crucible02
Senior Member
Though I’ve killed a few birds in my hunting life, I didn’t really get serious about turkey hunting until about 5 years ago. The problem was, I was terrible at it on my own. The birds I had killed before were because I went with someone who knew what they were doing. 2017 was the last turkey I killed (Berry College WMA with my father in law).
Needless to say, as soon as I got serious, I stopped killing turkeys haha!
What I did find is that the more I tried and failed, the better I felt I was getting at learning this game.
I didn’t get to hunt opening day because I’m a pastor of a relatively large church with Easter activities all weekend. But I always take time off after Easter to chase birds. I decided not to go Monday because I really needed some rest.
But I was determined to be in the woods on Tuesday morning.
A wonderful family in our church owns some land in Meriwether County that they recently and graciously invited me to hunt whenever I want. It’s small but there are turkeys around.
Got there a little before first light and eased to the backside of the pond dam leading to a creek bottom where I knew they liked to roost.
I listened for a while and owl hooted with no response other than another couple owls talking back to me lol
Finally, around 7:30, I decided to ease into the edge of a pasture that they like to use but also allowed me to see back toward the creek bottom.
I settled in and hit the wingbone… sounded pretty good to me…. But nothing.
So I tried a mouth call… my best call to be honest… But nothing.
Finally, about 7:55, I pulled out the Houndstooth Gamecalls Cherry Glass and gave a few yelps… GOBBLE!!!
It was coming from the creek bottom… behind me! I slowly looked around the tree, confident he wasn’t near yet… worked my body like a writhing toddler around the tree and settled down… GOBBLE! Closer this time…
I made sure my red dot was on and rested the old Mossberg 20 gauge I’d spent the offseason rebuilding into a turkey gun on my knee. I shut up… no more calling from me (a lesson I’d learned the hard way before).
Pretty soon, a white lightbulb popped up over the crest of the hill, beelining toward me through the woods. He slowly made his way to my left… 50 yards… stopped, full strut… GOBBLE… eased on… 40 yards… no shot… 35… no shot… 30… between two trees… lightbulb pops up… BOOM… and the lights went out!
Ol boy never moved a muscle! FINALLY… a bird I called in on my own was going home with me! Turkey nuggets for dinner and a trophy on my wall.
I picked him up and moved him to the field edge to take some pictures but not before thanking the bird and the Lord for the blessing of that hunt… and the lessons I’d learned earning me success.
The Lord has been so good to me and I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to grow and learn in these Georgia woods. It’s made me a better man, husband, father and pastor… and maybe even a little better hunter.
TL;DR - I finally killed a turkey I called in myself! Haha!
Thanks for reading! And may you experience all the goodness of God this week!
Needless to say, as soon as I got serious, I stopped killing turkeys haha!
What I did find is that the more I tried and failed, the better I felt I was getting at learning this game.
I didn’t get to hunt opening day because I’m a pastor of a relatively large church with Easter activities all weekend. But I always take time off after Easter to chase birds. I decided not to go Monday because I really needed some rest.
But I was determined to be in the woods on Tuesday morning.
A wonderful family in our church owns some land in Meriwether County that they recently and graciously invited me to hunt whenever I want. It’s small but there are turkeys around.
Got there a little before first light and eased to the backside of the pond dam leading to a creek bottom where I knew they liked to roost.
I listened for a while and owl hooted with no response other than another couple owls talking back to me lol
Finally, around 7:30, I decided to ease into the edge of a pasture that they like to use but also allowed me to see back toward the creek bottom.
I settled in and hit the wingbone… sounded pretty good to me…. But nothing.
So I tried a mouth call… my best call to be honest… But nothing.
Finally, about 7:55, I pulled out the Houndstooth Gamecalls Cherry Glass and gave a few yelps… GOBBLE!!!
It was coming from the creek bottom… behind me! I slowly looked around the tree, confident he wasn’t near yet… worked my body like a writhing toddler around the tree and settled down… GOBBLE! Closer this time…
I made sure my red dot was on and rested the old Mossberg 20 gauge I’d spent the offseason rebuilding into a turkey gun on my knee. I shut up… no more calling from me (a lesson I’d learned the hard way before).
Pretty soon, a white lightbulb popped up over the crest of the hill, beelining toward me through the woods. He slowly made his way to my left… 50 yards… stopped, full strut… GOBBLE… eased on… 40 yards… no shot… 35… no shot… 30… between two trees… lightbulb pops up… BOOM… and the lights went out!
Ol boy never moved a muscle! FINALLY… a bird I called in on my own was going home with me! Turkey nuggets for dinner and a trophy on my wall.
I picked him up and moved him to the field edge to take some pictures but not before thanking the bird and the Lord for the blessing of that hunt… and the lessons I’d learned earning me success.
The Lord has been so good to me and I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to grow and learn in these Georgia woods. It’s made me a better man, husband, father and pastor… and maybe even a little better hunter.
TL;DR - I finally killed a turkey I called in myself! Haha!
Thanks for reading! And may you experience all the goodness of God this week!
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