savedbygrace

Finally took this ole boy Sat. He never said a word. I havent scored him yet but I will and I will post it. I setup in the evening in a grasspatch and after sitting down for only 5 minutes I heard him coming! There was a road I set up close to that ran uphill from the patch. From the top of the road to the patch is approx 60 yards and when you are on top of it you can see all the way into the patch. Being decs were legalized this year in Alabama, I normally do not use them in the morning but this afternoon I carried 2 hens and one jake. All flambeaus. I set one hen as far down as I could into the ground & set the jake behind her trying to memic a breading pair and I set the other hen to the side. After sitting down, like I said for 5 minutes, & no calling (the birds are really call shy) I heard ffffffiiittttt-vooovoooooooommmm from the top of the hill. It took this bird probably 10 minutes to reach the bottom and he struted the whole way down and went straight to the decs. He did not come out of strut, not one time. I was gonna let him get into the decs to see what he'd do, but since this season has been so bad and I hadn't taken one yet I took him right when he stepped in front of me which was 9 yards. By far the closest I've ever shot one. This would have been a perfect bow setup, but like I said the season so far has been bad so I wanted to get one under my belt first. I had to shoot him in strut and that made me kinda nervous @ 9 yards. I cackled and yelped at him while he was in front of me but all he did was strut harder. A friend of mine told me I should have whistled at him, but to be honest I was so excited to have one actually in front of me that that thought never crossed my mind. Sorry to be so long winded, I'm still excited. Anyway he had a 10 1/2 inch beard, both spurs were 1 1/16 inches and he weighed 19 lbs. Praise the Lord for his wonderful creation. Sorry the pic is not really good, I couldnt get my camers to adjust in the sunlight. Man it was so awsome to see and hear him as he spit and drum in front of me @ 9 yards. Their body does some weird things when they spit and drum esp. when its that close and you can see every little detail, but it is so fasinating and cool. I took a pic of the wingtips to show how much he'd been struting.

DHF:KYLEN

Nice looking bird and story. Will be in Bama in the mornig. Leaving in a few hours and will drive thru the night. Plan on hunting an old pecan feild were I saw two monsters last season. Just can't wait.

jepcho

Great looking bird!! Good job and good luck the rest of the season!!

Ryan Tucker

Congrats to you!

mlo3135127

Nice turkey. boy, those wing tips are wore down. It is great that you were able to see in detail what most dont see. I have been photographing and videotapeing turkeys for a number of years so I know what you are talking about when you say "Their body does some weird things when they spit and drum esp".

Rebel Hog

Saved, good one!

X Legion General

Nice bird, 9 yards man that is real close.

Antler Eater

Congratulations on the bird! Nice pics!!
Great story too!!

Mr. Longbeard

Congrats on the fine Longbeard Nice photo bird looks good in the picture

I hope to be posting some picture next week

Annie Oakley

Lets hear it for team #6 !!! WU-WHO !!!!! Congrats