I'm not one of those folks who went out and killed a bird the first time they go out, lol...took me 3 years of hunting them before I got my first in 2001,thank God I have been getting one or two every year since...
I think I'm up to 11 or 12...at least 11....I started hunting in "99" , the years I have gotten one bird have all been at the last minute and I'm out there every hunt all day , i put mad hours into scouting each year, i know where they are , I just can't get them to connect with me, so I still have those days., but when it happens, and it will happen,nothing else matters but that moment.....be patient, learn all that you can from us(i'm still learning)and from putting in the time...before long it'll happen.
I did a search and found the post i made of one of the most incredible hunts I have ever had.....my swamp bird.
i have been posting on ushf about hunting this weekend so some of y'all are firmiliar with what happened but for you that dont know basically, i had this bird come in 2 days in a row, the one time ,he was about 10 yds away and he wouldnt come out from behind the cabbage palm, then he flewthe canaland i spooked him going after him, hard lesson learned there and the next day(sun) i had a single palm frond between me and him and he saw me shaking uncontrollablly, lol.....he putted once and took off, thought about shooting him on the run but decided against it...he started right back gobbling though so i knew he wasnt too spooked.......heres the story:
After the 2 days of that emotional rollarcoaster i was on, i finallygot him.....@ 6:38 a.m.
i was listening for gobbles, i heard one to the north, but fl.huntress called and wouldnt be quiet, she didnt hear me shhhh her, so i couldnt pin point his whereabouts, i decided to go where i was, i knew he'd be there somewhere, well i heard a gobble waaaaaaaaay in there and i hauled butt to it,got within 100 yds of the gobble and i sat down and started to call him in, he hung up about 60 yds, he kept circling me, but he wouldnt come in, he knew i was in there, lol......so i said screw it, i moved, i was gi jane, lmao.......crawling on my hands and knees, then i would pop up by a tree , listen , after doing that a couple of times, i sat down and gotready, i clucked, just so he'd know i was there and i waited...he came in gobbling, i saw white and boom, i wasn't taking any chances of him getting away today, lol.........the date on the camera is wrong, just realized that today, so the date is wrong...lol...
his offical stats are:beard 9 3/4
17.5 lbs
spurs:1 1/4 and you ready....the other was 1 1/2 inches
i know it was him, it has to be......that beard looked 11 '' yesterday when he was next to me, lol.but thats ok...now i'm going to bed, i've had about 13 hours of sleep since thur.
here's the video of me walking up to my bird(Caution: I had a potty mouth)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v382/HuntnMa/?action=view&current=100_2209.flv
Every hunt is special, even the ones that were just lessons learned(the hard way, lol)...seems like every hunt just gets better and better, last year was so amazing that i doubt I can ever top it,but this is the 1st bird that I went outside of my safe zone for and because I did, i got him...don't be afraid tochange your way of hunting, try new things, try old things forgotten.
RE: how many turkeys have you gotten?
fall '08 bird
Spring '08 - Bird 1
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