Turkey Number 5
Ok, let me explain before I have the local conservation agent knocking on my door! I just connected with my second turkey this past Saturday, which makes the fifth turkey I’ve been a part of harvesting this spring – the other three I was calling and/or videoing. I know for many, this has been a frustrating year in the turkey woods, but I have been fortunate to have a great season this year.
This second turkey worked like a charm. He was roosted in some oaks that are surrounded by a grove of evergreen trees so I was able to get in real close. It helped that he gobbled super early giving me the cover of very low light to make my advance. My only problem was that I had a bunch of calves in the woods with me that decided I was very interesting. They ended up surrounding me, even nuzzling my boot as they checked me out. I thought for sure they were going to ruin the hunt as for 15 min I couldn’t have shot in any direction. I finally decided that my only hope was crawl on past them and get under a big evergreen that they couldn’t get under with me. Thankfully it worked and they wandered off in the other direction.
This bird gobbled his head off and finally pitched out of the tree and landed about 100yrds away out in the pasture. After some soft yelps and purring he came up to the edge of the woods to check me out at about 50 yrds. I decided I didn’t want to make another 50yrd shot this year so after a few more minutes of coaxing, he finally gave up and came on in, offering me a shot at 15yrds! He gobbled all the way in, and you fellow hunters know how awesome it is to have a bird gobbling in your face at 15-20 yrds! I was done and it was barely 6:30am. He was a beautiful bird – he weighed 22.5 lbs, had a very very thick 10inch beard, and sharp spurs that were a bit over 1 1/4 inches long.
Below I’m attaching pics of this bird along with my first bird of this spring. I’ll say it again, you just can’t hardly beat spring turkey hunting!
#1 - 24 1/2 lbs - 10" Beard - 1 1/4" Spurs
#2 - 22 1/2 lbs - 10" Beard - 1 1/4" Spurs