Limpy: The Legend in the Valley

Covehnter

By Covehnter
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Covehnter 10-Pointer

Covehnter

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Limpy: The Legend in the Valley

Seems like every year, we as turkey hunters, all bump into that bird that catches our eye or maybe even only our ear and captivates our minds for the remainder spring. Often times that bird may not be the largest or most impressive of the bunch, but he pulls our attention like a bee to honey. Well this year in these North Georgia foothills that bird showed himself early and was not hard to recognize. So follows the story of a bird carrying the handle of Limpy.

A week before the Ga opener we found a nice bird with a very noticeable limp right in the center of a family farm. The bird sported a good beard but it was the irregularities in his walk that focused the eyes. Well as the season neared and the blood got to boilin’ we had several more birds pegged for the boys from Oklahoma that were to show as our guests for the second weekend of the season. Limpy had been spotted a couple more times throughout the property through the period of a couple weeks.

The Okie boys arrived and the trip started and finished with a bang. . . . two fat Georgia Easterns made the 800 mile trek back westward and some incredible video footage was also laid down featuring Junior, the do-it-yourself full strutter spawn from last years icon. . . . Scrappy. We were all able to lay eyes on Limpy the first day of their stay but the bad news was he had moved off our property and onto inaccessible land about a mile away. After the second day of the Okie boys hunt and another spectacular hunt on video they were packed and ready for departure early on the third day. My turkey tippin’ sidekick Poncho was out in the rough weather attempting to roost a bird for the next day and arrived back to the house with a smirk on his face. Limpy had made his way back on the killin’ grounds along with another gobbler and both entered a pine block bordering a swamp about an hour before flyup. Although the weather stayed rough, we stuck the next morning out through the 30 mph winds close to where we thought Limpy should be. . . . we were within 100 yards of a gobbling bird, but are still not sure which of the two seen the evening before was doing the gobbling. After 90 minutes freezing to death, we decided to pack up, get to the comfort of the Power Stroke’s heater, and start glassing the fields again in search of what was becoming a legend. After only 50 yards of walking in our retreat to the truck, none other than Limpy and a stubby bearded jake dart across the road 60 yards in front of us returning to the safety of the pines. It was as if he knew us better than we did and was toyin’ with our heads.

Limpy disappeared and we figured he was another chalked up for memories of what should’ve been, but a week and a half after I took a different longbeard away from his hens on March 31 (another story) . . . . Limpy returned tending to the lonely ladies that had lost their man. Poncho watched the bird, now of legend status, for the majority of the week after work. He was courtin’ several hens and had 4 naggin’ jakes to deal with as well. Friday, April 11th Poncho called with the much needed news late in the evening as I was headed home, "Watched Limpy fly up outta the field with the others, they’re in the back left. . . he’s in the big oak and the girls are in the neighboring pines" I could hear the grin on his face through the pollen crud he’d been dealin’ with the whole week. We made an appointment then and there of where we’d be early on the 12th.

Although the weather man called for potentially heavy rains at daybreak, neither of us were late meeting at the far end of the field the next morning. Not only were we going after the legend this morning, but Poncho was up to bat and holdin’ archery equipment. We collected the items which are all too familiar only after a few weeks of the season, but when you live turkey like we do in the spring . . . . that equipment fits like another limb. In the cover of darkness, emotions were on high as we crept down the edge of the old dove field and neared the field corner where we’d stage the scene of an intruding gobbler on claimed turf a mere 80 yards and well within sight of the valley legend on his perch in the oak. Junior took his stance 13.5 yards from the blind out in the field with his lady friend flanking his right side. Inside the blind, Poncho and I were attempting to make sure EVERYTHING was right. The correct windows were down for videoing and shooting, chairs were arranged for ease of drawing the bow, vest laid out in front so binos and rangefinders could be easily retrieved. Daylight was escorted by a couple quick showers but nothing serious. Hens were the first to be heard; light yelping from the pines behind us. As the ladies picked up the bedroom talk Limpy echoed his love song through the valley for the first time. What a gobble on that bird!! It spooked us both. It seemed like that fertile valley was tryin’ its best to hold that chuckling gobble for as long as it could. I chimed in with a little more aggressive back talk with the girls and Limpy announced his presence again with a deep gobble that seemed to move through the valley as slow as a dense fog. Moments after another ground poundin’ gobble we heard wing beats from the treeline behind us and what sounded like a airplane sail right past the blind and thump on the ground to the right of the blind. I had takin’ my eyes off the oak to throw my calls out into the field for the birds to hear, so I was unable to see what bird had made the lengthy flight to the field right over our shoulders. . . . although I did have it on video. A frantic scramble begins. . . . "Dave a bird just landed beside the blind," I pivot around in my chair to lean over slowly to investigate. At 35 yards, Limpy is standing with chest bowed out and head tucked back, obviously flexing for the competition. "Its him, its him, its him" I whisper "Get ready, get ready, coming straight to the decoy." Poncho quickly comes to full draw, still out of sight behind the closed windows of the blind while Limpy makes his way, one big awkward step at a time toward the skinny intruder. As the tapes rollin’ on a longbeard at 15 yards with boxin’ on his mind Poncho says "Dave I cant see my pins, I cant see them. . . okay now I can" . . . I reply, "you on him," yeah is the quick response. "Well shoot him when ya – KERPLUNCK" I watch the Goldtip shaft strike the bird perfectly and Limpy quickly makes his way right beside the blind. We almost wreck the blind trying the get a look as to what’s going to happen next. . . by the time we get the door open, Limpy laid stone dead 10 yards from the blind with Goldtip still in place. That valley then held onto the hollers and celebration yips we were castin’ because the legend had been takin’ in the most noble of fashion, as Poncho’s first bow bird and all on video.

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aksheephuntress Monster Buck

aksheephuntress

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...Oh, I really liked this story!

....and awesome hunt, awesome pictures....

-Congradulations!!

-reminds me a little of this ram five years ago I spotted and was after ever since,'till recent-...nick-named "The Freak"...he had lost one horn,somehow...just the underbase cone sticking up...

-he was 7 yrs old, then...odds are , he has died one of these winters...

-YOU completed YOUR quest on this o'le legend!...This is awesome!

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  • 10 months later...
Dakota Monster Buck

Dakota

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  sqlcdzx said:
Now that is a lot of brass air fittings http://www.liangdianup.com/subpages/airfitting_1.htm there is just about every type

of air fitting that you could want. Wholesale prices too. I guess these could be used as small water pipe fitting also. I

used some of the parts to make my babington wvo burner.

No idea what you are talking about, but Swampy and the mods will certainly take good care of this. :D:D:D Awesome footage, Cove and Poncho! :cool:

Dakota

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