Well, we got to the farm on Friday night and set up near a roost site that ended up being a complete bust, probably because of the pack of coyotes that we heard about fly up time. We were eager for Saturday morning because it was bound to be a good one. My dad was going to come sit in the blind because he loves seeing strutting turkeys.
We planned to sit where Thomas killed a bird last year. It had a good view of the field and we could see what was going on to hone in our set up. We got in there in the morning and got everything set up. We heard some gobbles and they were pretty hot for a while. We ended up seeing a hen come across the field later in the morning. My dad had to leave so he snuck out about 8:30 or so. There wasn't much going on and the action seemed to be pretty distant. I got bored and got out my slate calls since I hadn't touched them since last year and decided to scuff them up a little and see if they still worked /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
I started working on the slate calls and calling a little bit. Thomas grabbed the power crystal and began working his magic. We had a couple of birds gobble from a long ways away and then all of a sudden one gobbled pretty close. I looked out the window and there he was in full strut about 75 yards out making his way to the decoy set up. I bought a pretty boy at the classic and we had him out with several hens. He strutted his way in to the decoys and we decided that we were going to see if he would whack the pretty boy, but he skirted it a little. I shot him at about 25 yards and dropped him cold!
Here is where the story gets interesting....
We gave high fives in the blind and I climbed out to go get the bird. He had his head up and was trying to look around...however his head was all bloody. Thomas tried to give him the old head stomp, but he hopped up and started walking. Here is Thomas and I standing on either side of a walking turkey...
He wasn't doing too well, but he was on his feet nonetheless...One quick buttstroke to the head and he was done...
24.5 lbs
8" beard
7/8" spurs on both sides
As Thomas mentioned and the reason for the title of this post is because the farm is being sold and the probability is that we won't get to hunt there anymore. I have had a lot of my best hunting memories made on that place and this one is among them. It was a great hunt, shared with a great friend, on a great piece of Iowa hunting land.
Cherish those places that you've got to hunt, you've worked hard to get them no matter what!!
We planned to sit where Thomas killed a bird last year. It had a good view of the field and we could see what was going on to hone in our set up. We got in there in the morning and got everything set up. We heard some gobbles and they were pretty hot for a while. We ended up seeing a hen come across the field later in the morning. My dad had to leave so he snuck out about 8:30 or so. There wasn't much going on and the action seemed to be pretty distant. I got bored and got out my slate calls since I hadn't touched them since last year and decided to scuff them up a little and see if they still worked /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
I started working on the slate calls and calling a little bit. Thomas grabbed the power crystal and began working his magic. We had a couple of birds gobble from a long ways away and then all of a sudden one gobbled pretty close. I looked out the window and there he was in full strut about 75 yards out making his way to the decoy set up. I bought a pretty boy at the classic and we had him out with several hens. He strutted his way in to the decoys and we decided that we were going to see if he would whack the pretty boy, but he skirted it a little. I shot him at about 25 yards and dropped him cold!
Here is where the story gets interesting....
We gave high fives in the blind and I climbed out to go get the bird. He had his head up and was trying to look around...however his head was all bloody. Thomas tried to give him the old head stomp, but he hopped up and started walking. Here is Thomas and I standing on either side of a walking turkey...
He wasn't doing too well, but he was on his feet nonetheless...One quick buttstroke to the head and he was done...
24.5 lbs
8" beard
7/8" spurs on both sides
As Thomas mentioned and the reason for the title of this post is because the farm is being sold and the probability is that we won't get to hunt there anymore. I have had a lot of my best hunting memories made on that place and this one is among them. It was a great hunt, shared with a great friend, on a great piece of Iowa hunting land.
Cherish those places that you've got to hunt, you've worked hard to get them no matter what!!
