NH Gobbler down
10-01-2007, 06:56 AM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Contoocook NH USA
Posts: 818
NH Gobbler down
Well it’s time to start thinking deer hunting! I smoked my fall 2007 gobbler late this morning. I won’t get into the hunting story just yet seeing I’ve got a few things like cleaning my bird and taking a good nap.
I will tell you, I started at 5:30 and didn’t finish until about 12:30! It was my only hunt all day that ended with a sweet 20 yard or less shot. Now he's not one of the bigger birds I've been seeing but it was an awesome hunt! One that I’ll never forget
Here are the turkey stats and a few photos
18 lbs. 7 ½” beard ¾” spurs
Tooky “Enticer” call (kept the hens close by for a longtime)
Your NWTF score is 18 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 15 = 48
Now for the hunt…..it’s a long story but I hope you enjoy it
I have been hunting quite a few different birds since the season here in NH opened. I’ve had a lot of missed opportunity and four misses
The birds I was hunting on Saturday, I’ve been after several times with no luck at all. Hens didn’t respond to well and the gobblers wouldn’t even give my calling a second thought. So this morning, I wanted to set up my blind where I’ve been seeing them the most in the early mornings to see if I could ambush them. Well that plan might have work if I had remembered to put my blind in my truck. I ended up sitting between two fields in a hedgerow that about 15 yards wide using a large stonewall as cover.
I did want to try any early calling until I saw birds which unfortunately took until about 9 to happen. Man it was a long wait! The flock of three hens and 12 dozen Jennies I’ve seen before started working the larger of the two fields. As they were feeding I notice they were doing a lot more talking than they have on my other hunts. As they feed across the field away from me, I’d give the same tone clucks they were putting out and it brought them right back to the middle. I figured the longer they’re out there, the better my chances of the gobbler’s joining in with them. This went on several times before something spooked the birds and they all took flight out of the field. I decided to sit it out another 30 minutes before packing it in.
While waiting out the clock I thought I heard two gobbles (over lapping each other) from the tree line at the top of the field 100 to 150 yards away. Because of the windy conditions, I wasn’t sure and thought I was trying to make myself hear things that weren’t there. Well I wasn’t! It was gobbling I heard and it was right where I though it came from. I moved in closer hoping to maybe catching them in the field if they decide to feed in it. After another long wait and hearing a lot of gobbling to crows in the area, I decided to try and move in closer. This meant backing out and taking a long hike around the field to them. As I did that, I noticed the crow’s kind of quit calling along with the gobbling. So I gave my own crow call to see if they were still around. They were so I used the crow call to move in on the birds. They were just up on a flat above me about 40 yards away. I’d wait for the wind to blow to use it to cover me moving hoping it would cover my approach up the hill. I actually came to a spot where the sun was shinning real well through the tree tops. I didn’t dare try and make it across it so I back down the hill and came up the other side of the hill along the field edge. That idea wasn’t as good either because they could probably see my silhouette against the field. As I was making this move to the top of the hill, I heard a few gobbles and a few clucks from time to time but as I got to the top, it all stopped! I thought for sure I was busted and it was time to go home. I was too close to crow call and calling seemed to drive other gobblers away so I was stuck standing behind a group of trees just wondering where they were.
I had my bow committed to the left side of the trees I was stand behind and I keep peeking through and around them trying to see where the loud mouth gobblers were. Next thing I knew they were walking about 25 yards away straight to me. I started to panic a little about which side of the trees they would go. If they went to the right, game over and I lose! Well, they went left and I wasn’t going to be picky as to which one I thumped. I decided first one behind the tree 15 yards away was the one I was going to draw on, the heck with the others. As soon as he went behind the tree I went to full draw but I did it too fast. My arrow fell off on to my hand and I was messing around way too much getting it back on. I remember thinking; I can’t believe I’m going to blow this hunt and all this hard work over my arrow falling off the rest. The other three gobblers were putting and heading out fast but the one I was trying to shoot just stood there. By the time he decided something was wrong and started to join up with his comrades, it was too late. I had tone and my arrow was being launched………..heard a loud thud and watch as the gobbler run off with my white wraps sticking out of his back. As he turned and went around me, I could see the front half of my arrow sticking out the front of his chest. Right on the mark He ended up running a big “C” from where I shot him and died before getting to the field. The way he ran, it was close to 75 yards, the way a crow flies from point of impact and where he died, 40 yards.
The actual recovery is another long story that I won’t get into [&o] Let’s just say what should have been a 15 minutes recovery (after I had waited 20 to 30 minutes) took about 45 minutes to an hour! I’ve kicked myself several times already and even asked a good friend (when he sees me) to give me a good smack on the noggin!
