redbeard

Many congrats Martin. Heck yeah!

Good luck Rhino!

Congrats ol' feller!!! I was beginnin' to wonder if I'd accomplish the same on this my 28th year......happy to say the good lord sent me one! May your successes be many my friend.

Simply the best hunter I know. Congrats my friend.

Congrats Rhino!

Awesome Rhino, good to see yer boy again. Many congrats to the both of ya!

www.longhornriverranch.com looks like a great place to take a RIo. Priced right too.

THey don't remember as long as you think. Good luck!

Can't wait to hear the tales. Congrats!!

Yup, hope so too.

I'd go after the bird you saw, especially if it was close to roosting time. Best of luck!

.............and to do it Black powder, well that takes the cake. Many congrats!

HA! You had me all the way my friend. Awesome story as I was right there with ya the whole way. Many congrats and cudos for the dedication to be so prepared. As for title, I might go with "Dead Tom Beatin'" HA! Great photo too. I love it and thanks for the entertainment..... You ever in GA, be sure to look me up!

Congrats!

Many congrats, a fine bird indeed. They sure do get big in MO!

Thanks guys, yeah I must admit, I don't fill quite as fulfilled if the bird doesn't come with a good story as I believe, by now, that's what I'm really chasin'. I have the first in a series of books complete and am searching publishing ( I know I've said that before ) but I believe I will follow thru soon. I dunno, I guess I'm somewhat reluctant to do so in fear I'll end up with a great deal of door stops. HA! I do love sharing my stories with you, the Realtree crowd here, and you've become the only avenue for the last few years because you do show appreciation. I truly appreciate all the kind words and encouragement and wish every one of ya's the best in every turkey chase you encounter. Redbeard

Well, I was beginning to believe my son when he said I was missing and messing up bird after bird on account I'd told him I would give up turkey hunting after taking my 100th bird. Eight of them three toed devils had their chance from TN to GA but somehow I messed up one way 'er another. Then I met Traveler, a bird that once roosted off a young pine plantation where he could see all. Worked him two morns without success as he would just strut and gobble out in the middle of those baby pines then go to traveling. Then when he spied me one eve coming out of an oak hillside from his perch he'd already taken, he was long gone, never to return to that limb. Finally one morning had him hot enough for me to get set up and an accidental purr from a box I had in my vest as I sat up, caused him to really let me have it with incessant gobblin'. A few clucks and a fly down on my pocket player caused him to sail from the limb to me. Following up with some light yelps from my copper track player and he had me nailed. Wasn't long til he came in gobblin' and in half strut. A yelp brought the head up and he died fine. He was a fine bird with inch and a half needles, my best in a number of years. Here's a little prose I wrote about Mr. 100. Twas a fine week in ol' Culloden First nite a trio of barred owls sang me their tunes Next night, a humminbird showed me his roost Then tha morn of tha 18th, ol' travaler wuz lonesome, orney and mean. Sang his beckonin' love song from dawn til death, callin' for tha unseen. A yelp, purr and flydown did I provide, glad to see his glide from him to me. Twas a befittin' end fer such a monarch that tha Good Lord bestowed upon me this foggy morn... He knew not his importance to me All he cared for walked, yelped and purred. Ol George Burns, he wuz to me Number 100, he wuz destined to be. Damn to the eight afore him that refused to be... Ol' Traveler was mine to be.... Thanks to the Good Lord of thee... Oh yeah, I did go fishing, then decided I'd give turkey huntin' another try. Pretty fun sport afterall.........

With this my 25th year totin' around my 12 pound Remington SP10 cannon, I'm thinkin' of retiring the old gal. Any suggestions on what shoots good and straight and with what chokes and ammo would be welcomed. Thinking of 12 gauge but a 20 isn't out of the question. Thanks

Congrats!!

Awesome bud, congrats!

Thanks guys, I tell ya, it's been a 100 and 999 thousand ways to screw up a turkey hunt kinda season for me, which will be the title of a forthcoming book. I've called 9 long beards to the gun, all of 'em gobblin' there heads off and only one has chosen to go to turkey heaven. If it's not one thing, it's another. Yet, I do not complain, it could be worse. Good luck to er'body out there chasing the wary wild turkeebird.

