FullStrutter

Does anyone know of a butcher in the southwest Florida area that I can bring a fat ol hog if I am fortunate this Friday afternoon? Even if you yourself have the capabilities to butcher a hog and would accept the job I will be happy to pay you of course in addition to sharing some of the harvest. Any leads would be greatly appreciated! I will be hunting in the Immokalee area and I live in the Estero area. Anywhere within an hour drive would be the goal for a butchering option. I may even be able to get you in on the property for some hog hunting with me in the near future!! Thanks!! Please email or call my cell instead of responding here or PMing me. I really appreciate it. Scotty Gasparini 8608304817 email: [email protected]

I was thinking 180-200, but a wicked cool looking buck either way. That black is old velvet that never came off

Close guys, green gross score 126 6/8. Beauty of a CT buck! It was private land.

WE FOUND THE BIG BOY! The recovery was a lot tougher than I ever expected it to be, given the outstanding blood trail. We were following it literally running at times, in the dark, with flashlights, it was so heavy. However, I felt that we must pull out when we found the empty bed, whether we jumped him, or his near death feelings caused him to get back up on his last leg of life and run until expiring minutes after getting shot. Either way I knew that bed was a bad sign and we should give it more time. We actually never found another drop of blood this morning. We found him by grid searching for almost 3 hours before stumbling on him in the most unexpected of directions, a solid 150 yards from the bloody bed. When we field dressed him, we found that the arrow sliced a long 1/4" slash right across the top of the close lung, and nearly center punched the far lung. I still have no idea how this beautiful buck went 400 yards but that's what makes hunting these magnificent creatures an awesome challenge...you never know what they are capable of or what they are going to do. Here are a few pics that I figured you guys might want to see! This is the best buck I have ever been part of recovering, enjoying, and celebrating over. Best of all, it was one of my best friends which makes it really special, he is on the right in the first pic. Enjoy! Scotty Any guesses on gross green score? We scored him! He is a monster for Connecticut.

Anyone that has the morning available to help track, another one of my friends shot a BIG 10 pointer this evening. Felt it was a double lung. So we pursued after giving it way more than enough time of 2 hours. Not so, we followed great blood for a couple hundred yards, heavy blood, bubbly lung blood, never found the arrow, but did find a bed. When we hit the bed, blood all over it and in it on both sides, we pulled out, that was 30 minutes ago. We will continue on the track from the bed tomorrow morning at first light. We GPS'd it. Any and all help would be appreciated. Please call my cell if you would like to join the tracking/search effort: Scott: 860.830.4817 It is in Wallingford. Thanks guys.

Hi guys, thanks so much for all the info, I learned a lot from this thread, even though we spent 5 hours looking for this buck, after waiting 5 hours, with no luck The blood trail petered out after about 350-400 yards, no beds, and not a really great trail except for a 50-100 yard stretch in the beginning where it was dripping pretty good and he stopped a couple times and dripping blood "pooled up". The blood ended after we found a part of the arrow, a middle section broken off with no broadhead...weird. It was a 6" section, that, coupled with the end of the arrow found within 25 yards of the shot, left the front 5" including the broadhead MIA. Interestingly enough, after finding the piece of arrow, the blood stopped completely, we search every direction he could have possibly went for hundreds of yards on hands and knees, slowly and deliberately. I believe he pulled that broken section of arrow out with his mouth and licked the wound closed, either that or it fell out and he felt it fall out and the wound that was being kept partly open from the arrow closed and/or he helped lick it closed. He was angling uphill slightly the entire time. This fact, coupled with the fact that he went that far at all without bedding down, not a great blood trail for the most part, and was never pushed, leads me to believe it was a non lethal hit and he will survive. We grid searched heavily for hours in all directions after losing the bloodtrail. My friend may go back tomorrow with more help for one final look, but I'm not convinced it will yield anything. One other point to mention...after seeing the situation for myself I believe the buck was more like 23-28 feet below the release of the arrow, not 30-35 as previously mentioned. Strangely enough, I think I feel at least as bad or even worse than my friend, one of my best friends in the world...I wanted nothing more for him than to find this once in a lifetime monster Connecticut buck. I was surprised to see how bummed and depressed I felt after coming to the conclusion that we probably were not going to find the deer. Thanks again, I appreciate all the feedback and discussion generated. After thoughts?

One of my best friends just arrowed a P&Y class buck in CT about an hour ago. Here are the situation variables: -20 yard shot -perfectly broadside, arrow entered directly middle of vitals, just high -deer standing still -21 feet up in a climber -deer 10-15 feet below base of tree (hillside) -65lb draw weigh -4 blade 1" 100gr slick trick broadhead -hit:HIGH - one to two inches below spine -arrow did NOT fully penetrate, sticking out slightly on opposite side -good blood trail, starting close to shot, no froth Possible one lunger?? How long to wait before tracking? 2hrs? 4hrs? 6hrs? 8hrs? Go back tomorrow morning? This is a 200+ pound monster buck. This a dead deer? Thanks!

