Back from Nebraska......Long but worth the read
05-05-2011, 12:07 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: palm bay fl
Posts: 4,504
Back from Nebraska......Long but worth the read
We arrived in Colorado, drove to Nebraska...saw Mule deer, Antelope ,Buffalo and a dead pheasant..had to stop and get pics, lol...it's just such a beautiful bird. Drove by our hunting area, then we were hotel bound.
Day 1: Woke up and hit the woods the next morning.I thought I'd walk a different way in to where I hunted last year, called in a hunter, so I let him know it was me and I went up the side of this ridge, took about an hour, got to the top and realized there was three feet between me and a 100 yd. drop straight down, I was going back down the way I came, lol...it was about then that I thought to myself " How did I just climb up that"?, lol...I was like a cat that had climbed a tree and was stuck, someone call 911 , lol...so I decided to sit down on my butt and slide all the way down , only hit one catus, lol.
Then I got a text from Toby saying "he needed to talk to me", I tried calling several times,texting him, no response so I began to worry , finally I just left and went to the parking area...it wasn't an emergency, he wanted to tell me about the birds he saw on my side heading to where I was at of course, lol... and to show me his first Merriams, lol...we called it a day.
Day 2: I went in the way I did last year, he's there gobbling, I waited until he flew down and was waiting for him to get in my lane to shoot when two mules walk in between me and the gobbler,direct line of fire... I couldn't shoot, so I waited until the birds got out of sight and the stalk was on...I knew where they were headed,so I did exactly what I did last year, got to where I shot from with last years bird and I see my gobbler, I go to take a shot and he flys, just a second too late...I tried to get go around this ridge to get in front of him, as I'm walking I see this dead hen, I thought some SOB shot it and left it,so I go to flip it over and that thing bout knocked me down trying to fly away, lol... scared me to death, lol.
Tom and Toby both shot birds and it was Tom's first Merriams, so I had to go see, they called it a day.I was going to wait until roosting if I had too, I got back to my area and the winds starting whipping, the sun was gone and I was dying, I was so cold,I called them a couple of hours later to come get me, I found this little gully and huddled there until I knew they were on their way...
I get to the wma boundry fence, got one leg over, went to get the other one over and my pants got stuck, lost my balance, fell into a catus, my other leg still hanging on the barbed wire, finally got off and I see Tom and Toby coming, they would of been snapping pics and not helping, I know them too well, lol.
Day 3 : Tom decided to sleep in , so Toby and I headed out...started walking in and I keep feeling this stuff hitting me, it was snow, woohooooooo...was wearing my lucky undies, it was snowing, today was the day...got to my trees and waited for the gobble, he's gobbling from the other ridge, so I make my way closer, couldn't decide if I should try to get closer or what so I asked God and the next thing that popped in my mind was "sit", so I did, lol.The snow is falling, he's close, I know he's coming in to my calling, I finally see him and some others walking/bugging towards me,I'm the type that will wait until thevery last minute to shoot because I want to see all he's got to give, well he's going in and out of strutt, gobbling, he's looking for love, I'm waiting for him to go under the fence and the next thing I know his head is three feet away from me, he snuck up on the side of the ridge where I couldn't see fence...I didn't even get to see wattles before I hear Putt Putt so I stood up and I took the shot, felt good, my heart sunk as he flew hard and strong across to the other ridge, there were birds flying every direction possible...so I decided to walk up and around, I didn't see anything... I was walking out and when I got to where the gobbler had been strutting, I just relived it all, looking onto the other ridge wondering what the hell happened because I knew I was on that bird...got to the parking area, met Toby and on the way out we see a nother gobbler, so I jump in the back, load my gun, he stops, I jump out,he drove off and I called, I see him coming towards me but I can't raise my gun to see him, he disapears, turns out, I spooked two deer out of the bottoms and the bird walked across the road......figures. Called it a day....went scouting.
Day 4: Get to my area, waiting for the gobble, no gobble close, but i hear hens and a gobble far off, so I moved so I could hear the gobble better, I'm standing behind a tree, I hear crunching behind me,and I see birds to my left, I can't move because I know there's crunching right next to me, I fart,lol...yes, girls fart too, lol.... thought to myself" sure glad turkeys can't smell" lol, all of a sudden I'm being molested by a donkey, he came right up on me, and bit my butt, LMAO.....I couldn't move because I didn't want to spook the birds, so I waited until they were out of sight and I had to take video of the mule...I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry so I did a lil of both, lol.
I decided to try and get in front of the birds that had just went by, I go down and I cross the fence, my leg gets caught again, took me a few minutes and several puntures later but I got unstuck and I look to my left and the birds are there looking at me..... just shoot me, now, lol.....I can't win...then I see what looks to be a gobbler laying down on the side of the ridge, then it moved, OMG it was my gobbler from the previous day just looking at me about 40 yds. away but it's too thick to take a shot, so it took about 20-25 minutes but I stalked up to him within 10 yds. and I ended his suffering.
