Got him!!!! GIANT!

[strothershwacker]

Super bird! Congratulations!

 

[Huntmaster2]

Congratulations on a great Tom!

 

[devolve]

Hooks!

 

[Turkeytider]

Had an encredible encounter earlier this week with this guy but was 10 steps out of my comfortable range.

6:00 AM
me and my best friend arrive at the gate.
6:30 AM
we are set up on a knoll over looking the field that the birds have been roosting near.
6:48 AM
I do a fly down call and beat my hat on my chest. BAM! He gobbles from 125 yards away on the roost.
6:50 - 7:05 AM
they start the fly down. One by one pitching into the field.
No gobbler.............
7:06 AM
he appears in the wood line in full strut!
7:06 - 7:48 AM
He puts on a strutting/gobbling show for us!
Every time I yelped or cut he would hammer! I gobbled at him and he got mad as soon as he saw my jake decoy that was positioned behind my willing hen decoy.
7:52 AM
He strutted into the decoys and gobbled at 15 steps. Then flogged the jake.
7:53 AM
He took a 3.5” #5 to the face at 15 steps.

My 2nd biggest bird of my life. My largest eastern bird of my life.
22# 1.5” spurs 11.5” beardView attachment 965588

Those measurable, I think you could hunt quite a while before you`d find an Eastern as big or bigger. That`s a big Meleagris gallopavo silvestris

 

[devolve]

Those measurable, I think you could hunt quite a while before you`d find an Eastern as big or bigger. That`s a big Meleagris gallopavo silvestris

I agree 100%!!

 

[wvdawg]

Super bird! Congrats!

 

[Larry Young Jr]

awesome bird Congrats

 

[Turkeytider]

Had an encredible encounter earlier this week with this guy but was 10 steps out of my comfortable range.

6:00 AM
me and my best friend arrive at the gate.
6:30 AM
we are set up on a knoll over looking the field that the birds have been roosting near.
6:48 AM
I do a fly down call and beat my hat on my chest. BAM! He gobbles from 125 yards away on the roost.
6:50 - 7:05 AM
they start the fly down. One by one pitching into the field.
No gobbler.............
7:06 AM
he appears in the wood line in full strut!
7:06 - 7:48 AM
He puts on a strutting/gobbling show for us!
Every time I yelped or cut he would hammer! I gobbled at him and he got mad as soon as he saw my jake decoy that was positioned behind my willing hen decoy.
7:52 AM
He strutted into the decoys and gobbled at 15 steps. Then flogged the jake.
7:53 AM
He took a 3.5” #5 to the face at 15 steps.

My 2nd biggest bird of my life. My largest eastern bird of my life.
22# 1.5” spurs 11.5” beardView attachment 965588

Turkeys are notoriously hard when it comes to determining age, but that`s no two year old, I`m pretty sure!

 

[devolve]

Turkeys are notoriously hard when it comes to determining age, but that`s no two year old, I`m pretty sure!

I talked to a biologist friend of mine that lives out west about that. He said it’s probably 4yo. But there literally no for sure way to tell. I just know it was an amazing hunt I’ll never forget.

 

[Turkeytider]

I talked to a biologist friend of mine that lives out west about that. He said it’s probably 4yo. But there literally no for sure way to tell. I just know it was an amazing hunt I’ll never forget.

I'm sure you won't! That's a once in a lifetime shot. Bird like that's worthy of a full mount IMO. Congrats man.