elnor Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 One of the Easterns from my story below is my entry in this year's Realtree turkey contest for Tom Takers (Team 19): --- * Killed 9 April 2007 6:55AM in southeastern Oklahoma * 11 1/2 inch beard * 1 inch right spur, 1 inch left spur * 15 pounds * NWTF score: 58 --- Read the full story below. --- I was on my hands and knees using clippers to trim a shooting lane when I looked up to see Longbeard staring towards me from 60 yards out. Then a hen stepped out into the clearing about 40 yards away, followed by another hen feeding out into the open. This was not exactly how I'd imagined the morning beginning, but it was about to get even more intense in the moments to come... But that's day four of the story, let's start at the beginning. I had called up a mouthy hen on opening morning, and she and I had smack talked each other for a good twenty minutes. She had circled in front of me, clucking, purring, cutting, and yelping the entire time before she finally lost interest and walked off from the direction she'd come. A tom nearby on the same ridge had gobbled off and on throughout our entire exchange, but he wouldn't commit to cresting the hill and moving into shooting range. The day ended with several rounds of light sleet, not exactly typical turkey hunting weather! I worked another gobbler on the same ridge on day two, but that setup was busted by an unknowing relative target practicing mid-afternoon just as I was moving in on the tom. An attempted ambush of two longbeards late that afternoon went bust when the three hens they were following decided to feed away from me starting about 100 yards out. And day three began with promise as six toms gobbled their fool heads off in at least three different roost trees behind me, only to end in frustration as one set of gobblers followed two hens away to the southwest, another gobbler walked to the east to join the hens in a neighbor's field, and a trio of gobblers who stayed on the roost far later than everyone else were spooked and flew off when I took one step too close while attempting to get in tight on them for a setup. In other words, the first three days of the season were typical turkey hunting: Thrilling and frustrating. I was hoping my fourth day of spring hunting would be different. It started with some more light sleet mixed with rain, but I got up early anyway and hoofed it double-time to get into position before the birds started gobbling in their roost trees. The gobblers had been henned up and I believed my best option was to get as close to the hens' feeding fields on adjacent property as possible, then intercept a tom as he headed from further west towards the eastern field to join the feeding hens. Just as I was arriving at the fenceline in between the gobblers and their destination field, I heard a raspy old hen tree yelping. Several gobblers, in at least three different roosts, answered her with booming reports. I hurried to pick a setup that would allow the birds to flydown and get close without them seeing me. I blew up and staked out a Cherokee Sports "Mamasita" hen decoy and tucked myself in under a scrubby oak with lots of downward hanging limbs to shade me and break up my silouette. I yelped two short series of soft yelps on my Primos Box Cutter single-sided box call, just enough to let everyone know there was a hen over here, then set down the call and promised myself not to use it again until I'd given the gobblers plenty of time to come check out the yelping. Next came my digital camera to record a quick movie of the yelping and gobbling, then I took the strap off my gun, pulled my pruning shears out of their pouch, and went to work clipping the small sticker vines and saplings that might block a shot or snag me up as I waited. And it was precisely at that point, pruning sticker vines on my hands and knees, that I looked up to see the tom at the beginning of this story. I was in front of my gear, with my shotgun sitting on the ground to my left and pruning shears in my right hand. Not a great position to be in with a big long bearded gobbler staring my direction! He'd made it to the ground without me hearing him fly down, and now I began to worry other birds had too and would arrive and spot me before I'd get a chance to sit down and get my gun. Arrive they did. First a hen from my right rounded the treeline corner in front of me, then another. Now I had six eyes that might be looking my way. I was nervous. Somehow, however, I kept still enough until the gobbler and hens were all looking away or feeding. I quickly sat down, put down the shears, and grabbed my gun with both hands just as the leftmost hen looked my direction. I froze again. And waited. And waited. A third hen pitched out of a roost tree about 80 yards directly in front of me and landed 50 yards out. Then a fourth hen joined her. Five birds, ten turkey eyes scrutinizing my decoy and the surroundings, looking to pick out the slightest hint of a predator lurking in the shadows. Me. Luckily I received another break. An instant came when none of the five birds were looking my way and I got my gun up and clicked the safety off without spooking any of them. I was feeling a bit better at this point. I had my gun at the ready and a tom closing towards shooting range. Then things got even more interesting, as birds began falling from the sky. One after another glided over and through the trees, cackling as they came, to plop down into the clearing with a thud. (The scene reminded me of an old TV program where a hapless WKRP weatherman threw domestic turkeys out of a helicopter as a Thanksgiving promotion, not realizing that domestic birds couldn't fly. But I digress...) Three roost trees