Rhino Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) The 3rd morning of my MO hunt goes down as one of my most memorable, but before that I had a great morning lending a hand to my son. 1st day was basically a washout with rain most of the day, 2nd morning went out with my son, Bailey to double team them. After having to move as close as we could to where the birds were, ~ an hour later we finally had a hen coming in with a gobbler in tow. When the gobbler was in range to our left Bailey had no shot with 2 cedar trees in his way. The gobbler moved on drumming & gobbling behind the hen that had passed through. Bummer...so I crawled over to the cedar trees and cut the lower limbs out. Just as I'm finishing Bailey says...here comes 2 more...wish you had your gun. So...I'm laying on the ground watching & notice one is a jake. I whisper...jakes...then BOOM...a jake falls. He was so worked up from the 1st mature gobbler passing he didn't notice. Here's his bird...just his 4th turkey so far. OK...my turn..last morning. I set up in the dark with 3 hens & a jake decoy in a 2 ac. food plot near where Bailey & I heard 1 bird gobble the prior morning. I'm set up in a blind with no roof since there's no decent tree available. At dawn a bird gobbles close...then again. A few minutes later he pitches down & lands about 80 yards away on the opposite side and breaks into a strut. Looking like a flash hunt's happening. His 2 buddies walk in. They all walk right in. I wait for a shot just to kill the one I thought looked best. He steps to the right while another is on top of my DSD jake decoy. A Nitro load slams him down. Now...THIS is where it started to get WILD & CRAZY. I'll make my next 3 hours of sitting there watching the show as brief as possible. OK...onward...the 2 survivors stay right there & proceed to whip the devil out of my jake decoy and my dead gobbler. Couldn't believe they didn't spook a bit. This goes on until 2 hens fly down off the roost & land just outside the decoy spread & walk into the hen decoys. Yep...my thoughts too...you gotta be kidding me! I'm not though! The birds switch to strutting & drumming. The hens show little interest so for a little while the gobblers go back & forth from strutting for my decoys & live hens to whipping up on my jake & dead gobbler. One of the hens finally heads behind my left shoulder yelping & cutting. I look over there & there's another gobbler strutting. He proceeds to walk in & try to take over. The 2 survivors double team him pushing him back to where he was ~50 yards behind me to my left. 3 more hens join him then a jake tries to get in on the action coming in from front/left. He didn't last long before he got the message to leave...fast too! Now the gobblers have decided to try to breed the easy hen...my upright DSD hen decoy. They attempted to mount the feeding hen decoy too but it spun around too easily. Every time a gobbler bumped it on the back side it spun around to face them. Now the show is them going back & forth between that hen decoy & whipping up on the jake & dead bird. Well...some more failed attempts at the feeding hen decoy too...along with lots of strutting & drumming. At some point the stake bent allowing the upright hen decoy to get pinned to the ground. Yep easier for them to get on top now. Never saw the wattles & head of a gobbler change from bright red to dark red before like it did when they got on top of that hen decoy. At some point I glance over my left shoulder & now there's 2 strutters over there. I glass both of their spurs & beards...NICE...if only I had known! Back to the show in front...all inside 20 yards. A little while later their 3 hens approach from the left. There's now 3 longbeards behind them...all are 3 to 4 year old birds based on the length of their spurs (easier to glass at 35 yards too). The newcomer decides he's going to get in on the easy hen action & take over the show. He attempts to take over & gets double teamed like the earlier gobbler too. He didn't get the message so easily though...a fighter! These 3 gobblers get into a full fledged gobbler fight at 10 yards...up the air trying to spur each other...yep that kind of show with fighting purring & all. The newcomer succumbs to being double teamed and runs off to my right and stays in that area strutting ~40 to 50 yards away. The other 2 long beards follow the 3 hens into the timber & then appear back where they were behind me later. FINALLY...the 2 survivors ease off & begin feeding and strutting in the field slowly easing away. I check behind me & the other 2 gobblers with the hens have disappeared. The other gobbler to my right finally eases out. At long last I manage to move just enough to have the 2 survivors slowly walk out. Here's my MO gobbler...10" beard, 3/4" spurs. Don't let the picture fool you...some of the beard strands were shot loose. BTW...after sharing my wild hunting story with my buddy who hadn't killed a bird yet, he took my advice & went out & set up in the same spot around 10:30. Heck...there were 5 gobblers in the area, excluding 2 other birds I heard gobbling & I never saw while watching the show. At 11:55 he shot his gobbler right there too (1 of the 2 survivors). 10 3/4" beard, 7/8" spurs. No pics of it on my iPhone though. Edited April 25, 2014 by Rhino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohiobucks Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Wow, exciting for sure! Congrats to you both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 Great story and a nice bird Al. Congratulations. Too bad you were not videoing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 That's one to remember !!!!! CONGRATS on another fine bird, Al !!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maine Hntr Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Congrats al, one heck of a story and bird! You're on a roll this spring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 Great story and a nice bird Al. Congratulations. Too bad you were not videoing. I was kicking my own butt for leaving my new iPhone at the camp. Knew I wouldn't get reception where I was and didn't want to risk loosing another one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colorado bob Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Wow, what a hunt you had Al. Was that your 1st MO bird? You have to wait a week before you can take your 2nd, correct? I called in one for Jean this morning----7 1/2" beard, 3/4" spurs----a nice merriams. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Was that your 1st MO bird? You have to wait a week before you can take your 2nd, correct?Yep...1st 2014 MO bird. Can't go for the 2nd bird until the 2nd week of the season, which is 4/28 this year. I'm probably heading back around 5/4 to turkey hunt the 3rd week. Congratulations Bob for pulling in a merriams in for Jean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 congrats!!!! god luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 nice bird... congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbeard Posted May 1, 2014 Report Share Posted May 1, 2014 Awesome Rhino, good to see yer boy again. Many congrats to the both of ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Congrats. Heck of a show. Can't believe they didn't spook after the shot and later didn't spot you. Those are some preoccupied birds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3seasons Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Congrats to both of yall Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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