Man I truly think that killing a turkey is harder than killing a deer.
I've been trying to find the turkeys for two weeks now. I finally got lucky this morning. Got out of the truck just as daylight was breaking and hadn't taken five steps when I heard a turkey "gobble" I sneaked the next couple of hundred yards to the old shooting house next to one of my food plots. The whole time the Tom was gobbling his fool head off. It finally got full daylight and a flock of geese flew over head honking like crazy, the woods came alive with gobblers, I could hear three different turkeys gobbling.
Finally the bird closest to me flew off the roost, instead of coming my way he was headed for the next ridge. Try as I might I just couldn't turn him my way, I sat frustrated as his gobbles melted into the distance.
Around 9:30 I heard somthing coming down the ridge to my right. Three does stepped into the food plot, one of which was obviously pregnant. I thought to myself "well at least I saw somthing." The rest of the morning went by without any more excitement untill around 10:45 when I heard movement to my left, four more deer. As I was watching them make there way to the food plot I glanced in front of me, standing not 30 yards away stood a hen turkey. She watched the deer for a moment then decided that they were making way to much noise for comfort and she quietly walked back into the woods. I again focused on the deer, three of which had by now entered the plot in front of me. All of a sudden they stopped feeding and were staring into the woods to my right. I saw movement and could tell that they were turkeys, three hens came out but I could see two more standing in the brush. All of a sudden the two turkeys still in the woods went into full strut, man my heart was pounding. They were too far and it was just too thick to risk a shot. The hens were feeding away from me and I figured the two Toms would follow them. But after what seemed an eternity they both stepped out in front of me. They were a bit far, [45 yards or so] but I knew the old Remington 12 gauge Mag with the extra full turkey choke was up to the task. As one of them stuck his big red head out to gobble I let loose with a 3 inch charge of #5 shot. He fell in his tracks. All hell broke loose then with deer and turkeys going in every direction. To my amazement the other Tom just stood there looking at his buddy. Unfortunatly the limit on turkeys here in Tn. is four per season but only one a day. I'll save this bird for someone else, any volunteers Lon?
Here are a few pics of todays hunt, I wish I had taken a picture of the bird after I shoot but with all the excitement I forgot.
Heres a pic a couple of min. before the shot.
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Last edited by tnbowhunter : 04-07-2008 at 03:25 PM.
Man I truly think that killing a turkey is harder than killing a deer.
I've been trying to find the turkeys for two weeks now. I finally got lucky this morning. Got out of the truck just as daylight was breaking and hadn't taken five steps when I heard a turkey "gobble" I sneaked the next couple of hundred yards to the old shooting house next to one of my food plots. The whole time the Tom was gobbling his fool head off. It finally got full daylight and a flock of geese flew over head honking like crazy, the woods came alive with gobblers, I could hear three different turkeys gobbling.
Finally the bird closest to me flew off the roost, instead of coming my way he was headed for the next ridge. Try as I might I just couldn't turn him my way, I sat frustrated as his gobbles melted into the distance.
Around 9:30 I heard somthing coming down the ridge to my right. Three does stepped into the food plot, one of which was obviously pregnant. I thought to myself "well at least I saw somthing." The rest of the morning went by without any more excitement untill around 10:45 when I heard movement to my left, four more deer. As I was watching them make there way to the food plot I glanced in front of me, standing not 30 yards away stood a hen turkey. She watched the deer for a moment then decided that they were making way to much noise for comfort and she quietly walked back into the woods. I again focused on the deer, three of which had by now entered the plot in front of me. All of a sudden they stopped feeding and were staring into the woods to my right. I saw movement and could tell that they were turkeys, three hens came out but I could see two more standing in the brush. All of a sudden the two turkeys still in the woods went into full strut, man my heart was pounding. They were too far and it was just too thick to risk a shot. The hens were feeding away from me and I figured the two Toms would follow them. But after what seemed an eternity they both stepped out in front of me. They were a bit far, [45 yards or so] but I knew the old Remington 12 gauge Mag with the extra full turkey choke was up to the task. As one of them stuck his big red head out to gobble I let loose with a 3 inch charge of #5 shot. He fell in his tracks. All hell broke loose then with deer and turkeys going in every direction. To my amazement the other Tom just stood there looking at his buddy. Unfortunatly the limit on turkeys here in Tn. is four per season but only one a day. I'll save this bird for someone else, any volunteers Lon?
Here are a few pics of todays hunt, I wish I had taken a picture of the bird after I shoot but with all the excitement I forgot.
Heres a pic a couple of min. before the shot.
Holy Crap, sounds like rush hour!!!!
Nice bird!
Ready when you are. . .
