WV Limbhanger

[MKMGOBL]

 Well I'll start my hunt off from standing over my buddy John's dandy gobbler. As we were re-living the whole hunt just minutes after it was over, I noticed what I thought was a strutter up on a high knoll near a barn. He was two big hollers away & on Bing Maps its .62 miles (the way a crow flies) from John gobbler to the barn. Anyways, I told John to hurry up & tag his bird so we could go get him. My plan was to leave john's gobbler near the gate & give him a chance to top his hunt off with a few morels. It seems I find them there every time I kill a gobbler on this piece. As we walked down the tractor road, I stop to have John ditch his gobbler & I stood there, my jaw dropped! There between the fence & tractor road was the mother load of some nice morels

It took John a few seconds to see them but once he did, we took some time taking photos & then started picking them. After killing about 20 to 30 minutes, it was time to get after that strutter. As we cut up through the woods to avoid the open field, 10 deer came flying off the ridge running straight to us. They made their way off & as we continued up to the ridge when we saw a hen coming out of the last holler between us & the strutter. We didn't care about her so up we went up the hill scaring her off. Once on top, we had to use a tree to reach the highest point & keep the gobbler with two hens from seeing us. They were still a good 400+ yards away but didn't want to chance it.

Once at the tree I tried box calling & it was working by making them feed towards us, it didn't have the affect we were looking for. We stood there for the two hours watching & waiting for the hens to leave. We heard other gobblers, saw two other strutters on another knoll about ½ miles away. I told John we could maybe kill that one on Tuesday & not 10 seconds after saying that.....BOOOOOM! I then told John, maybe not Not the first time that's happened to me either

I called in a hen that crossed 25 yards in front of us & she busted me but it had no affect on the strutter now 300+ yards away slowly making their way to us. I told John at this rate, they won't be in range until 5pm so I had to make a move. With John watching from the high knob, I made my way back off the top & around the holler to our left. Half way there I had to leave my vest because it was just too much. I made my way around the holler ridge with the hen a gobbler other the other side. I used a huge maple to block my approach up the fence line they were feeding near. Once at the tree they were still a good 60 to 70 yards away so I caught my breath while deciding on my next move.

Well there wasn't another move so I started calling. I had to keep an eye on her in case she didn't like my calling & left, my hunt would be over. Good thing for me & bad for him that she liked my Widow Maker because she made her way right down the fence line to me. I must have gone back & forth a dozen times on the maple keeping my eye on their every step & once he got to 30 yards, I had enough. I got ready & eased my gun around the maple only to see her looking towards me & him behind a fence post! About 4 seconds went by with me hanging out from behind the maple & he took that bust of three strutting steps right into my sight & got thumped hard

After an official measurement from Morse Sporting Goods, the stats are in:

23lb
10 ½" Beard
1 11/16" Right Spur
1 7/16" Left Spur

[joey46]

Congrats.  Nice job.  Great story and pictures.

[BOFF]

Congrats!!

Great hunt with a friend, some tasty shrooms, and to top it off a successful hunt for yourself. Couldn't be any better!!

God Bless,
David B.

[wvboy]

Congrats .. that is a stud of a Mountaineer bird .. and Morels to boot 

[Hognutz]

Congrats on the nice gobblers. Great pictures, nice birds, and a bucket full of fungi. It don't get any better than that. Well done, Boys.....Mike 

[WVhuntEER]

Congrats on a stud WV bird! 

[Wrangler95]

 


Very nice,congrats!!

[vaturkey]

Congrats to you both !! Great pics !   

[MKMGOBL]

Thanks everyone! It was my friend (John) first time ever hunting in WV & man was he treated to a very memorable week of hunting. Four guys in four days killed 8 birds all 20+ pounds. So 2011 was a definitely a good year at camp!

Here are few more photos taken through out the week at camp. Our buddy Mark never brought over his birds for the table photo.

Johns opening day "strutter" 

opening day gobblers going for their last ride

My buddy Raymond's gobbler that we triple teamed

Morels we found Sunday before the season

Johns opening day gobbler where he took his nap

Johns set up waiting to hear a gobbler in Bills holler. See anything else in the photo?

eggs benidict after John & Raymond 2nd gobbler

Morel in the field before picking

John walking off the camp hill with his gobbler

L to R Raymonds 2 birds (no spurs on his first gobbler), MK-M-GOBL's 2 birds, TC 2 gobblers

[West Augusta]

Man, those are unheard of spurs in West Virginia.  Congrats on the trophy.

[Gobble!]

awesome spurs!!

[Basser69]

Congrats on a nice haul!

[TauntoHawk]

That's a great time at camp and nice story! Congratulations on that stud with the hooks what a stud

[strutnva]

another nice bird

[WiLL B]

Good story! Congrats on a fine gobbler!!