This story and photos are written in three parts as with the advent of the iphone, it's easy to go ahead and start writing. The hunts covers a 25 hour period. Hope you enjoy the humor in it....... I call it "The Saga of Pisser and the Un-Lucky Sons ah Beeches" The Teaser: The brief rain had stopped and although a quiet and eerie afternoon, I took for the oaks 'bout 3pm. Found a heap of turkey scratchin' so I sat up for the evenin' against a big oak just top of a downhill slope. Plenty of time for a nap and after clearing out the leaves I tucked my seat pillow under my head and fell fast asleep. Round about 4, awaking I scratched the leaves as if a hen lookin’ for a meal. Good time for a smoke so I filled the pipe and enjoyed the aroma of fine tobacco in the crisp air. Not two puffs in did I hear what sounded like scratchin just over the hillside. I backed up against the tree, scratched some more myself. 25 minutes pass, pipe is out and I gotta take a leak. Standing and steppin away from the tree, I no more than get a steady stream goin' and I hear fast walkin'; sounded like a deer and I expected to see one run off having caught a whiff of me. As my eyes cut right, I see not a deer but a beard swayin’ tom makin' a beeline for me. My stream instantly switched off as I thought; dang, now I've literally been caught red handed. 20 yards away he noticed me and did a stop and turn to his right with a few clucks as if to say that ain’t an oak and that beard ain’t no chicken of the woods mushroom. 20 got to 30 and he slowed to try and figure me out better, as my right hand was slowly trying to find the big 10 gauge leaning against the tree As he went behind a couple more trees I slowly brought the heaviest gun in the world up to aim As he stepped out at 40 yards, I had the red bead on his head...... Part Two – 24 Hours Later: The continuing (hopefully) saga of "Pisser and unlucky sons ah beeches: As you surely can gather from the photo, ol Pisser remains aloof, perhaps destined to be "one" of those birds born to be in the right place and do the right thing to become a legend. While he is not the first bird to catch me answerin' nature's call, he is the first catchin’ me at number 1. Surprisingly, I've had two birds cut me off from completing number two and both of those rode back in the truck with me, while my underwear did not. So, hyar's to ol Pisser for givin me another challenge. I might share a bit of knowledge now for those who this has not happened to....a wild turkey gobbler catchin' you has the exact same results as jumpin' in a frigid river...the ol turtle goes to hidin’, jest the same. I had to drink near ah six pack ah fore it would show itself again. Oh and yeah, just cuz ya got red on tha head, don’t forget to put it between the green. Part Three: The rest of the story, 1 hour later than Part Two: First off, let me apologize for giving such a magnificent bird such as the wild turkey gobbler such a moniker of “Pisser”. I had grand visions back in January when I saw this bird while squirrel hunting that if the Good Lord gave me the opportunity for my 99th bird, to be such a fine bird as he, I would name him “Maxwell Smart” for the Agent 99 tie end to the old series I watched as a kid, believe it was called “Get Smart.” But ya gotta go with the flow, pun intended, and Pisser was his name. While the saga of Pisser and the unlucky sons ah beeches turned out to be only a two part short story, I gotta admit that I'm plenty pleased with how it all went down. I'd say that even if I hadn't won round two. It's always more memorable if it doesn't follow the textbook, which we all know rarely exists in the chase of the majestic wild turkeebird. Circumstances play a big role sometimes as if I'd taken this iphone on the first hunt, I'd gotten pics of those young "jumpin' beech trees", then. Funny how a tree can just jump out there and catch yer shot like that, roots and all. Ya'll watch out for em, they have no fear. But as it was, I had to go back and take the pics of my "double kill". Said to self, might as well stay and see if he comes back. Sitting on the very tree I'd taken my relief by the day before, I marveled at how the woods came to life when the sun finally came out 'bout 6pm. The squirrels went ta chasin' one another all over the oaks. I noticed one young pair sittin’ on a knot 'bout 10 yards away, not payin’ me a bit of mind, even when I started playing my turkey call. They never do that in squirrel season. Then, out of nowhere, nearly 50 robins come off the forest floor in unison and light in the trees all around. That was pretty cool no doubt but i figured something had to make them do that. Peering thru the barren oaks, I see nothing larger than a big palliated woodpecker swoop from tree to tree. It wasn’t til he let out his shrill call that I knew the master of this oak hillside had returned. Obble, obble was the answer to the peckerwood call and all of a sudden I felt the need to pee. Ha, fat chance on that and I carefully readied the other side of the tree. With a couple scoohes, I was ready. Some pocket player play produced no answer so I switched to a copper track player and let out a few clucks and purrs. Gobble; gobble, this time much closer. Few minutes later, ol Pisser steps into view. Eyeballs the peein' tree real hard and considers it safe. As I scanned tha woods between me and him for those jumpin trees, I saw none and Nitro Ammo met Pisser square and fair chase as it should be. He died fine at 7 pm. 21.8 lbs, 11.25 brush for a beard, and 1.25 spurs. Yessirrebob.

Congrats Rhino, bet that was awesome to watch.

Awesome bud, just awesome. Many congrats

Good luck buddie