CreekJumpersOutdoors

Late 90s I was no older than nine years of age. I had been on many turkey hunts with my dad and got to experience Toms gobbling and hens walking up close to me. Remembering my dad saying they can see the whites in your eyes moving. With a certain amount of fear and heart pounding adrenaline I would sit as still as possible. I never spooked a turkey and that made me proud. It was finally my turn to kill a turkey... My dad woke me up super early, but I was so excited I jumped up to get ready. We drove out to some south Mississippi public land and pulled up to a short road that just stopped in the tall long leaf pines. I pulled the handle and the door to open it and my dad said to shut the door easy... they could be one roosting near us. I slowly opened the door and shut it softly. We stood there and just listened as the woods started to wake up. Birds started chirping as the sun started to rise through the tall pines. I looked at my dad as he put his hand up to his mouth and started to imitate an owl. AH WOO WOO WOO WHOOOAAAA!!!!!. If you have ever heard an owl in the wild it is an amazing experience. Especially when two of them get to talking back and forth. After he let out the hoot we both listened for a gobble. All of the sudden we heard him. Like a deep thunder that let the entire woods know he was awake and ready to claim that ridge for himself. My dad looked at me and said "lets go he isn't far at all". I grabbed my gun and away we went. I was following him into the tall gall-berry bushes that were as tall as I was. Getting soaked from the dew that hadn't burned off from the sun yet. We made it to the backside of the ridge and he let out another thunder gobble. My dad said "he is on the ground... Sit right here by this pine tree and when you see him come over the hill you take him out". My dad sat a few trees behind me to call him on in. I sat there with my gun up on my knee. My heart was pounding so fierce and my body started to shake as he let out another gobble even closer this time. My dad did a soft yelp and That's when I saw his head. Bright blue and Red popped over the hill. His beard hanging down and his eyes looking for the hen he thought was there. I put the bead on his head and I squeezed the trigger. The gun shot turned the woods quite as a Sunday morning alter call. I looked and all I could see was a turkey flopping around on the ground. I jumped up and ran to him. My dad was so excited with me. We high fived and hugged as we hooped and hollered. I couldn't believe the amount of pure joy I felt as we walked back to the truck carrying that bird. To this day I have his beard in a case. I have since been addicted to turkey hunting and it has taught me many different things about patience and perseverance. I now have two kids of my own to pass the love of turkey hunting onto. I pray I do as good of a job as my dad did.

Gatlin Finley.

Arrowmaster

Awesome story Gatlin........

CreekJumpersOutdoors

Thanks. I love sharing these.

Arrowmaster

I have so many memories of my turkey hunts. I have to say that it has to be the hardest turkey Ive ever hunted. Myself and my turkey hunting buddy Ed seen this tom with 2 hens in the evening in a field we could hunt. ED killed a tom earlier in the season. So we set up the blind at the south end of the field. He would was to the north of us with the hens. So the next evening we set up at the north end of the field and he was at the south end of the field. This went on for 2 weeks every evening. We tried swapping it up, but every time that tom with his hens beat us. So with 1 day and an evening left in the season we found ourselves watching this tom and his hens in the south end of the field why we were to the north. It was getting late in the evening that day and a deer walked out in the field not 50 yards from us. Well it blew at us. So the hens and the tom walk in the woods to the north. I then told Ed I want to be in the north end tomorrow morning. So last day early in the morning we set up. Fly down time came and not a peep of him. So 5 minutes later here comes his hens to the field 10 yards away. A minute later I heard him brushing the blind while he went into the field in full strut. I let him get 10 yards away and made him come out of full strut. Once he did he got it hammered.

JW

My favorite was a lesson learned I use each time the opportunity presents itself.
I was running and gunning. I had a real nice Tom working 60 yards in front of me. In the woods of upper Michigan you never know what you find.
Well after moving twice I was pinned against an old maple with an old abandoned model T pickup in front of me. The Tom was only 30 yds on the other side gobbling his fool head off but would not budge. I could not see him.
I tried everything and then I attempted cutting. This in the early 90s.
Upon cutting quickly and trying to get my gun up a hen appeared from behind and she was really ticked. She yelped and hollered all the way to that strutting gobbling Tom I still could not see. She walked mere yards past me around that abandoned wreck to that Tom.
Usually that means game over.
Once she got around the truck I hammered her with my cutting again. She answered immediately.
We did a bitch fest for 4 sequences.
I matched her Yelp for Yelp. Cluck for cluck. She stopped talking so did I! When she started so did I. She got loud I got louder.
Well the start of the 4th sequence was all she could take. I could tell she was on the move coming my way. I got the gun up and put the call down.
She came running and stopped a few yards away just screaming at the end of my feet. I didnt blink and tried not to hyperventilate. I could see the Tom in full strut moving parallel to us. It was thick woods. But I did have a small clearing at 20 yds out and that Tom was heading towards the clearing. But my gun was not pointed at that opening and I knew if I moved even a muscle game over. She would sound the alarm.
So I waited till the strutting Tom hit that clearing. In one single move I put my shotgun barrel on that strutting Tom
The hen saw that and sent out an immefiate alarm putt, which made the Tom come out of strut and pop his head up. I had my shot to which I did not hesitate.
Lesson learned.
Thus over the years I cant tell you how many times I have a gobbling Tom only to get a hen tell me shut up. NO hen tells me that.
I'll hit that hen everytime with banter just a bit louder and more intense than the real thing.
After all. Think about it. You cut your wife off in mid-sentence and about the 3rd or 4th time you had better run or duck. As here comes the flying fry pan or a scurrying wife with rolling pin.
Learn to tick off ladies boys!

