Recently completed my first season of turkey hunting, and I thought I'd share my successes with the TFL'ers here. I hunted a couple of times last season with my uncles down in Georgia--just enough to figure out the basics. I used those basics this year and wound up taking two birds, a jake and a tom.
The jake was harvested on April 24th at 11:15. I had just changed positions and called for about 15 minutes on and off. I was using soft yelps and purrs. I had just fallen quiet when I saw this bird slipping in from my right. He never made a sound. In fact, I didn't hear a single gobble that day. As soon as he went behind a tree though, I got my gun up and when he stepped out on the other side, I dropped him. He went 13 1/4 lbs. and had a 4 1/2" beard.
The tom was shot on May 3 at 6:05. He was the result of an earlier hunting effort. I'd gotten this bird to gobble before, but the first time I raised him, he wandered off in the opposite direction, probably with hens. When I went back about a week later to hunt him, I came at his roost from a different direction. I hoot-owled and he half gobbled, so I started into the woods in his direction. One more hoot and resulting gobble gave me a better bearing on his direction, and I eased closer to his roost. Then a woodpecker sounded off, and he gobbled again pretty loudly. Scared that I'd spook him, I decided to go ahead and set up, so I put my decoy about 20 yards out, and settled in to call. A few purrs, low yelps, and some leaf scratching got his attention, and he flew down and began to gobble some more. The gobbling faded a bit, and I thought this bird had wandered off again. So I purred a little more and then shut up. He knew where I was, and I figured that if he was going to come, he was going to come. At about 6:00, he saw my decoy and gobbled right on top of me, and I eased my gun up. The bird slipped in perfectly from my left and was moving toward my decoy in full strut when I got him. He went 18 lbs. and had spurs of 3/4" and 15/16". This tom was triple-bearded and had beards of 9 3/4", 3 5/8", and 1 1/2". Probably a two-year old judging from his spurs.
Both birds were taken with a matte black Remington 870 Express Super Magnum with an XF Star Dot Choke and Tru Glo fiber optic sights. I used 3 inch, 6 shot Winchester Supreme HV turkey loads.
The jake was harvested on April 24th at 11:15. I had just changed positions and called for about 15 minutes on and off. I was using soft yelps and purrs. I had just fallen quiet when I saw this bird slipping in from my right. He never made a sound. In fact, I didn't hear a single gobble that day. As soon as he went behind a tree though, I got my gun up and when he stepped out on the other side, I dropped him. He went 13 1/4 lbs. and had a 4 1/2" beard.
The tom was shot on May 3 at 6:05. He was the result of an earlier hunting effort. I'd gotten this bird to gobble before, but the first time I raised him, he wandered off in the opposite direction, probably with hens. When I went back about a week later to hunt him, I came at his roost from a different direction. I hoot-owled and he half gobbled, so I started into the woods in his direction. One more hoot and resulting gobble gave me a better bearing on his direction, and I eased closer to his roost. Then a woodpecker sounded off, and he gobbled again pretty loudly. Scared that I'd spook him, I decided to go ahead and set up, so I put my decoy about 20 yards out, and settled in to call. A few purrs, low yelps, and some leaf scratching got his attention, and he flew down and began to gobble some more. The gobbling faded a bit, and I thought this bird had wandered off again. So I purred a little more and then shut up. He knew where I was, and I figured that if he was going to come, he was going to come. At about 6:00, he saw my decoy and gobbled right on top of me, and I eased my gun up. The bird slipped in perfectly from my left and was moving toward my decoy in full strut when I got him. He went 18 lbs. and had spurs of 3/4" and 15/16". This tom was triple-bearded and had beards of 9 3/4", 3 5/8", and 1 1/2". Probably a two-year old judging from his spurs.
Both birds were taken with a matte black Remington 870 Express Super Magnum with an XF Star Dot Choke and Tru Glo fiber optic sights. I used 3 inch, 6 shot Winchester Supreme HV turkey loads.
, Art