Team 1 Strut Stoppers
04-28-2017, 12:53 PM
#102
Spike
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Western Maryland
Posts: 87
Just ended my Maryland season almost four weeks early. This bird doesn't beat the score of my first, but it's still a big deal for me. This is my first ever public land bird, and the time I put into patterning him and his two equally decent brothers paid off.
I had a pretty good idea when and where they were gonna be, I was just hoping no one else messed me up because I was hunting maybe 100 yards from the road on the single heaviest hunted road in our state forest. I was settled in by 4:30am. Another guy parked nearby and went in on the opposite side of the road from me around 5:50am. Never heard a single bird gobble anywhere-- which is exactly what I was hoping for. Think I heard about 100 owls though. That guy decided to up and leave by 7:00am and he flushed a hen down to me who landed in a pine tree not 20 yards from me and sat there for almost 30 minutes before flying down and wandering off. Then it went quiet for a while.
Around 9:00am I heard a bird (not one I patterned) gobbling very far off and I'd give him a yelp now and then and I could hear him closing the distance and hollering back at me. About 9:15am I could see a hen milling about in the clearing of a power line about 50 yards from me, and the gobbling bird was probably within 250 yards. I was getting nervous by 9:30am since I had figured on the three birds arriving by 9:00am to my setup. Suddenly a guy decides to blow a hoot call halfway between me and the approaching bird, to which the bird responds. Great, well that one's a goner. I don't know what compelled the guy to hoot again but on the second hoot, three birds lit up about 80 yards from me. These were the three I was waiting on. They came into visual range and hung up at 50 yards, strutting for the hen on the powerline. The hen eventually made her way into the woods and away from me and my decoy. The gobblers looked like they were going to follow her. I started raking the leaves just outside my blind with my hand and gave a few very soft clucks. They turned and headed right for my decoy. The brush was thick enough that I couldn't make out which of the three was the biggest, but I'd seen them yesterday and knew they were all very similar looking so I took the first one that came in to range and presented me with a perfect, clean shot at 35 yards.
It definitely made for an exciting day. My heart took off the moment those birds gobbled out of no where in response to the owl call and I'm not sure it's slowed down yet.
Beard = 9.5 inches
Left Spur = 5/8 inch
Right Spur = 11/16 inch
Weight = 14 lbs 15 oz
I had a pretty good idea when and where they were gonna be, I was just hoping no one else messed me up because I was hunting maybe 100 yards from the road on the single heaviest hunted road in our state forest. I was settled in by 4:30am. Another guy parked nearby and went in on the opposite side of the road from me around 5:50am. Never heard a single bird gobble anywhere-- which is exactly what I was hoping for. Think I heard about 100 owls though. That guy decided to up and leave by 7:00am and he flushed a hen down to me who landed in a pine tree not 20 yards from me and sat there for almost 30 minutes before flying down and wandering off. Then it went quiet for a while.
Around 9:00am I heard a bird (not one I patterned) gobbling very far off and I'd give him a yelp now and then and I could hear him closing the distance and hollering back at me. About 9:15am I could see a hen milling about in the clearing of a power line about 50 yards from me, and the gobbling bird was probably within 250 yards. I was getting nervous by 9:30am since I had figured on the three birds arriving by 9:00am to my setup. Suddenly a guy decides to blow a hoot call halfway between me and the approaching bird, to which the bird responds. Great, well that one's a goner. I don't know what compelled the guy to hoot again but on the second hoot, three birds lit up about 80 yards from me. These were the three I was waiting on. They came into visual range and hung up at 50 yards, strutting for the hen on the powerline. The hen eventually made her way into the woods and away from me and my decoy. The gobblers looked like they were going to follow her. I started raking the leaves just outside my blind with my hand and gave a few very soft clucks. They turned and headed right for my decoy. The brush was thick enough that I couldn't make out which of the three was the biggest, but I'd seen them yesterday and knew they were all very similar looking so I took the first one that came in to range and presented me with a perfect, clean shot at 35 yards.
It definitely made for an exciting day. My heart took off the moment those birds gobbled out of no where in response to the owl call and I'm not sure it's slowed down yet.
Beard = 9.5 inches
Left Spur = 5/8 inch
Right Spur = 11/16 inch
Weight = 14 lbs 15 oz
04-28-2017, 05:40 PM
#105
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Lutz, Florida. Turkey woods in the spring.
Posts: 1,143
DragonX...Congrats on finishing your season off with an exciting public land bird. We only hunt public land birds down here in Florida so I understand how things can be. Lol. What ever happened to the guy doing the owl hooting? Did you ever run into him? I enjoyed reading your post, it felt like many public land hunts we have been on.
Ray
Ray
04-29-2017, 04:05 AM
#109
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Circleville Oh
Posts: 962
It's been a strange season so far for me, most of the toms are still with hens and don't want to play. I called in all at the same time 4 jakes and 4 long beards. Not that first bird gobbled or went into a strut, even after seeing my decoy! As soon as I had a clear shot I took the biggest bird I had a shot at, the jakes were getting nervous and starting to leave and I was afraid the long beards would do the same.
beard 10'
left spur 7/8
right spur 7/8
weight 19.0 lbs
beard 10'
left spur 7/8
right spur 7/8
weight 19.0 lbs
