Wait em out

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mauser06
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Wait em out

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun May 14, 2017 5:55 am

I don't often post stories anymore....this one has a lesson I learned and thought was worth sharing.

05/08/17 Pennsylvania Turkey


I have been doing the usual scouting via glassing and riding the roads around my local area. I haven't seen hardly anything. One farm, I've seen 1 longbeard a few times. On the opener, I saw him strutting at 9am as I drove by.

I was too tired from working the weekend to travel to my farther spots...so i figured I'd try it. I know the farm well.


I parked a few farms down the road and walked down the road to the spot. I have issues with guys hunting my truck and knowing I am on the birds instead of going and finding their own.


As I'm nearing the farm I pass a house and a bird gobbles.. literally about in the back yard.

He isn't gobbling much. Once every couple minutes. I get to my vantage point to listen and realize that he is the only bird on the farm...he's next to the house and road.


I setup on the field edge a couple hundred yards away. Much farther than I'd like to be.


He hits the ground and gobble twice more and that is IT. Not another peep. I wait a while and nothing.

I move 2 more times. Never going far. Couple hundred yards around the fields.

About 8am I move to the 4th setup. Decoys in the field. Calling sporadically like I've been. My back is to where he roosted. A small ditch/finger separate my field and that field.

Figured I was there. I know birds always used that field regularly in the past and that bird did too. Had nothing else so I was simply going to stick it out till noon quitting time.


9am I text my buddy.."crows going crazy...geese honking...sirens going off...not a single gobble".

910-915 a beeper on a piece of machinery goes off. I swore I heard a gobble in the field near the roost. "Ahhh you're heading things".

A minute or 2 goes by and "Gobble-blobble-obble"

Alright..that WAS a gobble!

I grab the call and lay it to him. That ole rattly metallic gobble rings out twice. I look towards it and here he comes. He created a knoll in the field and he's pacing..gobbling and strutting.

I watched a hen go across the field like she was gunna cross the road... meanwhile he's still mighty interested in me and slowly coming.

I gave him a little sweet talking and he caved.

I am still watching all this over my shoulder...fully expecting him to follow the finger around and enter my field on my left through a big opening in the fence...at that point he'd be in range and I could end then show.


I loose sight of him in a dip so I take that opportunity to turn around to shoot to my left down the fence.


Silence. I can't see him. Crap! He must have spotted me. Some sweet talk...nothing. Some cutting...nothing. Wait! There he is! Standing on the far edge of the ditch. 30yds...my max range.

He disappeared a second and I thought he might be crazy and come through the thick ditch straight at me...I prepare for that..just Incase. I have a 44" barrel on the Flintlock..manueving it is normal simple task...I had to sneak the barrel through the woven wire fence...and hope I can sneak it back out if he does go around the finger like I figured he would.


As soon as I got the barrel through the fence I spot him coming into the thick ditch!

I knew the treeline was 30yds. Inside that I have full confidence.

He got to 20-25yds and hit an opening and I realized he has hens all around. I figured I better take the shot before something goes sideways...

I touch the trigger and the gun roars.

Smoke clouds my view but I can see and hear birds running and flying all through that thick ditch. CRAP! The shot felt great...I can't believe I missed???


Smoke clears and I see him piled up!! His head looked weird... almost like that "what was that....I'm gunna take off" look.

Remember..44" barrel through the fence..no chance of a quick reload. I get the gun out of the fence and I know I better get on him ASAP. I drop the gun and try climbing the fence...well..it's about 15yrs old and of course as I climb it somewhat collapses..I about break my arm but I get across.

I get over and realized he was stone cold DOA. A few kicks of the feet was it. WHEW!!!



Moral of the story...I sat there for a good 3 hours without hearing anything. That bird hit the ground and never gobbled again and never went anywhere. I trusted my prior experiences hunting and scouting that farm.


Anyways...here's a couple pics.

Image

Image


Image


Image


9.5" beard.. about half of it was broke an inch of so from the base..mites maybe?
Spurs were right about an inch and hypodermic sharp..I've never seen Spurs that short be that sharp.


I wonder if he isn't the bird i dubbed "Lucky" last year. Same farm...same rattly metallic distinct gobble...same love to strut up a show...only longbeard I've been seeing on that farm...and he is very likely 3yo... possibly him...I had a bad Flint and my gun didn't fire last season when I pulled the trigger...he wasn't so lucky this time!