I am so glad I saw him laying there, but I feel so bad for not seeing him land the day before, I looked, I really did but I was sure it was a clean miss the way he flew off...Usually I'm a pretty good shot but I won't risk another quick shot like that again...lesson learned...I'd rather kick myself in the butt for not trying to take the shot than to take it and wound the gobbler.
That afternoon we went to another WMA, Tom and Toby were still in camo, I was in jeans and a camo jacket so I was just going to scout and take pics, then I heard Tom shoot, he shot a trophy....so I went and picked him up, took pics, then went back to where Toby was...I was showing Tom some elk tracks and I see a strutter, I grabbed him and headed back to the vehicle to get my gun and facemask, I borrowed his leafy britches and I'm just wearing socks...Toby shot, he called, I told him to stay there, we were working a bird, Tom set up behind me and started calling, my phone rings again, it's Toby, I hung up on him, he must of called back 5 times, lol...he kept breaking upand couldn't hear me, I was pissed and yelled at him not knowing he was dehydrated and had to come out, the strutter left, think he saw Toby walking the fenceline out but who knows, he never gobbled so it was probably a jake anyway.I apologized for snapping.....today we all got birds, the only way it would of been better is if we all had gotten our birds in the morning and got a group pic...what a blessing today had been.
Day 5: We dropped Tom off and we went and parked, as soon as we opened the doors we heard gobbling, there was gobbling everywhere, so I grabbed my gear and took off, set up 25 yds. from two gobblers on the roost, waited for the fly down ...the didn't fly down, they flew across to the top of the ridge never to be seen again lol...they were gobbling until they flew so I don't think they saw me but who knows...GPS said I walked 3 miles in, that means 3 miles out, OMG what did I do, lol...now I have to walk back, uphill most of the way this time...good thing I don't shoot off the roost, lol. Toby grabbed his camera and was going to try to get one on video but never did see one, Tom played with a hen, calling back and forth, but never saw a gobbler, I heard shots, so I figured the guy next to me got one and Tom too...no signal so after a couple of hours, I walked out to find no Tom....so I hung out and took pics. We were done hunting...
Your score is 15.5 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 20.5 = 51
Day 6: we slept in until 5:00 lol...spent the day in town relaxing, sight seeing......
Day 7: Drove to Colorado, spent the night and took off the next morning......Florida bound, woohooo.
I got some amazing photos and about 50 battle wounds....had birds around every day but one, so I can't complain.....
Day 1: Woke up and hit the woods the next morning.I thought I'd walk a different way in to where I hunted last year, called in a hunter, so I let him know it was me and I went up the side of this ridge, took about an hour, got to the top and realized there was three feet between me and a 100 yd. drop straight down, I was going back down the way I came, lol...it was about then that I thought to myself " How did I just climb up that"?, lol...I was like a cat that had climbed a tree and was stuck, someone call 911 , lol...so I decided to sit down on my butt and slide all the way down , only hit one catus, lol.
Then I got a text from Toby saying "he needed to talk to me", I tried calling several times,texting him, no response so I began to worry , finally I just left and went to the parking area...it wasn't an emergency, he wanted to tell me about the birds he saw on my side heading to where I was at of course, lol... and to show me his first Merriams, lol...we called it a day.
Day 2: I went in the way I did last year, he's there gobbling, I waited until he flew down and was waiting for him to get in my lane to shoot when two mules walk in between me and the gobbler,direct line of fire... I couldn't shoot, so I waited until the birds got out of sight and the stalk was on...I knew where they were headed,so I did exactly what I did last year, got to where I shot from with last years bird and I see my gobbler, I go to take a shot and he flys, just a second too late...I tried to get go around this ridge to get in front of him, as I'm walking I see this dead hen, I thought some SOB shot it and left it,so I go to flip it over and that thing bout knocked me down trying to fly away, lol... scared me to death, lol.
Tom and Toby both shot birds and it was Tom's first Merriams, so I had to go see, they called it a day.I was going to wait until roosting if I had too, I got back to my area and the winds starting whipping, the sun was gone and I was dying, I was so cold,I called them a couple of hours later to come get me, I found this little gully and huddled there until I knew they were on their way...
I get to the wma boundry fence, got one leg over, went to get the other one over and my pants got stuck, lost my balance, fell into a catus, my other leg still hanging on the barbed wire, finally got off and I see Tom and Toby coming, they would of been snapping pics and not helping, I know them too well, lol.
