25contender
Twelve Pointer
I don't think we could have had a more perfect season than we have had this year.
It all started on youth day opener two weekends ago. My good friend and son whom I have been turkey hunting with for quite a while set out to get his son his second bird in two years. We had been spending a lot of time scouting and watching with spotting scopes a huge part of the property from a lookout we have. We can see much of the prime turkey strutting and gathering areas from this spot. We had been seeing multiple gobblers strutting and fighting so the time was right.
We were excited about the youth opener and arrived early to make the long walk to where we wanted to be. It wasn't to many years ago when my friends son had a hard time keeping up with us on youth opener. Not this year as he was right on our heels the 1/2 mile walk in. The air was cool, the sky was clear, and the winds were calm, my favorite type of morning to hunt. We arrived at the spot we wanted to be and setup just in time for a long series of gobbles from at least 10 different birds. All from within a 400 yd radius of where we sat. My friend with his son setup about 20yds to the left and in front of me. I started recording as soon as the first gobbles started. We were not disappointed as this went on for quite a while. I finally decided to crack a call as I knew one bird was on the ground. Right after the call the show began with one flying down and strutting on the ridge in front of us. While this was going on I watched as two gobblers lit out of a tree 200yds across the lake in front of us. They landed 80yds in front of us and went into strutting mode. Doing what turkeys do this continued for at least 45 minutes.
Eventually a few hens showed up and carried the gobblers off over the ridge. At this time my friend and son made a move to try and close the distance. Well we all know what happens when the move is made!! That is right 10 minutes later a nice bird crossed 5 yds in front of me and 10 yds in front of the first tree they setup under!! As the morning calmed down we decided to go grab a bite to eat and set up in a blind for the afternoon and blind call a little.
It was a long afternoon as we sat in the blind but finally had a few hens show up. We had a few decoys 20yds to our left and eventually one of the curious hens ventured over to investigate. She hung around them and laid down in the clover next to them for at least 20 minutes. Not long after that two more hens showed up and joined the party. After a hour of this I looked out of the corner of my eye and noticed 3 jakes in a grown up field headed our way but those were not the only birds coming our way. A nice tom was trying to chase them off which he pretty much failed to do. They eventually made it to the clover field. The jakes kept going but when the Gobbler saw the decoys he stopped in his tracks then proceeded to come and investigate.
Much to his dismay this would be his last 60yd walk as Jackson put the most perfect shot on this bird with his youth 20ga shotgun. This ended a great youth opening day and the neat thing all of it was caught on video.
It all started on youth day opener two weekends ago. My good friend and son whom I have been turkey hunting with for quite a while set out to get his son his second bird in two years. We had been spending a lot of time scouting and watching with spotting scopes a huge part of the property from a lookout we have. We can see much of the prime turkey strutting and gathering areas from this spot. We had been seeing multiple gobblers strutting and fighting so the time was right.
We were excited about the youth opener and arrived early to make the long walk to where we wanted to be. It wasn't to many years ago when my friends son had a hard time keeping up with us on youth opener. Not this year as he was right on our heels the 1/2 mile walk in. The air was cool, the sky was clear, and the winds were calm, my favorite type of morning to hunt. We arrived at the spot we wanted to be and setup just in time for a long series of gobbles from at least 10 different birds. All from within a 400 yd radius of where we sat. My friend with his son setup about 20yds to the left and in front of me. I started recording as soon as the first gobbles started. We were not disappointed as this went on for quite a while. I finally decided to crack a call as I knew one bird was on the ground. Right after the call the show began with one flying down and strutting on the ridge in front of us. While this was going on I watched as two gobblers lit out of a tree 200yds across the lake in front of us. They landed 80yds in front of us and went into strutting mode. Doing what turkeys do this continued for at least 45 minutes.
Eventually a few hens showed up and carried the gobblers off over the ridge. At this time my friend and son made a move to try and close the distance. Well we all know what happens when the move is made!! That is right 10 minutes later a nice bird crossed 5 yds in front of me and 10 yds in front of the first tree they setup under!! As the morning calmed down we decided to go grab a bite to eat and set up in a blind for the afternoon and blind call a little.
It was a long afternoon as we sat in the blind but finally had a few hens show up. We had a few decoys 20yds to our left and eventually one of the curious hens ventured over to investigate. She hung around them and laid down in the clover next to them for at least 20 minutes. Not long after that two more hens showed up and joined the party. After a hour of this I looked out of the corner of my eye and noticed 3 jakes in a grown up field headed our way but those were not the only birds coming our way. A nice tom was trying to chase them off which he pretty much failed to do. They eventually made it to the clover field. The jakes kept going but when the Gobbler saw the decoys he stopped in his tracks then proceeded to come and investigate.
Much to his dismay this would be his last 60yd walk as Jackson put the most perfect shot on this bird with his youth 20ga shotgun. This ended a great youth opening day and the neat thing all of it was caught on video.
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