YEKRUT
Well-Known Member
Friday March 12th:
Gary and I headed out for South Alabama after work and arrived in camp before dark. We unpacked the truck, got settled in, devised a plan to scout the following two days before season, and got a bite to eat.
Saturday March 13th:
Saturday morning we went and listened at a couple of differenet places we had permission to hunt and put some miles on the boots trying to find fresh sign and some birds, but didn't have much luck doing either one.
Sunday March 14th:
We got up early once again and headed out to two new places and listened and did some scouting. We found a few tracks and some sign, but it started to fall a flood so we headed back to camp for the day and got ready for opening day.
Monday March 15th:
The weather started out nasty and stayed that way pretty much all day. We walked and called most of the day on a farm that has always paid off for us in the past. At around 12 or so we were setup doing some blind calling when a bird with a thick rope showed up on the loggig road across the holler from us. He was being very cautious and would never come in to our setup. He skirted us and never showed himself again. We gave him a good hour and then got up and walked the way he had came from and made another setup. This time both of us nodded off and woke up around 3:30. We were just about ready to head back to camp when a bird gobbled from in front of me. We got settled back in and went to work on him. The bird gobbled maybe 10 times and came to around 65-70 yards, but never would come on into our setup.
Tuesday March 16th:
We went back to the same farm as the evening before and got setup in the same area where we had saw the good bird the day before. Nothing gobbled on the limb that morning, but soon after flydown we had a bird gobble right behind us and it was game on. I worked the bird for over an hour maybe closer to two hours. He would skirt our setup just out of sight and gobble very sparingly. The bird ended up making a 3/4 circle around us and coming in on my right side strutting at 17 yards. When he walked out in the road I shot him in the face. #1 for the trip. A good 2 year old. 18# 2oz., 3/4" spurs, 8" beard. NWTF Score of 49.125
We took a few pictures and headed back to camp to regroup and devise a plan to get Gary a bird that day. We ended up going to another farm close to camp at 12 and setting up in a small food plot. I did some calling and got a bird to answer across a holler and on the next ridge. I kept throwing some calls his way and in a few minutes we heard him fly a small creek coming our way. A few minutes later two gobblers broke into the food plot and headed for the decoys. Gary got ready and shot the bigger of the two in the face at about 25 yards. #2 for the trip. A young 2 year old maybe 6.5" beard, 1/2" spurs, 16# 7oz.
Wednesday March 17th:
We headed out to take a kid of a family friend hunting on a place about 40 minutes from camp. We got on a bird early and the bird double and triple gobbled several times, but never showed up for us. I don't know if he met a hen somewhere on the way or if soemthing spooked him, but he never showed up and just quit gobbling after gobbled great over half way to us. All of the kids in that camp were going on vacation and had to be back at camp by 9:30 that morning to leave with their families. We were shown a new 800+ acre place to hunt and left the truck at 12:30 to scout it out. After 2.5 miles according to the gps we finally had a bird answer my calling back and set up on him quickly off of an old logging road in a pine plantation. I went to work on the bird and could not get, but one more gobble out of the bird. When he showed up he was off of my left shoulder and almost behind me. I managed to lean over and shoot him in the face before he left town on us. Not sure how old this one is as he did not have a spur at all on him but a nice rope, a melon head, and very heavy. #3 for the trip. 10 3/4" beard, 21# 2oz, and no spurs. NWTF Score of 42.625
Thursday March 18th:
We were on a new farm this morning and got on a couple birds early, but found out after we had set up on them a couple of times that they were across a very large creek. We did walk up to within about 20 yards of a 200# boar while he was sleeping and saw several other pigs while hunting the rest of the morning. We never heard another gobble after about the first 30 minutes of daylight and finally gave up on that farm around lunch. We headed back to camp and got a bite to eat and headed to the farm we had hunted Monday again to try and get on a bird, but didn't have any luck.
