Haggis
04-19-2009, 02:57 AM
What a great day for any outdoorsman here in PA. Today was the start of trout season and the first day of turkey season. Officially turkey season starts next Saturday, April 25, but today it was a special youth only day to give new hunters a good chance of baggin' an old tom before they get call shy. So for the third year in a row, me and my lass Allison headed out to the woods to put some turkey on the table.
Gobbler hunting is Allisons favorite kind of hunting and she's successfully bagged two toms already. Her first, two years ago, was a large jake weighing in at 18 lbs and a fine gobbler last year weighing in at 20lbs.
The day started out beautiful, temps in the upper thirties but rising towards the 70s later in the day, clear skies, and light winds. A little before 6:00 am we were snug in our turkey blind set up in a wooded funnel between fields. Prime turkey real estate. As the day passed along we saw a dozen squirrels, a young buck, a murder of crows, a big red tailed hawk, some geese, a couple of woodducks and some doves but no turkeys. Not a gobble or cackle did we hear, though we knew that they were about. Finally around 10:30 am we had a hen come pass us but alas no big old tom was following behind. Shooting hours end at noon, and at 11;30 we still had not seen another turkey. Allison was getting down and was talking about where we would try our luck out next Saturday, when just for kicks she did a couple of hen clucks on her slate call. But once again there was no gobble, just the caw of crows. As Allison reached for the snacks, I looked out the blind and coming trotting up the woods was a huge gobbler. His head was enflamed red and strecthed straight out, but he was running silent and looking for a fight. What he found instead was a calm and experienced turkey hunter yielding an 870 Remington 20 ga. loaded with 3" Winchester Supreme Magnums packed with #5 shot. One and done, and Allison had the nicest bird she has ever taken. Each year she's baggin' a bigger bird, if she keeps this trend going will have to find a tom as big as an ostrich for her. Here's a shot of her bird...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/haggis65/101_3457a.jpg
The gobbler weighed 22 lbs, had a 9-1/2" beard, spurs were 1-3/8" and 1-1/4". Check out these bad boys....
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/haggis65/101_3462a.jpg
What a great way to spend the morning. I'm so very proud of this girl and cherish the time we spend together. Here's hoping she'll always make time to share a turkey blind with her old man and her papa too.
Gobbler hunting is Allisons favorite kind of hunting and she's successfully bagged two toms already. Her first, two years ago, was a large jake weighing in at 18 lbs and a fine gobbler last year weighing in at 20lbs.
The day started out beautiful, temps in the upper thirties but rising towards the 70s later in the day, clear skies, and light winds. A little before 6:00 am we were snug in our turkey blind set up in a wooded funnel between fields. Prime turkey real estate. As the day passed along we saw a dozen squirrels, a young buck, a murder of crows, a big red tailed hawk, some geese, a couple of woodducks and some doves but no turkeys. Not a gobble or cackle did we hear, though we knew that they were about. Finally around 10:30 am we had a hen come pass us but alas no big old tom was following behind. Shooting hours end at noon, and at 11;30 we still had not seen another turkey. Allison was getting down and was talking about where we would try our luck out next Saturday, when just for kicks she did a couple of hen clucks on her slate call. But once again there was no gobble, just the caw of crows. As Allison reached for the snacks, I looked out the blind and coming trotting up the woods was a huge gobbler. His head was enflamed red and strecthed straight out, but he was running silent and looking for a fight. What he found instead was a calm and experienced turkey hunter yielding an 870 Remington 20 ga. loaded with 3" Winchester Supreme Magnums packed with #5 shot. One and done, and Allison had the nicest bird she has ever taken. Each year she's baggin' a bigger bird, if she keeps this trend going will have to find a tom as big as an ostrich for her. Here's a shot of her bird...
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/haggis65/101_3457a.jpg
The gobbler weighed 22 lbs, had a 9-1/2" beard, spurs were 1-3/8" and 1-1/4". Check out these bad boys....
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg105/haggis65/101_3462a.jpg
What a great way to spend the morning. I'm so very proud of this girl and cherish the time we spend together. Here's hoping she'll always make time to share a turkey blind with her old man and her papa too.