Hey guys, does anyone have any experience with this company? Or, more specifically, with this actual sight? Any comments on the Hogg wrap? I have read great things about these sights, but only in the user reviews on cabelas. Lastly, how about this sight (Spot-Hogg Right On Sight) compared to the Spot-Hogg SDP7 Sight? What makes the SDP7 $50 more? It seems the Hogg wrap is an amazing light gathering system that this company has developed. Regardless of which sight I go with, I think I'd definitely get the hogg wrap. I truly appreciate any feedback!

I just counted a few weeks ago. This Spring will be my 10th Spring hunting gobblers and I'm gunning for my 29th currently.

Hey guys, I am heading up to my NY turkey camp this weekend and I was wondering if anyone has found or heard of anyone finding morels yet in NY? I live right near Cobleskill, NY. thanks! strutter

Hey turkey girl.... check your PM's... I sent you a message! I left you my email address, fire me an email cuz I have some info for you!

WOW... either you: A) don't hunt much/put your time in during the turkey season B) historically haven't had much of a turkey population around where you live/hunt C) don't scout nearly enough or D) are a lousy hunter! (A) seems to be the only viable possibility since I hunt in upstate New York a lot and the turkey population is incredible all over the place. This is agreed upon by most people that hunt anywhere in NY. This post indicates that you scout, so C is out. I have read other posts from you, and IIRC you are a pretty decent hunter. So.......... I am absolutly confused on how in the world you have not seen a longbeard in 4 years, or a strutter in 7+!!!!!!!!????????????? I think the variable is time spent in the woods. I would venture to say you are a weekend hunter, and only hunt turkeys maybe 4 days in the Spring. The reason I can make this conjecture is because I spend an average of 18 mornings in the woods during the month of May between CT and NY, and I see dozens of strutters/longbeards every Spring. I'd also venture to guess that you don't have anyone to hunt with like Dad, Gramps, a friend, etc. You just don't spend that many years hunting turkeys with someone that knows what they are doing and not shoot a mature longbeard in 7+ years. My father taught me from a very young age that success in the field is directly related to amount of time spent in the field. This is so very true. Good luck not only seeing, but shooting your first gobbler in many years this spring!

Re: Florida Osceola Turkey Hunt! Thanks for all the congrats guys! It was a sweet hunt and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. Can't wait for CT's and NY's seasons, less than a month now!! As promised, here are some more scenery shots that I took. I really loved hunting that terrain! Bald Eagle, there were TONS down there!

