Goshen Valley Boy
Well-Known Member
Hunted my grandpa's farm in Hawkins County Saturday. I scored my first non-Indiana turkey. He weiged 22.5 lbs, sported a 10 inch beard and had 1.25 inch spurs.
The gobblers were henned up and would not respond to calling, so I had to put a stalk on. This tom had several hens with him and was on a bald ridge two ridges over from me (about 200 yards). These ridges are "fingers" of what I refer to as "hand hill". From a distance, this looks like a huge hand with 5 finger ridges. It is cattle pasture with some cedar thickets and blackberry bushes which borders a thick woods. It is perfect turkey and deer habitat. The only problem is, it is STEEP stuff to walk over!
Anyway...I saw him up there with the girls and the only option I had was to use the terrrain and cover and move in on them. I was able to close most of the distance over to the ridge they were on pretty easily out of sight using the terrain and cover. When I reached the ridge the birds were on I had about a 200 foot verticle climb to gain the crest of the ridge. I waited until I was sure the birds were over the lip of the ridge and started my climb. I got near the top and finished the last few yards with a good old fashioned Mohegan belly crawl. I got just to the lip of the ridge and slowly raised my head to check the location of the birds. OH MY GOSH! HE IS RIGHT THERE!!!! All I saw was a big tail fan not 10 feet away from the tip of my nose. I dropped back down and collected myself. I got my Remington 11-87 ready and slowly took a knee and raised up. I let him have a load of number 5 Remington Nitro's. He took a long tumble and about 15 hens flew for cover.
It was the closest shot I have ever had at a turkey. Here are a few pictures.
And finally, my daughter joins in the celebration!
The gobblers were henned up and would not respond to calling, so I had to put a stalk on. This tom had several hens with him and was on a bald ridge two ridges over from me (about 200 yards). These ridges are "fingers" of what I refer to as "hand hill". From a distance, this looks like a huge hand with 5 finger ridges. It is cattle pasture with some cedar thickets and blackberry bushes which borders a thick woods. It is perfect turkey and deer habitat. The only problem is, it is STEEP stuff to walk over!
Anyway...I saw him up there with the girls and the only option I had was to use the terrrain and cover and move in on them. I was able to close most of the distance over to the ridge they were on pretty easily out of sight using the terrain and cover. When I reached the ridge the birds were on I had about a 200 foot verticle climb to gain the crest of the ridge. I waited until I was sure the birds were over the lip of the ridge and started my climb. I got near the top and finished the last few yards with a good old fashioned Mohegan belly crawl. I got just to the lip of the ridge and slowly raised my head to check the location of the birds. OH MY GOSH! HE IS RIGHT THERE!!!! All I saw was a big tail fan not 10 feet away from the tip of my nose. I dropped back down and collected myself. I got my Remington 11-87 ready and slowly took a knee and raised up. I let him have a load of number 5 Remington Nitro's. He took a long tumble and about 15 hens flew for cover.
It was the closest shot I have ever had at a turkey. Here are a few pictures.
And finally, my daughter joins in the celebration!
