NY Spring Turkey Bird #2… Wow!

hunt0168

hunt0168

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Craziest, coolest hunt in a long time. I roosted a Tom at dusk yesterday on the edge of a field. I knew the exact tree he was in so I formed a plan to shoot him right in the face this morning. Well before daylight I snuck in and placed my Zink Avian-X feeder hen and Jake decoys out off of a point of woods about 80 yards from this joker’s perch and tucked in. I waited for him to gobble and I let out some soft tree yelps. That’s all it took for him to triple gobble on the roost.

As things were brightening up and legal shooting time arrived, a few deer entered the field. One of them became fixated on my decoys and started heading towards them right as the gobbler pitched out and landed about 65 yards out. The deer continued its approach, the Tom was strutting, this was cool. The deer passed me at 10 yards and went right to the decoys and stared and head bobbed. She got closer and got some scent and bounded out towards the gobbler and stopped. Now she was fixated on him and started towards him. That must have triggered the other 3 deer’s curiosity because they too approached the tom. Well he starts towards my decoys, deer in tow, strutting and giving me a show. 50, 40,30,20 yards. I couldn’t shoot because of the deer! 10yards… 5 yards… face to face with the Jake decoy. Then the flogging began! I kid you not, 5 minutes straight this tom kicked, and pecked my decoy. Round and round as it swiveled on the stake. He had it bent over sideways pecking its head forever it seemed. At least the deer had moved out of the way at this point. I didn’t want to shoot for fear of hitting my $90 decoy so I waited. And waited. And some more waiting until the Tom finally stuck his head up high while holding the Jake decoy down. I smacked his cranium with a load of Longbeard XR 6’s at 30 yards and he hit the dirt. The deer ran off as the Tom did those last wing beats that takes them to turkey heaven. Absolutely beautiful morning. Kind of sorry it ended so soon!

I was kicking myself for having my phone buried in my pocket. It would have been a great video for sure. Now I gotta figure out a way to breast this guy out with pretty much one hand. I’m still bandaged up from carpal tunnel surgery! Lol. I think I can get it done. Classic 2 year old gobbler. 9” beard and 3/4” spurs.


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jmeddy said:
And the sun hadn't hit the grass yet. Now what are ya gonna do, the season just started?
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I knew going into this hunt that if it worked out the way I planned it would be a quick hunt. I enjoy turkey hunting way too much to consider the season over already. I’ll play guide or just go out and call with/for other people. My younger brother already has my “services” scheduled for tomorrow morning! Lol.
 
Great story, some of my most memorable moments have been out hunting/fishing and watching various animals play out their role. Keep us posted for the rest of your turkey outings.:)
 
22magnum22 said:
Great story, some of my most memorable moments have been out hunting/fishing and watching various animals play out their role. Keep us posted for the rest of your turkey outings.:)
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Thanks! What we as outdoorsmen witness is incredible. I look forward to every outing and always find joy in even the smallest of blessings. There’s a lot out there to enjoy!
 
hunt0168 said:
I knew going into this hunt that if it worked out the way I planned it would be a quick hunt. I enjoy turkey hunting way too much to consider the season over already. I’ll play guide or just go out and call with/for other people. My younger brother already has my “services” scheduled for tomorrow morning! Lol.
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thats what i been doing. our turkey population has dropped and we are now limited one Tom. i actually got back into turkey hunting this year and been trying to put others on birds. ya know they dont circle downwind:)
 
hunt0168 said:
Craziest, coolest hunt in a long time. I roosted a Tom at dusk yesterday on the edge of a field. I knew the exact tree he was in so I formed a plan to shoot him right in the face this morning. Well before daylight I snuck in and placed my Zink Avian-X feeder hen and Jake decoys out off of a point of woods about 80 yards from this joker’s perch and tucked in. I waited for him to gobble and I let out some soft tree yelps. That’s all it took for him to triple gobble on the roost.

As things were brightening up and legal shooting time arrived, a few deer entered the field. One of them became fixated on my decoys and started heading towards them right as the gobbler pitched out and landed about 65 yards out. The deer continued its approach, the Tom was strutting, this was cool. The deer passed me at 10 yards and went right to the decoys and stared and head bobbed. She got closer and got some scent and bounded out towards the gobbler and stopped. Now she was fixated on him and started towards him. That must have triggered the other 3 deer’s curiosity because they too approached the tom. Well he starts towards my decoys, deer in tow, strutting and giving me a show. 50, 40,30,20 yards. I couldn’t shoot because of the deer! 10yards… 5 yards… face to face with the Jake decoy. Then the flogging began! I kid you not, 5 minutes straight this tom kicked, and pecked my decoy. Round and round as it swiveled on the stake. He had it bent over sideways pecking its head forever it seemed. At least the deer had moved out of the way at this point. I didn’t want to shoot for fear of hitting my $90 decoy so I waited. And waited. And some more waiting until the Tom finally stuck his head up high while holding the Jake decoy down. I smacked his cranium with a load of Longbeard XR 6’s at 30 yards and he hit the dirt. The deer ran off as the Tom did those last wing beats that takes them to turkey heaven. Absolutely beautiful morning. Kind of sorry it ended so soon!

I was kicking myself for having my phone buried in my pocket. It would have been a great video for sure. Now I gotta figure out a way to breast this guy out with pretty much one hand. I’m still bandaged up from carpal tunnel surgery! Lol. I think I can get it done. Classic 2 year old gobbler. 9” beard and 3/4” spurs.


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Great hunt Bob!!
Soup
 
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