Team 3 Sons of Fanarchy
05-01-2015, 02:50 AM
#181
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tuscaloosa AL
Posts: 609
Good luck to everyone still out there walkin out those turkey woods. I've hunted all day for the last 7 and now season has come to an end. Had some close calls and have really enjoyed calling in a few for others, but never pulled the trigger myself. Now time to get my butt back to work.......
05-02-2015, 10:46 AM
#182
Spike
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Western Maryland
Posts: 87
You can finally put me on the board. It's the third week into the Maryland season and three years running now I've put a bird down the first Saturday in May. There's still a couple of weeks left to our season so I'll be out hunting a few more times.
Story:
I'm surprised this bird even came into my setup. On opening day, this very bird busted me and my camera man in our tent blind. I'm not sure if it was me bumping the blind with my gun or the jerky movements of the video camera, but something stopped this bird in his tracks at 50 yards and had him turn on a dime away from us. I have a video of him coming in opening day and getting spooked, see the bottom of this post. Despite that upset, we saw several longbeards that weekend, even had three big boys hang up at 40 yards the second day. I'm not confident enough in my 20 gauge to make a 40 yard shot, so I let them walk. We even had some hens come into the Avian X hen decoys, fuss at the decoys, then have a little smackdown. All made for exciting times and great videos.
Last weekend, the weather wasn't exactly ideal and even though we did see a shooter and several hens Saturday, we got out of the fields early when it started sleeting. My camera man even talked me out of going Sunday, which wasn't too hard on his part since I hadn't had a full night's sleep in two weeks. So I wimped out.
But this morning I jumped out of bed at 2am raring to go. Instead of sitting with my camera man like I normally do, I had him sit at the bottom of the field in a tent blind about 80 yards from me on a hedgerow. I took the decoys up the field and sat in the crook of a chestnut tree against a rock barrier that separates some of the fields. No sooner had I tossed up my stake blind did I hear a gobble on the edge of the woods maybe 180 yards from me, right where the same bird had roosted when we spooked him two weeks prior.
After flydown, he came in and hung up at 60 yards. He was incredibly wary. He'd strut for several seconds, then stick his head up and stare dead at me and decoys for 20-30 seconds. He repeated this process for the entire hour and a half he was in the field. At one point, a pair of hens flew down and he wandered off in pursuit of them. I assumed he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so I let the gun rest in my lap. After the hens milled about for a while, they started leading the strutter roughly in my direction again, bringing him back to the 60 yard mark. Only this time, when the hens kept walking up the field to leave, he didn't follow. He came in very, very slowly... about a yard a minute and with his head up and eyes on me the entire way. I was quivering uncontrollably with excitement so I figured he was going to spot me and run. But once he hit that 30 yard mark, I knew the game was over. I put the bead on his head and waited several minutes before shooting so my camera man could get some good footage. He sparred with my jake decoy several times at 15 yards before ultimately being jellyheaded. The video of his demise should be linked below.
Score:
Hunters Name: xOEDragonx
State the bird was harvested: MD
Date of Kill: 5/2/2015
Time: 7:06 AM
Method of Take: Shotgun
Species: Eastern
Sex: Male
Lbs: 22 Oz: 8
Rt Spur Length: 1.25"
Lft Spur length: .94" (Damaged, from fighting?)
No of Beards: 1
Length: 9.25"
Final Score: 62.925
Pictures:
Links to Various Videos I'd Like To Share:
Spooked Bird Opening Day- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehaYvoa-SWM
Hens Fighting (Fight is at 5 minute mark)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkk-yU44f_U
Birds Just Out of Range- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBq-m1E157M
Bird Down 5/2/2015- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5U0UaOvFw
Story:
I'm surprised this bird even came into my setup. On opening day, this very bird busted me and my camera man in our tent blind. I'm not sure if it was me bumping the blind with my gun or the jerky movements of the video camera, but something stopped this bird in his tracks at 50 yards and had him turn on a dime away from us. I have a video of him coming in opening day and getting spooked, see the bottom of this post. Despite that upset, we saw several longbeards that weekend, even had three big boys hang up at 40 yards the second day. I'm not confident enough in my 20 gauge to make a 40 yard shot, so I let them walk. We even had some hens come into the Avian X hen decoys, fuss at the decoys, then have a little smackdown. All made for exciting times and great videos.
