Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
- Ack
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Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Haven't been around here much lately, but thought I would post up a story for you guys since there isn't a turkey contest this year.....here goes..........
After a very long and frustrating season last spring, I decided that this year I needed a new approach.....to be a little more prepared. Last season was very humbling and I was able to see first hand how tough it can be when you cannot get onto birds regularly.
I told myself that this spring would be different......I ran trail cams, put lots of miles on the truck, and for a change did not wait until the last minute to shoot my bow and get all of my gear around. I started well ahead of schedule and had the bow dialed, gear ready to go, and even had some real good birds nailed down at a couple properties. I did, however, make a mistake that I will never make again........ buying a tag too early. A week or so before the first season I was planning on heading out to the property to check on my cam but, before I went, decided I would head to town to get my new fishing license and my 234 turkey tag, the same one I buy every year.
So off to the hardware store I went, got the tags, then went on over to check my cam. Upon pulling into the drive I knew immediately that I had made a huge mistake, as there next to the drive was a real good tom breeding a hen, with three others in full strut off in the woods a ways. Up until this point I only had a few hens, a couple jakes and an "okay" tom on cam, so seeing this was somewhat unexpected. So there I was, holding a tag for May 2nd, with four good birds on the property NOW. Two of these birds were giants, and all I could do was hope and pray that they would stick around for a few more weeks.
As the first week of season came and went, I kept close tabs on the birds that were still wandering the property. I figured they would move out closer to the farm fields as the weather warmed but, every time I looked, there they were, still hanging around and showing up on the cam regularly. As a couple of my previous go-to properties were seriously lacking birds, the steady action here made it an easy pick as my new opening day spot.
I could not hunt at first light on the May 2nd opener as I had to work until 7:00 am, but the plan was to head over right after work and hopefully not bump any birds on the way into the woods. It was a cool, damp and foggy morning, and things were really quiet when I stepped out of the truck at the property. Listening ever so carefully for gobbles while getting my gear ready, I never heard a thing.....pretty strange for such a calm morning. I slowly made my way back to the clearing where I planned on setting up, still hearing no birds and moving real slow as not to bump anything. I slipped into the clearing and quickly set up in one corner, a spot that would give birds good visibility of my decoy threesome no matter which direction they may come from.
Still not hearing any toms, I started some very soft calling on the Nature's Echo copper, as not to spook anything that may have been close and out of sight........still no gobbling. Calling off and on for the next hour I still was not hearing anything, but I knew sooner or later they would be around, as I had the pics showing they were frequenting the property at all hours of the day. Finally around 9:30 or so I heard my first gobble, which was quite a ways off from my location. He was shock gobbling to some crows that were obviously hassling him. Feeling confident about my setup I decided to try to bring him to me, so I ramped up the noise with the Fredrick mouth call. A few rounds of that and he finally responded.......game on. Not letting up I kept him interested, as he was responding more frequently, and obviously closing the distance to my location.
So now is when things got real interesting.........when he was maybe a hundred yards or so out, all of a sudden I get multiple birds answering my calls from the opposite direction! With a large thicket between me and the new birds, I fully expected to see the first bird come down the trail that ended at my setup location, and he totally read the script. I could see the huge white head coming down the trail, with him going in and out of full strut the whole way. I fired up the video cam and readied my bow as he marched in to face off with my full strut decoy, as they so often do. I could clearly see the hooks as he paraded around my strutter and knew right away that he was one of my target birds. And that is where everything started to fall apart. I drew on him and thought I had settled the pin on his head, but when the string dropped I had obviously rushed the shot. I'll admit, it was less than perfect.....a result that I didn't expect after the hours and hours of practice this spring. My sky-high confidence hit rock bottom just like that........I was crushed.
BUT, so was he........enough that it slowed him just enough for me to get another shot off before he disappeared into the thicket. I won't go into details about the chaos that ensued after, but in the end I was able to punch my tag on a bird that was sporting some pretty decent spurrage. We don't see many of birds of this caliber around the area, so it's a special treat when you roll one over and see hooks like these. I knew he was there, and in the end he was one of the birds I wanted to close the deal on.
So my season came and went in the matter of hours....a total 180 from what I experienced last year. I'm left with a set of awesome spurs, but also with a little disappointment in how some of it went down. In time I'm sure I will look back at it and laugh, especially when I look at those spurs hanging on the wall. But either way, it was the preparation that brought early success this year, which is a lot less stressful than taking it down to the wire......and now it's time to relax a little.
After a very long and frustrating season last spring, I decided that this year I needed a new approach.....to be a little more prepared. Last season was very humbling and I was able to see first hand how tough it can be when you cannot get onto birds regularly.
