My turkey pictures from Sunday

April 5, 2005

Here are the pictures of the turkey that I shot on Sunday. We woke up about 15 minutes late due to the time change and not really knowing when it got light. Anyhow, we made it out into the woods and there was not a single gobble anywhere on our property. We finally heard some hens making some clucks and we thought that they were on the ground behind a huge hedge. They were't. They were still roosted and saw us as we set up - they flew to another part of the property. Even though we saw at least 5 turkeys fly off, we decided to set up anyway and hope for the best. After about 20 minutes of calling, a pair of geese flew over us honking, and a gobbler sounded off about 100+ yards away. So, we decided to move; however, when we stood up, there was a nice gobbler over the small hill that we couldnt see over - he ran across the field toward where the other hens had flown. This wasn't working. So, we walked over toward where the gobble came from to find no turkeys at all. Where had they gone? So, we set up and called with no luck. We eventually decided to walk around the entire property and look for turkeys since there was strong wind and we couldnt hear a thing. Well, we eventually ended up where the tom had run and the hens had flown. This was about 2 hours after that occured so, we figured they had some time to all cool down. We topped a hill and saw at least 3 toms strutting and a ton of hens. Well, we set up immediately on a fense line, and I couldn't see very much. After calling for about 15 minutes, we saw this little red head making its way up to the crest of the hill. Just as his body was about to show, his fan went up. He decided to strut there for a while and we decided to stop calling to make him wonder what was up and come closer to inverstigate where that hen was. Well, he walked back where we couldnt see him and then about 5 minutes later, he came cruising up, topped the hill, and stood in a perfect shot. One problem - Tree. I couldnt make a shot and my dad thought that I was just waiting. Well, the turkey eventually walked away and we sat in awe trying to figure out what had just happened. Afterwards, we walked around the area for a bit longer (actually like an hour). Then, around 10, my dad decided to go back to the house and I decided to go and look for those turkeys again. Well, I set up on a little field near where they had been and made one call which was immediately responded to with a gobble. FINALLY!! So, I moved about 20 yards closer to the sound so that I could be looking out on a bigger field where they would come from. I continued to make occational calls without response. However, after about 25 minutes, I heard cracking along the fenceline. I turned and saw about 4 toms sneaking up from my side. Unfortunately, when I turned, they saw me. What to do? I threw up my gun and shot the tom in front before he turned to make a quick exit. Down he went. Finally! After the morning of patience, I finally connected. Even though I did not get a good look at the other toms, I am pretty sure that they were all about the same size as this guy. Good sign for future hunts! So, I walked home with this 23 pound bird (yes, it did hurt my back slightly) and totally surprised my dad with it. The first thing he said to me was, "where did you get that?" Quickly, I snapped, "where do you think, the store?" To end this story up, we cleaned him, took lots of pictures, and I can't wait to get out there again next weekend.

pic of the turkey...look at those colors...I agree with Ben Franklin, should have been the national bird (**** bald eagle)

pic of the beard: 10 3/4 inches

last one.......the spurs

redbeard · April 5, 2005