Maybe my story will help someone sit tight a little longer...maybe it'll help someone remember turkeys are turkeys. You have to plan the predictable and then also cover the "he won't go through that"...that's been something that makes or breaks hunts for me...I figure pressure/education teaches some birds to flank or stay out of the open when they commit...I see it somewhat regular.


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stash59
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby stash59 » Sun May 14, 2017 6:01 am

8-) 8-) 8-) :clap: :clap: :clap: :dance: :dance: :dance:
Happiness is a large gutpile!!!!!!!
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muddy
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby muddy » Sun May 14, 2017 7:09 am

Sounds like he had beaed rot. I've always wanted a old school muzzy like that, almost had one in trade but the guy backed out.

Congrats on your bird
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mauser06
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun May 14, 2017 7:53 am

My first 4 years I hunted with my dad. He had near zero patience. I payed attention while we hunted. Countless times we would get up because the bird quit gobbling and watch a bird run or fly away that was 60-100 yards away or whatever.

My first bird I killed when I was 16 and the very first day I went out alone in my life. Very similar story. He was a LONG LONG ways off...but was the only bird gobbling. I sat and waited. Few hours later he gobbled below me. It was over.


Patience has definitely killed me more birds than anything else. It's hard to wait on a bird that isn't talking. Sometimes running and gunning works well...but at home on small farms, I've learned sitting usually works much better than leaving.


Muddy, that gun isn't old....this is it's 2nd season....


If I remember, I will hit you up when I'm ready to pass it on....I started building my own...I have 2 builds planned and then I'm going to build another turkey gun...it'll be at least probably a year or 2 though lol....takes a lot of hours to build one...and parts alone aren't exactly cheap...but I love building them and love hunting with them.


That gun actually is choked...but I can also shoot a round ball from it too...the current load is doing about 65 pellets in a 8.5" circle at 30yds. I think with more experimenting I can get it doing a bit better yet...but, it did the trick...
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Jackson Marsh
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Sun May 14, 2017 1:08 pm

Outstanding mauser! Great bird, great story and an awesome looking gun! :clap: :clap:
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tgreeno
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby tgreeno » Sun May 14, 2017 1:15 pm

Nice Work Mauser!
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backstraps
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby backstraps » Sun May 14, 2017 1:47 pm

Super cool! Man love the hunt and the old school firestick!! Congrats! :clap: :clap:
mauser06
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun May 14, 2017 3:31 pm

Thanx all! I have always said black powder smoke is more addictive than any drug on the streets...I was hooked the first time I sent sparks into a pan...




One thing to note... waiting isn't ALWAYS the answer. I've found that turkey hunting is like poker...gotta know when to hold en...and when to fold em....been plenty of birds that wouldn't budge and multiple setups later he was doing the flop...and of course many just aren't ready to do the flop..


Like we look at deer hunting on this site...I look at Turkey hunting...from early on I realized there is something to learn from every hunt...same as deer hunting. Turkey hunting for me is a sick addiction on its own...add a Flintlock to the mix and it's real bad lol.

Still have another tag... hopefully I can send another smoke signal!!
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ZSV
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby ZSV » Mon May 15, 2017 12:20 am

Congrats! Good luck on the next one!
“I only live once, I will not die a coward “ - Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel
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strutnrut716
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Mon May 15, 2017 10:34 am

Congrats ! Great story ! Thanks for the tips !
Kokes
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby Kokes » Mon May 15, 2017 1:14 pm

Great post and great tips on turkey hunting....
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Ack
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby Ack » Mon May 15, 2017 6:02 pm

Cool story....congrats! :clap:
Mike32
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby Mike32 » Mon May 15, 2017 10:14 pm

Cool story, as well as some good tips. Thanks and congratulations.
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby GWsaddleuser » Sun May 21, 2017 2:57 pm

mauser06 wrote:I don't often post stories anymore....this one has a lesson I learned and thought was worth sharing.

05/08/17 Pennsylvania Turkey


I have been doing the usual scouting via glassing and riding the roads around my local area. I haven't seen hardly anything. One farm, I've seen 1 longbeard a few times. On the opener, I saw him strutting at 9am as I drove by.

I was too tired from working the weekend to travel to my farther spots...so i figured I'd try it. I know the farm well.


