returntoarchery
Senior Member
Well folks I finally got er dun this morning. Third year was the charm.
I kept checking the weather last night and it looked like Milledgeville would not see rain until 12 noon with Atlanta area seeing it sometime during the morning. So I plan to go as planned to some private property just south of Milledgeville that I have access to. MRI, most recent information, last Thursday from the land manager was he was still seeing several toms on the place. With that in mind, I hit the bed at 8:30 pm.
At 3:25am I wake before the alarm, get dressed, eat breakfast. I gather my stuff and raise the garage door and dang it's been rain. It was not supposed do that yet. I rush to the computer to check the weather conditions and radar. Dang it. It's raining in Milledgeville. The radar shows there's some gaps to the southwest. I think what the heck I'm going anyway then grab my rain gear and head out. If it's a total wash out at least I can go visit my Mama and Pop and drink a cold bottle of Dr. Pepper on their back porch. Pop always keeps just for my visits a supply of real bottled Dr. Pepper with the crimped tops you have to open with a bottle opener.
As I get closer to Milledgeville the rain lessens. At the gate to the property it was not raining. I head in and park. I check the weather radar on my cell phone. There's still gaps in the rain to the southwest. I decide to leave my hunting vest in the truck and put on my rain gear. I get out of my vest a Tom Teasers Call Girl and a Pro Blood Cut (backup), my Rut N Strut custom copper pot call, shells, and grap my, shotgun, seat cushion, avery camo screen blind , binoculars and head for my setup spot. It's 6am and just enough light reflecting off the low clouds for me see without a flash light.
I setup at a fallen log with the camo screen out front. I think I should have brought my head lamp to check the area for a snake surprise. I make a mental note not the do that again and push the snake surprise thought out of my mind. The area had greened up around the log since my last visit opening weekend and with the camo screen I have pretty good concealment. At this place the only areas to setup at without a full blind are the edges of property as 95% is open seed farm Virginia pines that is as open as a park. It's overcast but the light starts to get to a level that allows me to see out into the pines. I take the opportunity to adjust my binoculars' focus. Birds start to wake but I hear no gobbles. There is a distant rumble of thunder to the southwest but too far off at the moment to be of immediate concern.
At 6:30am I do a soft 4-5 note yelp with the Call Girl. I can't believe my eyes. Not more than 40 yards in front of me, a turkey pitches out of the top of a pine to a spot just over a rise where I can't see from my seated position. For a few moments I debate with myself if I really did see what I just saw. On the copper pot, very softly, I do two clucks followed by a 4-5 note yelp then 2 more clucks. Nothing answers. 3 or 4 minutes later to my left 8 o'clock position not more than 50-60 yards away I hear a fly down cackle and beating wings. I can't believe it. Not an hour earlier I had driven right past and between those roosted birds to the designated parking spot – the property manager's selection. Then I walked right back past them to the setup spot! Sometimes you're just plain lucky.
Then a few minutes later at about 6:40am a gobble explodes to my right and is so close you'd think it'd blow your hat off. I look to my right and in 1 minute or so I see a tom not 15 yards from me easing down the two wheel track road that crosses in from of me. Through the folage I see his beard. He's a shooter. He is eying my position looking for that hen. I don't move. He starts veering to his right off the road to make a circle all the while eying my position. When he passes a pole section in the screen blind and is out of view, I raise my shotgun lean slightly to my left. His head pops up on the other side of a pine at about 15 yards.
In the excitement of the moment I forgot to raise the rear amber eyepiece cover on my red dot scope. With the low light, amber color, bright red circle and dot, even when on low, I barely can see the Tom's head in the scope with the scope eye. Since the scope is not magnifying with both eyes open I can judge with circle and dot for the best aim point. The Ithaca Model 37 20 gauge barks and 1-1/2 oz of Federal HW #7 is headed down range. My first turkey is down and flopping.
I start to get up for a look at my bird and then the I hear putting on my left. I look and there's the other Tom headed out of Dodge. Up to that point, except for the eyepiece cover mishap, I was calm as could be. Then I realize my hands have started shaking. I think of what Tom Kelly wrote about when he stops getting that hand shaking adrenaline rush, he'll stop turkey hunting. I guess it's not time for me to stop turkey hunting quite yet.
I check out my bird. Nice 10 3/8” inch beard and 7/8” sharp spurs. Nice 2 year old bird. I text message my best friend that I have a tom down. The sky darkens and I grab up my gear and turkey for “The Walk” to the truck. There are toms gobbling all around the land adjacent to this property. I'm pumped.
Lightening starts flashing all around and it's time go get out of there. After locking the gate on the way out, I hop back into the truck. The cab is filled with that sweet aroma of burnt shotgun powder. A flood of memories of good times and feelings from my youth and past hunts with my best friend and his father, friends and relatives fill my mind and soul. Man I just love that smell. Sweet success is here at last.
PS: Upon close inspection, the post-mortem showed that I had been lucky a second time. No more than 5 pellets had hit the bird. One through the beak, one transversing the skull just under both eyes and a few more in the neck. The 325 or so other pellets went down range unimpeded by contact with turkey flesh. In hind sight I might have waited for a moment to rectify the eyepiece cover sight picture issue. But in the heat of the moment I thought he was ready to bolt and it was now or never and took the chance. Needless to say I won't make the eyepiece cover mistake again. In the future once I sit down at a setup both red dot scope covers are going to get flipped up.
