Matchbook454

Here it is - 9-15/16" beard, 3/4" & 3/4" spurs, 19 lb. 7 oz. Just an avg. 2 yr. old but a Tom none the less. Shot him this morning at 6:00 a.m. sharp in Warren cty. IL. Opening day of our 3rd season. This was one of the best hunts I have ever had. This is new property about 3 1/2 hrs. south of me. I scouted it in the beginning of March and couldn't believe the turkey sign. I talked to the land owner and he said there were a lot of turkeys, that's all. Well, there are a LOT of turkeys on this property. I had AT LEAST 12 mature Toms roosted on the creek bottom less than 100 yards below the field I was hunting. When they started gobbling around 5:30 I said to myself - this is going to get really exciting shortly. All the Toms dropped down in the bottom but some of the hens flew into the field in front of and behind my blind. I seriously lost track of how many birds were in the field. Most of the Toms came out of the timber/bottom about 75 yards south of me. I wasn't worried as There were plenty more all around me still in the creek bottom. I just sat tight and did what I needed to do calling wise and worked 2 toms in. They came out of the bottom about 40 yards from me which was close enough for me but they were too close together to ethically shoot as I only had 1 tag for this county and time period. I waited for them to separate and when they did they were about 30 yards now. I hammered the strutter after he stuck his head up for me. It was an exciting hunt and one of the best parts was witnessing a Tom breed either 3 hens or 1 hen 3 times or WHATEVER! Seen it on tv but never in person after years and years of hunting.
Anyway, he scored 54.3125". 19 lbs. 7 oz, 9-15/16" beard, 3/4" and 3/4" spurs.