I finished tagging out Saturday. Tack 61.25 onto our team total.
It's been a real rough year - had a couple big birds patterned, but things just didn't come together there. The early part of my season was handicapped by a lingering hockey injury.
Thursday, I got into THE bird that I wanted. I blew my whole season on this guy, and finally got him in the right mood. Long story short, I got in a big rush and rolled him. Gone.
So Saturday, I was still a little upset at myself - no real interest in turkeyhunting, but I wanted to get out there and call for someone... So I offered to take my cousin out and try to get him a bird. Right at flydown, we located a bird really far off - gobbled maybe 5x, then went silent. 15 minutes of silence ensued... And just as we were about to gather up the dekes and start trolling - the bird hammered right in front of us. Within 60 seconds, he materialized and R.J. wiped him out. He was definitely a happy guy. First tom ever.
17#
1 1/8" spurs
10" beard
Afterward, we decided to hit a few areas and try to spark up a tom and close out the season with a 2-bird day. At about 10:30, we were trolling the gamelands and hit a bird that was gobbling hot and heavy. We got set even on the hill, maybe 200-250 out. After a half-hour of working him, he was finally in view. He hung up at 38 yards - so I gave him a few hard cutts, got him firing off a few times... A good Putt to get him to crane his neck up high - and it was Game Over.
Really pretty bird - it had rained for a few days straight - so his feathers were cleaned and he had just finished drying off. Really great irridescent coloration. Great cape on this tom.
18#
1 1/4 & 1 1/8" spurs
9 3/4" beard
These were both two really great birds for the areas we hunt. Not enormous, but good 3-year olds. The breeding season is obviously taking its toll, b/c I'd bet both of these birds were at or over 20 pounds at the beginning of the season.
RE: Team 1- "Strut Busters"
*sigh*