What a heck of an experience this trip was! We arrived into camp on Sunday afternoon March 18th, around 4:30PM. I met the outfitter of the camp, Ratso as he was called, and he showed us the camp trailor where my Dad and I were going to stay. It was the same one my Dad and his friends stayed in last time they came two years ago. It was named the Hog-a-day Inn... ...and it was one of several that were located in camp. Here is a shot of where we stayed. After unpacking and getting settled in, we asked Ratso for some targets and where we could throw a few patterns through the shotguns since this was our first hunt of the season and I always like to make sure it was where I left it last spring. I also had picked up some new Xtended Range Hi-Density 3.5" #4's at the local Bass Pro Shops superstore the day before and wanted to see how they shot through my gun. After a 30 minute patterning session, both my Dad and I were sighted in and ready to go. We met up with Ratso, Charlie, and Brad who were all across camp in the outdoor cooking area. They were also guides in camp employeed by Ratso. We all went on a ride to roost some birds and do some looking around the area. The scenery was really beautiful and nothing like I had ever hunted in before. The local wildlife was different and really cool to see... some cranes: We ended up seeing over 30 turkeys including 15+ jakes, 10 in one bachelor group, and 4 or 5 mature gobblers in different areas. Talk about being over-run with turkey action! With the afternoon temps still in the low 70's, we watched the southern sun set out across a cow pasture and then headed back to camp for some grub. Back at camp, fried turkey nuggets... and fried frog legs were on the menu!! They were awesome! I have had them once or twice before, but these were wicked good. They had a big pot sized, gas-fired deep fryer and it did the job nicely. After dinner, we all hung around the big campfire right near the outdoor kitchen/dining area drinking ice cold brews and strategizing. Ratso had the gameplan set, and he was fixing to bring both my Dad and I to this blind that they called "Ace in the hole". It hadn't been hunted at all this year and he said there were 5 or 6 mature longbeards in the general vincinity. He said that it was a blind that produced time and time again, and the goal was for us to shoot a double on the same hunt... something my Dad and I had never attempted before. With that, we headed off to bed around 11:00PM and I slept like crap. I kept waking up every hour, restless, and excited like crazy. At one point around 3:00AM I remember getting up to get a bottle of water out of the cooler across the room and my Dad was awake too. He said "Cant sleep?" and I said "Nope, too excited", to which he replied "when this kind of pre-hunt anxiety ends, it's time to give this stuff up". Amen to that! Morning finally came, and Ratso barged into our trailor hooting perfect notes of a barred owl as our wake up call! It was excellent. I was already awake anyways so I was out of bed super quick. Within 20 minutes we were all geared up and met Ratso by the kitchen for a quick bite to eat, some hot tea, and we were off. Fiteen minutes later found us a few miles away down some dusty dirt roads on one of his leased ranches. We parked the truck and only had about a 200 yard walk around a big hammock of trees and across a 10 acre mowed field to get to the blind. One of the things I was really excited to see in action was Ratso's homemade decoy that I nicknamed bubba. It was a fully mounted gobbler with a jake tailfan that attached to fishing line that he could raise and lower at anytime. He set the deek spread out and we got settled in the blind. It wasn't long before I heard my first gobble of 2007 hammered off from a couple hundred yards away. Pretty soon hens were chiming in, clucking, yelping, cutting, and gobblers were sounding off from all around. There must have been at least 4 toms gobbling all from within a 1/4 mile of our setup. Hopes were high as we listened to the predawn woods ring with the sound of nature's king. It was indeed a great chorus with all the local songbirds contributing equally. I just sat there and smiled taking it all in. Dawn broke and shortly after more muffled gobbles indicated birds were on the ground. We called loud and aggressively as Ratso suggested and battled several hens that couldn't have been 100 yards away behind us. A short time passed and some hens entered the field down the field edge to our left about 80 yards away and fed slowly, comfortably. We were hoping a gobbler was tagging along, but it was still early in the season and not all hens were accounted for yet. They meandered through our spread eventually and continued on to our right, through the field. About that time we were surprised with a booming gobble that sounded directly in front of us across the meadow which was only about 75 yards wide. We glassed and glassed but couldn't see anything in the tall grass the our mowed portion backed up to. Then alas a fan pops up from somewhere in the grass and we could only see the tips of the feathers... but it was a strutter! He moved from right to left and dissappeared, all the while we were calling softly and Ratso was working that moving tail like a champ! It was only a matter of minutes before not one but TWO gobblers materialized out of the tall straw grass. At first glimpse they looked like jakes potentially, but soon we verified they both had long beards and were both shooters! As they moved in towards the spread I started shaking and hundreds of thought were going through my mind. Such things as are they both takers, which one do I want, are they going to get close enough, are they going to present shots to both of us, are they going to separate to offer two clean shots, when do I shoot, is this going to work!?!?!? etc etc my mind was flooded with adrenaline and anticipation as they determindedly worked right towards us, 70 yards, 60 yards, 50 yards, 40 yards... they are in range! About that time Ratso started whispering how he was going to say when to shoot and give us a count down. As they closed the distance, walking slowly the whole way, to 30 yards, then 20 YARDS, he kept saying ok anytime now, are you guys ready, and I kept saying no no no! Their heads are too close together, mine on the right is too close and lined up with the decoy (bubba), I must have said no wait! 3 times, and before you knoew it they were at 15 yards right in the decoys. Finally they separated and offered clean shots and I said ok I got it! and Ratso said ok on the count of 3 shoot... 3, 2, 1 BOOOM BOOOM!!!!!! Looked up and both birds were flopping around! A DOUBLE!!!!! It was a lot to process during the excitement of the hunt but we pulled it off effectively and we had our Osceola's in the bag. I was so overcome with the tension of the hunt that it took me a minute or two before I realized what had just happened and to get pumped about it! We ran out and grabbed our birds, mine was 3 years old and had SHARP inch+ spurs, 9+" beard, and felt heavy. My Dad's was a real whopper at 4 years old or better with over 1 1/4" spurs and 9.5"+ beard and felt really heavy. Some field pics! The blind: The spread (we had moved our gobblers to the right at this point, but they were right in the decoys when we fired): Back in camp, after measuring/weighing, my bird wore 1 1/8" spurs, 9 3/8" beard, and weighed 18lbs which for an Osceola is big, probably equatable to a 20lb Eastern. Dad's bird was 1 3/8" spurs!! 9 5/8" beard, 20 pounds...what a trophy! Notice how dark the wings are compared to the Eastern's. I thought that was so cool. My spurs: It was a celebration back at camp and we had pile after pile of fresh fried Apalachicola Oysters out of the deep fryer for lunch! (pronounced Ap-uh-lat-che-cola, and are the equivalent of our Maryland oysters up North) They were out of this world if you like fried seafood! Since we got our birds in the first 90 minutes of the first hunt on the first day, we did all kinds of fun stuff including eating, swamp buggy rides, eating, wild hog hunting at night with dogs, and I also stalked and bellycrawled to within chest-shaking distance of a strutter with a bunch of hens later on after the morning hunt and got some INCREDIBLE pics from inside 25 yards. If anyone wants to see them I'll throw them up too. It was an outstanding experience and it really was unique and "olde" style as my Dad's friend had said it was going to be. It will be a hunt that I won't soon forget!

Re: Gobble call It is the most effective tool in my turkey hunting arsenal hands down. At 24 years old, I have killed a few dozen longbeards and I can think of at least 10 where the ole quaker boy gobble shaker broke them from hanging up. Scott in CT