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Joined: Nov 2011
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7 first time hunters and 1 repeat offender x3. So the old boy has seen about every rookie mistake out there. And he had a bag of tricks that made him one of the hardest to know kill birds I have ever had the pleasure to chase.
My repeat offender / turkey spooker Ty had him dead earlier in the season but was waiting for me to tell him to shoot as I'm telling him to shoot the damn thing in the head about a hundred times. He was so focused on the bird that he couldn't hear a word that I said.
Then yesterday we had to work until .5am so that put us in the parking lot at 6:20 with the bird already off the roost and gobbling his head off right where I wanted to set up. We snuck in as close as I dared and hit the call and he pulled his famous gobble non stop and run away. As the Tom headed to the bottoms we backed out and hit two small wood lots to kill some time. Long story short. At 9:30 we are on him again and have him strutting at 60 yards. A hen pops up and takes him back to the bottoms. After about a hour of silence we stand up and there he is 30 yards away just staring at us and Ty forgets to shoot again.
This morning were out of work at 3am and set up in the bottoms with plenty of time to spare. At 5:08 he sounds off but instead of roosting where he always does he is behind us and across the road on private property. We literally walked past him within 30 yards on the way in. This is a new trick for the old man. I figured that he would head our way at fly down but instead he took the dirt road and left us in the dust. Over the next half hour all we get is a couple GFY gobbles letting us know he was still leaving then nothing. 10 minutes later we are talking about plan B and he sounds off 30 yards in front of us screened by brush. As soon as I hit the call he turns 30 into 60 and puts on a show. Over the next hour he comes into within 25 yards 5 different times and never offers a shot. The 6th time he goes silent and sneaks around behind us and let's off one of those gobbles that shake the ground about 10 feet behind Ty. Ty and I are about 6 feet apart and here he cuts right between us. As he gets about 20 yards out front Ty doesn't forget to shoot this time. Ty folds his hard earned bird with my little 20ga.
So 3 years and 18 hunts later we are standing in silence over a 25.5#, 10 1/4" beard,
1 1/4" hooked trophy. I'm a little sad that our adventure is over. I'm going to miss chasing that big boy around.
Ty didn't want to be campfire famous so here is the warrior.
[Linked Image]
[Linked Image]


Want To Buy;
Form die for a 7mm Mashburn Super.
.284 Hornady AMax 162gr.
.224 Hornady AMax 75gr.
22-250 bushing die
Bushing die that will work with the 7mm Mashburn Super
A couple Glock 42 380ACP mags
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Congrats.


I've got a similar story. I won't bore you with the details, but I told my dad I was done hunting that turkey. Every time he'd tell me he was going to hunt him I'd go some other direction. After 3 years, dad finally killed him. He had 1 7/8" and 1 15/16" spurs. Best spurs I've seen on a bird to date. He's mounted in full strut. Man he gave us the blues!


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Damn Sand Man, that is a hell of a bird. Your dad is a little hard headed I take it.
A couple years ago I seen one beside the road that had been hit so I stopped to check it out. It was stomping on that 2" mark. Someone had already took the beard but I bet it was a good one. It was a toad of a bird so I grab for the fishing scales out of the truck and he pulled just a hair over 29#
If I can ever break 1.5" I'll write the check for the wall


Want To Buy;
Form die for a 7mm Mashburn Super.
.284 Hornady AMax 162gr.
.224 Hornady AMax 75gr.
22-250 bushing die
Bushing die that will work with the 7mm Mashburn Super
A couple Glock 42 380ACP mags
Joined: Jun 2012
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Congrats man. I finally got the bird I'd hunted for two years the next to last day of season. I understand your satisfaction and disappointment all at the same time. It was a blast hearing him sound off then going silent every time.


"If you got it, you got it!" In memory of Pops, gone but never forgotten
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Great bird and some great hunts Les, congratulations.


One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.
Archibald Rutledge

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Originally Posted by Les7603006
Damn Sand Man, that is a hell of a bird. Your dad is a little hard headed I take it.
A couple years ago I seen one beside the road that had been hit so I stopped to check it out. It was stomping on that 2" mark. Someone had already took the beard but I bet it was a good one. It was a toad of a bird so I grab for the fishing scales out of the truck and he pulled just a hair over 29#
If I can ever break 1.5" I'll write the check for the wall


Hard headed isn't the word for my dad. lol Funny thing is the only time he's patient is turkey hunting. That bird drove me crazy. He'd always be on the opposite side of the creek on the property he called home. Never failed! We'd try to wait him out then give up and cross the creek only for him to have crossed when we did. It was like he knew our ever move. Dad finally killed in one afternoon. Bird never gobbled. Dad said all he did was purr and cluck on the box.

My best bird was a 1 5/8" on a Rio. I've kicked myself many times for not mounting that bird. mad


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Great bird and story! What is that taped to the butt stock?

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That's a monster bird!

Steve.


"I was a deerhunter long before I was a man." ~Gene Wensel's Come November (2000)
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user." ~Theodore Roosevelt
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Originally Posted by gunnut308
Great bird and story! What is that taped to the butt stock?


Extra battery for my Deltapoint Pro


Want To Buy;
Form die for a 7mm Mashburn Super.
.284 Hornady AMax 162gr.
.224 Hornady AMax 75gr.
22-250 bushing die
Bushing die that will work with the 7mm Mashburn Super
A couple Glock 42 380ACP mags
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 695
C
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C
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Great story. I had one going last year, but could never get a shot. Only saw one big gobbler this year in that area, but a couple hens came in and away he went. 100 yrds out, he was strutting for 45 mins, then gone.

Congrats

Charlie

IC B3


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