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Nice gobbler! opening day here is saturday so after seen those pics im pumped!
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Congratulations on the gobbler... you'll be hooked now. I've been chasing them since my mid-teens. It's a toss up as to which is more difficult, bowhunting for deer or spring gobbler season. I love both.
I've gotten a couple so far this season. I turkey hunt here in Alabama, but also in northern Florida, where my family has access to some land. It's loaded w/ turkeys, and is flatter, which makes it much easier to hunt them.
Later....
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Nice gobbler! opening day here is saturday so after seen those pics im pumped!
Good luck to ya this weekend, hope you get a monster. Your weather will probably be a lot like ours, it's supposed to cool down some. Hope the turkeys are on the move for you.
Congratulations on the gobbler... you'll be hooked now. I've been chasing them since my mid-teens. It's a toss up as to which is more difficult, bowhunting for deer or spring gobbler season. I love both.
I've gotten a couple so far this season. I turkey hunt here in Alabama, but also in northern Florida, where my family has access to some land. It's loaded w/ turkeys, and is flatter, which makes it much easier to hunt them.
Later....
Thanks for the props. Yes i'm hooked, although I still like bow hunting whitetails a bit more. Either one is tough and a challenge. Hopefully i'll take my turkey next year with a bow.
Congrats on your kills this year. The Florida property sounds great, especially the "flatter" part. As you can see in the pics most of my property is straight up and down, with lots and lots of hollows. Makes patterning anything pretty tough.
Congrats on the bird!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like a nice one.45 yds with a bow is gonna be a little harder than the 12 ga.!!!lol. Have you had any luck with decoys D?????? I haven't tried turkeys yet but I have had tons of them around me while deer hunting. I have been thinking about it since the place I hunt deer is open for turkeys the week before it opens for deer. Good job D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats on the bird!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like a nice one.45 yds with a bow is gonna be a little harder than the 12 ga.!!!lol. Have you had any luck with decoys D?????? I haven't tried turkeys yet but I have had tons of them around me while deer hunting. I have been thinking about it since the place I hunt deer is open for turkeys the week before it opens for deer. Good job D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep, your right Mike i'll have to get a bird a LOT closer with the bow to kill it. And yes I have tried decoys and have had mixed success with them. They do help alot if a Tom is coming in but the hens I have seen seem to avoid them. The best luck I have had is to try to get in an area where they have been roosting, call occasionally, be as still as possible, and have lots and lots of luck and patience.
The area of the state where my deer lease is does allow turkeys on the Archery season, but here at home where the turkeys are fewer in number we do not have a Fall season yet. Ironically I see more Turkeys here at home during the deer season.
You and the wife should get out there and give it a try, it's tough but lots of fun, and a great time to do a little post season deer scouting.
Congrats on the turkey, I hadn't seen this post until today. My brother got his first turkey this year, he was some excited.
Thanks for the props helo. I just got lucky, i'm not very good at this Turkey hunting yet, just goes to show ya even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.
Tell your brother congrats for me, it is exciting.
I've stayed out of the woods recently hoping the birds will hang around, but will be taking a friend tomorrow evening. We have had a cold front come through and i'm hoping it won't have a negative impact on Turkey movement, only time will tell.
Thanks for the props helo. I just got lucky, i'm not very good at this Turkey hunting yet, just goes to show ya even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.
Tell your brother congrats for me, it is exciting.
I've stayed out of the woods recently hoping the birds will hang around, but will be taking a friend tomorrow evening. We have had a cold front come through and i'm hoping it won't have a negative impact on Turkey movement, only time will tell.
I have never tried turkey hunting. We don't have very many where I live, they are trying to introduce them here but aren't having much luck. Good luck with your friend tomorrow.
I got this one here is AL this past Sat morning; 17.3 lbs, 8.5" beard, 7/8" spurs. The morning started off rainy, but cleared up about 1 hour after sunrise. This gobbler and another one were in a field with 3 hens. My calling pulled in the hens, with the gobblers following!
I got this one here is AL this past Sat morning; 17.3 lbs, 8.5" beard, 7/8" spurs. The morning started off rainy, but cleared up about 1 hour after sunrise. This gobbler and another one were in a field with 3 hens. My calling pulled in the hens, with the gobblers following!
Good luck on the rest of your season.
Nice bird! Congrats to ya. My bird was just a Jake, but after sitting for so many hours I wasn't going to pass on an opportunity. I saw four different "long beards" before the season started, hopefully they will be after the hens tomorrow.
Looks like you got the Titan in a little mud. I'm lucky, I can walk from the house to the turkey blind, but i'm usually lazy and drive part of the way.
Good luck to you as well for the rest of the season.
04-07-2008, 03:18 PM
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