The Baron
45 Cal.
- Joined
- May 10, 2004
- Messages
- 927
- Reaction score
- 15
I was actually able to get turkey hunting a few times this spring but it came down to the last morning and I still had tag#2 in my pocket. I had filled my first tag with my 12ga. and regretted it ever since. It was time to do it right again with the flinter. :wink:
I was at my chosen spot early and bumped a bird out of the roost putting out my decoy on the edge of the field (oops). Around 5am a bird started gobbling across the highway - which had happened to me about a week ago on a flash hunt before work. He gobbled quite a bit and when some crows got going over there a second tom chimed in. I hadn't heard any gobbling on my side of the world then at 5:30am some crows fired up again on the other side of the highway and I heard 3 toms gobble hard. That was it and I was out of the blind and headed to the truck at a quick pace. I only took me about 15 minutes to scoot to the truck and drive back down the the field entrance to the other side of the highway. The birds were very cooperative and gobbled several times while I snuck into position. I had a pretty good idea where they were and where they would be headed so I setup on a point of the woods, just around the corner from where the birds were. I figured they were about 200 yards away around a pond in the field, where (I think) they pitched down from roost. I set DJ (my jake decoy) out on the tractor path in the grass on the edge of the field, 12 yards from me and setup against a steep hill about 5 yards in the woods, with a log in front of me. This farm has almost no level ground and a severe shortage of comfy trees, so I just nestled into some pointy rocks and hoped this wouldn't take too long. I did a couple soft yelps on my slate call and got an answer, then I shut up for about 10 minutes. I heard a hen soft yelp and the birds gobbled again to some crows. It didn't sound like they were making any progress, so I called again, got an answer, and went silent again. About 5 minutes passed and, not wanting got lose their attention, I made another prefect yelp and the 3 birds about blew my hat off when they gobbled - they were not 50 yards behind me in the woods! I hunkered down with my .62 Caywood pointed at DJ (he trusts me) and listed to the birds spitting/drumming somewhere very close behind me. I thought about trying to turn around but knew that was a stupid idea so I just tried to imitate a rock and hope DJ would draw them out. Sure enough, I heard the sound of little feet crunching in the leaves as they saw DJ and trotted down off the hill. Seconds later, two swingin' beard toms walked into view from my right, right on the edge of the field and headed for DJ. As the second tom passed by me I made a clicking sound (I can't whistle very well) and he paused and looked at me just in time to enjoy the fireworks. He went down in a heap and I was thanking God for my luck just as the sun was clearing the trees in front of me. I didn't weigh him, but I'd guess him at 19-20# with 1" spurs and a 9 1/2" beard. That makes 11 for the flintlock and 4 others taken with caplock guns and I don't think I will ever take a "modern" shotgun turkey hunting again. For me, there's no more gratifying feeling than taking a nice tom at spitting distance in a cloud of white smoke.
One from the field:
The obligatory "hero" shot at home. After poking at his eyes, playing with his beak and some petting my daughter lost interest and wandered off before Mom came out for the photo. Wes stuck around though - the boy loves being outdoors more than anything.
I was at my chosen spot early and bumped a bird out of the roost putting out my decoy on the edge of the field (oops). Around 5am a bird started gobbling across the highway - which had happened to me about a week ago on a flash hunt before work. He gobbled quite a bit and when some crows got going over there a second tom chimed in. I hadn't heard any gobbling on my side of the world then at 5:30am some crows fired up again on the other side of the highway and I heard 3 toms gobble hard. That was it and I was out of the blind and headed to the truck at a quick pace. I only took me about 15 minutes to scoot to the truck and drive back down the the field entrance to the other side of the highway. The birds were very cooperative and gobbled several times while I snuck into position. I had a pretty good idea where they were and where they would be headed so I setup on a point of the woods, just around the corner from where the birds were. I figured they were about 200 yards away around a pond in the field, where (I think) they pitched down from roost. I set DJ (my jake decoy) out on the tractor path in the grass on the edge of the field, 12 yards from me and setup against a steep hill about 5 yards in the woods, with a log in front of me. This farm has almost no level ground and a severe shortage of comfy trees, so I just nestled into some pointy rocks and hoped this wouldn't take too long. I did a couple soft yelps on my slate call and got an answer, then I shut up for about 10 minutes. I heard a hen soft yelp and the birds gobbled again to some crows. It didn't sound like they were making any progress, so I called again, got an answer, and went silent again. About 5 minutes passed and, not wanting got lose their attention, I made another prefect yelp and the 3 birds about blew my hat off when they gobbled - they were not 50 yards behind me in the woods! I hunkered down with my .62 Caywood pointed at DJ (he trusts me) and listed to the birds spitting/drumming somewhere very close behind me. I thought about trying to turn around but knew that was a stupid idea so I just tried to imitate a rock and hope DJ would draw them out. Sure enough, I heard the sound of little feet crunching in the leaves as they saw DJ and trotted down off the hill. Seconds later, two swingin' beard toms walked into view from my right, right on the edge of the field and headed for DJ. As the second tom passed by me I made a clicking sound (I can't whistle very well) and he paused and looked at me just in time to enjoy the fireworks. He went down in a heap and I was thanking God for my luck just as the sun was clearing the trees in front of me. I didn't weigh him, but I'd guess him at 19-20# with 1" spurs and a 9 1/2" beard. That makes 11 for the flintlock and 4 others taken with caplock guns and I don't think I will ever take a "modern" shotgun turkey hunting again. For me, there's no more gratifying feeling than taking a nice tom at spitting distance in a cloud of white smoke.
One from the field:
The obligatory "hero" shot at home. After poking at his eyes, playing with his beak and some petting my daughter lost interest and wandered off before Mom came out for the photo. Wes stuck around though - the boy loves being outdoors more than anything.
