Flintlock longbeard

[wattlebuster]

Well took a vacation day off work an got in the woods well before daylight an NOTHING not one single gobble. Just walked an called an set up in several different locations an bout 10 am I heard one a long way off. I went towards him bout 100 yrds an set up an got him cranked up gobbling pretty good but he still took his own sweet time coming in but finally at 11 sharp he gobbled his last time at 28 steps cause the Caywood 12 ga threw some copper plated 4s his way an put his lights out while blowing half of his beard off. He's got a 9 1/2 inch beard an 1 inch sharp spurs and weighs bout 18 lbs. I would guess he gobbled around 35 to 40 times. I hope everyones season goes well. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Congrats,on a fine bird. :applause: Griz

 

[Robby]

Nice job wattlebuster!! :hatsoff: :thumbsup:
Another five weeks of waiting here, and with the weather we've been having, its gonna be a tough year.
Robby

 

[rabjr]

Nice! Grats! :thumbsup:

 

[George]

That's great. Maybe I will give turkeys a try this spring, after all. :grin:

Spence

 

[gsday]

Congratulations.

I think that's the first one I've seen posted.

We've got weeks and weeks to go til we can get after em.

 

[hanshi]

Congratulations, Wattlebuster. Our season opens April 14th. Got to ask; did you run into any ticks? I'm paranoid about ticks and remember being covered with them late season in Ga.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Excellent story and photo's :hatsoff:

Brits.

 

[jamesthomas]

Excellent! Nice one! I see turkeys when I'm deer hunting,can have whole flock of hens in the field but they disappear during turkey season .

 

[hoochiepapa]

Nice!! THe blood is drawn!
Hanshi-One turkey season years ago, I hunted a new area and had the time of my life! I had backed up against a giant ponderosa pine and a small herd of deer came feeding through the meadow I was watching. One yearling kept looking at me, and fed slowly in my direction. She got about six feet away, stood there staring at me, craning her neck and stomping her foot. I couldn't help myself, I started laughing, and I think she just about turned herself inside out getting away.
When I got home, there were 24 ticks on me between my t-shirt and my outer shirt! I must've set in a nest.

 

[wattlebuster]

Thanks everyone. Hanshi I will have to say that this year is the worst for ticks that I can remember in a long time. I've already gotton 5 or 6 off my clothes just when Im sitting in the woods so everyboby better spray down real good. Also the mesquitos (maybe thats spelled right) are bloodthirsty already. Its usually first week in april before I have to break out the spray. Maybe your area wont be as bad :thumbsup:

 

[jamesthomas]

Its going to be bad for ticks and other bloodsuckers this year because of the very mild winter we have had. No hard freezes or very cold weather for extended times this year to kill a lot of ticks and other critters .

 

[hawk]

nice work! :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[Tony Logan]

way to go :thumbsup:

 

[Skychief]

Atta boy WattleBuster!

That's a way to whip us smoke-pole turkey chasers into a frenzy. :haha:

Glad ya had a good hunt and got a great bird!!!

I could do a search, but, why dont ya just share your load specs with us right here?

Congratulations, Skychief. :hatsoff:

 

[jrmflintlock]

Awesome!!! Nice bird!! Can't wait till season opens here!! We had fresh snow here this Morning. Still a ways off for me.. I did get to chase bunnies though!!

 

[wattlebuster]

Skychief I do things a lil different from most folks with powder and shotsize. I load 110 grns of FG powder with a wonderwad on top of that. Then 1 overpowder 1/8 inch cardboard wad on top of the wonderwad. Then 110 grns of copperplated #4s. I like big shot. Then 1 thin overshot card. I have pattern an penetration out to 40 yrds just incase I underestimate my yardage. I will not take a shot over 35 yrds if I estimate it right :thumbsup:

 

[Maestro]

Bravo! :applause: Congrats!

The way the weather's been around here, it's going to be 95 degrees by the time spring gobbler season rolls around here in PA on April 28!

 

[dbutch]

[/quote]

Congrats..Good shooting!Wow #4's Love this picture :thumbsup:
Well spent Vac. day!
Beautiful fan-tail too!
Glad to hear the birds are back in your area..ticks...notso-much!
Cubed pan fryed turkey& wild rice Yum!....
Thanks for breaking the ice on Gobblers.
22 days and counting in the north.
Now get back out and go-getum!

 

[Spikebuck]

Congrats. Sounds like a great hunt!

I can't get out until the May 3 season in MN.

Regarding the question on ticks....really bad here. Last weekend was looking for antlers (almost 80 degrees out and our average high would be in the low 40's). Anyway...I lost count after removing dozens of deer ticks from my pants. I would just stop every 20 yards and remove several, then move on and pick them off again. Somehow I actually got them all and never had any on my "person." So spray on the repellent!