Heading to the lease in 3 hours, can't wait! All these reports have been killing me, and our season opens tomorrow. Looks like the weather may hold, and give us a good hunt.
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Originally posted by Smart View Post
After I killed my bird on Wednesday evening, we had several close encounters but nothing would close the deal Thursday or Friday morning. So we decided to move our blinds closer to the ridge where the birds were roosting and travelling. Each day we noticed the birds hit the field and hug the fenceline working that edge of the field. We setup our blinds about 5-600 yards apart but the lay of the land, makes it seem much further.
Dads
Mine
Friday evening I had a gobbler 15 yards behind me gobbling, but he would not leave the timber. Dad had a group of 4 jakes terrorizing his setup all afternoon, but no longbeards. We ended up roosting several birds and had pretty high hopes for Saturday morning.
Like clockwork, the first tom accompanied with 4 hens hit the fenceline about 7:15 on Saturday morning. They worked their way out into the field and seemed to ignore us. I was able to get 3 of the 4 hens to come into my decoys but the remaining hen took the gobbler the other way. A few minutes later 2 more longbeards came from my dad’s direction. They were super fired up and gobbled and every single noise I made. I still had the 3 hens in my decoys so I was very confident they would come in. Well…they didn’t.
It was now about 8:00 and everything was silent except for a random gobble every once in a while. The early morning excitement was over and I prepared myself for the long, slow all day sit. Time to start surfing TBH [emoji3]
I’ll back up a little bit and say it was a bit chilly this morning…mid 30’s or so. With me being the amateur bowhunter that I am, I do not practice enough as it is let alone wearing any kind of jacket. So at this instance, I was leaned back in my chair and using my jacket as a blanket. I had my hands poked out just far enough to operate my phone.
I was partially daydreaming, partially recapping Wednesday’s bird when I heard some movement in the leaves. I look up and out of the corner of my left eye I see a full strut gobbler power walking to my Jake! Next thing I know he is flogging the heck out of my poor decoy. (It is worth mentioning that due to the amount of birds hanging up, I decided to put my Jake decoy extra close….3 yards.)
So with the biggest and prettiest bird I’ve ever seen 3 yards away and beating my decoy, I had to somehow put my phone down, remove my jacket/blanket, sit up, grab my bow, draw, and shoot! Steps 1-4 went unnoticed but when I went to draw, he saw me. I lowered my bow, changed to an arrow with a Grim Reaper, raised, and drew. Of course he saw me again and started walking away. I put my 20yard pin on the base of his neck and released. The arrow hit him square in the back and he was done. I immediately went to shaking so bad that I could barely get out of the blind. I finally made my way to the downed bird and then I just sat down and took it all in. Crazy chain of events…but a hunt I’ll never forget.
He started at my jake and then walked towards the hen.
Feathers show point of impact
Biggest bird I've ever killed...weight and beard length.
Each year there’s at least one hunt (usually more) that I have to credit to the decoys. This hunt was one that I do not think I would have killed the bird had I used anything else. While others may have been able to bring the bird into range, I’m confident none would have kept him there for the minutes it took me to get ready and draw….especially with him being on alert after seeing me!Comment
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Originally posted by ClayW View PostAfter I killed my bird on Wednesday evening, we had several close encounters but nothing would close the deal Thursday or Friday morning. So we decided to move our blinds closer to the ridge where the birds were roosting and travelling. Each day we noticed the birds hit the field and hug the fenceline working that edge of the field. We setup our blinds about 5-600 yards apart but the lay of the land, makes it seem much further.
Dads
Mine
Friday evening I had a gobbler 15 yards behind me gobbling, but he would not leave the timber. Dad had a group of 4 jakes terrorizing his setup all afternoon, but no longbeards. We ended up roosting several birds and had pretty high hopes for Saturday morning.
Like clockwork, the first tom accompanied with 4 hens hit the fenceline about 7:15 on Saturday morning. They worked their way out into the field and seemed to ignore us. I was able to get 3 of the 4 hens to come into my decoys but the remaining hen took the gobbler the other way. A few minutes later 2 more longbeards came from my dad’s direction. They were super fired up and gobbled and every single noise I made. I still had the 3 hens in my decoys so I was very confident they would come in. Well…they didn’t.
It was now about 8:00 and everything was silent except for a random gobble every once in a while. The early morning excitement was over and I prepared myself for the long, slow all day sit. Time to start surfing TBH [emoji3]
I’ll back up a little bit and say it was a bit chilly this morning…mid 30’s or so. With me being the amateur bowhunter that I am, I do not practice enough as it is let alone wearing any kind of jacket. So at this instance, I was leaned back in my chair and using my jacket as a blanket. I had my hands poked out just far enough to operate my phone.
I was partially daydreaming, partially recapping Wednesday’s bird when I heard some movement in the leaves. I look up and out of the corner of my left eye I see a full strut gobbler power walking to my Jake! Next thing I know he is flogging the heck out of my poor decoy. (It is worth mentioning that due to the amount of birds hanging up, I decided to put my Jake decoy extra close….3 yards.)
So with the biggest and prettiest bird I’ve ever seen 3 yards away and beating my decoy, I had to somehow put my phone down, remove my jacket/blanket, sit up, grab my bow, draw, and shoot! Steps 1-4 went unnoticed but when I went to draw, he saw me. I lowered my bow, changed to an arrow with a Grim Reaper, raised, and drew. Of course he saw me again and started walking away. I put my 20yard pin on the base of his neck and released. The arrow hit him square in the back and he was done. I immediately went to shaking so bad that I could barely get out of the blind. I finally made my way to the downed bird and then I just sat down and took it all in. Crazy chain of events…but a hunt I’ll never forget.
He started at my jake and then walked towards the hen.
Feathers show point of impact
Biggest bird I've ever killed...weight and beard length.
Each year there’s at least one hunt (usually more) that I have to credit to the decoys. This hunt was one that I do not think I would have killed the bird had I used anything else. While others may have been able to bring the bird into range, I’m confident none would have kept him there for the minutes it took me to get ready and draw….especially with him being on alert after seeing me!
Nice recap JFT! I bet that was a semi cluster all in a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. Congrats again[emoji1360]Comment
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Originally posted by Smart View Post
Thank you sir.
It was pretty intense to say the least [emoji23]Comment
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At last, first hunt of the season! I have birds gobbling in all directions. A couple fairly close, and answering my calls. We'll see what happens!
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkComment
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Man, I've got 1 bird that's gobbled 100 times. He's in some timber, with thick stuff between us. Most of the others have moved off in different directions, but he is going crazy. Have one other still talking, too.Comment
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Originally posted by Aggiebush View Post
Good luck!
Where ya sitting?
Are you gonna try the clear cut my dad sat at?Comment
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Heard that a Grayson county TBHer killed an awesome freak Tom today. I'll save the pic and story for him....[emoji15][emoji1376][emoji1376]Comment
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Where is a link to the good turkey taxidermists
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Originally posted by Passthrough View PostWhere is a link to the good turkey taxidermists
Post the pics [emoji7][emoji1360][emoji31]Comment
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Passthrough asked me to post the pics for him. Congrats again Shane. What a beautiful bird.
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Wow...congrats on the bird of a lifetime!
Sent from my Nexus 6P using TapatalkComment
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wow never seen one like that! beautiful bird and a full body mount is a must. congratsComment
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