Ps
Not responsible if you practice this on your wife or girlfriend


JW

CreekJumpersOutdoors

Great story. Love it

Ridge Runner

so many I don't know where to start, the 2 times I was stepped on by gobblers was pretty awesome, they don't like the feeling of people under their feet!
RR

Arrowmaster

hahahaha JW

kellyguinn

Yall don't laugh but my most memorable (not favorite) was when I was hunting a little piece of public land a few years back. Hadn't had any luck for most of the season but kept at it as always. Ended up taking a nap and woke up to a jake gobbling at my decoys. The gun laying beside me!!

This area was not in the woods but more of a grass prairie so judging distance can be tough, especially when it happens that way. Needless to say I was able to reach down and slowly pick the 12 g up and boom. Bird fly's up in the air flops over and immediately gets up and fly's over me. I let out 2 more shots with feathers flying everywhere. The jake lands and takes off running across a plowed wheat field. I thought I had completely screwed up when he turns and starts running right at me!! I'm out of shells so I drop my vest and gun and pull out the buck knife but when he sees me he starts running away in a zig zag pattern with me giving chase lol. Every time I would get ready to snatch him up he would kick and fly about 5 ft and I would hit the dirt rolling. This happened about 4 times and I said heck with it lol. Again I watched him run away to about 300 yrds out then turn around and run at me again almost like he was taunting me. He ran right by me and to a bush in the fence line and laid down. I went back to the truck (1/4 mile away) and grabbed another shell. Put a sneak on the bush and sure enough he was still there. Let him have it from about 5 ft away. To this day I'm not sure if I am happy or sad no one got video of that!!!

WVDanimal

Few years ago I was going after a bird just a few miles from the house that was staying near the road so I decided to take my Toyota Corolla instead of my truck. Did the normal call, reposition, call, change this, change that and the usual loop around the mountain but couldn't get him to come to the call because he was content with his one hen. He finally clams up and I call it quits and head for the car. I pop over the road bank a mere 30 yards from my car and there he stands full strut in the dirt road with his hen feeding by his side. This is all private road by the way. It was a classic game of who was faster and on this morning it just so happened to be me and the shotgun who came out on top. All proud of myself, I let him flop right up to the car as I put all my gear in the back seat. Did a quick field tag and chucked him in the truck on my little gas saver. Less than 10 minutes from pulling the trigger I was in my driveway and ready to pose my longbeard in the yard for some photos. I opened the trunk to see the bird standing there with his head down low glaring at me like a charging bull ready to pounce! It scared me so bad I slammed the trunk lid down before I had even realized what had happened. Now it was decision time. I thought of just standing by the trunk with my shotgun and letting him come out like skeet shooting but what if he flew toward the house or the neighbors? Scratch that idea. So I get an idea to stick a metal yard rake in there and bring his feet back to where I can get a hand on him. So I opened the trunk about 3 inches, slide the rake to his feet and every time it would touch his feet, he would simply just step over it back and forth. Scratch plan #2. I decide that it's all or nothing, I was going for it. I position myself center of the trunk, quickly open the trunk and do my best stage dive tackle! I'm not a real big guy and we all know that these birds have some power in their wings right? So I'm all in from my knees up but I'm on top when the battle begins. It was kinda surreal because every time he flopped or I flopped, the trunk would fly up/down, up/down so it was going dark/bright, dark/bright inside the battle cage. Now on top of all this, I strangely remember the vast amount of feathers flying everywhere as I struggled for anything to hold onto. Amongst all the chaos, I finally felt his head around behind me and managed to seal the deal. When I crawled out of the trunk and my head cleared, it looked like it had snowed turkey feathers in a 30 yard radius around the car. Of course the first priority was to look around to see if any of the neighbors were watching.....