Team #4 Thunder Chicken Assassins

[Ricochet]

Shortly after I made my last post above - a gobbler and his crew showed up. So, I almost got my first GA bird of the season today but I didn't like the shot I was given. I had to do some ninja stealth stuff on him to get close....boy was his head bright red! I will be waiting for him tomorrow - hopefully he will get rid of those dang hens and Jakes and come into my calls (I got him to gobble close to 100 times)!

[hoppie]

Well boys I closed out my season this morning. Perfect roost hunt. He is a 6 pt. bird. I will go ahead and enter him if you want or wait till end of the weekend to see if we get some better birds. Just let me know. Posting story on forum.

10 1/8 beard
1 1/8 spurs

[peanutman04]

congrats hoppie! nice bird too! from the looks of it you may as well post it but you may want to wait a day or two just in case. again congrats on your limit! i didn't get to go today cause of work and had to mow the grass. plan on going in the am though. going with my buddy again!

[Ricochet]

Right on - congrats hoppie! I called in 4 Jakes today - apparently the 4 that were with the big boy yesterday. I guess the ole longbeard had other plans today. I'm going to give it another try tomorrow before heading back home to SC.

[hoppie]

Thanks guys. I will probably throw him on the kill board tomorrow evening if nobody has objections. Good luck to the rest of you in the morning.

[ryanwhit]

Nice job Hoppie!

[ryanwhit]

OK guys, here's the pics:










The 10+ inch beard on one of them:

[ryanwhit]

Guys, I'm think I should go ahead and enter both of these birds, and if I'm fortunate enough to get another with bonus points we could possibly use it as the wild card bird. But at least we'll get these two in the contest and accounted for...brings us up to 11 birds w/ Hoppie's. Not too shabby!! Thoughts??

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by ryanwhit

Guys, I'm think I should go ahead and enter both of these birds, and if I'm fortunate enough to get another with bonus points we could possibly use it as the wild card bird. But at least we'll get these two in the contest and accounted for...brings us up to 11 birds w/ Hoppie's. Not too shabby!! Thoughts??

Looks good to me - I say enter them.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

I'm going to give it another try tomorrow before heading back home to SC.

Well, I did call in a Tom (as mentioned above - no Jakes this time) this morning to have him stop at the last minute! He was coming in on a rope and something spooked him - I guess it was the big gust of wind. Of course, that was the first gust of wind all morning and he gobbled 2-3 times going away (back the way he came in). I thought for sure I had him - I couldn't believe it!

[hoppie]

I went ahead and entered my bird guys. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaming up with you guys.

[peanutman04]

got on several birds yesterday am but they were being hard headed and wouldn't commit. gobbled good considering the weather. i say enter them rw and congrats!

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by hoppie

I went ahead and entered my bird guys. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaming up with you guys.

Ditto!

Originally Posted by peanutman04

got on several birds yesterday am but they were being hard headed and wouldn't commit. gobbled good considering the weather. i say enter them rw and congrats!

Yeah, they were fired up a little yesterday and didn't fully commit. I'm going to head back to GA the last 2 weekends of the season and try again for my GA bird.

[stringmusic]

Had six different birds gobbling Saturday morning, none of them wanted to do anything, three or four of them had hens with them. I just can't catch a break this season. I have have 9 good birds in front of me at different times in the 50 to 70 yard range, I just can't close the deal. 10 more steps on a really good bird last saturday that was hot as a fire cracker and he would have been dead, he came in looked my lone hen decoy over and went back to where he came

Congrats to all of you fellas slayin'em.

[peanutman04]

dang rw! i see you get up pretty early in the am don't you. do you have to travel very far?

[ryanwhit]

The alarm went off at 4 that morning...

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by ryanwhit

The alarm went off at 4 that morning...

Ouch, that's early! Thank goodness my hunting spots are within 30 minutes of my house or relatives' houses.

[ryanwhit]

Alright guys, i'm going to put these 2 birds in.

[peanutman04]

we need 2 bigguns! let's do this thing!

[Ricochet]

I'm hoping to bag a monster here in SC this weekend or in GA the following 2 weekends. I'm going to burn up a lot of fuel for them GA birds!

[Ricochet]

Updated scores show us in 2nd place (barely) with 58 points - first place has 70 points!

[hoppie]

I entered my 6 pointer too, so we have 64. We have one bird left to enter and 1st has one left and already have 70. Would be nice if somebody Peanut or String could knock a solid bonus bird down. Looks like we are playing for second boys, but hey I will take it.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by hoppie

I entered my 6 pointer too, so we have 64. We have one bird left to enter and 1st has one left and already have 70. Would be nice if somebody Peanut or String could knock a solid bonus bird down. Looks like we are playing for second boys, but hey I will take it.