Friday March 19th: We headed back to the same farm as the evening before and quickly got on a bird at daylight. After a couple set ups we were within a couple hundred yards of the bird, but ran out of cover and had to sit down and try calling him to us. I layed down behind a big tree and Gary got ready to do the shooting. I went to work on him and managed to get a hen fired up and cutting really hard on a power line out in front of us. After a few minutes of him not saying anything he finally gobbled again and was MUCH closer to us. I figured he bred the hen that was cutting up and then came looking for us. Gary shot him in the face and we had #4 for the trip down. A good 3 year old bird 1" spurs, 9.5" thick beard, and 18# 9oz.
It was still early so we took a few pictures and headed back to camp to get a bite to eat and dress the bird out. We came up with a plan to try out a place that we had not been to yet and headed out. We walked and called to the backside of the farm and set up in a small food plot that was more mud and water than anything else I think. I managed to get a young hen fired up and she came in from the right cutting and yelping loud so I kept her fired up. After about 15 minutes I catch movement and see a strutter in the ticket across the food plot and to the left. He made his way toward the food plot and spots the hen that is now feeding to my left. You have to love live decoys. He walked out into the middle of the plot and got several drinks of water before walking on over to me and getting shot in the face. #5 for the trip in 5 days. 2 year old maybe a 3 year old. 9.5" beard, 17# 8oz, 15/16 spur and a 7/8 spur. NWTF score of 54.625
Friday night at a cookout we were talking to a friend who was doing the cooking and he told us his boy wanted to go turkey hunting with us and kill a turkey. Thomas had never been turkey hunting before and was very excited to go on his first turkey hunting trip with us and we were just as happy to try and get him on a bird.
Saturday March 20th:
Thomas showed up at camp eager to go on his first turkey hunting trip and smiling from ear to ear with excitement. He was going to shoot my turkey gun so I got it out of the case and showed him how to aim the tru glo sights, showed him where where the safety was, and went over where to shoot a turkey at before we headed out. We headed back to the same place I had killed my third bird on Friday evening and headed to the same food plot hoping to hear a bird gobbling on the roost. I carried my gun and a seat in for Thomas to use and that boy was so worked up and ready to hunt that we could barely keep up with him headed to the food plot. We didn't hear anything gobbling on the roost, but soon after fly down some hens got worked up a couple hundred yards off and in return got a couple different gobblers fired up back the way we had walked in. We decided it would be a good move to head back toward the birds and set up in another food plot that we had to cross earlier and try to work the birds from there. We all stood up and got ready to start walking and I told Thomas I would tote my gun since it was a good long hike and it was really muddy, but he didn't want me touching his new gun. We got set up in the new plot and I backed in behind Thomas and Gary about 15 yards in the thicket and started to call. After maybe 15 minutes Thomas spotted the birds to the right of our setup about to come into the food plot near a box blind and told Gary he had spotted them. I saw three red heads sticking up and then heard the back bird drumming as they came into the food plot at about 40 yards and started putting on a show. The strutter had an absolute rope that I thought was at least a double beard at the time and the other two birds were not small either. I watched Thomas and Gary get their guns into position and knew that there was about to be some gunfire and feathers flying. I kept the birds attention with some calling while they shifted around and got ready to shoot. The birds strutted and and even gobbled a couple of times right out in front of Thomas and I knew that he had to be shook up. I could see both Thomas and Gary and knew they were getting close to shooting when Thomas fired and dropped the strutter in his tracks. The other two birds got out of dodge and didn't offer Gary a shot, but that was ok because we had just introduced a new 12 year old hunter to the turkey hunting world. As soon as Thomas shot he turned around and gave me a big thumbs up and a big smile. It was all high fives and chest bumps after that. The bird had the thickest rope on him that I have ever saw on a bird before. I asked him if the 3.5" shell kicked and he said he didn't even feel it. We took several pictures with Thomas and his first bird and headed in to show everyone else. This made 6 birds in 6 days for our trip and Thomas killed the biggest of them all with his big bird with a 11.25" beard, 1" spurs, and 19# 6oz. I think we have us a new turkey hunting buddy in South Alabama now.
