double beard (update..pics and full story on pg2)
05-04-2007, 11:05 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: 1st double bearded bird!!
thanx guys...heres the FULL story...and why the wing was blown up and why he was wet on a DRY spring morning and why he was half naked...its gunna be long...but ya'll know i can tell a mean huntin' story...and its a pretty exciting story.
415 the alarm went off. honestly after 3 or 4 hours of sleep i didnt wanna go. something told me to get out of bed and get in the woods. after the 25 or so minute drive i arrived right about 5am i believe. 5:40am im at my listening spot and no sooner did i sit down did they start hammering. not nearly as many as usual for that spot..but a good number of birds all around. the area is a bottom thats just surrounded by hillsides all around...really neat spot.
i had atleast 2 birds gobbling the hardest, which happend to be the closest, with a nice old cut path leading most of the way to them. perfect...snuck into about 100-150yds of them. ahh sounded like jake birds. one could say GOBBLE and that was it. the other said gobbleobbleobble...but it was REALLY REALLY quick..both had very funny sounding gobbles. oh well i said..ill have some fun with them.
it was getting light so i setup and did a soft tree yelp. the jakes went nuts. 5 minutes later i did a flydown cackle and flydown with my hat. they went nuts. 5 minutes later i was clucking, purring and scratching leaves when a good double gobble went off about 200yds to my left...awesome!! definently no jake gobble!! the jakes immediatly shut down. never said another peep.
i kept clucking, purring and scratching in leaves off and on for a half hour or so. same bird gobbled where the jakes were roosted..150yds or so infront of me. gave it a few minutes and gave him a hard excited cut on the box call. no response..hmm. half hour or so later i did more clucking, purring, a series of soft yelps and scratched some leaves. 15 minutes later or so he gobbled 100 yards front/right of me.
about 45minutes or so passed and nothing. i could sworn up and down i heard a bird scratching in leaves the whole time...but never got a gobble to anything..not even crows or geese passing by. hmmm..i decided to take a look around me for some reason. left there was nothing. behind me, nothing. look hard right/semi behind me...there he stood!! i KNEW it was a gobblers rear end of his body i could see standing just above the edge of the point i was setup on. i slowly eased my head forward to make sure it was a turkey, not a stump or something..as i moved my head forward a red head slowly eased out from behind the tree!!
uht oh...BUSTED! he stares at me..takes 2 steps left from behind the tree and i saw a decint longbeard hangin...turned back right and let out a thunderous gobble. hes about 30-35yds away. he walks back behind the tree and stopped. PERFECT. swung my body and gun around..he took 2 steps passed the tree to the right to a nice clearing and i touched off.
at the shot i watched him hit the ground like a deer..he went down HARD..i knew something didnt look right...racked another shell in the chamber and i took off running to him. i get there and he jumps up in the air...i noticed his wing was completely blown to pieces. he takes off running down the hillside. i pull up pull the trigger. CLICK!! WTF!?!?!? bad shell?? i pump the gun again..hes rolling, flopping and finally hid behind a blowdown. 40-45yds away he picked his head up and rested it on the log. BOOOOOM he dissappeared. GOOD hes done. catch my breath and walk down to get my bird. (i guess i short pumped after the first shot...the shell came out but the 2nd never went into the chamber!!)
i walk down the hillside...nothing!! ohhhh crap. i look around the old blow down..nothing. this is what i DID find.
so i figured he HAD to go left or right..i would seen him..200yds right along the bench..nothing. searched all the old downed trees, nothing. searched the creek bottom back and 200yds farther nothing. swept upto the bench and back towards the spot checking anywhere he could hide. nothing!!
wtf...hes half naked and got hit by hevishot TWICE. one was a half decint head/neck shot. so i go forward passed the 2nd shot site..20yds down the hill i found a single feather. ok..keep your cool...track him. keep going in a straight line. no way that bird crossed that creek. only 10ft wide but nah....i doubt it. i was about to cross to check the other side. look to a old downed tree to the left and there he was! still alive!!!
i wrested with him for a while and finally won the battle. took me about a half an hour to find him. im very fourtunate and thankful that i found him. no doubt in my mind he would rotted there.
upon inspection, my first shot was BAD. i jerked and pulled and blasted him in the wing. HARD. at the site of the first shot there was about 1000 feathers..not sure how they fell off..neck and breast features..a nice trail of them clear to the site of shot #2.
and upon inspection i found the double beard. i THOUGHT i seen daylight through the beard but didnt expect a double..i expected it to be a split. sure enough it was a true double.
heres more pics...
one of the "in field pics" i tried to take with the camera timer...best one that i got..that small field is where i stand to listen..
couple pics of the bird. shot him about 150yds straight behind him.
heres what a 3inch 1 1/2 oz of high velocity hevi shot 6's will do to a turkeys wind at 30yds through an undertaker hevishot tube.
(if thats too graphic let me know..ill remove it..)
that bird is really special to me. ive been hunting that spot since i was 12yrs old. thats 9 seasons now. every year dad would call birds into me but id never get a shot...that area is kinda thick as you can see behind the bird...and used to be thicker..but man it holds birds. lots of big trees left and all around the area...i like how they cut that area. dad managed to take a nice one when i was 14 or so. he had a shot, i would never seen it so he took the shot. but i finally got it all to work out at that spot. its about a 20-25minute POWER walk into there..took me 45 to hike out with him..i smiled ear to ear the whole way.
taking a bird at that spot was my goal before i graduate college. i know chances are good i move away and thats where i learned to hunt pretty much...my goal is now filled.
that is also state game lands in PA...so that makes it so much better to me. anyone that knows PA knows that public land will make a turkey hunter out of you...a longbeard from state game lands...that is SUCCESS.
sorry for the legnth...hope ya'll enjoyed it...and now you know why his wing was jacked up, why he was naked, and why he was soak and wet!!
