It’s a good butt whoopin in New Mexico today. Got on a bird early this morning. Never heard any hens with him, but he took off into private pretty quick off the roost. There were boot tracks in there, so perhaps he’s been messed with too much. Wind is howling now. I bet I can’t hear 50 yards. Going to give it hell the rest of the weekend to try and punch this second tag. This will be my last weekend out here for this season.
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Originally posted by Passthrough View Post
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Congrats!!!
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Swapped PoPo out for a date to the daddy/daughter dance
Soccer tomorrow then back to East TexasComment
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Leaving the house at 2am headed east
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Originally posted by Passthrough View Post
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Mam that’s awesome!!
I gotta get PoPo one!!!Comment
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Awesome write up congratulations!!!Originally posted by MooseontheLoose View PostEaster Bird Recap:
Saturday afternoon I had the one bird going early, but the rest of the afternoon/evening was very quiet. I saw a hen, a few jakes, and a ton of deer, but no big birds and nothing was talking. I spent all afternoon hunting a mile and half long stretch of creek bottom and couldn’t get anything going. At sunset, I backed out of the bottom to just listen and roost a bird for the morning. I was hoping the active bird from earlier in the day would roost close so I could hunt him in the morning, but it was dead quiet on that whole stretch of bottom.
Further down the creek, in the area I spent 6 hours in though, a bird got going and was just flat getting after it. He gobbled from a little before sunset until about 30 minutes after dark. Hadn't made a peep all day but easily gobbled over 50 times that evening
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Sunday morning was really overcast and took forever to get light. On Saturday there were birds gobbling all up and down the creek, but Sunday only one was talking. The same one from the night before. Two groups of jakes gobbled twice, each, but the bird that was so vocal Saturday night picked up right where he left off bright and early on Sunday morning. I snuck about a half mile in until I figured I was about 120 yards or so away from where he was at. They use a few different roost trees in that bottom, and I wasn’t sure exactly which one he was in, but he wasn’t far.
I let it be quiet for a bit and let him talk to himself. Gave him some soft yelps and he immediately cut me off. He turned and was facing my way, and with no wind and still conditions, it was that much louder. He stayed on the limb a lot longer than I thought he would. He cut me off the couple times I called to him and no other hens were talking. I figured this was going to happen quick, right after flydown.
He gobbled facing my direction most of the time, then randomly turned around and gobbled once, jumped off the limb, and flew for two hundred yards, across the creek, and in the complete opposite direction from where I was
. He gobbled a couple more times when he hit the ground over there.
I knew exactly where he went at that point, so I picked up my stuff and as fast as I could, hiked the half mile back out, crossed the creek, and made a big mile and a half loop all the way around him to try to cut him off. Last weekend hunt for the year. Send it!
I spooked a lot of deer on the loop and some of them ran into the bottom where he was. Luckily, I didn’t see, come across, or spook any turkeys. Figuring he would get spooked by the deer running everywhere and with nothing to lose at that point, I set up in the exact same grove of trees where I shot the coyote on Saturday.
He was still gobbling on his own down in the bottom and hadn’t worked his way out yet. I beat him there. I let everything settle down for a few minutes and just listened to him talk on his own. He cut me off on my first calling sequence. After a little bit I called to him again. He cut me off again but wasn’t coming my way. I could tell he was just pacing back and forth in the bottom, gobbling in different directions. At one point, it sounded like he was on the other side of the creek again, where we started the morning. I laughed to myself figuring he might have flown back to where I was earlier when there weren’t any hens in this new spot
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After two sequences I shut up on him, and after 8 or 10 unanswered gobbles with no response from me, he came looking for me. One more gobble let me know he was on the way and closing fast, and it wasn’t long before the blue and red head peeked up over the rise.
He was a big mature 3+ year old bird. One of his spurs was chipped at about 1”, but the other was 1.25” long. Nice 9” beard.
I walked from camp that morning for the whole hunt, and in between the hike to the first set, out, across the creek, the big loop around, and all the way back, my watch said it ended up being just over 4 miles. I shot him right before 8 AM. Between the 9 miles Saturday and 4 miles Sunday, I walked/hiked/ran half a marathon to get this bird
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I spent 6 hours in this bird’s living room Saturday afternoon and couldn’t get a peep out of him or any other bird in that bottom with any call in my vest, all afternoon. After that exercise in torture, he gobbled on his own like crazy all evening and into the night. He gobbled at me Sunday morning, then turned around and flew down in the complete opposite direction, on the opposite side of the creek. The ensuing track meet to get around him scared the fire out of every deer in the county as they watched a running, leaf-suit wearing sasquatch set a new world record in the deer lease chicken dash
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It was personal with this bird and felt great when it all came together, especially after a grind of a hunt Saturday.
Better pic of the Saturday dog and the Sunday LDP.
Good luck to everyone this weekend gonna need it up here with the wind!Comment
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#2 went down this evening…..we done in the Pineywoods!! What a day!!Comment
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Texas eastern is a dream of mine. Congrats on those!
These New Mexico birds are driving me mad. They gobble nonstop on the limb. The second they’re feet hit terra firma they slap a muzzle on their beak, cinch down the laces on their track shoes, and flat disappear.Comment
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Moving really slow this morning, but heading NE soon. At least we'll get in two hunts this weekend. Didn't get out of the venue from our DU banquet until 11 last night, needed to rest a little. Congrats Shane, y'all slayed em!Comment
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Good luck in RR co. Interested to hear what your birds are doing. From what I dont hear west of you birds are about doneOriginally posted by Aggiebush View PostComment
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Early morning pick me up, we’re almost to the lease. Wind is howling, hope the birds are too. [emoji16]
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I did see 2 hens that roosted….so obviously they havent finished their clutch yet.Originally posted by Aggiebush View PostEarly morning pick me up, we’re almost to the lease. Wind is howling, hope the birds are too. [emoji16]
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And had 2 jakes run across highway on way home this morning right after I left the gate. Good luck man…..after fighting timber rattlers and cottonmouths every day,I say I’m never going back….but I already wish I had another tag in my pocket
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More proud of this one than ever….it’s only taken me 3 years to get this man a bird on his own property. From misses to spooking birds coming in…..but we finally put it all together yesterday!
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