Went to Kansas to hunt on the opening day with 2 of my friends. I have
never heard or seen so many turkeys in my life and I only hunted for 2 days. We bagged 4 toms the opening day and 2 toms on the 2nd day and
they were all long beards. Here is the specs on my 2 toms.
1st tom
weight=21 lbs 8 oz
left spur=1.25"
right spur=1.25"
beard=10.25"

2nd tom
weight=19 lbs
left spur=1"
right spur=1"
beard=9.5"

Now if I can just get my home state turkeys here in Arkansas to cooperate like the Kansas turkeys life would be wonderful.

Congrats Beardbuster - sounds like you really got into them in Kansas.

That first one is a great turkey - what did he score? 1.25 inch spurs are not an everyday occurance.

What was the story on all those gobbling turkeys? Here in West Tennessee the turkeys are really henned-up. Gobbling on the roast followed by silence after flydown. If you can't get him quick you are better off taking a nap and start hunting again around 10 AM.

Another thing - it is stinking hot. Yesterday's high was a muggy 87.

Team 6 now has 4 turkeys entered in the contest.

The 1st tom scored 67 and the 2nd tom scored 58. On the 1st
morning I bet I heard at least 15 to 20 gobblers from where we set
up. I don't know what the deal was but I have never heard that
many at one time here in Arkansas. I think it was in the mid to high
80's degreeson the 1st day and it was 96 degrees on the 2nd day.

Today was one of those days - you wonder if you got up on the wrong side of the bed, ate the wrong thing for breakfast, etc.

I hunted some hill ground we have today about 65 miles away- 3:15 am wake-up came much too early. It was calm when I left my house but when I got there it was blowing a gale. Didn't hear anything initially. Walked around trying to get the wind in order to hear better but nothing. Decided to walk into the wind until I heard something and finally did. One bird was gobbling near a field. I know the ground well because I coyote hunt there. I really was taking my time trying to figure out where he was before stepping out in to the field to get to him. By his last gobble he sounded like he was in a wooded draw or maybe behind it, leaving me plenty of cover to get close. The wind led me to misjudge the sound, because when I rounded the corner I was stunned to see him standing out in the middle of the field ---- can you say busted. I got on another bird with a lot of hens but couldn't get him to leave them (da - how often does that happen).

I try to learn something everytime I go out - your never too old or experienced to learn something about turkeys. The key learning with today's hunt is --- in a big wind really take your time and slow down approaching a gobbling bird. All the sound around you (wind in the trees, rustling leaves on the ground, etc.) muffles the gobble, even when you are downwind. He might sound far away but he might be just around the corner. Approach with caution.

thanx mouth caller good advice..will try to heed it..i csmoed up my gun today with some h.s. strut gun/bow tape..its a 10 gauge h&r with a super full chhoke and bushnell red/green multi reticicle scope..it looks awesome..man i cant wait till may 1st..o i might buy some more mouth calls..to date i have one knight and hale single reed call, a sla-tec pocket puppy slate call, a primos jackpot glass call, and three different strikers, carbon, and two different woods..anybody had any luck with these calls..or does anybody know of any good mouth calls..i might purchase another..id like more than just one...ok thanx

tim

way to go long beard another score for us!!>....that sux mouthcaller we all have our days and its alll part of what we love to do (HUNT)!...keep at em!...gl all

Got access back to my honey hole the other day. Last year there were 10 longbeards on that place, 2 flocks of about 70 birds each that hang out there. It's incredible the number and size of them birds

I talked to the Landowner and he said they were roostin on the bottom of the hill, and where they were roostin there was 2-3" of turkey slop on the ground! May 1st can't come soon enough

Lostprophet454, I highly recommend Preston Pittman mouthcalls,
that is the only brand that I use and have great luck with them.

Hey teammates! Another bird for Team 6. Got back from my Tennessee hunt yesterday with my first TN bird. Only took 3 years to get him. Talk about some hard hunting down there. Lots of hills around here in SE Ohio but nothing that compares to the mountains around Speedwell and Tazwell in NE Tennessee. Thursday, heard a few on the roost but very little after flydown. Friday, very windy and heard no birds at all but had 4 jakes come into a clover field around 7P.M. before flyup. Too far out of range though and eventually fed out of sight. Saturday was a beautiful morning and heard 3 at first light but got quiet after they got on the ground. Tried to get around on one that we located from shock gobbling and set up on him. We started calling to him only to have the bird head straight up to the top of the mountain but my friend heard another one answering our calls from behind us. Plan B- head up the mountain to get in between the birds and see which one would get there first. The second bird came in from about 400yds gobbling occasionally and I shot him at about 35 yards. A very hard earned turkey! As I said this was my friend's and my third trip to TN to turkey hunt and up to this point all we had got was a coyote I shot on the second trip. I think it's due to the tough terrain and the vast amount of habitat the birds have. My utmost respect for Tennesse turkey hunters because I know what they have to go through to bag a bird. Now a question about the contest. I haven't posted the score inthe official score thread because Ohio season hasn't opened and I might get a bigger bird. If I do post the score can I still put up another score of a bigger turkey? Or should I wait to see if I tag a larger turkey? Here's the TN turkey's measurements:
Beard- 10.5in
Weight- 21lb 2oz
Spurs- both 1in
Your score is 21.125 + 10 + 10 + 21 = 62.125
I'm having a hard time posting the pictures. I'll try to get them on here as soon as I can.

Congrats on your tom, ohbowguy!!!! I think that you can post as
many toms as you want but only the one that scores the most
counts. If I am wrong about this I hope someone lets me know.