Post by Bucktales on May 12, 2005 14:46:45 GMT -5
I just got home from 3 days of turkey hunting. The weather didnt cooperate with us, but we were able to get 1 Tom.
Day 1: Got up bright and early. Headed across the road from my mom and dads. They have been watching 3 Toms by the creek for 2 weeks. Got set up, but we only had 1 jake decoy. Just as the sun started to peek out, we could hear a few Toms gobbling off in the distance. I did a bit of calling, and was just sitting back relaxing. I could hear something in the brush to my left. As the turkey got to the edge of the field, it spotted the jake decoy, and didnt want to play. 2 hens took off in the opposite direction. We sat a while more, but didnt see anything. We walked up to the house, and watched 2 Toms strutting right where we just left.
Went out in the afternoon, and seen 7 hens. Pretty uneventful.
Day 2: Gale force winds when we got up. Decided to give it a shot anyways. Seen one hen at the far end of the field, but it wasnt going to leave the wind protection she had. The afternoon was about the same. Seen a few hens, but nothing that wanted to leave the edge of the woods.
Day 3: Woke up to pouring rain. Decided to lounge around a while. Headed out to the same spot as day 1, and sat up. We didnt use the decoy this time, we were hoping to get one to just stroll by. Just as we got set up, we seen a strutter at the other end of the field. He didnt care that we were calling, he wasnt going to leave his ladies. They strolled around for about an hour, and started to make their way towards us. Turned my head to the left, and day a hen standing 6 feet from me. We never heard her. The Tom got about 100 yards from us, and was headed our way, when another very nice Tom stepped out of the woods, and the fight was on. The second Tom ran down the field, and they started chasing each other, and kicking at each other. They ran into the woods. About 10 minutes later, they popped out of the woods about 200 yards down, and the hens followed. They started heading south. We made a hasty game plan, and decided to cut the distance with a big circle stalk. We entered the back of the woodlot and began sneaking to where we had last saw them. I got 40 yards from the edge of the woods, and could see both Toms in full strut on the edge of the woods. Brian started to circle to the right in an attempt to get to the edge of the woods . The smaller of the two Toms stepped into an opening in full strut, and I let him have it. I thought he dropped right there. I walked out to the edge of the woods, and he was running down the edge of the woods. I ran to where I was close, and finished him off.
My bird was 18 pounds, has a 9 1/2" beard, and 1" spurs. He's no contest winner, but a nice bird none the less.
We got back to the house to clean my bird, and mom says "Hey, did you see those 2 Toms there?" 2 more Toms were standing right where we were sitting when we decided to stalk the other 2 Toms. We made one last ditch effort to get Brian a bird, but they just wouldnt cooperate. All in all, a great hunt. I cant wait for next year to try again.
DS, can you post the pic for me?
Day 1: Got up bright and early. Headed across the road from my mom and dads. They have been watching 3 Toms by the creek for 2 weeks. Got set up, but we only had 1 jake decoy. Just as the sun started to peek out, we could hear a few Toms gobbling off in the distance. I did a bit of calling, and was just sitting back relaxing. I could hear something in the brush to my left. As the turkey got to the edge of the field, it spotted the jake decoy, and didnt want to play. 2 hens took off in the opposite direction. We sat a while more, but didnt see anything. We walked up to the house, and watched 2 Toms strutting right where we just left.
Went out in the afternoon, and seen 7 hens. Pretty uneventful.
Day 2: Gale force winds when we got up. Decided to give it a shot anyways. Seen one hen at the far end of the field, but it wasnt going to leave the wind protection she had. The afternoon was about the same. Seen a few hens, but nothing that wanted to leave the edge of the woods.
Day 3: Woke up to pouring rain. Decided to lounge around a while. Headed out to the same spot as day 1, and sat up. We didnt use the decoy this time, we were hoping to get one to just stroll by. Just as we got set up, we seen a strutter at the other end of the field. He didnt care that we were calling, he wasnt going to leave his ladies. They strolled around for about an hour, and started to make their way towards us. Turned my head to the left, and day a hen standing 6 feet from me. We never heard her. The Tom got about 100 yards from us, and was headed our way, when another very nice Tom stepped out of the woods, and the fight was on. The second Tom ran down the field, and they started chasing each other, and kicking at each other. They ran into the woods. About 10 minutes later, they popped out of the woods about 200 yards down, and the hens followed. They started heading south. We made a hasty game plan, and decided to cut the distance with a big circle stalk. We entered the back of the woodlot and began sneaking to where we had last saw them. I got 40 yards from the edge of the woods, and could see both Toms in full strut on the edge of the woods. Brian started to circle to the right in an attempt to get to the edge of the woods . The smaller of the two Toms stepped into an opening in full strut, and I let him have it. I thought he dropped right there. I walked out to the edge of the woods, and he was running down the edge of the woods. I ran to where I was close, and finished him off.
My bird was 18 pounds, has a 9 1/2" beard, and 1" spurs. He's no contest winner, but a nice bird none the less.
We got back to the house to clean my bird, and mom says "Hey, did you see those 2 Toms there?" 2 more Toms were standing right where we were sitting when we decided to stalk the other 2 Toms.
We made one last ditch effort to get Brian a bird, but they just wouldnt cooperate. All in all, a great hunt. I cant wait for next year to try again. DS, can you post the pic for me?