Gary and I headed out for South Alabama after work and arrived in camp before dark. We unpacked the truck, got settled in, devised a plan to scout the following two days before season, and got a bite to eat.
Saturday March 13th:
Saturday morning we went and listened at a couple of differenet places we had permission to hunt and put some miles on the boots trying to find fresh sign and some birds, but didn't have much luck doing either one.
Sunday March 14th:
We got up early once again and headed out to two new places and listened and did some scouting. We found a few tracks and some sign, but it started to fall a flood so we headed back to camp for the day and got ready for opening day.
Monday March 15th:
The weather started out nasty and stayed that way pretty much all day. We walked and called most of the day on a farm that has always paid off for us in the past. At around 12 or so we were setup doing some blind calling when a bird with a thick rope showed up on the loggig road across the holler from us. He was being very cautious and would never come in to our setup. He skirted us and never showed himself again. We gave him a good hour and then got up and walked the way he had came from and made another setup. This time both of us nodded off and woke up around 3:30. We were just about ready to head back to camp when a bird gobbled from in front of me. We got settled back in and went to work on him. The bird gobbled maybe 10 times and came to around 65-70 yards, but never would come on into our setup.
Tuesday March 16th:
We went back to the same farm as the evening before and got setup in the same area where we had saw the good bird the day before. Nothing gobbled on the limb that morning, but soon after flydown we had a bird gobble right behind us and it was game on. I worked the bird for over an hour maybe closer to two hours. He would skirt our setup just out of sight and gobble very sparingly. The bird ended up making a 3/4 circle around us and coming in on my right side strutting at 17 yards. When he walked out in the road I shot him in the face. #1 for the trip. A good 2 year old. 18# 2oz., 3/4" spurs, 8" beard. NWTF Score of 49.125
We took a few pictures and headed back to camp to regroup and devise a plan to get Gary a bird that day. We ended up going to another farm close to camp at 12 and setting up in a small food plot. I did some calling and got a bird to answer across a holler and on the next ridge. I kept throwing some calls his way and in a few minutes we heard him fly a small creek coming our way. A few minutes later two gobblers broke into the food plot and headed for the decoys. Gary got ready and shot the bigger of the two in the face at about 25 yards. #2 for the trip. A young 2 year old maybe 6.5" beard, 1/2" spurs, 16# 7oz.
Wednesday March 17th:
We headed out to take a kid of a family friend hunting on a place about 40 minutes from camp. We got on a bird early and the bird double and triple gobbled several times, but never showed up for us. I don't know if he met a hen somewhere on the way or if soemthing spooked him, but he never showed up and just quit gobbling after gobbled great over half way to us. All of the kids in that camp were going on vacation and had to be back at camp by 9:30 that morning to leave with their families. We were shown a new 800+ acre place to hunt and left the truck at 12:30 to scout it out. After 2.5 miles according to the gps we finally had a bird answer my calling back and set up on him quickly off of an old logging road in a pine plantation. I went to work on the bird and could not get, but one more gobble out of the bird. When he showed up he was off of my left shoulder and almost behind me. I managed to lean over and shoot him in the face before he left town on us. Not sure how old this one is as he did not have a spur at all on him but a nice rope, a melon head, and very heavy. #3 for the trip. 10 3/4" beard, 21# 2oz, and no spurs. NWTF Score of 42.625
Thursday March 18th:
We were on a new farm this morning and got on a couple birds early, but found out after we had set up on them a couple of times that they were across a very large creek. We did walk up to within about 20 yards of a 200# boar while he was sleeping and saw several other pigs while hunting the rest of the morning. We never heard another gobble after about the first 30 minutes of daylight and finally gave up on that farm around lunch. We headed back to camp and got a bite to eat and headed to the farm we had hunted Monday again to try and get on a bird, but didn't have any luck.
