catman529
Well-Known Member
Finally connected with one... well actually three. Made up for the miss last week...
I'll keep the story fairly short...
After hunting almost nonstop from sunrise till about 1.30pm, I got out of the blind to do another run down this hill to a creek bottom/food plot where I thought I might sneak up on some birds.
I was walking slowly away from the blind, and some rustling caught my ear, so I slowed and crouched down. Not sure if it was a squirrel or a turkey... I started to crawl toward a tree where I could set up. Rustling got closer...I went prone, had my gun ready, and as I was going down on my stomach a head popped up. I figured she busted me, and I froze, gun ready. She looked around a bit, then she and several other hens started to come toward me, out of the undergrowth and into the recently-planted food plot. Several hens got out in the open, headed towards me for some reason, with the first hen going off to the side.
I got my bead on one of them, got ready to shoot, and then her head started to cross with another one in my line of sight. I shot and then saw two birds flopping on the ground.
Having accomplished a goal that I did not expect to even get the chance to meet, I ran over to the birds to make sure one wasn't going to get up and run. I got to them and there were three birds flopping on the ground. The third one was right behind and I did not even see it. I wrung the necks (sort of), grabbed my gun and homemade tube call, and took off down the trail back to camp.
I had wanted to kill two with one shot, but like I said, I didn't expect to even get the chance. I was starting to wonder if I'd even kill one this fall, and was at the point that I would have killed a poult if that's what came into range. So I got to pull a shot at two full grown hens, which was lucky enough. Imagine killing two, getting up and running over to see three. Probably won't happen again.... I saved the right foot off of each bird and the empty shell that killed them. Gonna save them for a long time.
Last but not least, I got to give a HUGE thanks to Nick (eyeseeker) for letting me hunt with him three times during the fall season, and giving me the chance to get those birds. I really appreciate it and especially getting a ride out to the place last night so I could get up at first light.
I also can not leave out the fact that he also killed three birds before I did. One in the morning, within range of the blind I was sitting in, he picked off a hen that I was facing away from. Then later on, he was coming down the trail and picked off two more. And the birds still responded to my calls - the whole flock had become scattered - and I managed to kill 3 of my own in the early afternoon.
Someone on here said you can't overcall in the fall... well maybe you can sometimes, but that wasn't the case for me. I yelped and yelped throughout the day, made a few cutts, clucked and purred, and even managed some crappy kee-kees without scaring them away. I heard hens yelp back at me countless times and heard lost poults kee kee to relocate the hens. In other words, eyeseeker really busted em up and they were all over the property re-grouping gradually... and I got super lucky to pick off 3 of a small group of hens with one shot...
Now for the specs
gun - NEF Pardner 12 gauge pump action (all black)
ammo - Winchester Supreme high velocity turkey (3 inch, #5 shot, 1300fps)
shot distance - 20 yards (pattern isn't wider than 12 inches, at most)
choke - accu-choke XX full
camo - who cares, random realtree cheap clothes and my trusty $3 turkey hat
call - one of my bamboo tube calls I made back before the 'vous
that's about all of the info... if you made it this far, then congrats, I do ramble sometimes. :grin:
