sportsman94
Senior Member
Got the monkey off my back this morning!!
I had to be back home around 10:30 this morning so I knew time would be of the essence on this mornings hunt. I woke up and drove out to Twiggs county to 100 acres that my dad owns.
The crisp morning air was nippy at 35 degrees, according to my thermometer in my truck. The sky was just starting to break from pitch black to the increasingly lighter gray that comes with the arrival of the daylight. I got set up at the top of an old food plot on a hill and cleared out my spot at the base of a grown up pine tree. This tree happened to be the same spot that I ended my season last year. I got everything situated and sat back against the flaky bark just as it was getting light enough to fully make out my surroundings.
Several minutes go by and I am taking in the beautiful canvas that God has placed in front of me. The birds around me are waking up and I am just waiting for the old familiar sound of a gobble. It didn't take long. Several hundred yards below the food plot I heard it for the first time. This was not the first bird I have heard this season but since I was behind the gun today it really got my heart pumping. A mixture of the sound of the turkey and the cold morning air sent me into an uncontrollable shiver. I let out a series of yelps to let him know where I was.
Right after these yelps, however, I heard a flock of turkeys fly down from their perches at the bottom of the plot and go towards the gobbler.
By this time the gobbling bird had hit the ground and was very tight lipped.
I knew that with that many hens as I had heard working towards him that he probably wouldn't have much of a reason to continue to gobble. I decided that if I was going to have a chance at this turkey I would need to bring the hens to me.
I gave it a few minutes and let out a series of yelps followed by some cuts. That was the best decision I made all morning as he got extremely fired up. He started gobbling every couple minutes and I thought I had a pretty good idea of where he was. I hung tight to see if he would come to me but after 20 minutes it sure didn't seem like coming to me was going through his mind. Things got quite there for awhile so I gave it time and let out another series of calls. A few more minutes passed by and finally, there it was again. The gobble of a turkey who was so close yet so far. I thought to myself, if he will gobble for me one more time then I will go down and try to kill him where he is at now. A few more minutes went by and he let another one rip.
Just like that I was up and at em making a beeline to the food plot I thought they may be staged up in. I brought a fan from last years turkey and held it in front of me as I walked. As I approached the opening of the food plot I decided to call and see if I could find out where he was currently located. A series of yelps was all it took to resurrect a thunderous gobble from the thick hardwoods less than 100 yards to my right. I hopped back into the woods and sat down. I pulled out my slate and started purring. Another gobble, and another. I just knew this turkey would die right here in this low area. And just as quick as he had begun his hair raising bellows he stopped. minute after minute went by as I waited to catch a glimpse of him sneaking through the brush. Noting happened. Finally another gobble rings out. This time further than all of the previous ones. I just know at this point that he is walking up the edge of the creek. I make a dash back up the hill and down a trail that leads to the creek in an effort to cut him off. 10 minutes of calling here led to nothing more than fleeting gobbles of a turkey that had little to know interest in what I had going on at this point.
Just as quick as the fun had began it was over and I was on my way back towards the original spot I had been set up. I sat down beneath the same big pine and admitted the fact that this bird was gone and I would spend the remainder of my hunt under this tree calling every 20-30 minutes. About 9:12 or so I began to hear a bird calling again towards the creek. No way I thought. There is no way this bird has left his hens and is coming here. HE gobbled again, and again. This bird was on fire but the only problem was that I needed to be out of the woods by 9:30. I once again told myself that if he would just let out one more gobble then I would try to go to him. There it was, the last gobble. A couple hundred yards away down towards the creek.
I was up and walking before I even knew it. I got to the end of the food plot and told myself that I would call and if he answered I would go down the trail and see if I could meet him half way.
Yelp!Yelp!Yelp! *G-O-B-B-L-E*
I was immediately headed down the trail with a turkey fan stuck out in front of me. I figured I still had 150 yards to go to get to where he was. Wrong! I heard something and looked up from my walk only to see what looked like brown animal cut into the woods right in front of me at about 60 yards. I watched as the turkey darted into the wood line. I jumped back against the first tree I could see and made a few sweet sounding notes on the slate. Unfortunately, the gig was up, no turkey any more. a lack of patience had cost me my first turkey of the season. I knew I only had a few minutes left so put my call to the side and just spent time enjoying the beautiful morning.
I heard something in the thick stuff to my left. I couldn't tell what it was but I had a good feeling about it. I tried to slowly raise the gun that was sitting lengthwise on my out stretched legs. About the time I got the gun up and red dot turned on I saw the culprit of the noise. It was stemming from the walking of beautiful blue and red headed turkey and he was about to offer me a shot. He was coming through the underbrush into the road when he was met with a face full go heavy shot mag blend and dropped to the ground.
Overall it was an awesome morning and not much more would have made it better short of getting it on film. I ended up killing the turkey at 9:28 and would have made it out in time had I not lost my call in the process of running to him.
He had a 9 inch beard and I did not measure the spurs but one was probably 7/8 inches and the other had a little twist to it.
Thanks for reading
I had to be back home around 10:30 this morning so I knew time would be of the essence on this mornings hunt. I woke up and drove out to Twiggs county to 100 acres that my dad owns.
The crisp morning air was nippy at 35 degrees, according to my thermometer in my truck. The sky was just starting to break from pitch black to the increasingly lighter gray that comes with the arrival of the daylight. I got set up at the top of an old food plot on a hill and cleared out my spot at the base of a grown up pine tree. This tree happened to be the same spot that I ended my season last year. I got everything situated and sat back against the flaky bark just as it was getting light enough to fully make out my surroundings.
Several minutes go by and I am taking in the beautiful canvas that God has placed in front of me. The birds around me are waking up and I am just waiting for the old familiar sound of a gobble. It didn't take long. Several hundred yards below the food plot I heard it for the first time. This was not the first bird I have heard this season but since I was behind the gun today it really got my heart pumping. A mixture of the sound of the turkey and the cold morning air sent me into an uncontrollable shiver. I let out a series of yelps to let him know where I was.
Right after these yelps, however, I heard a flock of turkeys fly down from their perches at the bottom of the plot and go towards the gobbler.
By this time the gobbling bird had hit the ground and was very tight lipped.
I knew that with that many hens as I had heard working towards him that he probably wouldn't have much of a reason to continue to gobble. I decided that if I was going to have a chance at this turkey I would need to bring the hens to me.
I gave it a few minutes and let out a series of yelps followed by some cuts. That was the best decision I made all morning as he got extremely fired up. He started gobbling every couple minutes and I thought I had a pretty good idea of where he was. I hung tight to see if he would come to me but after 20 minutes it sure didn't seem like coming to me was going through his mind. Things got quite there for awhile so I gave it time and let out another series of calls. A few more minutes passed by and finally, there it was again. The gobble of a turkey who was so close yet so far. I thought to myself, if he will gobble for me one more time then I will go down and try to kill him where he is at now. A few more minutes went by and he let another one rip.
Just like that I was up and at em making a beeline to the food plot I thought they may be staged up in. I brought a fan from last years turkey and held it in front of me as I walked. As I approached the opening of the food plot I decided to call and see if I could find out where he was currently located. A series of yelps was all it took to resurrect a thunderous gobble from the thick hardwoods less than 100 yards to my right. I hopped back into the woods and sat down. I pulled out my slate and started purring. Another gobble, and another. I just knew this turkey would die right here in this low area. And just as quick as he had begun his hair raising bellows he stopped. minute after minute went by as I waited to catch a glimpse of him sneaking through the brush. Noting happened. Finally another gobble rings out. This time further than all of the previous ones. I just know at this point that he is walking up the edge of the creek. I make a dash back up the hill and down a trail that leads to the creek in an effort to cut him off. 10 minutes of calling here led to nothing more than fleeting gobbles of a turkey that had little to know interest in what I had going on at this point.
Just as quick as the fun had began it was over and I was on my way back towards the original spot I had been set up. I sat down beneath the same big pine and admitted the fact that this bird was gone and I would spend the remainder of my hunt under this tree calling every 20-30 minutes. About 9:12 or so I began to hear a bird calling again towards the creek. No way I thought. There is no way this bird has left his hens and is coming here. HE gobbled again, and again. This bird was on fire but the only problem was that I needed to be out of the woods by 9:30. I once again told myself that if he would just let out one more gobble then I would try to go to him. There it was, the last gobble. A couple hundred yards away down towards the creek.
I was up and walking before I even knew it. I got to the end of the food plot and told myself that I would call and if he answered I would go down the trail and see if I could meet him half way.
Yelp!Yelp!Yelp! *G-O-B-B-L-E*
I was immediately headed down the trail with a turkey fan stuck out in front of me. I figured I still had 150 yards to go to get to where he was. Wrong! I heard something and looked up from my walk only to see what looked like brown animal cut into the woods right in front of me at about 60 yards. I watched as the turkey darted into the wood line. I jumped back against the first tree I could see and made a few sweet sounding notes on the slate. Unfortunately, the gig was up, no turkey any more. a lack of patience had cost me my first turkey of the season. I knew I only had a few minutes left so put my call to the side and just spent time enjoying the beautiful morning.
I heard something in the thick stuff to my left. I couldn't tell what it was but I had a good feeling about it. I tried to slowly raise the gun that was sitting lengthwise on my out stretched legs. About the time I got the gun up and red dot turned on I saw the culprit of the noise. It was stemming from the walking of beautiful blue and red headed turkey and he was about to offer me a shot. He was coming through the underbrush into the road when he was met with a face full go heavy shot mag blend and dropped to the ground.
Overall it was an awesome morning and not much more would have made it better short of getting it on film. I ended up killing the turkey at 9:28 and would have made it out in time had I not lost my call in the process of running to him.
He had a 9 inch beard and I did not measure the spurs but one was probably 7/8 inches and the other had a little twist to it.
Thanks for reading
