Got my first bird! So did my dad...and my bro
04-13-2009, 09:54 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location:
Posts: 202
Got my first bird! So did my dad...and my bro
Sorry for the long post, but a good story.
My brother, father and I went turkey hunting, first time for all of us. My brother's 7yr old son tagged along with us. We got out there too late friday evening, 6:45, birds were already in the middle of the fields, all over the place, so we couldn't get setup where we wanted to. Saw & heard plenty that evening but no shots. So once it got dark & all the birds were roosted we got the blind setup in preparation for the morning & settled into the cabin.
Saturday morning we got up plenty early but the birds were already gobbling in their roosts. My brother and nephew went to the north edge of the property to the blind, I started out for a patch of trees on the south end where I saw a bird roost the night before, and I've routinely seen birds there before. As I headed out I could hear him down there gobblin, so I stopped and contemplated for 5 mins whether I should attempt to go down there, most likely spooking him out. Plus I hadn't scouted out a good place to sit down there, so I decided to make my spot up closer to the cabin at another location. This would later be a mistake, but a good one.
About 7:30 I sat there and watched over 50 birds (including 10 males, at least 5 of which were good size toms) string past me at 75 yds and head straight down to the south end where I should have gone. I couldn't get any of them to stop at my decoys, they were all on a mission. They stayed down there for over an hour. Man was I kicking myself. Fortunately at 8:00 I heard a gunshot come from my brother's direction. He downed a nice tom, and my nephew got to see the whole thing! :-)
So I blew my morning hunt, but my brother got his first turkey & it was a nice one. He & his son had to head back to town, so my father & I stayed for the afternoon hunt. At 2:00 we headed for the blind where my brother took his bird. We weren't sitting there 15 minutes when 3 jakes popped out of the woods and came right to our decoys. We decided to pass on them and wait. So we waited, & waited, all afternoon. We could hear & see birds all day, but they were staying ata location about 500yds away. Finally, at 7:00, 2 toms & 3 hens started working our way. The hens crossed right passed our decoys & the toms followed shortly after. They were side by side, so I took the left one & pops took the right one. We did the old, "on 3...1...2...3". It couldn't have worked out any better.
My bird: beard - 8", spurs - 1".
Brother's bird: beard - 9", spurs - 3/4"
Dad's bird: beard - 8.5" (by far the thickest beard), spurs - 3/4"
Didn't have anyway to weight them :-(
I have pics, but I need to resize/crop/edit them tonight before I post them, way too big
My brother, father and I went turkey hunting, first time for all of us. My brother's 7yr old son tagged along with us. We got out there too late friday evening, 6:45, birds were already in the middle of the fields, all over the place, so we couldn't get setup where we wanted to. Saw & heard plenty that evening but no shots. So once it got dark & all the birds were roosted we got the blind setup in preparation for the morning & settled into the cabin.
Saturday morning we got up plenty early but the birds were already gobbling in their roosts. My brother and nephew went to the north edge of the property to the blind, I started out for a patch of trees on the south end where I saw a bird roost the night before, and I've routinely seen birds there before. As I headed out I could hear him down there gobblin, so I stopped and contemplated for 5 mins whether I should attempt to go down there, most likely spooking him out. Plus I hadn't scouted out a good place to sit down there, so I decided to make my spot up closer to the cabin at another location. This would later be a mistake, but a good one.
About 7:30 I sat there and watched over 50 birds (including 10 males, at least 5 of which were good size toms) string past me at 75 yds and head straight down to the south end where I should have gone. I couldn't get any of them to stop at my decoys, they were all on a mission. They stayed down there for over an hour. Man was I kicking myself. Fortunately at 8:00 I heard a gunshot come from my brother's direction. He downed a nice tom, and my nephew got to see the whole thing! :-)
So I blew my morning hunt, but my brother got his first turkey & it was a nice one. He & his son had to head back to town, so my father & I stayed for the afternoon hunt. At 2:00 we headed for the blind where my brother took his bird. We weren't sitting there 15 minutes when 3 jakes popped out of the woods and came right to our decoys. We decided to pass on them and wait. So we waited, & waited, all afternoon. We could hear & see birds all day, but they were staying ata location about 500yds away. Finally, at 7:00, 2 toms & 3 hens started working our way. The hens crossed right passed our decoys & the toms followed shortly after. They were side by side, so I took the left one & pops took the right one. We did the old, "on 3...1...2...3". It couldn't have worked out any better.
My bird: beard - 8", spurs - 1".
Brother's bird: beard - 9", spurs - 3/4"
Dad's bird: beard - 8.5" (by far the thickest beard), spurs - 3/4"
Didn't have anyway to weight them :-(
I have pics, but I need to resize/crop/edit them tonight before I post them, way too big
04-14-2009, 02:58 AM
#6
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 12,569
RE: Got my first bird! So did my dad...and my bro
Congrats on your success, here you can only hunt the morning hours.. 
I saw a small flock yesterday while heading to Bangor to get a recently purchased bow set up..
I saw a small flock yesterday while heading to Bangor to get a recently purchased bow set up..
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