to be home for a family event on my wife's side, and my time window was short.

I had to leave at 9:30 am (as in, in the truck and driving)...  Bird answered me at 8 am, and slowly made his way to me.  He hung up at about 100 yards in a steep draw below me, and would come no further. 

It was quite a walk out (logging road going down a canyon), and finally at 9 am I called it and started to walk out (at a fairly good pace).  I was calling as I was walking the road, and apparently the idea of the hen leaving him set the bird into gear.  As I closed in on the truck, the bird stayed with me...  As I got close to the truck, I sat down and shut up, and low and behold, that bird came out of that draw and walked down the logging road right to me.

I killed the bird about 3/4 of a mile from where I was originally hunting him and that much closer to the truck...  Snapped off a couple of pictures (using the timer) and was in the truck by 9:25 and home about 10 minutes before my curfew....

[wvmntnhick]

Shot a make several years ago. It was probably the coolest hunt I've been on for a while. Buddy and I set up and didn't hear a peep. Heard birds fly down but not a single gobble. We sat and discussed our plan of attack to get on a bird and then a bird gobbled as we were getting ready to get up. He was still on the roost directly behind us. I'd not killed a bird with a shotgun in years and didn't get to hunt much the previous couple years so hadn't killed a spring bird for a while. Needless to say, he and his buddy came off the roost behind us. I swung the gun and watched Happy's eyes get quite large. Birds went behind a huge oak tree and I motioned for him to get on out of the way. He stretched out on the ground and the birds peeked out to see what was up. Pulled the trigger and the rest was history. First bird I'd shot with shotgun in years and had a blast doing so.

One other would be the big bird I shot 2 years ago. Heard him gobble on property I'd never hunted before. Was walking to get my permission slip about 45 minutes before daylight when he gobbled. Halfway to where the landowner said he'd leave the slip he gobbled again. Tried to get him to gobble again but couldn't. Figured he was farther off so I stood under a towering oak waiting for daylight so I could see what I was doing. Moved forward about 15 yards and set up. Birds gobbled but not the one I'd heard. Tried working them but to no avail. Was going to make a move on them once I realized they weren't going to come to me. Started to get up and my bird gobbled again. He was in the big oak that I stood under waiting for daylight. Flew down and landed about 70 yards away. He looped back and came to about 25-30 yards when I put the hurt on him. True 12" beard (not measuring the gristle) and 1.5" Spurs. Bird was over 20# but I can't recall the exact weight at this time.

[TRG3]

A few years ago it was in the lower 20s at dawn so I slept in, arriving at my lucky tree around 8:30 a.m. I had just set my decoy bag down, loaded my shotgun, and leaned it against my lucky tree when a hen ran past followed by a gobbler, both of which had been spooked by another hunter. I grabbed my shotgun and dropped him running  away at about 30yards. I was back at my truck about 20 minutes after I'd first left it!

[Turkeyman]

Mine occurred many years ago, when there weren't near the number of turkeys as now. I live in upstate NY, on Lake Ontario. I was about halfway through the season and, although I had several birds located at the beginning, I only knew where one was...down close to the PA border. I drove down there several times after him but to no avail...couldn't get him. So, Memorial Day weekend was upon us and we were going to my mother's down near Pittsburgh. I told the wife...let's pack up the kids and hit the road at 2:00 AM so I can stop at that spot and try that bird once more. First time he came in on a string...BOOM.

[Happy]