Last weekend, the weather wasn't exactly ideal and even though we did see a shooter and several hens Saturday, we got out of the fields early when it started sleeting. My camera man even talked me out of going Sunday, which wasn't too hard on his part since I hadn't had a full night's sleep in two weeks. So I wimped out.
But this morning I jumped out of bed at 2am raring to go. Instead of sitting with my camera man like I normally do, I had him sit at the bottom of the field in a tent blind about 80 yards from me on a hedgerow. I took the decoys up the field and sat in the crook of a chestnut tree against a rock barrier that separates some of the fields. No sooner had I tossed up my stake blind did I hear a gobble on the edge of the woods maybe 180 yards from me, right where the same bird had roosted when we spooked him two weeks prior.
After flydown, he came in and hung up at 60 yards. He was incredibly wary. He'd strut for several seconds, then stick his head up and stare dead at me and decoys for 20-30 seconds. He repeated this process for the entire hour and a half he was in the field. At one point, a pair of hens flew down and he wandered off in pursuit of them. I assumed he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so I let the gun rest in my lap. After the hens milled about for a while, they started leading the strutter roughly in my direction again, bringing him back to the 60 yard mark. Only this time, when the hens kept walking up the field to leave, he didn't follow. He came in very, very slowly... about a yard a minute and with his head up and eyes on me the entire way. I was quivering uncontrollably with excitement so I figured he was going to spot me and run. But once he hit that 30 yard mark, I knew the game was over. I put the bead on his head and waited several minutes before shooting so my camera man could get some good footage. He sparred with my jake decoy several times at 15 yards before ultimately being jellyheaded. The video of his demise should be linked below.
Score:
Hunters Name: xOEDragonx
State the bird was harvested: MD
Date of Kill: 5/2/2015
Time: 7:06 AM
Method of Take: Shotgun
Species: Eastern
Sex: Male
Lbs: 22 Oz: 8
Rt Spur Length: 1.25"
Lft Spur length: .94" (Damaged, from fighting?)
No of Beards: 1
Length: 9.25"
Final Score: 62.925
Pictures:
Links to Various Videos I'd Like To Share:
Spooked Bird Opening Day- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehaYvoa-SWM
Hens Fighting (Fight is at 5 minute mark)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkk-yU44f_U
Birds Just Out of Range- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBq-m1E157M
Bird Down 5/2/2015- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP5U0UaOvFw
Last edited by xOEDragonx; 05-02-2015 at 01:55 PM.
05-02-2015, 09:46 PM
#183
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hatton, Alabama
Posts: 520
Good luck to everyone still out there walkin out those turkey woods. I've hunted all day for the last 7 and now season has come to an end. Had some close calls and have really enjoyed calling in a few for others, but never pulled the trigger myself. Now time to get my butt back to work.......
05-03-2015, 11:49 AM
#184
Typical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Hubbard Lake, Michigan
Posts: 914
Congrats oedragonx! Great video and awsome bird! That puts some much needed points on the board for the team. Keep at it and good luck to all who are still lucky enough to be out there after em!
Took my youngest out this mornin for what looks like the last hunt of the year. Big goose egg. No gobbles no birds. Hunted the least this year i havw since i started turkey hunting. Only three days, we got two and came as close as you cant get on one.
We still got a good shot at winning this thing! Good luck again!
Took my youngest out this mornin for what looks like the last hunt of the year. Big goose egg. No gobbles no birds. Hunted the least this year i havw since i started turkey hunting. Only three days, we got two and came as close as you cant get on one.
We still got a good shot at winning this thing! Good luck again!
05-04-2015, 08:52 AM
#190
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Turkey-Town Kansas
Posts: 344
OEDragonX
AWESOME videos!! It's funny how ya can get an image of someone in your head from what they type on here... I never figured you were a girl
You sure put on a clinic on how to do it right!! Patience (or lack of) is what does most of us in, but you did a spectacular job, start to finish! You should have your own hunting show!
My Daughter took her first bird last year and I am taking my wife out on Mothers day to try and get her first! I'll be showing her your videos this evening!
Great job!!!
BDB
AWESOME videos!! It's funny how ya can get an image of someone in your head from what they type on here... I never figured you were a girl
You sure put on a clinic on how to do it right!! Patience (or lack of) is what does most of us in, but you did a spectacular job, start to finish! You should have your own hunting show!
My Daughter took her first bird last year and I am taking my wife out on Mothers day to try and get her first! I'll be showing her your videos this evening!
Great job!!!
BDB