Well, it wasn't exactly like we had imagined... Last year my buddy and i went and killed 7 in 2 1/2 days. We had visions of 8 gobblers flopping in the same amount of time. Mother nature had other plans.
When we arrived, we rode around and looked at 3 new properties we could hunt. Last year i was amazed at the amount of hogs everywhere. So this year, i took my bow, just in case... I threw my bow in the truck as we looked at these new properties and saw a group of about 50 hogs in a wheat field. I jumped out and put the slip on them, wearing jeans, a maroon polo, and costa's
I was able to plug 2 with the Mathews. One about 200 pounds, and another about 100 pounds.
Pic of the bigger one:
We saw a few jakes on the properties and that was it. The next day, Sunday, the first actual day of our hunt, it was 103 degrees, with a 45 mph south wind. We were able to hear a gobble on the roost and called up 5 jakes. We rode around looking for birds, but they were holding tight out of the wind. We spotted another big hog in a small clump of mesquite and i slipped up and fed it a load of 00 buckshot.
That eve we walked one of the new properties and my buddy spotted 3 sows feeding in a wheat field. He loaded up the 00 Buckshot and slipped up and piled all 3 up in a 10 yard circle.
That night , weather conditions changed, and the wind swapped to 40 mph out of the North. The high Monday was only 50. We had come to the reality that we would be lucky to kill 1 turkey on this trip. That morning, i put on all the clothes i could fit, and we went and pretty much deer hunted turkeys where the we found some sign. That lasted an hour...i hate sitting , espescially with a 40 mph North wind. We rode and saw a gobbler run out of a pasture and i went and tried to find him, while my buddy sat near a feeder giving me time to try to kill the one we spotted. I slipped back there and found 7 jakes and a strutter with 1 hen in another pasture. You should have seen that strutter fighting that 40 mph wind. It was a sight. He would not honor a call though, maybe because he couldnt hear it!
They went off in some junk, and my buddy shoots. I had enough of the wind anyway, and it was too open to move on them, so i slipped back to the truck and found my buddy with a nice 3 yr old rio. He said he just popped up out of nowhere and was trotting to the feeder when he cut him down.
We went to the lodge to get out of the cold wind and tried to have at least a hint of confidence that we would kill another. That eve, i went back to where i was on the strutter and sat for 4 hours. felt like they were roosting in a clump of trees several hundred yards behind me, and hoped they would come back thruogh the way they left. I had been calling every 20 minutes or so, but unless the birds were within a 100 yards, they wouldn't hear it. About 20 minutes before dark, 19 hens file by about 20 yards from me. A few minutes later i see him coming and get ready. He gets to about 25 yards, all the while in full strut fighting the wind, and has 2 other longbeards beside him. I get on him and let one of his buddies heads get close and flop them both. I must have short shucked my gun, because it took me a few seconds to get my hull shucked and the other one was able to fly away without hevishot in his azz. The strutter was a fine bird. He had 1 3/8" & 1 5/16" spurs, with a 9 1/8" beard and weighed 21.5 pounds. The other was a 3 yr old with a 9 1/2" beard and sharp 1" spurs.
At dark, my buddy picked me up and he found him another gobbler in a field and was able to ambush him, as well. He was also a fine bird with 1 1/4" spurs.
We were definately fortunate to have 2 birds apiece.
The last morning, Tuesday morning, it was 35 degrees, with a 15 mph North wind. The birds on gobbled 1 or 2 times apeice on the roost and that was it. We had split up and set up on each side of the birds and they came my way. Around 8 i heard drumming and got ready. I spotted a strutter leading 4 hens towards me down an old powerline. When he got to 50 yards he started flanking me, instead of coming down the powerline, like i had scripted. I knew the closest he would get was around 45 yards. When he hit an opening, i shot. I was having to lean a good bit and the recoil made me loose sight of him for a second. The when i quit seeing stars, i see him take flight, i wasted 2 more shells in a futile attempt to ground him. Found enough feathers where he was standing to make 2 turkeys...and that was it. It's been a long time since that's happened, but we all know it happens if you chase these dang things long enough. We decided to pack up and head home after that instead of trying an evening hunt that afternoon. We were both sore and wind-burned, and had enough. In those conditions, we were very fortunate to bring home anything...But i don't guess i can gripe too much about 6 hogs and 4 longbeards in gale force winds.
