Early success!
 

I finally got to get out on monday. It was opening day. My dad and I didn't get left till about 8:30 sunday night and had about a 4 hour drive to our destination. We got about 3 hours of sleep that night but it was worth it. We headed out and Set the blind up. Shortly after they began to gobble. All of a sudden one lit up right behind us! He was only about 50 yards back. We got repositioned and waited. We could see him strutting on the roost. Shooting hours began at 6 am. At about 6:15 he pitched down right in front of us. After watching him strut and listening to him spit and drum for about 3 minutes, I let him have it. 18 minutes into season! We didn't have much luck getting my dad a bird the rest of the day so we decided that getting close to the roost worked so we were gonna try it again. The next morning we packed as light as possible and headed out. We got to a good listening spot and waited, blowing the owl call every few. Soon enough one started gobbling in a spot that aloud us to get in on him. He was on one side of a narrow field and we got on the other side less than 100 yards from him. Again we could see him on the roost. He pitched down and I clucked a couple of times and he walked right to us, until my dad sawed his head off with some winchester #5's. Some of the funnest, quickest hunts I've ever been on. It was great to get my dad one. It was his first since 2004. I'll be headed back down there in 2 weeks with a buddy and then again 2 weeks after that with my wife. Here are some pics.

RE: Early success!
 

Oh yeah, my dad brought his ups scale as always and these were two of the biggest birds we've ever seen. Mine was 30.5 lbs!! He had one spur that was 1 3/8" and the other was broke off at the tip but was 1" with a 10" beard. Total score was 74.25. His bird was 28lbs, one spur was 1 1/8 inch and the other was 1 1/4 inch with a 10 inch beard for a score of 71.75. Here's my spurs.

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Another pic of my bird..

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And my dad with his...

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Awesome Bird Jepcho!!!!! Congrats to you both.... 30lb!!!\
Great pics too! Go Team 3!!!!

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Those birds are unbelievable - congrats to you both!!

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That's awesome! Congrats on the beautiful birds!!

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Those are two bada$$ birds! Congrats, don't you love how big we grow'em here in Iowa. Makes my 22 lb'er I got Tuesday look like a Jake.
Great job fellow Hawkeye!

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Good Job! Congrat's to you and Dad!:)

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Wow, great birds!! Those are some monsters!!