Years ago I was having a rough year. Birds were really tight lipped and i was struggling. Seemed like everything I did was wrong and I just couldn't catch a break. I was walking and calling and had already covered a good two mile stretch and hadn't heard a peep. I finally found two longbeards eating grasshoppers all by themselves in a large field. One was a two year old but the other was a sure Nuff hoss. Couldn't see spurs thru the binos but he had an 11 inch beard easy. That a slammer up here in these mountains. The grass is only 6 inches or so high and there are a smattering of small pine trees here and there. I hit the ground and start crawling, keeping the last pine tree between us. About 30 yards into the maneuver I come face to face with a nice snake. After the initial adrenaline rush I realized he was a black  snake and harmless. Using my shotgun barrel I finally got him out of my line of travel and the birds seemed none the wiser. I finally made it to the last pine and quickly got the gun ready and gave a set of yelps. The birds didn't even pick their heads up. A few minutes later I gave him a hard cutting sequence and watched his head go from red to white almost instantly. Game on! He started coming my way at a fast walk and gobbled a few times. About the time he hits the 65-70 yard mark I hear a sweet set of yelps to my right. Still on my stomach I slowly turn my head and a hen is walking by at 20 yards and you know the rest of the story. She went right to them and it was over. Wasn't a thing I could do about it. After they left I got up. I was mad and frustrated. Saying the heck with it I started back to the truck. About halfway back I cot a spot where I had previously sat and called for an hour or so. I decided to take a shortcut thru a thicket. There were some nice trails through it and the walking was easy. I was moving through at a good clip and came around a turn and there he was. Full strut with a hen laying down in front of him. I dropped to one knee and as I did so the hen got up, nervously clucking. She started to walk off and he stretched his neck up to see what all the fuss was about. I promptly clobbered him and it was over. It was pure luck and I knew it. Was thankful for the gift tho.

[eddie234]

A few years ago I was running late, it was already light when I hit the woods. I decided to go to an area that I normally went to later in the morning. When I got there I bumped a bird off the roost, as soon as he hit the ground and started running I shot him. I didn't even get to sit down and I was headed home.

[Spring Creek Calls]

This years crossbow kill may qualify. My friend and I arrived at a KS WIHA on the last day of bow hunting season for a late morning hunt.   After dropping off my friend and telling him to text me when he was ready to be picked up  I realized I left my phone back at camp. Drove back to camp got the phone and was back in 15 minutes. Opened the gate to the pasture, cocked my crossbow and a bird gobbled. Thank goodness I was in the fence row because before I could take a step 2 mature gobblers were coming across the pasture directly towards me. I dropped next to a small tree and was able to get a 2 reed diaphragm in my mouth. One short series of calls and they both were 20 steps in front of me. The second bird turned broadside and the bolt put him down without a flop. I was 20 yards from the gate and 50 yards from my Jeep. If not for returning for my phone I would have been much deeper in this property and would not have been in position to see these birds.

[chcltlabz]

Got quite a few that come to mind.  Gotta love those gift birds.

First one is an eastern.  I hunted a Saturday, and called a bird in right from the roost.  Textbook, uneventful hunt until I pulled the trigger and he flew off.  Very strange, but I just shook it off as a freak miss.  Another state opened up the following day, and I was hunting virgin ground.  All the spots I had scouted turned up dry, so I thought my best bet was to scout and hunt a different piece I'd never been in to learn it too.  It was raining and there was a ton of underbrush that got us soaked every step we took.  Didn't take me long to decide this was miserable, so we got in the truck and drove to the other side of this piece of public land where there was a fire break road we could walk and at least stay dry.  We walked almost the whole road without so much as an answer other than a bird that was well off the public land right at the truck.  We were about to turn around when the road went through some knee deep water around a cranberry bog, when we got an answer (of course on the opposite side of the bog).  He was the only game in town, and there was no way for us to get through the swamp and thick stuff, so we set up right on the fire break.  Not long into the hunt, I hear what sounds like acorns dropping into the water, and realize its the tom walking through the water that had to be up to his belly or deeper.  He stepped into the clear in full strut at about 20 yards, and as soon as he broke strut, I proceeded to MISS again!  He took off, but a quick follow up shot broke a wing and a leg.  Head up, I took aim again and he never flinched.  I grabbed my buddies gun and finished him off.  Turns out, my choke tube had a crack in it I didn't notice and the pattern was obviously blown out because of it.  On the way out, the bird that was way off the public land had come looking for us, and we killed a second bird not 200 yards from the truck.  Lucky we found birds the first time into a spot, lucky I hit the bird with that second shot, and lucky it didn't kill me in the process, and lucky the second bird wanted that hen so bad he covered a half mile looking for us.

