**Another Down - 5/20** Let the air out of one this morning.....
05-20-2007, 03:49 PM
#37
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 4,679
RE: Let the air out of one this morning.....
Another great morning in the turkey woods today. I went out this morning with APAJaws at his camp near Oneonta, NY determined to call a bird in for him and managed to call one more to the gun for the season.
First light we managed to get within 50 yards of a roosted bird that we put to sleep the night before. He gobbled a good 20 times on the roost but when he flew down he went the wrong way and made us to hike an honest mile running and gunning trying to get in front of him. While hiking to setup on this bird we managed to bump into another that was a good ways off gobbling hard and responding to us, and also bumped another in a field that spotted us in the treeline. Just where we got busted, we decided to setup in an island of trees and brush in the middle of this remote field with a decoy spread since the birds seemed to be everywhere. I made sure to make the decoys visible from a good ways in most directions in case one came in from a weird direction and it paid off. I have never called a bird in from as far away as this guy came. He came from the other side of a valley we hunt, a solid 2000+ yards away and he even crossed a good sized stream as well to come to us. He gobbled the whole way until he was about 150-200 yards away and then he shut up for about 45 minutes. All of a sudden just as Dan and I were thinking about moving somewhere else he popped out of a hedgerow about 80 yards out from us in half strut, he apparently saw the decoys when skirting us. I had a buckwing bobble head breeding pair and hen on that side of the island we were setup in and he strutted a good 50 yards in straight towards the breeding pair until I asked Dan if he was on the bird. Dan said he was on him and waiting for his head to get more exposed, so I hit him with some purrs on the deadly double to get him to drop out of strut and expose his head. The second the bird let down, APAJaws dropped the hammer on him at 32 yards, and once again this one didn't even flop.
He is a pretty good 2 year old I think. This was the 4th one we heard this morning and the third that we were close to for the day. This is the third this year I have called in for a shot opportunity for myself or someone else so I am pretty pleased with my season so far. I may hunt with my girlfriends dad next Friday night, but not sure.........I still have 2x more tags in NY and would love to call one in for him.
Congrats APAJaws on a great bird and your first successful spring turkey season!
18lbs
10" beard
1" spurs
First light we managed to get within 50 yards of a roosted bird that we put to sleep the night before. He gobbled a good 20 times on the roost but when he flew down he went the wrong way and made us to hike an honest mile running and gunning trying to get in front of him. While hiking to setup on this bird we managed to bump into another that was a good ways off gobbling hard and responding to us, and also bumped another in a field that spotted us in the treeline. Just where we got busted, we decided to setup in an island of trees and brush in the middle of this remote field with a decoy spread since the birds seemed to be everywhere. I made sure to make the decoys visible from a good ways in most directions in case one came in from a weird direction and it paid off. I have never called a bird in from as far away as this guy came. He came from the other side of a valley we hunt, a solid 2000+ yards away and he even crossed a good sized stream as well to come to us. He gobbled the whole way until he was about 150-200 yards away and then he shut up for about 45 minutes. All of a sudden just as Dan and I were thinking about moving somewhere else he popped out of a hedgerow about 80 yards out from us in half strut, he apparently saw the decoys when skirting us. I had a buckwing bobble head breeding pair and hen on that side of the island we were setup in and he strutted a good 50 yards in straight towards the breeding pair until I asked Dan if he was on the bird. Dan said he was on him and waiting for his head to get more exposed, so I hit him with some purrs on the deadly double to get him to drop out of strut and expose his head. The second the bird let down, APAJaws dropped the hammer on him at 32 yards, and once again this one didn't even flop.
He is a pretty good 2 year old I think. This was the 4th one we heard this morning and the third that we were close to for the day. This is the third this year I have called in for a shot opportunity for myself or someone else so I am pretty pleased with my season so far. I may hunt with my girlfriends dad next Friday night, but not sure.........I still have 2x more tags in NY and would love to call one in for him.
Congrats APAJaws on a great bird and your first successful spring turkey season!
18lbs
10" beard
1" spurs
