mausers show and tell
05-23-2008, 09:56 AM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
mausers show and tell
woke up today at 0420 just like most every other day of this spring...decided to head back to a spot i only hunted once this season and had a gobbler skirt me...
got to the field and waited about 50yds from the woodline like always to listen for them sounding off. i think it was about 0545 when i heard the first gobble...boy was he deep..actually down a steeeeep hillside roosted at eye level of the flat i hunt on and pretty far off...i knew where he was and knew i couldnt get remotely close because he would see me a mile away...got about 200yds or so from him and setup..it was already well light out..figured id skip my tree yelps and flydown cackle and just wait till hes on the ground and throw some soft yelps out there..
i sit down and settle in and a bird pitched down right where that bird roosted last week..didnt go far so i didnt spook it..i get out the cody glass call and my favorite handmade striker for that call when a gobble thunders out from where that bird landed ~50-65yds away
oh man!! i throw some soft yelps out with the cody and he hammered again and the other bird cut my call off. the other bird hammered all morning..came maybe 50yds closer or so...the bird infront of me only gobbled occassionally. i wait and wait and nothing. maybe 20 minutes after my yelps i throw some soft clucks on the glass call...he hammered hard still in the same area and the other bird gobbled as well..(other bird never quit gobbling..he gobbled his head off)
maybe another 20 minutes or so passes and i am sitting there with the gun up waiting and waiting trying not to move a muscle incase the close one slipped in..he wasnt gobbling enough to keep tabs on him and i didnt hear him for a couple minutes...i had a old blow down slightly right, infront of me 10yds away..i spotted a bird just behind it! knew right away it was a hen but got ready just incase...
the hen mills around behind that brush pile for what seemed like an eternity, but was really maybe 30 seconds when i spotted a red head and a big ole fan!! hes behind her to my right and shes 5yds left 10yds infront of me. i kept her in my peripheral vision and kept my eye on him..
she stepped out from behind the blowdown and is now 10yds TOPS probably closer..right before she stepped out i got the saftey off and gun on the gobbler without either one noticing. shes milling around and like a good hen, she busted me! i knew she was going to..probably heard my heart beating...i had that all planned though :/ the gobbler broke strut and his head came up looking..i saw a good beard hanging and knew it wasnt a jake from the full fan...as soon as his head popped up i sent a load of hevi shot 6's down range! he was down for the count!!
he is the first strutter ive ever killed...first bird i ever killed that came in with a hen...and the closest ive killed. he was less than 15yds away..i bet he was right around 10yds. 0630 on the nose. oh...my best bird to date
heres some pics...
10 1/2 inch beard...one spur was 1 1/4 and the other was busted off and was just a hair under an inch. buddies OLD chicken scale said he was just over 18lbs..but i dont know how accurate it is... wing tips were non-exsistant..he spends alot of time strutting im sure! pretty sure he is the bird that skirted me last time i was in there..
silence is a killer...and greediness will kill an ole tom sooner or later! he couldnt be happy with the hen he had! lol
i skinned out the head and neck like always...i clobbered him with the hevishot..4-5" of his neck was jello...
got to the field and waited about 50yds from the woodline like always to listen for them sounding off. i think it was about 0545 when i heard the first gobble...boy was he deep..actually down a steeeeep hillside roosted at eye level of the flat i hunt on and pretty far off...i knew where he was and knew i couldnt get remotely close because he would see me a mile away...got about 200yds or so from him and setup..it was already well light out..figured id skip my tree yelps and flydown cackle and just wait till hes on the ground and throw some soft yelps out there..
i sit down and settle in and a bird pitched down right where that bird roosted last week..didnt go far so i didnt spook it..i get out the cody glass call and my favorite handmade striker for that call when a gobble thunders out from where that bird landed ~50-65yds away
oh man!! i throw some soft yelps out with the cody and he hammered again and the other bird cut my call off. the other bird hammered all morning..came maybe 50yds closer or so...the bird infront of me only gobbled occassionally. i wait and wait and nothing. maybe 20 minutes after my yelps i throw some soft clucks on the glass call...he hammered hard still in the same area and the other bird gobbled as well..(other bird never quit gobbling..he gobbled his head off)
maybe another 20 minutes or so passes and i am sitting there with the gun up waiting and waiting trying not to move a muscle incase the close one slipped in..he wasnt gobbling enough to keep tabs on him and i didnt hear him for a couple minutes...i had a old blow down slightly right, infront of me 10yds away..i spotted a bird just behind it! knew right away it was a hen but got ready just incase...
the hen mills around behind that brush pile for what seemed like an eternity, but was really maybe 30 seconds when i spotted a red head and a big ole fan!! hes behind her to my right and shes 5yds left 10yds infront of me. i kept her in my peripheral vision and kept my eye on him..
she stepped out from behind the blowdown and is now 10yds TOPS probably closer..right before she stepped out i got the saftey off and gun on the gobbler without either one noticing. shes milling around and like a good hen, she busted me! i knew she was going to..probably heard my heart beating...i had that all planned though :/ the gobbler broke strut and his head came up looking..i saw a good beard hanging and knew it wasnt a jake from the full fan...as soon as his head popped up i sent a load of hevi shot 6's down range! he was down for the count!!
he is the first strutter ive ever killed...first bird i ever killed that came in with a hen...and the closest ive killed. he was less than 15yds away..i bet he was right around 10yds. 0630 on the nose. oh...my best bird to date
heres some pics...
