VonFatman
Blackhawk
Turkey season opened up on Monday. Karli & I went out back but we picked the wrong ridge and just enjoyed the gobbling on the next ridge over.
This morning, I was all set to meet my son for a hunt but he must of over-slept...so...heck, I was all ready and the car was running.
I drove up near Kingston, MO and had a wonderful time.
At the "butt-crack-of dawn" I somehow managed to slip myself very near a very vocal gobbler. Turns out after I'd eased on in and sat down, the entire area was full of gobblers...at least 7 different gobblers were soon sounding off.
I was thinking...."this is just too good"...it was. They all flew north onto neighboring ground I did not have permission to hunt. All my sweet-talking could not entice.
So, with that rafter of birds on the ground and gobbling their way north, I decided to head for some really beautiful hardwood forest area that is usually full of gobblers.
I climbed up the hill and listened and called a bit...nothing much happening at 7-7:30am. Then, my ol' buddies kicked it in hard. They were still in the same field, but had moved closer. I scampered (more like a semi-controlled slide) back down the hill.
The birds I'd sat under that morning were now with-in 100 yards of "my side of the line"...there were 7-8 Jakes, three adult gobblers and a couple hens. The dominant bird was non-stop gobbling. Fun!
He was strutting and fanned out and basicaly doing what horny gobblers do...calling in more girls.
A creek runs the entire border between the two farms so I eased into the creek and moved to where I could attempt some calling without being seen. The dominant bird and his two buddies came in a ways but never close enough to get serious.
So, I backed up, ran 1/8th mile down the creek and tried again...
The same thing, lots of fun, lots of gobbling, but no joy.
Watching the birds I saw they were now going back north and were quite a bit closer to the creek. I eased back into the creek and marched north 1/4 mile. When I finally peered over the vegetation....be still my beating heart...the birds were coming in and might just be close enough to sweet talk.
Some soft purrs and clucks got the heads up but they continued to march north...away from me.
Well, sometimes sweet talk is good, but when gobblers are "henned up" exasperated cutting, yelping and purring can make a tom come in close (sometimes...maybe 20% of the time).
Today it worked...when I gave it the ol' "I'm hot, where are ya?" the "King Daddy Rabbit" turned on his heals and decided to come over and investigate. At 40 steps, he was making like it was time to return to his rafter of buddies, so that's where my Super Black Eagle dumped him. It's an incredible shooter...3 1/2" #6s and only two pellets hit the breast...it's a head shot with this gun...I've never had one get up after the first shot.
The bird was heavy...seemed that way to me (but they all seem heavy when you are dragging one home).
A respectable bird with 1" spurs, 9 1/2" beard and a real-deal weight of 25 pounds. He actually was heavy!
Here's a post field shot with Kylar, my grandson posing with the fan opened up for the Kodak Moment. He also "helped" me clean the bird too!
A great day to hunt turkey...no wind, 45 degrees at first light & sunshine. It really does not get much better (unless of course your son manages to drag his butt out of bed to join the fun!)
Another very cool thing happened...before hunting & while getting ready to leave the car, 3-4 huge packs of coyotes cut loose and made music like I'd never heard...ever. I spoke with the farmer (he'd been hunting across the road with his dad) and he told me he'd heard the same thing...he also said he'd NEVER heard anything like it! Very cool. At least 100 'yotes singing at one time...many just a stones' throw away.
Bob
This morning, I was all set to meet my son for a hunt but he must of over-slept...so...heck, I was all ready and the car was running.
I drove up near Kingston, MO and had a wonderful time.
At the "butt-crack-of dawn" I somehow managed to slip myself very near a very vocal gobbler. Turns out after I'd eased on in and sat down, the entire area was full of gobblers...at least 7 different gobblers were soon sounding off.
I was thinking...."this is just too good"...it was. They all flew north onto neighboring ground I did not have permission to hunt. All my sweet-talking could not entice.
So, with that rafter of birds on the ground and gobbling their way north, I decided to head for some really beautiful hardwood forest area that is usually full of gobblers.
I climbed up the hill and listened and called a bit...nothing much happening at 7-7:30am. Then, my ol' buddies kicked it in hard. They were still in the same field, but had moved closer. I scampered (more like a semi-controlled slide) back down the hill.
The birds I'd sat under that morning were now with-in 100 yards of "my side of the line"...there were 7-8 Jakes, three adult gobblers and a couple hens. The dominant bird was non-stop gobbling. Fun!
He was strutting and fanned out and basicaly doing what horny gobblers do...calling in more girls.
A creek runs the entire border between the two farms so I eased into the creek and moved to where I could attempt some calling without being seen. The dominant bird and his two buddies came in a ways but never close enough to get serious.
So, I backed up, ran 1/8th mile down the creek and tried again...
The same thing, lots of fun, lots of gobbling, but no joy.
Watching the birds I saw they were now going back north and were quite a bit closer to the creek. I eased back into the creek and marched north 1/4 mile. When I finally peered over the vegetation....be still my beating heart...the birds were coming in and might just be close enough to sweet talk.
Some soft purrs and clucks got the heads up but they continued to march north...away from me.
Well, sometimes sweet talk is good, but when gobblers are "henned up" exasperated cutting, yelping and purring can make a tom come in close (sometimes...maybe 20% of the time).
Today it worked...when I gave it the ol' "I'm hot, where are ya?" the "King Daddy Rabbit" turned on his heals and decided to come over and investigate. At 40 steps, he was making like it was time to return to his rafter of buddies, so that's where my Super Black Eagle dumped him. It's an incredible shooter...3 1/2" #6s and only two pellets hit the breast...it's a head shot with this gun...I've never had one get up after the first shot.
The bird was heavy...seemed that way to me (but they all seem heavy when you are dragging one home).
A respectable bird with 1" spurs, 9 1/2" beard and a real-deal weight of 25 pounds. He actually was heavy!
Here's a post field shot with Kylar, my grandson posing with the fan opened up for the Kodak Moment. He also "helped" me clean the bird too!
A great day to hunt turkey...no wind, 45 degrees at first light & sunshine. It really does not get much better (unless of course your son manages to drag his butt out of bed to join the fun!)
Another very cool thing happened...before hunting & while getting ready to leave the car, 3-4 huge packs of coyotes cut loose and made music like I'd never heard...ever. I spoke with the farmer (he'd been hunting across the road with his dad) and he told me he'd heard the same thing...he also said he'd NEVER heard anything like it! Very cool. At least 100 'yotes singing at one time...many just a stones' throw away.
Bob