I kept checking the weather last night and it looked like Milledgeville would not see rain until 12 noon with Atlanta area seeing it sometime during the morning. So I plan to go as planned to some private property just south of Milledgeville that I have access to. MRI, most recent information, last Thursday from the land manager was he was still seeing several toms on the place. With that in mind, I hit the bed at 8:30 pm.
At 3:25am I wake before the alarm, get dressed, eat breakfast. I gather my stuff and raise the garage door and dang it's been rain. It was not supposed do that yet. I rush to the computer to check the weather conditions and radar. Dang it. It's raining in Milledgeville. The radar shows there's some gaps to the southwest. I think what the heck I'm going anyway then grab my rain gear and head out. If it's a total wash out at least I can go visit my Mama and Pop and drink a cold bottle of Dr. Pepper on their back porch. Pop always keeps just for my visits a supply of real bottled Dr. Pepper with the crimped tops you have to open with a bottle opener.
As I get closer to Milledgeville the rain lessens. At the gate to the property it was not raining. I head in and park. I check the weather radar on my cell phone. There's still gaps in the rain to the southwest. I decide to leave my hunting vest in the truck and put on my rain gear. I get out of my vest a Tom Teasers Call Girl and a Pro Blood Cut (backup), my Rut N Strut custom copper pot call, shells, and grap my, shotgun, seat cushion, avery camo screen blind , binoculars and head for my setup spot. It's 6am and just enough light reflecting off the low clouds for me see without a flash light.
I setup at a fallen log with the camo screen out front. I think I should have brought my head lamp to check the area for a snake surprise. I make a mental note not the do that again and push the snake surprise thought out of my mind. The area had greened up around the log since my last visit opening weekend and with the camo screen I have pretty good concealment. At this place the only areas to setup at without a full blind are the edges of property as 95% is open seed farm Virginia pines that is as open as a park. It's overcast but the light starts to get to a level that allows me to see out into the pines. I take the opportunity to adjust my binoculars' focus. Birds start to wake but I hear no gobbles. There is a distant rumble of thunder to the southwest but too far off at the moment to be of immediate concern.
At 6:30am I do a soft 4-5 note yelp with the Call Girl. I can't believe my eyes. Not more than 40 yards in front of me, a turkey pitches out of the top of a pine to a spot just over a rise where I can't see from my seated position. For a few moments I debate with myself if I really did see what I just saw. On the copper pot, very softly, I do two clucks followed by a 4-5 note yelp then 2 more clucks. Nothing answers. 3 or 4 minutes later to my left 8 o'clock position not more than 50-60 yards away I hear a fly down cackle and beating wings. I can't believe it. Not an hour earlier I had driven right past and between those roosted birds to the designated parking spot – the property manager's selection. Then I walked right back past them to the setup spot! Sometimes you're just plain lucky.
Then a few minutes later at about 6:40am a gobble explodes to my right and is so close you'd think it'd blow your hat off. I look to my right and in 1 minute or so I see a tom not 15 yards from me easing down the two wheel track road that crosses in from of me. Through the folage I see his beard. He's a shooter. He is eying my position looking for that hen. I don't move. He starts veering to his right off the road to make a circle all the while eying my position. When he passes a pole section in the screen blind and is out of view, I raise my shotgun lean slightly to my left. His head pops up on the other side of a pine at about 15 yards.
In the excitement of the moment I forgot to raise the rear amber eyepiece cover on my red dot scope. With the low light, amber color, bright red circle and dot, even when on low, I barely can see the Tom's head in the scope with the scope eye. Since the scope is not magnifying with both eyes open I can judge with circle and dot for the best aim point. The Ithaca Model 37 20 gauge barks and 1-1/2 oz of Federal HW #7 is headed down range. My first turkey is down and flopping.
I start to get up for a look at my bird and then the I hear putting on my left. I look and there's the other Tom headed out of Dodge. Up to that point, except for the eyepiece cover mishap, I was calm as could be. Then I realize my hands have started shaking. I think of what Tom Kelly wrote about when he stops getting that hand shaking adrenaline rush, he'll stop turkey hunting. I guess it's not time for me to stop turkey hunting quite yet.
I check out my bird. Nice 10 3/8” inch beard and 7/8” sharp spurs. Nice 2 year old bird. I text message my best friend that I have a tom down. The sky darkens and I grab up my gear and turkey for “The Walk” to the truck. There are toms gobbling all around the land adjacent to this property. I'm pumped.
Lightening starts flashing all around and it's time go get out of there. After locking the gate on the way out, I hop back into the truck. The cab is filled with that sweet aroma of burnt shotgun powder. A flood of memories of good times and feelings from my youth and past hunts with my best friend and his father, friends and relatives fill my mind and soul. Man I just love that smell. Sweet success is here at last.
PS: Upon close inspection, the post-mortem showed that I had been lucky a second time. No more than 5 pellets had hit the bird. One through the beak, one transversing the skull just under both eyes and a few more in the neck. The 325 or so other pellets went down range unimpeded by contact with turkey flesh. In hind sight I might have waited for a moment to rectify the eyepiece cover sight picture issue. But in the heat of the moment I thought he was ready to bolt and it was now or never and took the chance. Needless to say I won't make the eyepiece cover mistake again. In the future once I sit down at a setup both red dot scope covers are going to get flipped up.
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