Day 3 : Tom decided to sleep in , so Toby and I headed out...started walking in and I keep feeling this stuff hitting me, it was snow, woohooooooo...was wearing my lucky undies, it was snowing, today was the day...got to my trees and waited for the gobble, he's gobbling from the other ridge, so I make my way closer, couldn't decide if I should try to get closer or what so I asked God and the next thing that popped in my mind was "sit", so I did, lol.The snow is falling, he's close, I know he's coming in to my calling, I finally see him and some others walking/bugging towards me,I'm the type that will wait until thevery last minute to shoot because I want to see all he's got to give, well he's going in and out of strutt, gobbling, he's looking for love, I'm waiting for him to go under the fence and the next thing I know his head is three feet away from me, he snuck up on the side of the ridge where I couldn't see fence...I didn't even get to see wattles before I hear Putt Putt so I stood up and I took the shot, felt good, my heart sunk as he flew hard and strong across to the other ridge, there were birds flying every direction possible...so I decided to walk up and around, I didn't see anything... I was walking out and when I got to where the gobbler had been strutting, I just relived it all, looking onto the other ridge wondering what the hell happened because I knew I was on that bird...got to the parking area, met Toby and on the way out we see a nother gobbler, so I jump in the back, load my gun, he stops, I jump out,he drove off and I called, I see him coming towards me but I can't raise my gun to see him, he disapears, turns out, I spooked two deer out of the bottoms and the bird walked across the road......figures. Called it a day....went scouting.
Day 4: Get to my area, waiting for the gobble, no gobble close, but i hear hens and a gobble far off, so I moved so I could hear the gobble better, I'm standing behind a tree, I hear crunching behind me,and I see birds to my left, I can't move because I know there's crunching right next to me, I fart,lol...yes, girls fart too, lol.... thought to myself" sure glad turkeys can't smell" lol, all of a sudden I'm being molested by a donkey, he came right up on me, and bit my butt, LMAO.....I couldn't move because I didn't want to spook the birds, so I waited until they were out of sight and I had to take video of the mule...I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry so I did a lil of both, lol.
I decided to try and get in front of the birds that had just went by, I go down and I cross the fence, my leg gets caught again, took me a few minutes and several puntures later but I got unstuck and I look to my left and the birds are there looking at me..... just shoot me, now, lol.....I can't win...then I see what looks to be a gobbler laying down on the side of the ridge, then it moved, OMG it was my gobbler from the previous day just looking at me about 40 yds. away but it's too thick to take a shot, so it took about 20-25 minutes but I stalked up to him within 10 yds. and I ended his suffering.
I am so glad I saw him laying there, but I feel so bad for not seeing him land the day before, I looked, I really did but I was sure it was a clean miss the way he flew off...Usually I'm a pretty good shot but I won't risk another quick shot like that again...lesson learned...I'd rather kick myself in the butt for not trying to take the shot than to take it and wound the gobbler.
That afternoon we went to another WMA, Tom and Toby were still in camo, I was in jeans and a camo jacket so I was just going to scout and take pics, then I heard Tom shoot, he shot a trophy....so I went and picked him up, took pics, then went back to where Toby was...I was showing Tom some elk tracks and I see a strutter, I grabbed him and headed back to the vehicle to get my gun and facemask, I borrowed his leafy britches and I'm just wearing socks...Toby shot, he called, I told him to stay there, we were working a bird, Tom set up behind me and started calling, my phone rings again, it's Toby, I hung up on him, he must of called back 5 times, lol...he kept breaking upand couldn't hear me, I was pissed and yelled at him not knowing he was dehydrated and had to come out, the strutter left, think he saw Toby walking the fenceline out but who knows, he never gobbled so it was probably a jake anyway.I apologized for snapping.....today we all got birds, the only way it would of been better is if we all had gotten our birds in the morning and got a group pic...what a blessing today had been.
Day 5: We dropped Tom off and we went and parked, as soon as we opened the doors we heard gobbling, there was gobbling everywhere, so I grabbed my gear and took off, set up 25 yds. from two gobblers on the roost, waited for the fly down ...the didn't fly down, they flew across to the top of the ridge never to be seen again lol...they were gobbling until they flew so I don't think they saw me but who knows...GPS said I walked 3 miles in, that means 3 miles out, OMG what did I do, lol...now I have to walk back, uphill most of the way this time...good thing I don't shoot off the roost, lol. Toby grabbed his camera and was going to try to get one on video but never did see one, Tom played with a hen, calling back and forth, but never saw a gobbler, I heard shots, so I figured the guy next to me got one and Tom too...no signal so after a couple of hours, I walked out to find no Tom....so I hung out and took pics. We were done hunting...
Your score is 15.5 + 7.5 + 7.5 + 20.5 = 51
Day 6: we slept in until 5:00 lol...spent the day in town relaxing, sight seeing......
Day 7: Drove to Colorado, spent the night and took off the next morning......Florida bound, woohooo.
I got some amazing photos and about 50 battle wounds....had birds around every day but one, so I can't complain.....
Last edited by huntnma; 05-14-2011 at 07:30 AM.
05-05-2011, 02:34 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: palm bay fl
Posts: 4,504