I parked a few farms down the road and walked down the road to the spot. I have issues with guys hunting my truck and knowing I am on the birds instead of going and finding their own.


As I'm nearing the farm I pass a house and a bird gobbles.. literally about in the back yard.

He isn't gobbling much. Once every couple minutes. I get to my vantage point to listen and realize that he is the only bird on the farm...he's next to the house and road.


I setup on the field edge a couple hundred yards away. Much farther than I'd like to be.


He hits the ground and gobble twice more and that is IT. Not another peep. I wait a while and nothing.

I move 2 more times. Never going far. Couple hundred yards around the fields.

About 8am I move to the 4th setup. Decoys in the field. Calling sporadically like I've been. My back is to where he roosted. A small ditch/finger separate my field and that field.

Figured I was there. I know birds always used that field regularly in the past and that bird did too. Had nothing else so I was simply going to stick it out till noon quitting time.


9am I text my buddy.."crows going crazy...geese honking...sirens going off...not a single gobble".

910-915 a beeper on a piece of machinery goes off. I swore I heard a gobble in the field near the roost. "Ahhh you're heading things".

A minute or 2 goes by and "Gobble-blobble-obble"

Alright..that WAS a gobble!

I grab the call and lay it to him. That ole rattly metallic gobble rings out twice. I look towards it and here he comes. He created a knoll in the field and he's pacing..gobbling and strutting.

I watched a hen go across the field like she was gunna cross the road... meanwhile he's still mighty interested in me and slowly coming.

I gave him a little sweet talking and he caved.

I am still watching all this over my shoulder...fully expecting him to follow the finger around and enter my field on my left through a big opening in the fence...at that point he'd be in range and I could end then show.


I loose sight of him in a dip so I take that opportunity to turn around to shoot to my left down the fence.


Silence. I can't see him. Crap! He must have spotted me. Some sweet talk...nothing. Some cutting...nothing. Wait! There he is! Standing on the far edge of the ditch. 30yds...my max range.

He disappeared a second and I thought he might be crazy and come through the thick ditch straight at me...I prepare for that..just Incase. I have a 44" barrel on the Flintlock..manueving it is normal simple task...I had to sneak the barrel through the woven wire fence...and hope I can sneak it back out if he does go around the finger like I figured he would.


As soon as I got the barrel through the fence I spot him coming into the thick ditch!

I knew the treeline was 30yds. Inside that I have full confidence.

He got to 20-25yds and hit an opening and I realized he has hens all around. I figured I better take the shot before something goes sideways...

I touch the trigger and the gun roars.

Smoke clouds my view but I can see and hear birds running and flying all through that thick ditch. CRAP! The shot felt great...I can't believe I missed???


Smoke clears and I see him piled up!! His head looked weird... almost like that "what was that....I'm gunna take off" look.

Remember..44" barrel through the fence..no chance of a quick reload. I get the gun out of the fence and I know I better get on him ASAP. I drop the gun and try climbing the fence...well..it's about 15yrs old and of course as I climb it somewhat collapses..I about break my arm but I get across.

I get over and realized he was stone cold DOA. A few kicks of the feet was it. WHEW!!!



Moral of the story...I sat there for a good 3 hours without hearing anything. That bird hit the ground and never gobbled again and never went anywhere. I trusted my prior experiences hunting and scouting that farm.


Anyways...here's a couple pics.

Image

Image


Image


Image


9.5" beard.. about half of it was broke an inch of so from the base..mites maybe?
Spurs were right about an inch and hypodermic sharp..I've never seen Spurs that short be that sharp.


I wonder if he isn't the bird i dubbed "Lucky" last year. Same farm...same rattly metallic distinct gobble...same love to strut up a show...only longbeard I've been seeing on that farm...and he is very likely 3yo... possibly him...I had a bad Flint and my gun didn't fire last season when I pulled the trigger...he wasn't so lucky this time!



Maybe my story will help someone sit tight a little longer...maybe it'll help someone remember turkeys are turkeys. You have to plan the predictable and then also cover the "he won't go through that"...that's been something that makes or breaks hunts for me...I figure pressure/education teaches some birds to flank or stay out of the open when they commit...I see it somewhat regular.


Great story. That sure is a beautiful gun.
mike perry
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Re: Wait em out

Unread postby mike perry » Sun May 21, 2017 4:16 pm

Sweet bird and gun, great pictures
Aim small miss small


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