Velvet
by Mbrock. 04/28/24 09:16 PM
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Bird #1 goes down. (pics)
#560017
03/20/13 11:05 PM
03/20/13 11:05 PM
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 15,671 Montgomery
bamaeyedoc
OP
Old Mossy Horns
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OP
Old Mossy Horns
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 15,671
Montgomery
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Sunday morning I meet a buddy of mine for a hunt on his place in Lowndes county. We get on a bird at daybreak but he's way across the line and we just sit there and listen to him answer us. A few minutes later, another bird opens up on our side so we hustle over to his location. We make it to where we think we need to be and finally he answers a series of hard clucks! We dive for some trees because its a wide open hardwood bottom. To my right is a beaver pond and to my left is a pine thicket. Its a perfect bottleneck and this bird has nowhere to go except straight at us. My buddy is to my left about 10 yards. Guns up. Sitting on ready! Well, about 15 minutes go by and not another sound. Where'd he go? Then, about 100 yards through the woods I see movement. It's him! He's just slipping in quiet. A few minutes pass and I see him again. He's closed the gap and is about 60 yards out. I tell my buddy "He's coming!" and he nods. He sees him too! Breathing is heavy. Eyes are darting. Straining for any glimpse of that bird. Then...whoa....there he is. He suddenly steps up on a little rise about 40 yards away. He's in the wide open. I see that big ole red head and he's just staring me down. There ain't a twig between he and myself. He's like a statue and surveying rigth where I'm sitting. I feel like he's looking right through me. I ease my cheek down on the barrel and rest my tru-glo sight between his beak and wattles and touch the trigger! BOOM!!! The next thing I see is a turkey fly up and light right back down and start clucking and going nuts. My buddy goes nuts and is pretty dang upset. I'm upset as well and I'm just staring at the ground. I can't believe I missed. How? He was in range. He was in the wide open. I feel sick at my stomach. Here I am as a guest and I make a bonehead mistake and shoot too soon and ruin a hunt. I'm feeling pretty low. Well a couple of minutes go by and there is only silence in the woods. Neither of us are talking. Suddenly, I hear wings beating!! Holy crap! I look up and I see a turkey flopping on the ground! MY TURKEY! There were TWO gobblers that came in and I never saw the other one until he flushed at the shot! Oh man!! I jumped up and ran to my bird. I could tell when I picked him up he was a very nice gob. I couldn't be more excited! After I got back to the tree, I figured out why my buddy was a bit upset. He could see both birds from his vantage point and was waiting for them to get in close so we could double. I felt bad for messing that opportunity up. I just took the first open shot that presented itself. He's a nice 3, maybe 4 year old. 20.5lbs, 1 1/8 spurs, 10.5 inch beard.
AKA: “Dr. B” Aldeer #121 8-3-2000 Proud alum of AUM, UAB, and UA Member of Team 10 Point 2023-2024 ALdeer Deer Contest Winners
Glennis Jerome "Jerry" Harris 1938-2017 UGA Class of 1960 BS/MS Forestry LTJG, USNR
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Re: Bird #1 goes down. (pics)
[Re: bamaeyedoc]
#560095
03/21/13 07:31 AM
03/21/13 07:31 AM
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 32,451 North Alabama
YEKRUT
Turkey Nut
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Turkey Nut
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 32,451
North Alabama
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awesome, talk about a momentum shift.
Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters. —Archibald Rutledge—
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Re: Bird #1 goes down. (pics)
[Re: bamaeyedoc]
#560195
03/21/13 09:25 AM
03/21/13 09:25 AM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,290 Near the Trussell
BPS
10 point
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10 point
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 3,290
Near the Trussell
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Hard to communicate when he has a bead on you. Great Bird Doc!
If your decoy doesnt have holes in it, your not letting him get close enough... J.H.
"Life lessons are almost never found where you think they should be, sometimes they're in the middle of a small, muddy creek in the woods with steep banks"... DeadorAlive
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Re: Bird #1 goes down. (pics)
[Re: bamaeyedoc]
#560269
03/21/13 11:34 AM
03/21/13 11:34 AM
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 214 on
TooTall
4 point
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4 point
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 214
on
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Thanks for the story, i'm sure your buddy isn't too upset.
"The kill is the satisfying, indeed essential, conclusion to a successful hunt. But, I take no pleasure in the act itself. One does not hunt in order to kill, but kills in order to have hunted. - Finn Aagard
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