HSO Team#3......Tom Terminators

[DonBo]

Don't expect to hear from me untill Monday unless we fill out real early. I will be camping and no where near a computer, or phone or....How does that sound?

[huntingmaxima]

badfish, good luck, get a good one!

[Cooter]

I like the idea of no phones or computers, that was my turkey hunting routine for years and I miss it. I see there is rain in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning, big surprise there...

[badfish]

Well got out this morning heard a lot of gobbles then 3 hens and a tom came out into the field after about 2 hours. They saw my decoy and starting slowly making there way towards me. About when i really started getting excited I saw a coyote out of the corner of my eye working its way up the creek bottom. Before they could cross the creek they sensed danger and took off.....so much for that. Hopefully I can get one tonight, on my way out now. Maybe that coyote will come back and i'll put an arrow in him to.

[fishnhooks]

Sorry for the delay team.

I spent that last available minute out hunting last night, got home and had to go to bed to get up and work today. I had training all day today (tomorrow and Thurs as well) and could not get on the machine.

So the bad news is I didn’t get my bird, but here is what happened. All in all it was an eventful 5 days.

Day1- A.M. Heard gobbling behind me. There were about 3 birds and one in the woods on the other side of the field. They didn’t want to come out and play. Saw some deer, geese, ducks, a raccoon and a couple of hawks.

P.M. - Windy,windy,windy

Day 2 - A.M. windy, windy, windy, Cold and rainy. Went to my other blind that is covered. Had a gobbler coming from the left and one from the right, but the one on the right seemed to give up before he came over the hill to see the decoys. The one on the left didn’t seem to want to come out of the woods.

P.M. - Stayed home - It took the afternoon to get rid of the chills from the A.M. and got a haircut. (If you saw me you would understand )

Day 3 - A.M. Didn’t go, spent some time with my Mom. Dad passed away around Easter , so Mom appreciates quality time right now.

P.M.- Pretty quiet. Heard gobbling coming in from a distance, but had to quit calling and got out of there before it got too close because it was getting way to close to shut down time and didn’t want him to see me packing up and leaving. Saw a Hawk, eagle, ducks, and Geese.

Day 4 - A.M. The best day by far. Heard gobbling behind me shortly before 5:30. Time was ticking, “Come on keep gobbling” I said to myself. I didn’t want to start calling too soon cause I thought that it would come and go again before shooting time started. I waited a couple of minutes before shooting time and still heard the gobbling. It was close. O.K. it is time, I started calling, shortly a Jake came running over and then two hens. I still heard gobbling and it was getting louder. I could have taken that Jake, but I wanted to see what was coming. Sure enough a big old Tom. The heart was a pump’n there. O.K big fella keep coming..keep coming. No, No, No, don’t stop there........Move another 15 feet to the left please! I can’t move to shoot around the brush or the other birds would see me and it would be done. I still could take that Jake, but that big ‘ol Tom was so close and I got picky. Called a little more it moved a little bit, the other birds were slowly be bopp’n around and getting a little further away. I still could take the Jake, but I think that Tom is going to move. Pretty soon it was all done. The Jake was too far away and the Tom slowly headed in their direction and I could not get a shot off.

Day 5 - A.M and P.M. Heard a gobbler in the woods across the field, but no action except just a conversation between him and I. I saw a fox, Sand hill crane and hawks.

With my Dad passing away, I really looked forward to getting out in the woods. One thing that I enjoy about this is all the other animals that don't know your there, besides the turkeys.

Sorry Team. Good luck to the rest of you!

"hooks"

[Sabo]

Good report! It sounds like you had fun though. Anytime sitting in the woods is a good time.

Sorry to hear about you dad. I lost my mom last year and know exactly how you feel.

[badfish]

oh man its a hot one today I couldn't sit in that blind any longer. Lots and lots of gobbles this morning from 3 different directions but they were all interested more in eating then anything else. I did see 5 toms today in a group which I thought was a little weird. One hefty tom had a nice beard and some good spurs as far as I could tell through my binoculars. Hoping to bag that guy to bring us up on the board, I think were gonna need it.