disgorged more than twenty hens and six gobblers in all into the clearing in front of me. None of them were more than 70 yards away, and most were less than 45. The toms quickly bunched up, strutting six turkeys wide, shoulder-to-shoulder, for all the hens to see. I believe I counted 24 hens, though with all of the vying for position, moving around to feed, and even a short hen fight that broke out, attracted the toms, and dissipated in a matter of five or six seconds, I'm not sure I didn't double count a hen or two. In any case, the large group of hens began feeding towards the field as they moved in a line that would take them through my preferred shooting zone about 30 yards out and to my left. I had an abundance of riches: I'd not only set up in a good spot, I'd set up in *the* spot that 30 or more birds decided to pitch into straight off the roost! The problem now became getting a shot on a single gobbler without hitting any of the other birds. All six toms were still together, with hens surrounding them in front and a few milling around behind them eating. As the group moved closer and closer to my left, I tracked the center tom with my gun and hoped for a gap. Suddenly, the toms slowed a bit, the lead hens separating more in front. Then it happened. A good sized gobbler stepped forward, clear of the all the other birds, head up at about 35 yards. I pulled the trigger on my camo Mossberg turkey gun and down he went. The leading hens took off at a run, while chaos broke out in the trailing group of birds. Some ran back into the woods to the south, quickly getting out of the clearing and my view. Luckily, however, I remembered advice I'd learned from others to always call raucously after shooting in the hope that it would confuse and delay one or more of the toms enough to get another shot, if and where legal. This being the first year that Oklahoma allowed a hunter to take more than one gobbler on the same day, I gave it a try. As I shot, the Quaker Boy Old Boss Hen diaphragm I had at the ready snapped into action as I cut and clucked like the nastiest old hen I could muster. Several hens lingered about 50-60 yards out, and with them a nice gobbler. All of them looked quickly back and forth, trying to figure out what was happening. I cut again as cover sound to cycle my pump gun. I had just patterned my gun after having the rear sight replaced, and I knew it could make a clean kill at 50 yards. I waited for an opportunity, knowing that it was quite likely that the remaining birds would leave without giving me a shot. And then the two hens flanking the tom stepped clear. As he stood motionless, head up, now 3 yards from the next nearest bird, my shotgun thumped and tom number two piled up 50 yards out. Two birds in two minutes with two shots, what a morning! The birds both have 1 inch spurs on each leg, with the lighter one having an 11 1/2 inch mega-beard and weighing 15 pounds while the heavier bird has a full 9 3/4 inch beard and weighs 16 pounds. I dubbed the former "Longbeard" and the latter "Shortie". When I checked them in later that day, the check station attendant noted he'd been seeing a lot of featherweight birds, and we all wondered if last winter's very heavy and damaging ice storm might have deprived the turkeys of enough food that their body weights were down from where they'd normally be. Whatever the case on the weights, I'll gladly take my first double without Dad (see "Double with Dad" from 8 April 2006)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Congrats Elnor! Great story and great birds! They must have lost some weight because from the sound of the length of their spurs and beards, they should be like 20+ pounds....should be interesting to see how birds weigh in here in Ny with this rediculous weather. Congrats again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinguide Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 great job my boss just got back and he scored on two longbeards in SE Okla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Covehnter Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Sounds like an incredible morning, congrats on the fine pair of Longbeards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elnor Posted April 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 I will certainly be interested to see if others in SE OK and elsewhere are taking birds with low body weights, turkeygirl. I was expecting both to be heavier based on beards and spurs, too. Now I'm turning my attention to finding an OK Rio. Also considering a hunt in AR or MO. Hope to get out again sometime later this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Congrats on the birds! Good story to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booner1331 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Congrats on the 2 tom's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pintail711 Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 thats awesome man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elnor Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Any suggestions for an OK Rio? I'm looking at Heyburn WMA and/or Black Kettle National Grassland (experience, tips, beta on either or both greatly appreciated). Any other good places I should check out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maytom Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Congrats on an awesome bird, pic, and story to match!! WTG!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Congrats on a great morning. Loved the story and the pics!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Congrats on the birds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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