We went back to a different spot the next day (again, had never set foot in this place) and got beat to the area by another hunter.  We parked and immediately heard several birds gobbling back where I assume this guy was, so we took the long way around and ran into a different bird.  We got to a power line and realized this bird was across the road on private land by several hundred yards.  He flew down about the time we got to the road, and it was obvious he was headed our way so we backed off the road a bit and set up on the powerline (I took my buddies gun this time).  I couldn't see it, but my buddy who didn't have a tag got to see the whole show.  This bird stood at the edge of a busy road and gobbled every time a car came by, until it was clear.  Then he crossed the road and marched right down the powerline to us.  I had to wait for him to clear the metal girters of the pole before I shot him.  3 birds on public land in a state we'd never hunted, on land we'd never set foot in in less than 3 hours hunting.

[Chilly]

Several years ago, on the last day of Kentucky's spring season, I got to my spot late.  Really late!  I was heading to a field edge to see if I could find a bird to get after.  As I am walking, a bird gobbles out in the field.  I peeked over the rise just to see which direction he was headed.  I thought to myself, I'll ease up to the corner of the woods and try to put out a decoy.  I start heading that way up the adjacent field edge to get to the point and I had made it about 75 yards when I looked up and seen the bird standing 100 yards away at the corner I was headed to.  I am standing in a field with my gun and a feather flex decoy.  I didn't know what to do.  I slid the decoy down the edge of my leg and stuck her in the ground.  I slowly start walking backwards towards the wood line.  I sit down beside a tree about as big as a baseball bat.  As soon as my butt hit the ground, I looked up and here comes this bird running at the decoy wide open in full strut. The dummy watched me sit down and still came in!!! I killed him at 20 yards.

[trkehunr93]

This bird in 2011, I was doing a flash hunt before work and had until about 7:30AM to hunt.  He gobbled around 6:30AM straight in front of me so I found a big pine to sit against and proceeded to do multiple flydowns with the wings I carry with me.  I figured I would give him all I could and see what happened, I kept switching calls to sound like the multitude of hens he had "heard" and was scratching in the leaves with stick on both sides of the tree.  He finally gobbled in a different position so I knew he was coming my way so down went the sticks and up went the gun.  When he finally stepped into view at the crest of the ridge I was sitting on he took a dirt nap and proceeded to flop down the steep side of the ridge away from me so I ended up slipping and falling on top of him yanking alot of feathers from the base of his tail fan.  Here he is:






23#'s, 1.5" spurs and 10.5" beard.  Biggest VA gobbler I've killed ever.  My threshold for mounting had been set at anything 22#'s or bigger and he was it.  Killed some close to since but nothing with spurs that long.  I feel like I had hunted him for at least 2 seasons prior because of the location of where he roosted. 

[yelpaholic]

I feel pretty lucky every time I kill one.... Way back in high school I was walking across a cow pasture to get to my  hunting spot I was walking along a cow path the grass in the field was about ankle high.  right out in the middle of the field, on the same path I was on, a turkey had squatted, I didn't see it until I was 25 yards from it so I froze and it stayed there its head started getting reder an reder  I eased my gun up and he stood up big long beard.. he didn't make it .  only thing I could think of was he saw me coming and just squatted unlucky for him I was on same path he was on.   not much of a hunt as far as calling him up but ill never forget that one for sure

[TrackeySauresRex]

 I was in NY a long while  back. The birds were there,but silent. On the last day of one of my four day hunts. I had and  put awhole bunch of miles on my boots. Hot and tired from lack of sleep,Sweaty,black fly infested,and ready to throw in the towel. It's  11:30 am you can only hunt till 12, Can you get a visual on that? We've all be there a time or two. I took short break. Wiping  the sweat I reach in the back of my vest to grab the last sip of warm water before I start heading back.
Then it happens....
   The lone crow fly over, CAWWWWWW! > GrrrrrrrObbbbbbbObbbbbbObbbbble!
Less then a 100 yards down a small gulle. Scurried quick to set up. Cluck,cluck,purrrrr. An ever sooooo soft yelp....
BOOOM! My luckiest harvest.