Like to Hunt - Like to Fish - Like to Draw
21 lbs- 9" Beard - 1" spurs
A good friend of mine, Brandon got his first Tom Saturday, April 21, 2012. It was a fun filled hunt filled with many twists and turns. We had a “pack” of jakes that kept running our Tom around and almost ruined our hunt, but in the end he was able to get it too close and Brandon put the hammer down! The video pretty much tells the rest of the story.
If this doesn’t get your blood pumping I don’t know what will!! Did a little scouting with the kiddos the other morning on a few properties I hunt on and was pleasantly surprised.
We’ve got a week and a half before youth season and I’m chomping at the bit. What a great way to enjoy these beautiful spring days – get out there and get some pics – I’d love to see em!!
Greenwing Teal
Wrapped up the duck season in North MO (north zone) this morning with my twin cousins Bryan & Ryan. We made our last stand today on a farm pond that has been the resting place for a few ducks and some geese. The action came early and fast this morning and I do mean fast. I don’t know if you’ve ever shot teal before, but they are little speed demons! We didn’t shoot great, but I’ve seen much worse.
On to chasing geese over the next few days – I’ll keep you posted!
Congrats Brandin!
I have footage of this hunt that I’ll be putting together before too long, I haven’t had time to this point. Stay tuned and I’ll try and get this put together.
Any successful hunt is great, but when the hunt involves getting someone their first bird it is all the more sweet. Brad and I teamed up again guiding our pastor. Pastor Brandin did a great job and the hunt came together great. This bird came in across a field following several hens and ended up right in our decoys. He gave us a great show strutting in and Brandin did a great job being patient and putting the shot right where he needed to.
Great hunt guys, thanks for a great hunt and memory!
22lbs - 10" Beard - 1" Spurs
What an awesome hunt! This footage pretty well says it all. Brad had an unusual amount of patience, I thought I was going to have to throw my camera at it!! Believe it or not, I have well over 10minutes of footage of this bird right there at 15 yrds!
Nice shot Brad – very fun hunt!
22lbs - 9.5" beard - 1" spurs
This video pretty much speaks for itself. Bryan, Ryan, and Tim did a great job in getting this hunt to come together. It’s never an easy task to get good footage while turkey hunting and I think they did a great job. Congrats guys!
Ok, let me explain before I have the local conservation agent knocking on my door! I just connected with my second turkey this past Saturday, which makes the fifth turkey I’ve been a part of harvesting this spring – the other three I was calling and/or videoing. I know for many, this has been a frustrating year in the turkey woods, but I have been fortunate to have a great season this year.
This second turkey worked like a charm. He was roosted in some oaks that are surrounded by a grove of evergreen trees so I was able to get in real close. It helped that he gobbled super early giving me the cover of very low light to make my advance. My only problem was that I had a bunch of calves in the woods with me that decided I was very interesting. They ended up surrounding me, even nuzzling my boot as they checked me out. I thought for sure they were going to ruin the hunt as for 15 min I couldn’t have shot in any direction. I finally decided that my only hope was crawl on past them and get under a big evergreen that they couldn’t get under with me. Thankfully it worked and they wandered off in the other direction.
This bird gobbled his head off and finally pitched out of the tree and landed about 100yrds away out in the pasture. After some soft yelps and purring he came up to the edge of the woods to check me out at about 50 yrds. I decided I didn’t want to make another 50yrd shot this year so after a few more minutes of coaxing, he finally gave up and came on in, offering me a shot at 15yrds! He gobbled all the way in, and you fellow hunters know how awesome it is to have a bird gobbling in your face at 15-20 yrds! I was done and it was barely 6:30am. He was a beautiful bird – he weighed 22.5 lbs, had a very very thick 10inch beard, and sharp spurs that were a bit over 1 1/4 inches long.
Below I’m attaching pics of this bird along with my first bird of this spring. I’ll say it again, you just can’t hardly beat spring turkey hunting!
#1 - 24 1/2 lbs - 10" Beard - 1 1/4" Spurs
#2 - 22 1/2 lbs - 10" Beard - 1 1/4" Spurs
“It’s ok daddy, you’ll get one next time.” That’s the “consolation” my two year old son has been giving me after returning from the last few hunts empty handed. Much to the pleasure of my wife I might add! They’ll all learn someday that bow hunting is not a sport of instant gratification, but when that gratification does come, it’s all the sweeter!
This afternoon before I left my boy told me good luck and to kill a turkey. I told him I would, that tonight I would get him a turkey. God must have smiled, cause these turkeys came in perfect at 25yrds!
I feel so blessed to get another harvest on video. I should get some kick-back from the gorilla-pod as much as I endorse them, you just can’t beat them for videoing while you’re solo. These turkeys started yelping about 80yrds away up in the brush, so I just softly yelped back ever so often. I knew I was in their roosting area, so I figured they’d be heading my way. Sure enough – the video pretty much tells the rest of the story!
Beautiful evening – fun, fun, hunt in southwest Missouri!
Thanks for reading!
This video pretty much says it all. Great hunt today, wish I wasn’t by myself this morning as this could’ve been great footage with someone working the zoom a bit. Persistance pays every time. Haven’t been talking much at all down here but each morning is a new day.
24 1/2 lbs - 11" beard - 1 1/8" spurs
