Team 3 - LEGION of BOOM

[123fish]

Good luck anyfish. Sounds like you have some pretty decent action in your area. I heard another tom Saturday morning which might provide an opportunity.

[ANYFISH2]

I seem to always have plenty of birds on the properties I hunt. The trouble is finding a love sick dumb one that will get close enough.

This year I will looking for three, with the daughter and son hunting.

Bird or no bird it will be a success just getting the kids out.

[ANYFISH2]

R oosted the large flock this afternoon, they are in a perfect spot for ambush. Now if they hold that roost for two more nights. Doubt I will get that lucky. Scout tomorrow afternoon and set on tuesday. Anticipation is ramping up.

[DonBo]

Great scouting reports. Good luck guys!

I was out Saturday morning with the youth I'm taking out this weekend, and we saw a pile of birds. He was very excited. Friday evening will be our first sit.

[walleyehunter02]

Looking forward to tomorrow! Blind is set in THE spot! won't be for the team score, but hoping ma fires off the boom stick. Good luck team mates and get after em!

[ANYFISH2]

Well I'll got a good set out today.

Plans have changed a bit as well as strategy. Daughter said she doesnt want to miss school tomorrow or thursday because of her MCA testing. Good for her, I glad she wants to focus on those.

So I am up to bat tomorrow, I chose a spot I have seem the large tom every day. I hope he walks by.

Seem 33 different turkeys this evening in a mile and a half drive around my properties, things are looking positive.

Morning can't come soon enough.

[123fish]

Good luck to my team mates and everyone else today. Get 'er done! Looking forward to stories and pics.

[ANYFISH2]

Legion of boom is on the board!!

Pic to come.

[ANYFISH2]

[DonBo]

Awesome! WTG ANYFISH!!!! What a beautiful morning to get'r'done. Can't wait to hear the story.

8Point and Dillon both have Season A tags as well, hope to hear from them soon.

[ANYFISH2]

Well the story is pretty short really. And a little bittersweet.

Yesterday afternoon, I fly out of work to meet my daughter off the bus, in anticipation for us to go and get set up for this morning. When I get home Abigail tells me that see would rather go to school today because she has a MCA reading test. Should didnt want to make it up and possibly have to do it the same day as another test. I would not try to talk her in another direction, school stuff is far more important, and she has all seasons to hunt.

So now I am stuck as to how I should set up for myself. I decide I should head up and see where the birds are located yesterday evening. I pull up to the farmhouse and see 19 birds on the field, included in the group is what I believed to be the large tom I had seen prior days by himself. Seeing him, I quickly decide I will watch the group till they leave for the roost and go and set up after dark. They leave the field a bit early so I wait watching a borderless field for longer than I had hoped, and watched to make sure I didnt see any birds roost between me and my target spot. As luck would have it I didnt see any birds before it got dark.

So I head up the field edge and quietly set up.

I get back home, to find my wife trying to convince my daughter to go with me in the morning and just have me bring her to school before her test. Abigail was firm that she was going to school, not hunting. Probably because she's not much of a morning person .l

So this brings me to today. Up at 4 and ready to go, excluding a spitting headache. I make trails so to reach the blind plenty before daylight as I am still not real sure where the birds had roosted.

I successfully reach the blind about 5:30, sit and wait. Shortly after the song birds wake up and fill the air with song. Than the geese begin to fly over, honking as they go. At 5:48 I hear my first gobble, in the wood I am set up along, farther away than thier traditional roost site however. I never heard a hen on roost and the gobbling was very spare for what I expected on a perfect morning like today. There where birds in all directions but far away and certainly not talking thier heads off.

About 6:20 I hear a solid gobble, this bird is now for sure on the ground. I make a few aggressive (loud) calls, with no response. About 6:30, I hear a gobble again, this time much closer, they are coming to the field I am certain. 5 minutes or so later I hear a hen cut, a gobble, and see my first turkey poke out to the field. They then begin to filter out, 3 hens, then 3 cobblers, then 6 more that may have been all jakes (certainly a bunch were).

