# A Little Something For The Turkey Hunters



## Erick (Mar 30, 2007)

A little something to get the Turkey hunters fired up for the upcoming season.

This is my Turkey from last year












He was using this to keep the feilds clean.






Yep thats really four beards!!!!!!






Spurs weren't much but I think the beard made up for it.






Going after his big brother this year. :biggrinbounce2:


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## A. Stanton (Mar 30, 2007)

Nice photos and a nice bird. I'm curious why you turkey hunters use a 12 Ga. and not a .22. Seems cleaner and more of a challenge if you waxed those suckers with a .22.
My second question comes from Napoleon Dynamite: "Do those turkeys have large talons?"


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## oneadam12 (Mar 31, 2007)

I don't know about all states, but in MS, rifles are not allowed in any caliber for turkey. 

Very nice bird. I got to watch two 2 year olds fight about 30 yards in front of me a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been able to get on anything but jakes since though. Oh well. 4 weeks to go. Good luck with the brother!

How long were the beards and spurs?


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## Erick (Mar 31, 2007)

Yeah its illegal in most states to hunt turkey with a rifle.
Gonna try to bag this years bird with the bow.

Bird weighed 27 pounds

Main beard is 11 1/4"

Second beard is 6 1/4 (not counting the one 9 1/8" hair)

Third beard is 5 1/2" 

Forth beard is 5 1/4"

Spurs were 1 1/8" right leg and 1" left leg.

We only get two weeks here in Indiana and the season doesn’t start for 3 weeks yet.

The Turkey that was with this one (The one I call big brother) was actually a bigger bird with a longer beard (probably pushing 30 lbs and 12+ inches) but he never gave me a good shot. I could tell that this one's beard was real thick so I took him instead I didn't know until he was down that he had 4 beards,  now I know why the beard looked so thick. Man I had to work for this bird!!! I called to these birds for close to an hour before they lost interest and wandered off to find a more willing hen.  They refused to cross the little ditch between me and them and I guess they must have thought the same thing about that tease that was making those calls. They just sat there drumm’n and strutt’n at on another, gobbling their fool heads off. I had to back track down a holler, belly crawl 140 yards across a wet field (bean stubble sucks) and sneak down through another holler and then belly crawl another 40 yards back to the field to get set up on them. Didn't really like the setup but it was the only way I was going to get at those birds. I was at the end of an old fence row in the middle of the field where the combine from last years harvest kept making its turns. The combine had left some big ruts in the field and the previous days rain had turned those ruts into small mud ponds. As soon as I got set up I could hear them on the other side of the tall grass in the fence row so I yelped once on the mouth call. Man those two birds were so worked up from or earlier session that they both busted through the tall grass at a dead "I'm gonna get me some" run looking for their new lady friend, one cluck on the call and they both stopped right in front of me. Only problem was the big bird I was wanting was right behind a large clump of grass about 45 yards out and the smaller one (in the pics) was slowly walking right at me at about 30 yards. So I decided to take the smaller bird and slowly moved the gun to get the shot I think he spotted me cause he stopped and raised his head to get a better look, perfect shot, BANG!!! and wouldn’t you know it he flopped right over in one of those big ol mud holes and flung mud everywhere. I carried that mud ball slung over my shoulder for over a mile and a half back to the truck, the back of my neck, down my shirt, my whole back, and the backs of my legs were all covered in mud. I gently washed him (and me) in the creek for the pics but you can still tell he’s pretty dirty and wet. That bird was all tore up, all of the feathers on the bottom half of his breast were torn out from fighting and his wing tips were all sticks from strutting and then flopping in the mud hole didn't help either. Bird of a lifetime and he was to tore up for a full mount like I wanted. Oh well maybe big brother will give me a shot this year I'll get my full mount then.


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## ddhlakebound (Mar 31, 2007)

Today was a great turkey hunting day for me. First day of youth season here in Missouri, and 2 of my sons came hunting with me. My 8 year old, who can't quite shoot the 20 gauge accurately, and my 11 year old, who shoots well, and just switched to the 12 gauge this year. 

We waited til mid morning to go out, cause it was a windy stormy night last night, and I didn't think the birds would be making much noise on the roost or as they came off. We walked around to the back field, and settled down in the blind, and called a few times in a half hour. 

My youngest son said he heard a cluck, so I set the call down, and we sat patiently for just a few minutes. A lone gobbler emerged from the woods about 110 yards away. He slowly walked the first 20 yards into the field, then broke into a run, coming right at us. At 35 yards my son had the saftey off, and was trying to get on the gobbler through the uprooted oak limbs between us and the gobbler. The gobbler came around the oak top, right toward the blind. At 17 yards he stuck his head up from behind the log of the uprooted tree. And he was starting to get nervous. He knew something wasn't right, but couldn't work it out in time. With four inches of the turkey's head peering above the log, my 11 year old squeezed the trigger, and bagged his first bearded bird.

It was the first time he hunted with the 12 gauge, and the first time he ever shot a 3" mag. (I let him use dove loads to practice with the 12 gauge.) The turkey was a jake, but very good sized for a year old bird. 19 pounds, 5.5" beard. Hard to be happier than helping your son bag his first spring gobbler. 

Sorry, no pic of todays bird, my camera broke, and I haven't replaced it yet. 

The attached pic is of my longbeard from last year. 22#, 10" beard. I got a double bearded gobbler year before last, I'll have to see if I can find the pic.


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## ddhlakebound (Mar 31, 2007)

Congrats, Erick, on that monster you got last year, definatley the bird of a lifetime. I'd love to see pics of his big brother. Good luck.


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## Erick (Apr 1, 2007)

ddhlakebound said:


> Hard to be happier than helping your son bag his first spring gobbler.



Man thats what its all about, I can't wait until my little girl is old enough to go.

She already thinks shes ready





 Congrats on your sons first bird.

Nice looking bird in the pics to.


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## 2000ssm6 (Apr 11, 2007)

Nice looking birds ya'll. 

I'm going this Saturday. The ole 3 1/2" BPS might be starting to blow my shoulder out instead of the turkey .


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## ropensaddle (Apr 11, 2007)

nice gob I have been hunting a old bird two seasons that has at least two inch spurs and multiple beards! only bow hunt! I have tried every trick on this old smart gob got him in range hit the stinking blind with that shot and thats when got a good look at spurs and beard. This bird has been hunted by several hunters he is silent except for drumming and now educated on blind! I am thinking of using my deer stand and guiley suit this year because missing him at twenty yards made it personal!!! Have only been turkey hunting four years and just have three to my mathews credit but its so cool to kill one of them buggers with a bow im hooked!!!!


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## Austin1 (Apr 26, 2007)

Great photos!
I have been applying for a turkey draw the last few years they are hard to come by up here! It will be my first time ever hunting turkey I hope to get the draw next year. I always hear them when hunting deer or elk and the rancher say's they are really booming in population. I must say they make a lot more noise in the spring time I can't wait to try my first Turkey hunt.


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