10 1/2 inch beard...one spur was 1 1/4 and the other was busted off and was just a hair under an inch. buddies OLD chicken scale said he was just over 18lbs..but i dont know how accurate it is... wing tips were non-exsistant..he spends alot of time strutting im sure! pretty sure he is the bird that skirted me last time i was in there..
silence is a killer...and greediness will kill an ole tom sooner or later! he couldnt be happy with the hen he had! lol
i skinned out the head and neck like always...i clobbered him with the hevishot..4-5" of his neck was jello...
05-23-2008, 11:38 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Dover, PA USA
Posts: 5,497
RE: mausers show and tell
Dude you could have taken your face mask off and killed that bird without firing a shot. 
(jk)
Congrats man that's a great PA bird, you've certainly been hard at it! Sounds like you've pretty much been in the game just about every time out huh?
Rob and I are going to give it one last go this weekend but he said he hasn't been hearing a peep out of those birds. Maybe the weather change will fire them up one last time.
(jk)Congrats man that's a great PA bird, you've certainly been hard at it! Sounds like you've pretty much been in the game just about every time out huh?
Rob and I are going to give it one last go this weekend but he said he hasn't been hearing a peep out of those birds. Maybe the weather change will fire them up one last time.
05-23-2008, 01:25 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Ohio
Posts: 242
05-23-2008, 01:37 PM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: mausers show and tell
thanx guys...im pretty proud of him..my first beard over 9"...all my other beards were right around 9" or so...and spurs...my best set got taken away by mice in the garage while they were drying...think they were an inch or just a hair over an inch...(previous best beard and spurs came from that same area lol..)
Matt, lol..who says i didnt make up the part about firing lol. ever hear the phrase "drop dead sexy" ? lol
ya i been hard at it for sure lol...first 2 weeks i was still in school but pretty...flexible. got out probably 3-4x a week...really no reason i couldnt hunt EVERY day except for the fact that it wears me down and im semi-fair weather hunter for turkey...i'll take light rain..heavy rain or wind im in bed. ive been into birds all year...well, i shouldnt say that...it took me till the 3rd week i think to finally find birds here at home to work. pressure moved them from the normal roosting areas that i know of to different hills...took me a while to find them...but i found them. at school, i was thick into birds. the year that bottom doesnt have gobblers in it is the year i have an OH poo! look on my face...its one of those ole faithful spots...on a normal day i hear 5+ birds from there...good day im at 10-15 easy within ear shot...usually always 3-5+ on my point...and everyday since i found the birds here at home i been on them...either making rookie mistakes, not knowing the land, not getting the shot etc kept me from tagging one earlier...
was a very good season...that was the 3rd bird to the gun..and had the pleasure of working birds pretty regularly...i learned alot like always...and came out with a beautiful PA limb hanger...
wish i had someone to take some in the field pics for me...back yard was the closest i could get lol...and mom was already in her work clothes so i couldnt get her to get down low or anything..and my real in the field pics are blurry..my hearts still racing! lol when i loose that feeling, im done. when i spotted that hen my whole upper body went numb...its odd..i cant explain it but when i think i might get a shot, my upped body like goes numb and tingles lol...this time was the best for me keeping my cool...no way would i hit him if i was an inch or 2 off...and they were literally spitting distance..i knew i couldnt hyperventalate..and knew what i had to do to carry him home...it was a sticky situation...
good luck to you Matt and Rob....(season goes out Monday incase you guys didnt know...i wouldnt know if not for HPA...i always figured it ended on a saturday and tomorrow would be it...)
Matt, lol..who says i didnt make up the part about firing
lol. ever hear the phrase "drop dead sexy" ? lol ya i been hard at it for sure lol...first 2 weeks i was still in school but pretty...flexible. got out probably 3-4x a week...really no reason i couldnt hunt EVERY day except for the fact that it wears me down and im semi-fair weather hunter for turkey...i'll take light rain..heavy rain or wind im in bed. ive been into birds all year...well, i shouldnt say that...it took me till the 3rd week i think to finally find birds here at home to work. pressure moved them from the normal roosting areas that i know of to different hills...took me a while to find them...but i found them. at school, i was thick into birds. the year that bottom doesnt have gobblers in it is the year i have an OH poo! look on my face...its one of those ole faithful spots...on a normal day i hear 5+ birds from there...good day im at 10-15 easy within ear shot...usually always 3-5+ on my point...and everyday since i found the birds here at home i been on them...either making rookie mistakes, not knowing the land, not getting the shot etc kept me from tagging one earlier...
was a very good season...that was the 3rd bird to the gun..and had the pleasure of working birds pretty regularly...i learned alot like always...and came out with a beautiful PA limb hanger...
wish i had someone to take some in the field pics for me...back yard was the closest i could get lol...and mom was already in her work clothes so i couldnt get her to get down low or anything..and my real in the field pics are blurry..my hearts still racing! lol when i loose that feeling, im done. when i spotted that hen my whole upper body went numb...its odd..i cant explain it but when i think i might get a shot, my upped body like goes numb and tingles lol...this time was the best for me keeping my cool...no way would i hit him if i was an inch or 2 off...and they were literally spitting distance..i knew i couldnt hyperventalate..and knew what i had to do to carry him home...it was a sticky situation...
good luck to you Matt and Rob....(season goes out Monday incase you guys didnt know...i wouldnt know if not for HPA...i always figured it ended on a saturday and tomorrow would be it...)
