Post by freedomrules3 on Apr 26, 2005 17:28:14 GMT -5
well, last thursday evening i had located a good bird by the sound of his gobbler on roost so i thought i was set for an friday bird. after darkness came on, i realized my batteries in the flashlight were shot, they had worked in the truck. took a bit of time to find my way out of the swamp bottom i was in lol.
Early morning friday brought great anticipation of a roosted bird, little did i know at the time flashlight or not the spot was difficult to locate due to some heavy cover which tended to direct you away from the spot. after bumbling my way along and jumping 2 birds out from roost , i finally found my spot. Needless to say the not so sleek approach into the woods did me in, i never heard but a few yelps by 8:30, so i decided on another spot.
By 9 am I was entering EA Vaughn WMA . there was one other truck in the lot ,i was hoping they had gone left or to the woods, instead of straight in. I wanted to set up at a spot where i had seen birds but on the way i saw birds in the edge of the field. thinking i was busted i glassed the field and saw they were canadians , not turkeys. i continued to glass the field and boom there he was strutting like a basketball, surrounded by other birds , some were hens others not.i just noticed that every time a bird would go into strut he would spur them out of it.
I eased back out the way i had came in and skirted the first 2 fields along the edge, the birds were in the 3rd field. i walked the hedgerow until i could see the field again. i was directly across the field maybe 150 yards from the birds. i wondered what the odds were of me being able to call the bird from his hens. basically i knew it was fat chance so i decided to skirt the woods of the field and stalk a bit closer into range.i looked into the field 2 times with no birds in sight. the third time, there they were 100 yards straight up the edge of the field. after calling a few times all i could get from the birds were a few jakes half gobbling and the strutting tom would spin for me .
i decided to move in closer. back to the woods and 50 more yards taken away , making my way to the edge , losing seats decoys vest etc on the way, i crawled on my stomach within 45 yards. the cover was just thick enough not to shoot through yet if i moved closer i would get busted. i set up behind a dirt mound. i had 2 spots to shoot through one at 40 yards and one at maybe 20.
I pulled out Bills slate striker call and just let out a few clucks and some long loud purrs. the jakes were moving my way and the tom was strutwalking behind them. he stopped directly in the 40 yard lane i had chosen. it wasnt clear just not as thick as the other places. after some thought i decided to shoot and boom bird down. i honestly didnt know if it was going to take him when i shot, but also knew it wasnt going to be long before i was seen by one of the birds. the hunt lasted all of 45 minutes.
The bird never gobbled but was honestly one of the most exciting hunts of the 5 birds i have taken in the 3 years of hunting turkeys. the bird went 21.5 lbs and had 1 7/16 and 1 3/8 sharp hooks. it had a 11 1/2 inch thick paintbrush beard . felt good walking out with a bird there finally, the first 2 years i saw birds regularly there but could never get a shot at one.
Early morning friday brought great anticipation of a roosted bird, little did i know at the time flashlight or not the spot was difficult to locate due to some heavy cover which tended to direct you away from the spot. after bumbling my way along and jumping 2 birds out from roost , i finally found my spot. Needless to say the not so sleek approach into the woods did me in, i never heard but a few yelps by 8:30, so i decided on another spot.
By 9 am I was entering EA Vaughn WMA . there was one other truck in the lot ,i was hoping they had gone left or to the woods, instead of straight in. I wanted to set up at a spot where i had seen birds but on the way i saw birds in the edge of the field. thinking i was busted i glassed the field and saw they were canadians , not turkeys. i continued to glass the field and boom there he was strutting like a basketball, surrounded by other birds , some were hens others not.i just noticed that every time a bird would go into strut he would spur them out of it.
I eased back out the way i had came in and skirted the first 2 fields along the edge, the birds were in the 3rd field. i walked the hedgerow until i could see the field again. i was directly across the field maybe 150 yards from the birds. i wondered what the odds were of me being able to call the bird from his hens. basically i knew it was fat chance so i decided to skirt the woods of the field and stalk a bit closer into range.i looked into the field 2 times with no birds in sight. the third time, there they were 100 yards straight up the edge of the field. after calling a few times all i could get from the birds were a few jakes half gobbling and the strutting tom would spin for me .
i decided to move in closer. back to the woods and 50 more yards taken away , making my way to the edge , losing seats decoys vest etc on the way, i crawled on my stomach within 45 yards. the cover was just thick enough not to shoot through yet if i moved closer i would get busted. i set up behind a dirt mound. i had 2 spots to shoot through one at 40 yards and one at maybe 20.
I pulled out Bills slate striker call and just let out a few clucks and some long loud purrs. the jakes were moving my way and the tom was strutwalking behind them. he stopped directly in the 40 yard lane i had chosen. it wasnt clear just not as thick as the other places. after some thought i decided to shoot and boom bird down. i honestly didnt know if it was going to take him when i shot, but also knew it wasnt going to be long before i was seen by one of the birds. the hunt lasted all of 45 minutes.
The bird never gobbled but was honestly one of the most exciting hunts of the 5 birds i have taken in the 3 years of hunting turkeys. the bird went 21.5 lbs and had 1 7/16 and 1 3/8 sharp hooks. it had a 11 1/2 inch thick paintbrush beard . felt good walking out with a bird there finally, the first 2 years i saw birds regularly there but could never get a shot at one.