415 the alarm went off. honestly after 3 or 4 hours of sleep i didnt wanna go. something told me to get out of bed and get in the woods. after the 25 or so minute drive i arrived right about 5am i believe. 5:40am im at my listening spot and no sooner did i sit down did they start hammering. not nearly as many as usual for that spot..but a good number of birds all around. the area is a bottom thats just surrounded by hillsides all around...really neat spot.
i had atleast 2 birds gobbling the hardest, which happend to be the closest, with a nice old cut path leading most of the way to them. perfect...snuck into about 100-150yds of them. ahh sounded like jake birds. one could say GOBBLE and that was it. the other said gobbleobbleobble...but it was REALLY REALLY quick..both had very funny sounding gobbles. oh well i said..ill have some fun with them.
it was getting light so i setup and did a soft tree yelp. the jakes went nuts. 5 minutes later i did a flydown cackle and flydown with my hat. they went nuts. 5 minutes later i was clucking, purring and scratching leaves when a good double gobble went off about 200yds to my left...awesome!! definently no jake gobble!! the jakes immediatly shut down. never said another peep.
i kept clucking, purring and scratching in leaves off and on for a half hour or so. same bird gobbled where the jakes were roosted..150yds or so infront of me. gave it a few minutes and gave him a hard excited cut on the box call. no response..hmm. half hour or so later i did more clucking, purring, a series of soft yelps and scratched some leaves. 15 minutes later or so he gobbled 100 yards front/right of me.
about 45minutes or so passed and nothing. i could sworn up and down i heard a bird scratching in leaves the whole time...but never got a gobble to anything..not even crows or geese passing by. hmmm..i decided to take a look around me for some reason. left there was nothing. behind me, nothing. look hard right/semi behind me...there he stood!! i KNEW it was a gobblers rear end of his body i could see standing just above the edge of the point i was setup on. i slowly eased my head forward to make sure it was a turkey, not a stump or something..as i moved my head forward a red head slowly eased out from behind the tree!!
uht oh...BUSTED! he stares at me..takes 2 steps left from behind the tree and i saw a decint longbeard hangin...turned back right and let out a thunderous gobble. hes about 30-35yds away. he walks back behind the tree and stopped. PERFECT. swung my body and gun around..he took 2 steps passed the tree to the right to a nice clearing and i touched off.
at the shot i watched him hit the ground like a deer..he went down HARD..i knew something didnt look right...racked another shell in the chamber and i took off running to him. i get there and he jumps up in the air...i noticed his wing was completely blown to pieces. he takes off running down the hillside. i pull up pull the trigger. CLICK!! WTF!?!?!? bad shell?? i pump the gun again..hes rolling, flopping and finally hid behind a blowdown. 40-45yds away he picked his head up and rested it on the log. BOOOOOM he dissappeared. GOOD hes done. catch my breath and walk down to get my bird. (i guess i short pumped after the first shot...the shell came out but the 2nd never went into the chamber!!)
i walk down the hillside...nothing!! ohhhh crap. i look around the old blow down..nothing. this is what i DID find.
so i figured he HAD to go left or right..i would seen him..200yds right along the bench..nothing. searched all the old downed trees, nothing. searched the creek bottom back and 200yds farther nothing. swept upto the bench and back towards the spot checking anywhere he could hide. nothing!!
wtf...hes half naked and got hit by hevishot TWICE. one was a half decint head/neck shot. so i go forward passed the 2nd shot site..20yds down the hill i found a single feather. ok..keep your cool...track him. keep going in a straight line. no way that bird crossed that creek. only 10ft wide but nah....i doubt it. i was about to cross to check the other side. look to a old downed tree to the left and there he was! still alive!!!
i wrested with him for a while and finally won the battle. took me about a half an hour to find him. im very fourtunate and thankful that i found him. no doubt in my mind he would rotted there.
upon inspection, my first shot was BAD. i jerked and pulled and blasted him in the wing. HARD. at the site of the first shot there was about 1000 feathers..not sure how they fell off..neck and breast features..a nice trail of them clear to the site of shot #2.
and upon inspection i found the double beard. i THOUGHT i seen daylight through the beard but didnt expect a double..i expected it to be a split. sure enough it was a true double.
heres more pics...
one of the "in field pics" i tried to take with the camera timer...best one that i got..that small field is where i stand to listen..
couple pics of the bird. shot him about 150yds straight behind him.
heres what a 3inch 1 1/2 oz of high velocity hevi shot 6's will do to a turkeys wind at 30yds through an undertaker hevishot tube.
(if thats too graphic let me know..ill remove it..)
that bird is really special to me. ive been hunting that spot since i was 12yrs old. thats 9 seasons now. every year dad would call birds into me but id never get a shot...that area is kinda thick as you can see behind the bird...and used to be thicker..but man it holds birds. lots of big trees left and all around the area...i like how they cut that area. dad managed to take a nice one when i was 14 or so. he had a shot, i would never seen it so he took the shot. but i finally got it all to work out at that spot. its about a 20-25minute POWER walk into there..took me 45 to hike out with him..i smiled ear to ear the whole way.
taking a bird at that spot was my goal before i graduate college. i know chances are good i move away and thats where i learned to hunt pretty much...my goal is now filled.
that is also state game lands in PA...so that makes it so much better to me. anyone that knows PA knows that public land will make a turkey hunter out of you...a longbeard from state game lands...that is SUCCESS.
sorry for the legnth...hope ya'll enjoyed it...and now you know why his wing was jacked up, why he was naked, and why he was soak and wet!!
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