huntn4bucks Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 (edited) I'm just now getting around to posting this one from April 25th. I apologize for this being so long but I thought it was necessary to explain how my day went. We had roosted some birds the evening before and had two separate gobblers located. Very early the next morning my brother-in-law and I decided to set up on each one. He went to one end of the field and I went to the other. We got in there way, way early and it was a good thing. The gobbler on the other end of the field starting gobbling at daylight and I let him echo his pleas for companionship several times before calling to him. After my first set of yelps drifted through the air, a massive gobble let loose just behind me...and I mean RIGHT behind me. The tree I was set up against was fairly large so I eased around to see how close this bird was to me. Upon close observation, he was a staggering forty or so yards from me. Right there on the limb in the wide open. He was way too close to try to call to so I just let him sing his morning song. Not once did I hear a single hen so I thought maybe we were in business. About that time a hen let out three soft yelps and pitched out of the tree. The ole lonesome boy let out one last acknowledgement from the tree and followed suit behind her. They pitched out away from me so I commenced to calling once their feet hit the ground. I didn’t get a reaction from him but the other gobbler across the field responded almost immediately. He would gobble at the call and go into strut. This happened over and over until he was about 75 yards from me. He turned and headed in my brother-in-law’s direction so I quit calling. I’m not sure what happened but all of the sudden he decided to turn around and head back where he came from. He still gobbled at the call and strutted but just didn’t cooperate. Oh well…that’s turkey hunting. The gobbler was heading to the opposite side of the field so my brother-in-law got up and made a move on the turkey. At that point, I got up and made a move on the one that had pitched off the roost just behind me. After about two hours of maneuvering, I spotted the lonesome boy strutting for his girlfriend. But they were not alone…there was another love sick gobbler competing for the ole girl’s attention. About that time I hear my brother-in-law shoot from the other side of the field. This made both gobblers in front of me gobble in reaction to the shot. A few minutes pass and I had called the trio within 40 yards. The hen had already past me so this was looking really good. I slid the safety to the off position and had the bead on the first gobbler’s head. Just five or ten more yards and I would call him out of strut. All of the sudden the two gobblers folded up and ran for their lives. I was stunned. There was no way they saw me. As it turns out, they didn’t. They saw my brother-in-law toting his gobbler over his shoulder coming down the edge of the field. He saw the turkeys run off and knew he’d messed up. He was pretty upset with himself. Oh well, it happens. We took his turkey home, ate some lunch and headed to another spot. I was lying up against a tree taking a knap when all of the sudden I felt like something was looking at me. I peeked open my eyes only to have a hen not 5-6 steps from me. She never could figure out what I was so she just moved on. Another 30 minutes pass and I hear a gobbler reacting to a pesky crow. A few minutes later I see not one but four longbeards with a hen. They were all moving away from me so here we go again. I ease up and make a 2 ½ hour move on these birds. There is a dry creek that runs the whole length of the field so it made it easier to move without being spotted. There was one gobbler strutting in the group of four. His spitting and drumming gave their location away. I had eased up the bank several times only to be just out of range or not in an optimal position. Finally I was close enough to try my final position. I eased up next to a tree and got ready. As the turkeys were making their way down the field’s edge, I got the gun up and slid the safety off once again. I didn’t have much cover in the spot I had picked so one of the gobblers spotted me. He wasn’t the strutter but he was lined up with my bead. He stuck his neck up and I touched it off. What a day! I had started in the woods at 4:45 AM and it was now 4:30 PM. I guess this goes to show you that persistence pays off. I could have been bummed out by the events of the morning and went home but I chose to stay the course. He's a pretty nice 2 year old with a 10 1/4" beard and 3/4" spurs Edited May 10, 2009 by huntn4bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Congrats Tracy...now that's persistence...way to hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Covehnter Posted May 10, 2009 Report Share Posted May 10, 2009 Thatta boy, nice bird! Sounds like you had a day full of longbeards and left plenty for next year. Did your bil get a nice bird too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorden Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Congrats man:cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntn4bucks Posted May 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Thatta boy, nice bird! Sounds like you had a day full of longbeards and left plenty for next year. Did your bil get a nice bird too? His was a 2 year old bird also...10" beard with 5/8" spurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntn4bucks Posted May 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 (edited) Congrats Tracy...now that's persistence...way to hang in there! Hey Al, did you see my post of the bird I got in Oklahoma? Talk about a brute. http://www.realtree.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85487 Edited May 11, 2009 by huntn4bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Sounds like a great day and a great way to end it. It wouldn't be any fun if it were easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAMABUCKS Posted May 11, 2009 Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Congrats on the bird. 12+ hours of getting after them paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 That is a great bird for 2 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 congrats!!!!!!!! good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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