As soon as the first gobblers hit the field I called, gobbles erupt. The hens he is following, continue to the south leading him away. I decide to go soft with purrs and try to talk the hens over. This does not work, they just continue south and out of sight. However, with the soft calls, the toms begin to work closer, and gobbling thier fool heads off. I stayed quite until they stopped gobbling and would move in a direction away from me, another soft call and they would turn and come closer. This continue for a half hour and about 80 yds. Slow process!

The three toms finally make it to with in 40 yds, I get all set for the opportunity, now just the last 10 yds. Well, I give on set of clicks and in seconds all three are in the decoys at 12 yds. I look over them very closely, I think the Strutted is the big tom I have been watching. The other two are nice birds as well, but this guy just looks so much bigger. My mind is made up, 7:05 and I have my bird.

I instantly have a feeling of jubilation and sadness. Great bird, it should have been my daughters though!! I could have had her at school before it started. Darn it, should have made her come.

25 lbs 14 oz

10.5" beard

1" R spur

3/4"(broken) L spur.

[DonBo]

Quote:

25 lbs 14 oz 10.5" beard

That's a pig! WTG! Your daughter's got plenty of hunts in front of her, now you can concentrate on her and not have to worry about your own tag. Well done, I say.

[Cheetah]

Nice bird, with that many in the area you are hunting your daughter will probably get one too.

[walleyehunter02]

Well done anyfish! Mom had a swing and miss on a nice Tom at 8:30 this morning, then we did a little run and gun on a couple birds strutting over the hill from where we were and once we set the strutter decoy on the crest and a few calls later, 3 jakes came running in and one took a dirt nap.

[DonBo]

3 jakes came running in and one took a dirt nap.

[Scoot]

Good job guys! Awesome!

[123fish]

Holy Moses nice bird anyfish. Way to go! Your daughter will get her chance with the amount of birds you have around. You have set the bar pretty high. Good job!

[123fish]

Scored a two year old gobbler at 7:30 this morning. No giant but I will take him for sure. 19 lbs., 6.75" beard, and .75 and .625 spurs. Shortest beard of any gobbler I've ever shot. Very thankful to put one down under some very windy and cool conditions. Pics later.

[ANYFISH2]

Awesome, nice work. Can't wait for story and pics.

[123fish]

Very windy and cool and cloudy this morning when dawn broke. No gobbling from the roost.At 7:00 a.m. had a hen appear out of nowhere in the decoys which were a hen and a jake. Eventually she spotted me in the blind and took off. Repositioned the blind and put my facemask on which I should have done right away. Heard a gobble about seven thirty and knew he had to be somewhat close to even hear him with the wind. Did a series of yelps on the Heartbreaker and waited. Few minutes later heard another gobble and did another series of yelps. Five minutes later hear a Phhtt sound and pretty soon another one. My hearing isn't the best but I'm thinking I haven't heard that sound today yet. Two seconds later I hear a phhht and vrooom. I know that sound and knew he had to be very close. He was. I look out the side window and he's coming full strut eight yards a way from behind heading for the jake decoy spitting and drumming. Get's to the jake and stops in full strut with his tail towards me so I get the gun out the window and when he shows his head a little I let her rip. A whole lot of flopping commences and it's all over. 14 yard shot. Pretty thankful for that bird as conditions were poor at best. Now I have to get my buddy one when the over the counter sales start. Keep it going team Legion of Boom!

[IlliniWalli]

looks like fishermen are good turkey hunters, too

congrats on your toms, guys

[DonBo]

Good job, 123!

What happened to Dillon and 8point? both these guys have had their season come and go. I haven't been able to log in for days, maybe they're having the same issues?

I've been lucky enough to be part of two successful hunts already. First time hunter Charlie shot a nice one Saturday morning:

And Monday morning, I put my 91 year old father on this nice tom:

Couple weeks before I get to hunt, but so far, it looks very promising.

[hugonian1]

You da man Donbo.

Way to go.

Does not get any better than that.

[x1957x]

Good job Don! Tell your father congratulations on his tom. Way to go..

[Scoot]

Don, you're a tom slayin' machine! Congrats to you and the guys who hunted with you. Great work!