1776Flintlock
Senior Member
Seven years!
2009 was the last time I got a Tom up here so for 2016 I decided to go back to Georgia and use my GA Lifetime Sportsman's License. I hunted near my old lease down north of Dublin, GA.
Sunday rain when i arrived. Out Monday for the 1st day of the 3 days I could have for this trip.
Heavy fog. No Toms calling. Only one hen 300 yards away in an open field. Did some gunnin' and running to different spots all to no avail.
Tuesday, it had cleared up over night and cooled up. Toms were hammering away! Tried to close the gap to no avail.
In the afternoon, I set up on an big field. 13 turkey buzzards were flying over head or sunning themselves on the field. After 2 hours out of the corner of my eye I spot a Jake on my left. Then more jakes then two big Toms! They were out 200 yards away. They slowly crossed to the other side of the field into a thin wood line. I had a DSD jake and hen in front of me at 45 yards. They stayed there fir 30 minutes. I gave one yelp on my box call. They looked at my decoys and one of the jakes moved out , then the others. Finally, the Toms came out but moved a bit faster, not too fast but faster than the jakes.
The two Toms have long beards about the same size. They moved in Tandem to within 47 yards of me but they did not separate and their heads were too close together to get a clean shot. Additionally, it was so bright out I could not see the reticle on my Bushnell holo sight.
I took off my camo glove, used my finger in front of the sight to find the reticle with the ½ the reticle showing me where the center dot would be if i could see it. So with this jury rigged approach I waited to see if they would separate. They did, one cleared out and faced towards me just as I believe they both were figuring out when to beat on the decoy.
I took the shot using my Mossberg Ulti Mag 835, 12 gauge 3 ½ blended Hevi shot out of my Indian Creek Choke.
He took a big back flip. I ran out to him and then saw how big this long beard was.
13" beard, 1 ½ spurs, 21 pounds.
I went online, registered the kill online with GA DNR. Off to the Taxidermist, he got the breast meat out for me and will do a Tail/Spurs/Beard mount for me.
So, the 7 year itch to end my Tom Turkey drought is over!
2009 was the last time I got a Tom up here so for 2016 I decided to go back to Georgia and use my GA Lifetime Sportsman's License. I hunted near my old lease down north of Dublin, GA.
Sunday rain when i arrived. Out Monday for the 1st day of the 3 days I could have for this trip.
Heavy fog. No Toms calling. Only one hen 300 yards away in an open field. Did some gunnin' and running to different spots all to no avail.
Tuesday, it had cleared up over night and cooled up. Toms were hammering away! Tried to close the gap to no avail.
In the afternoon, I set up on an big field. 13 turkey buzzards were flying over head or sunning themselves on the field. After 2 hours out of the corner of my eye I spot a Jake on my left. Then more jakes then two big Toms! They were out 200 yards away. They slowly crossed to the other side of the field into a thin wood line. I had a DSD jake and hen in front of me at 45 yards. They stayed there fir 30 minutes. I gave one yelp on my box call. They looked at my decoys and one of the jakes moved out , then the others. Finally, the Toms came out but moved a bit faster, not too fast but faster than the jakes.
The two Toms have long beards about the same size. They moved in Tandem to within 47 yards of me but they did not separate and their heads were too close together to get a clean shot. Additionally, it was so bright out I could not see the reticle on my Bushnell holo sight.
I took off my camo glove, used my finger in front of the sight to find the reticle with the ½ the reticle showing me where the center dot would be if i could see it. So with this jury rigged approach I waited to see if they would separate. They did, one cleared out and faced towards me just as I believe they both were figuring out when to beat on the decoy.
I took the shot using my Mossberg Ulti Mag 835, 12 gauge 3 ½ blended Hevi shot out of my Indian Creek Choke.
He took a big back flip. I ran out to him and then saw how big this long beard was.
13" beard, 1 ½ spurs, 21 pounds.
I went online, registered the kill online with GA DNR. Off to the Taxidermist, he got the breast meat out for me and will do a Tail/Spurs/Beard mount for me.
So, the 7 year itch to end my Tom Turkey drought is over!