I will tell you, I started at 5:30 and didn’t finish until about 12:30! It was my only hunt all day that ended with a sweet 20 yard or less shot. Now he's not one of the bigger birds I've been seeing but it was an awesome hunt! One that I’ll never forget
Here are the turkey stats and a few photos
18 lbs. 7 ½” beard ¾” spurs
Tooky “Enticer” call (kept the hens close by for a longtime
)Your NWTF score is 18 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 15 = 48
Now for the hunt…..it’s a long story but I hope you enjoy it
I have been hunting quite a few different birds since the season here in NH opened. I’ve had a lot of missed opportunity and four misses
The birds I was hunting on Saturday, I’ve been after several times with no luck at all. Hens didn’t respond to well and the gobblers wouldn’t even give my calling a second thought. So this morning, I wanted to set up my blind where I’ve been seeing them the most in the early mornings to see if I could ambush them. Well that plan might have work if I had remembered to put my blind in my truck. I ended up sitting between two fields in a hedgerow that about 15 yards wide using a large stonewall as cover. I did want to try any early calling until I saw birds which unfortunately took until about 9 to happen. Man it was a long wait! The flock of three hens and 12 dozen Jennies I’ve seen before started working the larger of the two fields. As they were feeding I notice they were doing a lot more talking than they have on my other hunts. As they feed across the field away from me, I’d give the same tone clucks they were putting out and it brought them right back to the middle. I figured the longer they’re out there, the better my chances of the gobbler’s joining in with them. This went on several times before something spooked the birds and they all took flight out of the field. I decided to sit it out another 30 minutes before packing it in.
While waiting out the clock I thought I heard two gobbles (over lapping each other) from the tree line at the top of the field 100 to 150 yards away. Because of the windy conditions, I wasn’t sure and thought I was trying to make myself hear things that weren’t there. Well I wasn’t! It was gobbling I heard and it was right where I though it came from. I moved in closer hoping to maybe catching them in the field if they decide to feed in it. After another long wait and hearing a lot of gobbling to crows in the area, I decided to try and move in closer. This meant backing out and taking a long hike around the field to them. As I did that, I noticed the crow’s kind of quit calling along with the gobbling. So I gave my own crow call to see if they were still around. They were so I used the crow call to move in on the birds. They were just up on a flat above me about 40 yards away. I’d wait for the wind to blow to use it to cover me moving hoping it would cover my approach up the hill. I actually came to a spot where the sun was shinning real well through the tree tops. I didn’t dare try and make it across it so I back down the hill and came up the other side of the hill along the field edge. That idea wasn’t as good either because they could probably see my silhouette against the field. As I was making this move to the top of the hill, I heard a few gobbles and a few clucks from time to time but as I got to the top, it all stopped! I thought for sure I was busted and it was time to go home. I was too close to crow call and calling seemed to drive other gobblers away so I was stuck standing behind a group of trees just wondering where they were.
I had my bow committed to the left side of the trees I was stand behind and I keep peeking through and around them trying to see where the loud mouth gobblers were. Next thing I knew they were walking about 25 yards away straight to me. I started to panic a little about which side of the trees they would go. If they went to the right, game over and I lose! Well, they went left and I wasn’t going to be picky as to which one I thumped. I decided first one behind the tree 15 yards away was the one I was going to draw on, the heck with the others. As soon as he went behind the tree I went to full draw but I did it too fast. My arrow fell off on to my hand and I was messing around way too much getting it back on. I remember thinking; I can’t believe I’m going to blow this hunt and all this hard work over my arrow falling off the rest. The other three gobblers were putting and heading out fast but the one I was trying to shoot just stood there. By the time he decided something was wrong and started to join up with his comrades, it was too late. I had tone and my arrow was being launched………..heard a loud thud and watch as the gobbler run off with my white wraps sticking out of his back. As he turned and went around me, I could see the front half of my arrow sticking out the front of his chest. Right on the mark
He ended up running a big “C” from where I shot him and died before getting to the field. The way he ran, it was close to 75 yards, the way a crow flies from point of impact and where he died, 40 yards. The actual recovery is another long story that I won’t get into [&o] Let’s just say what should have been a 15 minutes recovery (after I had waited 20 to 30 minutes) took about 45 minutes to an hour! I’ve kicked myself several times already and even asked a good friend (when he sees me) to give me a good smack on the noggin!
10-03-2007, 10:53 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2,670
RE: NH Gobbler down
Nice bird! Congrats man! Man I wish I was able to get a fall turkey tag! The quota was met before I went to buy my license. Oh well, getting ready to go out and sit in a tree stand this afternoon!
