2018 ... A tough but great season!

[Arrow3]

2018 is in the books now... It's still super tough out there compared to 10 years ago but I did hear more birds this season then I have been the last few ....I was lucky enough to take 4 nice longbeards... Here are some pictures and hunt store. Hope yall enjoy!



Bird #1 Wilkes County



This was the 3rd morning I had messed with this gobbler. Once I had him at 50 yards 180 degrees behind me but couldn't move so I let him walk off to do battle another day. Because of the way he had acted the last 2 hunts I decided to get close and not call to him in the tree. When he flew down I yelped to him and he gobbled.... I didn't hear another peep out of him for close to 10 minutes when he gobbled closer... I had a clear shot straight in front of me and to the right of me but nothing to the left due to some small pines... Guess where he showed up? I had him at 3o yards but there was no way to get a shot off....After a few he decided something wasn't right and started walking off flipping his wings.. All of a sudden I hear a jake yelp close to my right... I knew this was my chance so I started cutting and the jake half gobbled... It was more then the longbeard could take when he thought that jake was gonna get his hen.... He gobbled and ran straight in front of me to jump on the jake.

10 1/2 inch beard

1 1/8 in spurs

 

[Arrow3]

Bird #2 Kentucky Public land



Me and 3 friends decided during deer season that we were gonna do a camping and hunting trip out of state this year... After a lot of research we picked our spot in Western Kentucky.



The weather was bad for most of our trip but we still had a great time and I got a bird to work.



At daylight me and my buddy Chad heard multiple birds gobbling and picked one to go to...As we get to where we want to set up we realized there was another hunter already on him so we respectfully backed off. I pulled out a map and picked another spot for us to try .. We parked the truck as started down the road... We hadn't gone 300 yards and a bird gobbled to the left....Then one gobbled in front of us....and another to the right... Chad picked the bird on the left and I went on down the road to the one in front... Both birds shut up after just a few gobbles but I heard another even farther down the road... After a half mile or so I came up on a green field that had a lone hen feeding in it so I just waited and watched her... About 10 minutes later I hear a bird fire off about 400 yards from me... I hurried down a logging road and got within 70 yards of him due to the lay of the land. The bird continued to gobble at crows while I got set up... My first call brought silence. I got the gun up in case he was on his way... He didn't show....20 minutes late I hadn't heard a peep from him.. I had called 2 more times and was about to get up because I could hear another bird off in the distance hammering.. I looked to my left and there he was looking for me at 45 yards. I knew he wasn't gonna stick around so I swung my gun... He took 2 fast steps and stopped to get one more look.



9 inch beard

3/4 in white spurs.

 

[Arrow3]

Bird #3



Oglethorpe County



This was the 2nd time I had been on this bird... The 1st time he gobbled about 30 times in the tree and shut up when he hit the ground. On this hunt he was roosted closer to me then I thought he'd be so I walked away from him and came in on the other side .. He only gobbled 6 or 7 times in the tree and shut up...I heard a hen or 2 clucking with him just after they flew down... I still hadn't made a call to him when a hen flew down to my left and gave a perfect fly down cackle. He hammered when she did... I knew I would be in the cat birds seat being between the two... I started calling to her and she started getting fired up at me which in turn fired him up... She was nearly in my pocket (15 yards) when I saw him coming in full strut... I let him get fairly close and go behind a big white oak before I moved my gun just in case she spooked I could kill him on either side of the tree if he boogered... Surprisingly she didn't and even yelped after I moved and he popped right into view..



11 1/4 inch beard

1 inch spurs

 

[Arrow3]

Bird #4 Wilkes County



My 8th and gobbles were few and far between ... I had went to 2 spots in Lincoln County and hadn't heard anything ... I decided to go get some breakfast and start towards home.. I had 1 more place to check out in Wilkes. I had recently got a really good bird on trail cam in a food plot on the backside of the property . It was about 8:30 and I was just gonna set up for about a hour and then head to work. I made it to the food plot and sat down ... Before I could even make my first call a gobble rang out about 300 yards from me.. I yelped on my slate and he hammered. 2 calls later he was strutting up the logging road to the food plot. At 30 yards he decided he wasn't liking the situation. He started to leave so I moved my gun fast and got on him.. Best gobbler of the year... Limb hanger.



11 1/4 inch beard

1 1/4 sharp hook spurs.

 

[jlt4800]

Congratulations on a fine season!!

 

[XIronheadX]

Congrats on some fine birds. Those tough ones are the most memorable.

 

[Gut_Pile]

Congrats B!

Strong as usual

 

[mike1225]

That's an Awesome season!

 

[Gaswamp]

congrats on a good season and nice write up Brandon

 

[antharper]

Congrats on a great season....here’s to many more

 

[wvdawg]

Nice birds! Congrats!

 

[NiteHunter]

Nice!

 

[brittonl]

How bout them hook spurs on #4! Congrats on a fine season sir and thanks for sharing

 

[kmckinnie]

Great job. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Arrow3]

Thank you guys

 

[stonecreek]

Congrats!! Richard

 

[Ricochet]

Very nice, congrats and thanks for sharing!

 

[Arrow3]

Thanks guys

 

[Huntinfool]

Congrats bro. That's a fine season right there.

 

[Arrow3]

Congrats bro. That's a fine season right there.

Thanks man. How'd your season go?