Well guys, after 9 years of turkey hunting, yesterday morning I bagged my first bird! Here is a short re-cap of the hunt.......
I have been seeing 5 turkeys (4 hens and a gobbler) in my field daily for the past 2 weeks at 8:35 a.m.
Well, yesterday (Saturday, Oct 30th 2004) was the opening of fall turkey hunting here in PA so I took the morning off from archery hunting to go set-up and hopefully get a bird. I was debating wether or not to take my bow, but I decided to take my shotgun as I could get some long shots in this field! Well, at 6:35a.m. I was set-up and ready to wait for the turkeys to come out! At about 8:00a.m. I heard the turkeys over 100 yards behind me and they were headed my way. They came in to the edge of the woods but never stepped into the field and they were about 70 yards down the field from me! Well, it got quiet for about 20 minutes and finally I heard them yelp and they were further back away from me than where they roosted in the morning! Well, I was bummed out and I didn't know what to do. I finally decided to pull out my mouth call and exactly immitate the hen that was yelping. When she yelped, I yelped, when she started cutting, I would cut...... Well, I could hear her getting closer and closer! Finally, I heard a twig snap behind me and I turned to see the turkeys behind me in the woods! They were headed up the hill from behind me and I thought that they were gonna head to the top part of the field! All of a sudden, they just turned and started right at me. They walked past me at no more than 5 yards and I thought for sure I was gonna get busted. The lead hen got into the field and went crazy. She was yelping and cutting while practically running around trying to find the intruder hen. Her 3 friend hens came out and stopped at about 25 yards and just looked in my direction! I was sitting indian style with my shotgun butt on the ground and the barrel aimed in the air! Well, I just catch movement to my right and there the gobbler is at about 15 yards. He stepped into the field and shook off the water on him, then went right into a strut. He was strutting for about 10 minutes before he finally put his head up. When he did, I slowly lowered my gun while the hens watched. He must of caught movement as he turned and looked right at me, but it was too late, I had my shotgun on his head, safety off, and I squeezed the trigger to see him go down like a ton of bricks!
I shot him with a 12 gauge Remington 870 Express Magnum with a Super Full H.S. Undertaker Choke tube shooting 3" Remington Hevi-Shot magnum shells.
Here are some stats.....
17.1#
1" spurs on both sides
10-1/4" beard
Here he is
After 9 years, I finally got one...... PICS!!!!!