Yeah, it looks like we are playing for 2nd which is pretty darn good. Probably will be my best team finish and I think this is my 4th year or so in this challenge.

[hoppie]

Yeah this is my 3rd year doing the contest. Won year 1 and last year had a terrible team and a sub par year for me, so placing two out of three would be nice.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by hoppie

Yeah this is my 3rd year doing the contest. Won year 1 and last year had a terrible team and a sub par year for me, so placing two out of three would be nice.

Yeah, 2010 was my best with a 9th place finish and last year was a 12th place finish, so I haven't been real close yet.

[stringmusic]

Originally Posted by hoppie

I entered my 6 pointer too, so we have 64. We have one bird left to enter and 1st has one left and already have 70. Would be nice if somebody Peanut or String could knock a solid bonus bird down. Looks like we are playing for second boys, but hey I will take it.

I'm workin' on it brother, I promise you. These birds are killin' me this year.

[Ricochet]

Are there any challenge prizes this year? I haven't noticed anything.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by stringmusic

I'm workin' on it brother, I promise you. These birds are killin' me this year.

Hang in there!

[stringmusic]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Are there any challenge prizes this year? I haven't noticed anything.

Some pretty decent prizes....
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=678986

[hoppie]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Are there any challenge prizes this year? I haven't noticed anything.

Oh yeah. Not a bad list either. I would be excited to get any of the top 3 spots. Wish I had the longest beard or spur. Those prints would look great in the my man roost upstairs.

[ryanwhit]

Stringmusic, I know you're staying with it! Hang in there man, it'll come together for you! I know peanutman is after em too, one of y'all will get our 12th bird. Me and richochet are still trying to help tack on a few extra points by way of a bonus point wildcard bird to replace a 5 pointer.

I worked 2 birds this morning, but it didn't happen. First one flew out and landed at 60 yards, then walked off. Second one gobbled regularly in a strut zone as he was walking back and forth, but by the time I moved on him he'd quit gobbling and evidently walked off as well.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by stringmusic

Some pretty decent prizes....
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=678986

Ah cool, there's the thread (I remember it now) - I couldn't find it for some reason. Thanks!

[peanutman04]

we are 13 pts behind team 15 rt now. so if stringmusic or i could get a 7 or 8 pt bird and then somebody else get a 7 or 8 ptr and then they don't upgrade. we can still catch them!

[hoppie]

How does it work with replacements? I know we have entered 11, so we have one more and one person can replace a bird with a bigger one?

[peanutman04]

Originally Posted by hoppie

How does it work with replacements? I know we have entered 11, so we have one more and one person can replace a bird with a bigger one?

thats the way i understand it.

[ryanwhit]

No guys, doesn't look like we can catch them. Here's the way it'll work:

This weekend peanutman or stringmusic is going to kill a 8 pt bird. That will bring us up to within 5 pts. Also, ricochet or I will kill an 8 pt bird (Gotta stay positive, right?). Whoever kills it will use it to replace a lesser-scoring bird that we've already entered - so it will replace a 5 pt bird, netting us a gain of 3 pts. That would bring us to within 2 pts. It would take 2 very good scoring birds to beat them, assuming that they don't have any dq-ed (i'm sure they won't) and assuming they don't find a wildcard bird.

Hey, it could happen! Let's stay after them...I feel like I'm due a long-spurred turkey. I haven't killed one with 1 1/4" spurs in a few years.

[hoppie]

Shoot right now I am just saying congrats to them and want us to do our best to hold on to that 2 spot.

[mcallum3]

Hey guys, congratulations on a great season. So why don't yall just take a break (stop hunting) and just relax for the rest of the season

Originally Posted by ryanwhit

Also, ricochet or I will kill an 8 pt bird (Gotta stay positive, right?). Whoever kills it will use it to replace a lesser-scoring bird that we've already entered - so it will replace a 5 pt bird, netting us a gain of 3 pts.

Now on a serious note, Correct me if am I wrong but I thought a member could only enter 3 birds max.

-Each team member may post 3 birds max (birds can be entered from any state)
(The statement above I copied and pasted from the rules thread.)

Team # 4 "Thunder Chicken Assassins"
ryanwhit 5+ 5+ 6
peanutman04 5+ 8
hoppie 5+ 9
stringmusic
ricochet 5+ 5+ 5

ricochet & ryanwhit already have 3 birds entered, so the 2 of you are finished as far as the challenge goes, or am I wrong?