Friday March 19th: We headed back to the same farm as the evening before and quickly got on a bird at daylight. After a couple set ups we were within a couple hundred yards of the bird, but ran out of cover and had to sit down and try calling him to us. I layed down behind a big tree and Gary got ready to do the shooting. I went to work on him and managed to get a hen fired up and cutting really hard on a power line out in front of us. After a few minutes of him not saying anything he finally gobbled again and was MUCH closer to us. I figured he bred the hen that was cutting up and then came looking for us. Gary shot him in the face and we had #4 for the trip down. A good 3 year old bird 1" spurs, 9.5" thick beard, and 18# 9oz.
It was still early so we took a few pictures and headed back to camp to get a bite to eat and dress the bird out. We came up with a plan to try out a place that we had not been to yet and headed out. We walked and called to the backside of the farm and set up in a small food plot that was more mud and water than anything else I think. I managed to get a young hen fired up and she came in from the right cutting and yelping loud so I kept her fired up. After about 15 minutes I catch movement and see a strutter in the ticket across the food plot and to the left. He made his way toward the food plot and spots the hen that is now feeding to my left. You have to love live decoys. He walked out into the middle of the plot and got several drinks of water before walking on over to me and getting shot in the face. #5 for the trip in 5 days. 2 year old maybe a 3 year old. 9.5" beard, 17# 8oz, 15/16 spur and a 7/8 spur. NWTF score of 54.625
Friday night at a cookout we were talking to a friend who was doing the cooking and he told us his boy wanted to go turkey hunting with us and kill a turkey. Thomas had never been turkey hunting before and was very excited to go on his first turkey hunting trip with us and we were just as happy to try and get him on a bird.
Saturday March 20th:
Thomas showed up at camp eager to go on his first turkey hunting trip and smiling from ear to ear with excitement. He was going to shoot my turkey gun so I got it out of the case and showed him how to aim the tru glo sights, showed him where where the safety was, and went over where to shoot a turkey at before we headed out. We headed back to the same place I had killed my third bird on Friday evening and headed to the same food plot hoping to hear a bird gobbling on the roost. I carried my gun and a seat in for Thomas to use and that boy was so worked up and ready to hunt that we could barely keep up with him headed to the food plot. We didn't hear anything gobbling on the roost, but soon after fly down some hens got worked up a couple hundred yards off and in return got a couple different gobblers fired up back the way we had walked in. We decided it would be a good move to head back toward the birds and set up in another food plot that we had to cross earlier and try to work the birds from there. We all stood up and got ready to start walking and I told Thomas I would tote my gun since it was a good long hike and it was really muddy, but he didn't want me touching his new gun. We got set up in the new plot and I backed in behind Thomas and Gary about 15 yards in the thicket and started to call. After maybe 15 minutes Thomas spotted the birds to the right of our setup about to come into the food plot near a box blind and told Gary he had spotted them. I saw three red heads sticking up and then heard the back bird drumming as they came into the food plot at about 40 yards and started putting on a show. The strutter had an absolute rope that I thought was at least a double beard at the time and the other two birds were not small either. I watched Thomas and Gary get their guns into position and knew that there was about to be some gunfire and feathers flying. I kept the birds attention with some calling while they shifted around and got ready to shoot. The birds strutted and and even gobbled a couple of times right out in front of Thomas and I knew that he had to be shook up. I could see both Thomas and Gary and knew they were getting close to shooting when Thomas fired and dropped the strutter in his tracks. The other two birds got out of dodge and didn't offer Gary a shot, but that was ok because we had just introduced a new 12 year old hunter to the turkey hunting world. As soon as Thomas shot he turned around and gave me a big thumbs up and a big smile. It was all high fives and chest bumps after that. The bird had the thickest rope on him that I have ever saw on a bird before. I asked him if the 3.5" shell kicked and he said he didn't even feel it. We took several pictures with Thomas and his first bird and headed in to show everyone else. This made 6 birds in 6 days for our trip and Thomas killed the biggest of them all with his big bird with a 11.25" beard, 1" spurs, and 19# 6oz. I think we have us a new turkey hunting buddy in South Alabama now.
