Man o man what an unbelievable morning!!!
I've got to share these pix of my sons, Nick (10) and Mathew (9), and the awesome trophy birds they took this morning on our Fulton county property. Both, by the way, were their FIRST turkeys ever!
Nicks bird came in just before 7 AM and strutted up to our DSD Decoys, offering him a 17 yard shot and as you can see, big brother made good on his first shot at a Gobbler. We jumped out of the blind and after the high-fives, hugs and congrats we snapped some photos of his trophy bird and couldn't have guessed what was about to happen next! The entire time we were snapping photos, we could hear other birds gobbling up along the ridge bordering the creek. Before leaving I told the boys that we should throw out some more calls and see if anything answered. After the first couple yelps from the Wood Haven Legend Slate, booming gobbles shot out just to the West of us. It was as fast as we could jump back in the blind and get the T/C Encore loaded that we could see three more birds on top of the ridge directly across from us, on the other side of the creek. A couple more soft yelps and some cluck 'n purr on the slate had them trotting our way and they actually glided over the creek, landing directly behind our blind. When they passed our blind at only 6 yards, Mathew dropped the hammer on the longest bearded bird in the bunch! The time was only 7:30! Without a doubt, the most action packed half hour I've ever spent in the woods!
Stats on the birds,
Nicks tom weighed an impressive 25 lbs, and sported not one but TWO beards that measured over 9" each. He also carried 1" spurs. Score - 84
Mathews tom weighed 20 lbs with a 10 3/8" beard and wicked 1 3/8" spurs. Score - 68
No doubt, these boys may spend a long time trying to top these two trophy birds!
IL Youth Season Success
I bet you're the proudest dad in Fulton County!!!
