Nice morning for a walk in the woods.

[petey]

Looks like someone already missed this bird this season (check out the hole in the top of the fan). Thick 9.5” beard, 1” & 1 1/16” spurs. I didn’t weigh it, but it felt like your typical local 18# bird.

Not my biggest but a solid 3 possibly 4 year old. I've had several opportunities at jakes and bearded hens last week, plus I've been running into so many other hunters in the woods. Story...
I didn't get to hunt Monday, but yesterday I headed for some compnay ground behind gated roads to get away from all the other hunters. After getting where I wanted to be and waiting 30 mins right at daylight here comes a couple guys stomping down our gated "KEEP OUT" road. That made me mad, so this morning I picked a spot I haven't been to this year but is one of my old honey holes. It does get the pressure, but I figured mid-week and if I get in there early, I'll have it to myself.

I got to where I wanted to be by 5:00 am, no other vehicles. Perfect. I have about 500 yards to walk and I take it slow, watching for dark objects in the trees. About 5:30 I'm all set up and I hear a vehicle coming down the road towards my truck..."just great" I think to myself. Thankfully the person had enough respect once he saw my truck he turned and left. About 10 till 6 a bird gobbles not more than 80-100 yards from me. From hunting this area over the years, I know exactly where he's roosted and probably what he's going to do. He's off a ridgeline and he should just pitch onto the bench I'm sitting on and come right on over right?? ha ha. Well knowing that this bird has been pressured, I only give him a couple clucks and one small series of tree yelps just to let him know where I am. He flys out EARLY compared to any other bird I've been hunting this year. The next time I hear him gobble he's 200 yards away on the ground, heading away from me. Man that sucker flew down the hill...I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have even called to him in the tree at all. (Figuring everyone else has probably been hammering him in the tree) I start clling and the next time he gobbles, he's almost out of hearing distance.."He's heading away!!" I jump up and run down to where he was roosted and call. He gobbles about 150 yards away. I have about 20 more yards to get to the edge of the hill so I can see down over and I need to get there quick...I get about 5 yards to the edge easing my way down and I hear him spit and drum. "Man He's close, gotta be about 50 yards away
I think to myself. I can hear him as he goes into strut, but I can't see him. Finally I pinpoint the sound and the next time he goes into strut I can see the top of his tail feathers. "Is he in range?" I think.. I give him a couple clucks and he gobbles and goes into strut. "Man he's close, yup he's in range" That time I saw the top of his fan right beside a tree at about 40 yards. Thats about the end of my rope, or as far as I like to shoot them, even though my gun will do better. I need about 1 foot of height and I would be able to see him on the side of this hill. I figure I'll make him gobble once more, pop up and give him a breakfest of #6's. So I call once more he gobbles, up I pop...there he is head still out, right at 40 yards...BANG...that's all she wrote.

Key notes on this hunt: Woodsmanship more so than calling helped me kill this high pressured, old bird. 1. Once I figured he was moving away I ran to the exact spot he was roosted. I often see hens running right to the tree gobblers are in before the pitch down. 2. The bird was hung up at this spot..had I stayed he would have never of come in. 3. The ridge line made it perfect for me to crawl into a spot that got me into gun range without being spotted.

All in all, I'm satisfied. I had a tangle with this bird last season in the same spot and he won. A year later, I won the battle.

[gd357]

Nice hunt, great lesson in the process. Way to think on your feet - situational awareness, and good reaction. That is what a real trophy is all about.

gd

[petey]

Yeah, I've been talking to a lot of people. Birds are shut up, lots of pressure...same old same old. It seems even worse this year. Probably b/c there are so many people laid off..what else are they going to do besides hunt turkey.

And the hunters these days don't seem to have the same manors as they did 10 years ago. It's nothing for someone to pull right up next to your truck to hunt the same bird. This isn't deer hunting...I was raised on first come, first serve and I do my homework to have enough places to go if someone beats me to a spot....times have changed I guess.

I feel fortunate that fellow turned around after he saw my truck in this day and age. People aren't doing their homework or they just downright don't care if you're their first..and they don't give a second look at a posted sign or KEEP THE HECK OUT sign.

Anything to kill a bird I guess...I'm more about the experience, but want it without having another hunter jump in on me. If it was about killing, I would have whacked the first group of jakes I called in on day one.

[Ridge Runner]

good deal petey, nice bird. haven't done much here yet, called one up for a newb spring hunter the first sat. haven't found another gobbleing turkey yet.
I did have an awesome experience on sunday, took this pic at less than 5 yards, its I'm sure is an albino hen, thats blind or nearly so, she let me walk up in plain sight, till she heard the grass rustleing from my boots, she went on the alert, 2 very low soft yelps calmed her down, I took my pic and walked away with her still feeding.


she came out from a very large deep hollow following a normal colored turkey. The 2 main reasons I think she's wild are the pink feet, and the fact that she's too small to be an adult domestic hen, she also shows all the traits of a nesting wild turkey, she appeared recently from out of nowhere, she makes the same feeding circle every morning, I saw her 3 days out of 5 (wasn't there the other 2) in the same place at the same time.
RR