[Cooter]

No go today, will be out again tomorrow.

[DonBo]

Got mine this morning! Called one in for my buddy about 11am yesterday. His went 23 1/2 lbs, 1" spurs, 9" beard. Mine came in at 7 this morning. He was with a bunch of jakes. Took him awile to seperate himself from the kids, but when he did he came in full strut. Shot him at 13 yards. Should have had my bow with, but hunting was a little tougher yesterday than I hoped for.

He was 22lbs, 15oz. 10 1/4" beard, 5/8 and 3/4" spurs.

I'll get photos and registration up ASAP.

[huntingmaxima]

good job, donbo. way to go!

[badfish]

Nice turkey donbo. I had no luck today, i took out the shotgun instead of my bow cuz i'm having trouble getting them into range. But still only saw 2 hens and a jake all afternoon. Got 2 more days to tag one i'm hoping tomorrow will be the day.

[DonBo]

Was really looking fwd to a longer vacation, but work has forced me back since we filled out so early.

At first light there was probably 3 or 4 birds gobbling nearby, plus a few jakes thrown into the mix. This bird was with a couple hens early, then he mingled with a flock of about 8 jakes for a while. I wasn't sure why the jakes wouldn't come in till I finally saw the long beard. I'm sure they had already had their b**s kicked by this guy. When he finally decided to come, he came pretty quickly. He broke into full strut about 50 yards out and came straight into the decoys. He singled out the jake decoy and I actually had to wait for a bit to shoot so I wouldn't hit the decoy.

[fishnhooks]

Great Job!

Nice Bird!

"hooks"

[Deitz Dittrich]

Nice job neighbor!!

[sticknstring]

Nice bird Don! Guess that sumbission by Fri morning wasn't so far-fetched after all was it???

Good luck chasing 'em around with the bow next week.

[Cooter]

Congrats on the birds! I'm worn out, my buddy got his, his kid got one today. I passed on 6 jakes Wed and had one just out of range yesterday. Will try again tomorrow, don't know about Sunday.

[badfish]

Well i got out yesterday in the rain. Had 3 hens walk within 5 yards of the blind and no toms or jakes behind them Saw 1 tom way out in the field maybe 200 yards away no luck getting him in. It was my last day of hunting so sorry guys I didn't get one for the team.

[fishnhooks]

badfish,

The main thing is if you had fun!

Nice effort. It can get kind-of frustrating when you see them and can't get them to come over.

"hooks"

[badfish]

Yeah i had a fun and learned a lot this year. I think I will be more prepared next year and actually get one.

[Cooter]

Well the final result is turkeys 3 and Cooter 0 - I hunted hard 4 days and it just didn't pan out. I had a blast as usuall hunting some gorgeous country, man what a great time of the year to be out! Good luck to anyone left!

[Sabo]

My season finally starts on Friday. Hopefully I can connect with something. I've been watching a pretty nice Tom on the neighbors property. I hope he is lonely and looking for love!

[Sabo]

I got my turkey this morning. It was a fun 3 days. Saw lots of turkeys but none of them would get within 80 yards. Kinda frustrating, but by far the best year for turkies I have seen.

The story.

Set up at 5:00 on a field I had seen them in the morning before. Sunrise came and it was very quiet until 2 toms sounded off about 400 yards away across the field. I gave three soft yelps and they were definately on there way. After about a ten minute wait both toms peeked there heads over the hill 40 yards out. and the rest is history.

This year is the loudest I have heard the hens. And they were mostly in groups of 3-5.

19.7 lbs

.75" spurs(both sides)

10.25" beard

[fishnhooks]

Hey, Congrats Sabo!

Sounds like a nice bird! Great Job .

"hooks"

[DonBo]

Sabo, great job! Worth the wait. Pictures?

[Sabo]

Me with my future hunting partners.