ruttinbuc Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 I rolled out of the sack way past the bell this morning. i was kicking myself trying to put my thermal bottoms on backward. One sock gone missing and the coffee was almost cold since it brewed an hour and a half before. I took a deep breath and told myself to relax. The day will wait. Besides, I must have needed the sleep to knock off the alarm and pass back to Z land. Why put myself in a lather to rush out to what has been a tedious week of turkey hunting? I nuked the coffee while hunting for my sock and took the computer out of hibernate mode. Checked my emails and then made a couple or trips to load up my gear in the truck. I was headed toward my usual spot where I knew there were birds because I heard them a couple of weeks ago. Then I saw them close just last week. Except for Monday, when I heard two birds off in the drizzle, it was one quiet week. Maybe today I can get one in the mood. As if directed by some unknown force, I found myself heading in the other direction. Toward a place where I killed a turkey before when the birds were not talking. I really had nothing to lose and the forecast for windy conditions made this a better spot. It was on the lee side of a hill on a creek bottom where at least I'd be out of the wind. Hopefully, so will the birds. I parked the truck and headed in using my crow call every now and then to try to get something to open up. The walk was a lot longer than I remembered. The woods were pretty thick already, but the spot afforded a good view on the slope down to the creek. I broke out my glass call and hit a few loud clucks with the rosewood striker. A moment later I turned to a series of purrs into yelps. With the wind blowing harder by the minute and everything moving I was convinced that the black object I saw was a stump or a shadow. I went to my binoculars to make sure. In the seconds that I took my eyes off the spot, the "stump" disappeared. Scanning the woods I failed to see anything but changing shadows from the trees blowing in the wind. I went to the purrs again and waited. It wasn't ten minutes when the red head of a gobbler suddenly popped up at 25 yards. To my surprise the bird sorta looked my way and ducked out of view. My first thought was that I blew it big time. "Did he see me?" I would have thought I'd see him running off.... I slipped my 1100 over my knee and looked down the barrel. As if on cue, "Mr. Quiet" appeared on the opposite side of a small red oak, still looking my way. It took but a second to see his beard and turn out his lights! He flopped where he stood with a head full of #5's from a Federal Magnum 12 ga. turkey load. It certainly was better late than never to find myself in the right place at the right time. Amazing how it works like that... The bird weighed in at 19#'s with a 9 inch beard and 1 1/8" spurs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Congrats!! great story and good thing you brought the gun up when you did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetailfreak55 Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Nice bird Congrats. Really Good story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 gotta love it when things just come together in your favor. congrats mike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesse8953 Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 great hunt!nice bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Congratulations Mike. Real nice bird there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Real nice Mike! Great pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Congrats on a nice bird! You might not get to enjoy hearing them gobble, but it sure is a pleasant suprise when they just appear out of nowhere like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Congratulations Mike...niceun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted April 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Thanks everyone. I 'm still pretty pumped. Went right into a fishing tournament today for the week, but my thoughts were on the birds!!:yes: I have a permit for the last two weeks in may. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Nice hooks !! Always pays to err on the side of preparedness. Gun up even if you DO think it's over. Good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Congrats on a dandy bird! Nice pics as well!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 nice bird and hunt... congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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