[&:] I scouted an area that looked pretty good. called my buddy and said we leave in the morning. We were told turkeys can' t smell very good so we sat and drank our coffee on the side of the road. We could hear gobblers off to the side(no permision to hunt there) so we figured we could call them across the road to us. As we unpacked the shotguns a gobbler FLEW over our heads. [] Game ON!! we snuck off to our spot@100 behind where he might of landed. I walked to my tree and he went to his, the hen decoy and us made a triangle pointing toward the landing zone. 2 hours I sat there calling sometimes, waiting always, before the HEN nesting in front of me jumped up and ran off[]. She stopped to say goodbye twice offering some real good shots but she had no beard. here we are told to shot hens with beards.
This was the first of two times we found a good hunting spot that ended up hiding a nest.

live and learn;die and forget it all[].
better luck next time.
I learn something nearly every time I go turkey hunting and I have been doing it for 35 years.[8D].thats what makes it fun.[&:]

which state are you in NorthernJake? I think bearded hens are legal in most states. Ga. isn' t one of them. Do the bearded hens pass those genes down?

LOL. First year I hunted turkey I was getting skunked but good. Last day of the last season I went into an area I knew birds roosted and got set up, confident I' d get a bird.

First light I made a couple of tree yelps and waited. At sunrise I let out some yelps and waited. About that time I heard yelps some 150 yards away and all of a sudden a tom, which I didn' t realize was there, flew down towards the other yelps. Five minutes later I hear a BOOM! Game over. LOL. Boy did I feel stupid![8D]

Couple years ago I was working a roosted bird that flew down to an unknown (then) strut zone. After an hour of working him I figured he wasn' t coming so I backed out and snuck around to his side of the creek. That' s when I heard him gobbling where_I_had_just_been!

Nowadays, I don' t BUDGE unless I KNOW for sure.

bet that was purdy cool though. now you got a good huntin story that will last you the last of your life.

well that is just one more step in the staircase that you are familiar with.. don' t worry though, there are plenty more steps to go![&:]

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I remember my first year of turkey hunting i was walking up a hill to a gully and all of a sudden i kicked up a dozen or so birds. i dont know who was more scared me or the birds all that flapping of the wings scared the crap out of me.

The last thing I would be calling that, would be " Beginners Mistake" - If that was the case we' d all be beginners. I been hunting these birds since I was old enough to tote a shotgun and they still dump on me pretty often. If it was that easy to take an old Tom then it would be " Turkey Killin" and not " Turkey Huntin" COMEON !!

Yep.

Forgot to mention the bird that flew down to the other call was in a tree only 30 or 40 yards away! LOL.