I told myself that this spring would be different......I ran trail cams, put lots of miles on the truck, and for a change did not wait until the last minute to shoot my bow and get all of my gear around. I started well ahead of schedule and had the bow dialed, gear ready to go, and even had some real good birds nailed down at a couple properties. I did, however, make a mistake that I will never make again........ buying a tag too early. A week or so before the first season I was planning on heading out to the property to check on my cam but, before I went, decided I would head to town to get my new fishing license and my 234 turkey tag, the same one I buy every year.
So off to the hardware store I went, got the tags, then went on over to check my cam. Upon pulling into the drive I knew immediately that I had made a huge mistake, as there next to the drive was a real good tom breeding a hen, with three others in full strut off in the woods a ways. Up until this point I only had a few hens, a couple jakes and an "okay" tom on cam, so seeing this was somewhat unexpected. So there I was, holding a tag for May 2nd, with four good birds on the property NOW. Two of these birds were giants, and all I could do was hope and pray that they would stick around for a few more weeks.
As the first week of season came and went, I kept close tabs on the birds that were still wandering the property. I figured they would move out closer to the farm fields as the weather warmed but, every time I looked, there they were, still hanging around and showing up on the cam regularly. As a couple of my previous go-to properties were seriously lacking birds, the steady action here made it an easy pick as my new opening day spot.
I could not hunt at first light on the May 2nd opener as I had to work until 7:00 am, but the plan was to head over right after work and hopefully not bump any birds on the way into the woods. It was a cool, damp and foggy morning, and things were really quiet when I stepped out of the truck at the property. Listening ever so carefully for gobbles while getting my gear ready, I never heard a thing.....pretty strange for such a calm morning. I slowly made my way back to the clearing where I planned on setting up, still hearing no birds and moving real slow as not to bump anything. I slipped into the clearing and quickly set up in one corner, a spot that would give birds good visibility of my decoy threesome no matter which direction they may come from.
Still not hearing any toms, I started some very soft calling on the Nature's Echo copper, as not to spook anything that may have been close and out of sight........still no gobbling. Calling off and on for the next hour I still was not hearing anything, but I knew sooner or later they would be around, as I had the pics showing they were frequenting the property at all hours of the day. Finally around 9:30 or so I heard my first gobble, which was quite a ways off from my location. He was shock gobbling to some crows that were obviously hassling him. Feeling confident about my setup I decided to try to bring him to me, so I ramped up the noise with the Fredrick mouth call. A few rounds of that and he finally responded.......game on. Not letting up I kept him interested, as he was responding more frequently, and obviously closing the distance to my location.
So now is when things got real interesting.........when he was maybe a hundred yards or so out, all of a sudden I get multiple birds answering my calls from the opposite direction! With a large thicket between me and the new birds, I fully expected to see the first bird come down the trail that ended at my setup location, and he totally read the script. I could see the huge white head coming down the trail, with him going in and out of full strut the whole way. I fired up the video cam and readied my bow as he marched in to face off with my full strut decoy, as they so often do. I could clearly see the hooks as he paraded around my strutter and knew right away that he was one of my target birds. And that is where everything started to fall apart. I drew on him and thought I had settled the pin on his head, but when the string dropped I had obviously rushed the shot. I'll admit, it was less than perfect.....a result that I didn't expect after the hours and hours of practice this spring. My sky-high confidence hit rock bottom just like that........I was crushed.
BUT, so was he........enough that it slowed him just enough for me to get another shot off before he disappeared into the thicket. I won't go into details about the chaos that ensued after, but in the end I was able to punch my tag on a bird that was sporting some pretty decent spurrage. We don't see many of birds of this caliber around the area, so it's a special treat when you roll one over and see hooks like these. I knew he was there, and in the end he was one of the birds I wanted to close the deal on.
So my season came and went in the matter of hours....a total 180 from what I experienced last year. I'm left with a set of awesome spurs, but also with a little disappointment in how some of it went down. In time I'm sure I will look back at it and laugh, especially when I look at those spurs hanging on the wall. But either way, it was the preparation that brought early success this year, which is a lot less stressful than taking it down to the wire......and now it's time to relax a little.
- BigHunt
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Nice work Ack! Congrats
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- Edcyclopedia
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Sweet!
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- Jackson Marsh
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Congrats Ack! Dandy gobbler! !
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- seazofcheeze
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Nice bird! Congrats
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- Ridgerunner7
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Congrats buddy!
- Hawthorne
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Nice shot!! Congrats
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- Lockdown
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Very nice! Congrats!
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Nice bird!!!
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Congrats Ack on a awesome bird. Way to connect shooting those frisbees at him too!
- kurt
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Awesome bird congrats...
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- whitetailassasin
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
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Re: Michigan Limbhanger - 5/2/16
Good job Ack, like clockwork for you. Do you guide? =)
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