La Opener

[honker22]

Saturday was a day for the books... but let me ramble first:

Friday afternoon:  Went to the lease for the first time and drove around.  Saw multiple hens on ones side of the lease, and located a few gobbler tracks and strut marks.  Called dad, told him where I was going, and told him where he should go... in the same general block of timber.  Dad usually goes and listens, but he is recovering from surgery from a few weeks ago and it is still nagging him... for the first time in my life, reality is setting in and he is actually showing his age.  He absolutely lives for turkey hunting, so he has been resting up in preparation for opening day.

Saturday:  He beats me to the lease.  Someone beat him to the spot I told him to go.  My "spot" is vacant so I pull in, dad pulls in and says he is going to another spot, about 2 miles away.  I hear 2 birds on the roost and set up.  They answer my calls and I'm fairly confident they want to play the game.  They hit the ground and I cut at them, they answer.  I look to my right and see 2 white heads (different birds), coming right up a shooting lane to me.  One busts into strut at 15 yards and I see a decent beard.  I couldn't move on them so I wait until he crosses my gun barrel.  10 yards and he stops and all I can see is head and neck.  I put the red dot on his neck and let the TSS 9s fly.  My aim was true and he drops... I do not like letting them get that close, but had no choice.  3 longbeards are still down there... time to go get dad.

I find his truck and follow his boot tracks.  I can hear a bird about half a mile away so I assume he is on him.  My dad isn't big on technology so instead of text messaging, we communicate through the woods by "hoot messaging"... I'm sure you other rednecks can understand.  I hoot, nothing.  I get closer to the turkey and hoot again, nothing.  I start doing some hen talk on my diaphragm, just in case he thought I was a real owl... the only answer I get is from the turkey.  Finally about 20 mins later, I hear the hoot message from back towards the truck.  He had gotten turned around in the pine thicket and had to pull the compass out and found his truck and saw my truck parked behind him.  I come running up and he said "where's your gun"... I said I can't legally kill another turkey today, he smiles and I don't even give him time for small talk.  I said let's go get on that bird.  Long story short- that bird had hens and another lease member who LOVES blowing a crow call came in too.  Dad can't hear like he used to and he actually turned around and said "Was that a peacock call?"  I laughed and said let's go to where I killed my bird.

We walk down to the kill spot.  I show him the tree I was sitting against and the feathers where he died.  I called twice and nothing, so we turn around and head towards a clear cut.  We hadn't walked 20 yards and GOBBLE!  Right where I left them!  I put him on the same tree as I killed from and get behind him.  Made a few calls with no answer and then I hear it Ffffffft vrooooooom.  Coming from the same lane, same spot as mine, 90 degrees to the right.  I can tell he can't hear it so I loudly whispered "TO THE RIGHT".  He doesn't hear me so I softly yelled it again and he nods his head and turns his head.  A few seconds later I see 2 red heads approaching.  Both gobble at 30 yards and I see dad swivel at the same time.  They get to 20 yards and BOOM.  1 goes down and the other flies away.

I jump up celebrating, go pat him on the back and go to retrieve his turkey.  All I find is a pile of feathers.  You can imagine how confused we were.  We both saw the turkey drop and never saw him leave.  We feather trail the bird for 75 yards and looked for 20-30 minutes and had given up.  As we are walking out, he says what's that shining over there?  Pardon my French, but I said "oh shat, that's your turkey and he is still alive, SHOOT him".  25 yards and he is squatted next to a tree with his head barely above the ground.  BOOM!!!  Dad got his turkey.

We really celebrated then.  Out of all the years between us turkey hunting, nothing like this had ever happened.  Luck was with us on this day, for sure.  I loaded the turkey in his vest, and carried his gun out... the same thing we have done for each other for years when we have been successful together.  I won't ever forget this day.

Pics to follow:

[honker22]

Dad's victory walk




10 yard carnage



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[BHMTitan]

Awesome!  Great memories being made.  I miss being able to hunt w/ my dad.  And we had the "hooting" conversation often while chasing gobblers.

[hookedspur]

Congrats to you both on a fine hunt and even better memories

[BOFF]

Wow!!

What a GREAT day!

So glad you and your dad had the time together and made some more memories which will live on! May there be many more.

Thanks for sharing!

Congrats you you both!

God Bless,
David B.

[Roost 1]

Congrats to you both...

[snapper1982]

Congrats on a great hunt. So you have a lease member that came in on you all and knew you were already in there?

[wvmntnhick]

Congrats man.

Congrats on a great hunt. So you have a lease member that came in on you all and knew you were already in there?

If it's like up home, they'll walk right past you or try and hold your hand to get to a gobbling bird.

Well, drive past you on the ATV is more like it.

[honker22]

Congrats on a great hunt. So you have a lease member that came in on you all and knew you were already in there?

Not exactly.  This is maybe the 2nd time in 5 years someone has come in on me.  We came in from the North side, off a public road and they had come in from the south side.  They didn't know we were there, just as we didn't know they were there.  I would've never known had they not been blowing on that danged crow call!  I've been very pleased with the respect of the fellow lease members... I think there are 42 members and I couldn't tell you a single person's name.  We pay full dues for deer/turkey and I've never set foot on the place in deer season and don't intend to.  I will happily collect my 2 turkeys in the spring and keep paying.

[whiskey]

Awesome. Congrats on both birds.


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[Jmbradt3873]

Awesome, we always used a bob white whistle to "talk" in the woods. Of course they used to be a lot more common, now I think there are more turkeys than quail where I hunt.

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[Clif Owen]

I've been after one a couple of mornings this week. Someone needs to shoot that rascal. Evidently; I can't do it. Bad part is...I was beat before I started Tuesday and have absolutely no idea what went wrong this morning.