JRA
Well-Known Member
First turkey of the year...
I went hunting with a good friend yesterday. I drove over an hour to his place and we were sitting on the edge of a wood line overlooking grassy, rolling hills before sunrise. We heard one bird gobble on the roost then we heard a second bird. Eventually we watched birds fly down in a finger of the woods about 200-300 yards away. The birds on the ground in the wooded area were gobbling and fighting. Well after sunrise another bird flew down into a low spot just over the hill about 80 yards away and started gobbling. We watched, called and waited. He eventually surfaced going the opposite direction and we identified him as a jake. The more we watched we realized we were in the midst of 4-5 jakes with pretty mature gobbles. We hung there for a while until we could slip out undetected and headed to another property he hunts.
We arrived at the other property which is grassy hills connected to a few thickets. It is about 100 acres of land. When we get to the property we see 3 hens and a tom at the bottom of the hills. We pull the truck out of site and work our way through the thickets to get higher on the hill to try and work the birds. We decided to crawl out into the open on the grassy hills because we could remain relatively undetected because of the contour of the land. Lying on our stomachs we saw a hen's head out of range but moving at an angle up the hill and away from us. They didn't know we were there but they were working away from us. We belly crawled in hopes of cutting them off. After crawling 50 yards or so we caught a glimpse of the red head. We raised our fans (yep...we fanned him...or reaped...whatever you want to call it). At first we didn't know if he saw us. The way the hills rolled you could see him one minute and not the next. We were laying in grass that was shin high and soaking wet from dew. After a few moments he came into full view headed our way looking for a fight. He wasn't running but he was clearly making a bee line for us. If I would not have shot (835 Mossberg, .680 kicking choke, 3.5" LB) he would have walked right on top of us. I pulled the trigger on a prone shot and he rolled over. I shot him at 14 steps. All of this happened by 8:15am.
As it has been made clear from other posts, I know not everyone will cheer killing a bird in this way. Truth be told, for those who have read previous posts, there is still a bird at the property I hunt that I want to kill and my hope is to call him in. However, fanning that bird in was exciting and I have gotten off the snide for the season. Plus I kept not only the breast but the legs and thighs as well to make tacos...which I am very much looking forward to.
Sorry for the long story.
10 3/4" beard
1/2" spurs
We didn't weigh him but he was not a very heavy bird.
Does that make it a 2-year old? I have no clue how to age them.
I went hunting with a good friend yesterday. I drove over an hour to his place and we were sitting on the edge of a wood line overlooking grassy, rolling hills before sunrise. We heard one bird gobble on the roost then we heard a second bird. Eventually we watched birds fly down in a finger of the woods about 200-300 yards away. The birds on the ground in the wooded area were gobbling and fighting. Well after sunrise another bird flew down into a low spot just over the hill about 80 yards away and started gobbling. We watched, called and waited. He eventually surfaced going the opposite direction and we identified him as a jake. The more we watched we realized we were in the midst of 4-5 jakes with pretty mature gobbles. We hung there for a while until we could slip out undetected and headed to another property he hunts.
We arrived at the other property which is grassy hills connected to a few thickets. It is about 100 acres of land. When we get to the property we see 3 hens and a tom at the bottom of the hills. We pull the truck out of site and work our way through the thickets to get higher on the hill to try and work the birds. We decided to crawl out into the open on the grassy hills because we could remain relatively undetected because of the contour of the land. Lying on our stomachs we saw a hen's head out of range but moving at an angle up the hill and away from us. They didn't know we were there but they were working away from us. We belly crawled in hopes of cutting them off. After crawling 50 yards or so we caught a glimpse of the red head. We raised our fans (yep...we fanned him...or reaped...whatever you want to call it). At first we didn't know if he saw us. The way the hills rolled you could see him one minute and not the next. We were laying in grass that was shin high and soaking wet from dew. After a few moments he came into full view headed our way looking for a fight. He wasn't running but he was clearly making a bee line for us. If I would not have shot (835 Mossberg, .680 kicking choke, 3.5" LB) he would have walked right on top of us. I pulled the trigger on a prone shot and he rolled over. I shot him at 14 steps. All of this happened by 8:15am.
As it has been made clear from other posts, I know not everyone will cheer killing a bird in this way. Truth be told, for those who have read previous posts, there is still a bird at the property I hunt that I want to kill and my hope is to call him in. However, fanning that bird in was exciting and I have gotten off the snide for the season. Plus I kept not only the breast but the legs and thighs as well to make tacos...which I am very much looking forward to.
Sorry for the long story.
10 3/4" beard
1/2" spurs
We didn't weigh him but he was not a very heavy bird.
Does that make it a 2-year old? I have no clue how to age them.
