Rhino Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 The birds were henned up real bad during my last 2 day hunt. With the forecast calling for 2 clear sunny days I took off again in quest of my milestone gobbler. By that I mean my next gobbler would be my 100th gobbler. Yep...been turkey hunting a lot of years and in a number of different states since I started turkey hunting in my 20's. I'm now 64. OK...on to the hunt. Friday morning I woke up to an unexpected overcast sky and somewhat balmy air. The weatherman was wrong again. I hit the woods and started close to where I'd heard a bird on my last outing. When gobbling time arrived I heard nothing on our property. I heard 2 distant birds to the N and NE on the neighbors that gobbled only a few times. At flydown time I issued my 1st call. Within a few minutes a hen eases in from behind me...then I hear another hen behind me. Heck...I'm in birds so I sat tight but that was the extent of the action. At 9:00 I opted to head to camp and take a break until the clouds cleared and the hens had a chance to leave the gobblers. Thankfully by 11:00 it was clear and sunny so I headed out for a midday hunt. Easing into the same area where I'd killed my opening day bird I'd issue a call every 200 yards or so...never got a response. When I reached the same place where I killed my opening day bird near the SE corner of our property I decided to set up and sit for an hour of so. I issued my 1st call there and a gobbler to the E immediately cut me off that sounded like he was about 150 yards away. Game on! Being that time of day I didn't want to call too much so I tried to space my louder calls out with clucks and purrs between them. Every loud call I made was answered with a gobble. It sounded like he was moving away until I realized there's 2 gobblers that way. About 30 minutes into the action, I dish out a yelp and don't get an answer. Hummm...well I figured he's either coming or he now has hens with him. From that point on I delivered nothing but soft clucks and purrs. About 10 minutes passes and he suddenly appears to my right...in full strut slowly easing in through open timber. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the few moments watching one like that even though he was easily in my kill range. I let him slowly strut about 15 yards enjoying the show before putting my holosight on him. At ~20 yards he raised his head slightly and I dropped him there at 12:15 in the afternoon. My milestone gobbler has a 9" pencil beard and 1" spurs. It was also one of those classic midday hunts when...if you find a bird that will gobble at your calls that time of day, you have a good chance to work him in. The hardest part is finding a gobbling bird during the midday hours. Sorry...thought I had a pic in my iPhone but I can't find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 CONGRATS buddy !!!!!!! 100 on the ground is no small feat !!! Glad you took that little extra time to savor the milestone bird before cashing it in on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3seasons Posted April 1, 2018 Report Share Posted April 1, 2018 Huge congrats on your milestone bird Al. I love to watch them too my only issue with that is every second that goes by means my heartbeat get faster and faster and my gun barrel gets to shaking pretty bad. Lol. Good job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 2, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2018 My heart beat gets faster, along with the hair standing up on the back of my head when they start gobbling close, especially when they are so close it seems like it vibrates across the ground. By the time they show up I'm usually a little more composed...usually...but still excited. That's just part of turkey hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted April 2, 2018 Report Share Posted April 2, 2018 That is awesome Al. Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted April 3, 2018 Report Share Posted April 3, 2018 Right on Al, congrats! I think I'm going to give turkey hunting a try this year myself, never done it before. So my milestone will be my first! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted April 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2018 Shaun...the 1st one is always a milestone and the hardest one for most of us to kill...unless you're lucky. I turkey hunted for 4 seasons before I killed my 1st bird. Back in those days there weren't as many birds here as there is now but they weren't hunted much by too many people either. Now turkey hunting is WAYYYYYY more popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted April 3, 2018 Report Share Posted April 3, 2018 Turkey hunting is worse than deer hunting imo....I dont get the shakes until after I shoot a buck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted April 4, 2018 Report Share Posted April 4, 2018 100 birds! Congratulations Al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born4it Posted April 18, 2018 Report Share Posted April 18, 2018 Wow, that's impressive! Here's to the next 100! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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