**Team 21 "The Last Gobble"** 2009 CONTEST CHAMPIONS
03-12-2009, 06:36 PM
#81
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Jackson, TN
Posts: 836
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
Swamp - thanks for the kudos.
Your vote ended the team voting - The Last Gobble it is.
I caught this crazy turkey asleep in a small green field with a bunch of hens. No joke.
It was the second day of the season on my cousin's farm near where I grew up at Reelfoot Lake in NW Tennessee. Cold and rainy. I had killed a nice bird the previous day in better weather. Spent the morning huddled up in a covered deer stand out of the weather with B-mobile and his girls. Not much happened but I kept hearing faint, sporatic gobbling behind me in a small field about 400-500 yards away. About noon the rain slowed and I decided to investigate the gobbling.
I saw the turkeys from a long way off - a strutter and several hens. I snuck up for a closer look and was able to get within about 150 yards of them by using the building below a cellphone tower for cover (the towerand building housing the electronics was constructedon the highest point of the farm and the turkeys were slightly below it). I peeked around the corner of the building and saw the hens, the strutter, and another turkey standing motionless that was an obvious longbeard but I couldn't see its head. I watched him for 15 minutes through the binos and he never moved a muscle. His head was either tucked under the offside wing or laying down sideways against his body. After a bit more time watching him I determined he must be asleep, or sick or something. He never moved.
Fortunately he was standing near a wooded draw and I figured that if I could get down away from that tower without spooking all the birds and alerting him that I mightbe able tosneek up on him.So I crawled down the hill away from the tower, keeping it between the feeding turkeys and myself. Once at the bottom I simply made a big circle around to that wooded draw and starting sneeking through it toward the sleeper. As I got close to the edge I quietly unsnapped the Butler Creek scope covers and creeped to the edge. As I got to the edge I could see that all the hens and the strutter were no longer around. I looked to the left and there he stood in the same position about 25 yards away in the field, head still down but the beard clearly sticking out.
I slowly lower my self down in the weeds, raised my gun to my shoulder, and slowly stood backup. To my astonishment the scope had too much water on the lens for me to clearly see the bird. Dang it. I carry one of those small lens cleaning cloths in my fanny pack, so I slowly lowered myself back down into the weeds. I unzipped the fanny pack, one zipper at a time, got out the lens cloth and wiped the lens. I then remounted the gun and slowly raised up - turkey was still there, motionless with his head down. A sharp cut on a mouth call woke him up - bang - flop.
Since then I have spoken toone other hunter who has observedturkeys apparently asleep, standing motionless like this one. True story, scouts honor. I suppose if you hunt these crazy things long enough you eventually see everything.
Mouthcaller
Your vote ended the team voting - The Last Gobble it is.
I caught this crazy turkey asleep in a small green field with a bunch of hens. No joke.
It was the second day of the season on my cousin's farm near where I grew up at Reelfoot Lake in NW Tennessee. Cold and rainy. I had killed a nice bird the previous day in better weather. Spent the morning huddled up in a covered deer stand out of the weather with B-mobile and his girls. Not much happened but I kept hearing faint, sporatic gobbling behind me in a small field about 400-500 yards away. About noon the rain slowed and I decided to investigate the gobbling.
I saw the turkeys from a long way off - a strutter and several hens. I snuck up for a closer look and was able to get within about 150 yards of them by using the building below a cellphone tower for cover (the towerand building housing the electronics was constructedon the highest point of the farm and the turkeys were slightly below it). I peeked around the corner of the building and saw the hens, the strutter, and another turkey standing motionless that was an obvious longbeard but I couldn't see its head. I watched him for 15 minutes through the binos and he never moved a muscle. His head was either tucked under the offside wing or laying down sideways against his body. After a bit more time watching him I determined he must be asleep, or sick or something. He never moved.
Fortunately he was standing near a wooded draw and I figured that if I could get down away from that tower without spooking all the birds and alerting him that I mightbe able tosneek up on him.So I crawled down the hill away from the tower, keeping it between the feeding turkeys and myself. Once at the bottom I simply made a big circle around to that wooded draw and starting sneeking through it toward the sleeper. As I got close to the edge I quietly unsnapped the Butler Creek scope covers and creeped to the edge. As I got to the edge I could see that all the hens and the strutter were no longer around. I looked to the left and there he stood in the same position about 25 yards away in the field, head still down but the beard clearly sticking out.
I slowly lower my self down in the weeds, raised my gun to my shoulder, and slowly stood backup. To my astonishment the scope had too much water on the lens for me to clearly see the bird. Dang it. I carry one of those small lens cleaning cloths in my fanny pack, so I slowly lowered myself back down into the weeds. I unzipped the fanny pack, one zipper at a time, got out the lens cloth and wiped the lens. I then remounted the gun and slowly raised up - turkey was still there, motionless with his head down. A sharp cut on a mouth call woke him up - bang - flop.
Since then I have spoken toone other hunter who has observedturkeys apparently asleep, standing motionless like this one. True story, scouts honor. I suppose if you hunt these crazy things long enough you eventually see everything.
Mouthcaller
03-12-2009, 06:47 PM
#82
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Jackson, TN
Posts: 836
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
A quick shout out to my son Peter (doall hunter) who is on our team. He turned 13 today and received a lifetime Tennessee hunting license. He will never have to buy any state hunting or fishing license, tags, quota tags, WMA license, etc. in Tennesse for the rest of his life. Whata deal. I wish I had one of those.
He gets the first crack on the Tennessee youth hunt this weekend (March 21-22).
Mouthcaller
He gets the first crack on the Tennessee youth hunt this weekend (March 21-22).
Mouthcaller
03-12-2009, 07:27 PM
#84
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,570
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
ORIGINAL: HOGHUNTINGUNLIMITED
Ok... I don't know if you guys will like it or not, but I made an avatar
! Let me know if you think I should add anything! Save it in your computer and then you should be able to go to your profile and upload it if you like it.
Ok... I don't know if you guys will like it or not, but I made an avatar
! Let me know if you think I should add anything! Save it in your computer and then you should be able to go to your profile and upload it if you like it.
03-12-2009, 09:19 PM
#86
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Indiana
Posts: 38
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
Oh yea happy birthday doall.Congrats on a great present.You should be very thankfull for that.For one you got the gift that truly last a lifetime,and two some states quit selling them like here in indiana.
03-13-2009, 06:57 AM
#89
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,570
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
ORIGINAL: mouthcaller
A quick shout out to my son Peter (doall hunter) who is on our team. He turned 13 today and received a lifetime Tennessee hunting license. He will never have to buy any state hunting or fishing license, tags, quota tags, WMA license, etc. in Tennesse for the rest of his life. Whata deal. I wish I had one of those.
He gets the first crack on the Tennessee youth hunt this weekend (March 21-22).
Mouthcaller
A quick shout out to my son Peter (doall hunter) who is on our team. He turned 13 today and received a lifetime Tennessee hunting license. He will never have to buy any state hunting or fishing license, tags, quota tags, WMA license, etc. in Tennesse for the rest of his life. Whata deal. I wish I had one of those.
He gets the first crack on the Tennessee youth hunt this weekend (March 21-22).
Mouthcaller
03-13-2009, 07:00 AM
#90
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,570
RE: Team 21 NEW!!!
ORIGINAL: mouthcaller
Well, I got me an avatar. Never had one of those before. Thanks for making this for the Team HHU. Well done I think.
Mouthcaller
Well, I got me an avatar. Never had one of those before. Thanks for making this for the Team HHU. Well done I think.
Mouthcaller