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Opening day SC Eastern

Started by RutnNStrutn, March 19, 2011, 12:58:07 AM

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RutnNStrutn

On Tuesday I had an opening day repeat of last year. I scored on an afternoon hunt in S. Carolina on a gobbler that charged in on B-Mobile only to meet the business end of my scattergun. I was set up on the edge of a field where we had seen turkeys throughout the previous year. We had also seen a gobbler sporting a nice paintbrush the previous afternoon.
At 16:00 I heard a thunderous gobble in the woods about 100 yards behind me. :o  I called to him and he gobbled again. I called twice more with him gobbling back each time. Enough of that, it was time to go silent and let him come looking for me. ;)  I figured when he stepped out and saw B-Mobile strutting with a couple of hens, he would follow the script and do what I needed him to do. Only one problem with that plan, I hadn't counted on the lady that owned the farm to come driving by me 5 minutes later. Yeah, she did that, and yeah, the gobbler went silent. ::)  But the turkeys on that farm are used to farm vehicles rolling by, so I figured the gobbler would come back out in the field eventually.
At 18:15, 3 hens stepped out in the field, followed by the gobbler. Right on cue, he spotted B-Mobile, popped into strut himself, and ran across the field, still in strut, all the way to my set up. :icon_thumright:  He circled B-Mobile twice, the second time lifting his head in a threatening manner. I had no choice but to defend my helpless decoy. :fud:  So I dropped the hammer on him, and he went down and didn't even flop at all. :icon_thumright:
Checking out my bird, I found that he was a 2 year old, and not the big boy sporting the paint brush from the previous afternoon. The next afternoon, I saw yet another bird, but I had let my friend borrow B-Mobile, and this gobbler wasn't interested in my hen dekes. He was a different bird still, so that left at least 2 more gobblers in the area, and likely more. Needless to say, I know where I'm going when I go back up!! :chucknorris:
18 lb's 12 oz's, 9-1/2" beard, 15/16" spurs - 56.5







joshua

Turkeys are as smart as hunters make em and public land offers more classes.
George Washington didn't use his freedom of speech to defeat the British, he shot them.

TURKEYWHACKER

Team Osceola, Team Osceola, Team Osceola  :groupwave:
Congrats Rut  :happy0064:

Roostem33

Great job Jim, Congratulations!!!!!! :z-guntootsmiley:
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.(John 10:10)

tjh24

Great story, awesome pics,  good luck with the rest of em!

Odessa

Congratulations - good reading too.
"I admire a good turkey hunter chiefly because such a man displays qualities that we usually associate with pioneer America-patience, enthusiasm, woodcraft, game sense, and a quiet hardihood undaunted by rain, by cold, by long tough miles, by disappointment."
Archibald Rutledge

trkycaller


a-j calls

Well done, nice bird and pictures.. :icon_thumright:

alloutdoors


TheTwistedOne

Great job!  They were sure shut beak where I hunted opening morning. 

Occasional farm vehicle traffic is one thing but logging trucks and loggers are a good bit more disturbing.  Hopefully they'll be completely done long enough for things to calm down and the season to still be open.

Woodsman4God


hobbes

Congrats Rutn!  Boy his head is colored up blue.

Have you killed a FL bird yet?

Hognutz

Congrats, Jim. That is a great story, and a nice bird, as well. Looks like it is warm down there..Well done..Mike :you_rock:
May I assume you're not here to inquire about the alcohol or the tobacco?
If attacked by a mob of clowns, go for the juggler.


Dan Mallia