[peanutman04]

yea i got to thinking about what i had posted and realized i had figured wrong. it will take 2 ten pters. stranger things have happened.

[peanutman04]

Originally Posted by mcallum3

Hey guys, congratulations on a great season. So why don't yall just take a break (stop hunting) and just relax for the rest of the season


Now on a serious note, Correct me if am I wrong but I thought a member could only enter 3 birds max.

-Each team member may post 3 birds max (birds can be entered from any state)
(The statement above I copied and pasted from the rules thread.)

Team # 4 "Thunder Chicken Assassins"
ryanwhit 5+ 5+ 6
peanutman04 5+ 8
hoppie 5+ 9
stringmusic
ricochet 5+ 5+ 5

ricochet & ryanwhit already have 3 birds entered, so the 2 of you are finished as far as the challenge goes, or am I wrong?

they can replace one of their 5 pt birds with the wildcard.

[hoppie]

I have 3 entered too.

[Ricochet]

I'm going to be upset if my 1 bonus point DQ costs us in the long run. Any ways, I'm going in the AM and I'll be shooting for a 10-point swamp monster!

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

I'm going to be upset if my 1 bonus point DQ costs us in the long run. Any ways, I'm going in the AM and I'll be shooting for a 10-point swamp monster!

Well, I had one on the roost gobbling hard at everything and on the ground - then I got busted when moving in on him. I got on a couple of more birds but no dice. Then near 1PM I saw one while driving around, so I parked the truck and went after him. After him gobbling good at me and crows he finally came in and I blasted him! He was a nice 2 year old, but not the monster I was hoping for. Video and photos coming up later.

[Ricochet]

[peanutman04]

man you have had a heck of a season! congrats again! didn't get to go this am (long nite and had to work). plan on going in the am though.

[ryanwhit]

Nice work ricochet. Enjoy the success you're having this season...it won't always be like this!! LOL.

I went this morning, heard nothing and saw nothing. Going tomorrow with a buddy on his place.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by peanutman04

man you have had a heck of a season! congrats again! didn't get to go this am (long nite and had to work). plan on going in the am though.

Thanks and good luck in the AM!

Originally Posted by ryanwhit

Nice work ricochet. Enjoy the success you're having this season...it won't always be like this!! LOL.

I went this morning, heard nothing and saw nothing. Going tomorrow with a buddy on his place.

Thanks and good luck to you in the AM as well. Yeah, that's what I'm afraid - I think I might have set the bar too high this season. LOL

I'm going in the AM with my son - I hope to get him his first bird. I know a couple of good spots to try.

[Ricochet]

BTW, here is a pic of me and bird #5:

SC thunder chicken #5 by RicochetFX4, on Flickr

My son and I got on a strutter and a hen yesterday. We failed to close the deal on him after moving on them, but I found out why he was hanging around and strutting with this hen. She had a nest right there and we found it after she ran off acting crazy and scaring us. It was my first time finding poults...they were probably just 2-3 days old. We quickly left and I saw her go back to them as we drove off. Pretty cool find - I think my son enjoyed that more than anything.

[stringmusic]

Wow, just wow. Thats about all I got left fellas.

I hunted Saturday morning and didn't hear anything close by so I set up in one of the fields of the property I hunt. I set up with a big bush on my right side and good cover in front of me overlooking the field.

About 9:15 I get a call from the mans wife that lets me hunt the property, she tells me there 4 birds in the field on the other side of the road(small dirt road that they cross all the time) to my right.

So, I move around to the other side of the bush where I would be hidden really good when and if they come in on my right.

Well what do ya know, about 9:30 two toms come in from the bottom of the field from my left. One heads back into the woods and the other heads my way. He is looking at the one hen decoy I had set up in front of me.

I'm not hidden very good at all on the left side of me from me moving. My gun is pointing at 1 o'clock and he is coming in a 9 o'clock looking dead in my direction the whole time, so I couldn't move at all, I'm just hoping he comes on in to the decoy without seeing me. He gets to 31 yards( I walked it off after he left) and he sees me, he can't really figure out what I am but he knows something is up, heads back into the woods in a quick walk.

I probably should have tried to quick shoot him but I thought he would come on in to the decoy. I thought I was going to cry, absolutely heartbroken. He would have been my biggest bird easily and easily a bonus bird for the team. He had an absolute rope hanging. Makes me sick to even think about.

I'm still trying to get it done before the season is out and I'm trying my best. This has been one miserable season as far as getting a bird in the dirt.

[stringmusic]

Oh, and congrats agian Richochet, your having the exact opposite season I am.