Well I got pics back from last weeks hunt in South Dakota. It is always nice to get back home to see the family and even better if I can tie a hunt to it.
I hit the Hills with a friend of mine that is a turkey guide. Luckily it was the last weekend of the season, so his only client was his brother whom is quite a turkey hunter in his own right. Becasue they felt sorry for the amatuer turkey hunter, they invited me along and gave me the first shot if birds presented themselves.
The night before they had put a gobbler to bed, so long before sunrise we were sneaking through the woods to get close, but not too close.
The good news is a gobbler was less than 75 yards and making quite a racket on the perch. The bad news was that there was a hen in a tree not ten yards from me and the other hunter. The hen had us pegged, but we got to hear sweet music for 1/2 hour before they flew out the wrong direction.
As we approached our second spot, we rounded a corner and saw a long-beard strutting in the middle of logging road. We laughed and enjoyed the show. Finally the gobbler went around the corner and out of sight. I knew it would be pretty easy to boogy up the road and plug him, but that is not how real turkey hunting is done (or so I was told).
We cut the distance to about 75 yards and my two guides worked the magic with their calls. Finally the gobbler made his move back around, but he was not in my shooting zone. I was going to have to turn and take the shot, but five hens were at less then 10 yards and were beginning to realize that I indeed was not a tree stump.
As the gobbler dropped his fan and started to walk away, I turned and shot. Well I hit him, but he wasn't exactly flopping. By the time I got to my feet, he was trucking down the hills and taking wing. Now if I had been shooting duck loads he would have been history, but with the tight pattern I just punched holes in the sky. We watched him sail across the canyon and got a pretty good mark on him. Once we made it across the canyon, it took about 20 minutes to find the bird. I was jacked and relieved to say the least.
I had a ball and ended up with a pretty good bird. He had good spurs and a 8.75" beard. The only part of the hunt that I participated in was the shooting, the real success is due to the brothers that allowed me to hunt with them. These guys really know their shit and hopefully I learn enough to make me half dangerous next season.
YoZaa, long story. Sorry about that. Here is my SD gobbler.
Unfortunately, Axl wasn't invited, so he didn't make the picture. Just so you know that he still got some hunting in, here is a shot of us with our MT bird from this spring.
I hit the Hills with a friend of mine that is a turkey guide. Luckily it was the last weekend of the season, so his only client was his brother whom is quite a turkey hunter in his own right. Becasue they felt sorry for the amatuer turkey hunter, they invited me along and gave me the first shot if birds presented themselves.
The night before they had put a gobbler to bed, so long before sunrise we were sneaking through the woods to get close, but not too close.
The good news is a gobbler was less than 75 yards and making quite a racket on the perch. The bad news was that there was a hen in a tree not ten yards from me and the other hunter. The hen had us pegged, but we got to hear sweet music for 1/2 hour before they flew out the wrong direction.As we approached our second spot, we rounded a corner and saw a long-beard strutting in the middle of logging road. We laughed and enjoyed the show. Finally the gobbler went around the corner and out of sight. I knew it would be pretty easy to boogy up the road and plug him, but that is not how real turkey hunting is done (or so I was told).
We cut the distance to about 75 yards and my two guides worked the magic with their calls. Finally the gobbler made his move back around, but he was not in my shooting zone. I was going to have to turn and take the shot, but five hens were at less then 10 yards and were beginning to realize that I indeed was not a tree stump.
As the gobbler dropped his fan and started to walk away, I turned and shot. Well I hit him, but he wasn't exactly flopping. By the time I got to my feet, he was trucking down the hills and taking wing. Now if I had been shooting duck loads he would have been history, but with the tight pattern I just punched holes in the sky. We watched him sail across the canyon and got a pretty good mark on him. Once we made it across the canyon, it took about 20 minutes to find the bird. I was jacked and relieved to say the least.
I had a ball and ended up with a pretty good bird. He had good spurs and a 8.75" beard. The only part of the hunt that I participated in was the shooting, the real success is due to the brothers that allowed me to hunt with them. These guys really know their shit and hopefully I learn enough to make me half dangerous next season.
YoZaa, long story. Sorry about that. Here is my SD gobbler.
Unfortunately, Axl wasn't invited, so he didn't make the picture. Just so you know that he still got some hunting in, here is a shot of us with our MT bird from this spring.
