got my first entry for the contest

[hawglips]

He's not going to score much though. Only weighed 8 lbs and he's got no spurs or beard. I don't know what's wrong him. But I'm on the board!

[Gobbler]

Maybe he will score better in the culinary division of the contest. Sometimes these kind entries are delicious.

[Hognutz]

Congrats on the nice bird. Always nice to get one in the fall..

[timbrhuntr]

Congrats. Be pretty tough to upgrade that one. What size shot load did you use on it ?

I got one of those too but didn't post it. I didn't know that jakes were going to score that high in this contest when I shot it

On the other side it made good jerky to snack on if it lasts.

[GOLD HUNTER]

LOOKS LIKE A HEN TO ME.......LOL !!!

Nice bird Hal !!!

Brian

[hawglips]

Maybe he will score better in the culinary division of the contest. Sometimes these kind entries are delicious.

I'll enter him in that division then -- Christmas dinner. I've still got a couple bigger ones in the freezer from the spring but this one cut up so nicely I'm going to move him to the front of the line.

[FuzzSawyer]

I hope the kill story is soon to follow. Did he strut and gobble the whole way? On a string? Or did he come in silent?

[Gobbler]

It looks like the rare Osceola subspecies. They can fly, that's how come you see them all over the US now.

[Turkey Talker]

looks very cool with the coloration. definite subspecies hybrid crap goin on.

[hawglips]

I hope the kill story is soon to follow. Did he strut and gobble the whole way? On a string? Or did he come in silent?

It took me all day to kill it. I flushed a bird off the roost on my way in and since he didn't fly off but about 30 yds, I just sat down right there, got my calls out, and waited. I figured either he had buddies nearby, or he was a lil un. He obviously didn't want to leave the area. Either way I was good.

As light started breaking and birds started chirping, I made some turkey noises, and was answered by two birds behind me -- gobblers. And the one that I flushed earlier, left the roost and flew away from me. He was actually closer than I thought. And he evidently had me pegged the moment I made a sound. From down there he yelped and another bird yelped back at him from down there, and then another. And then one of the birds behind me gobbled and three more yelped, while one was constantly purring. So, I was in the middle of six or seven gobblers. The problem was, the ones behind me were VERY close. Too close, it turned out, as one putted at me when it got a little lighter. I was leaning up against a 10" pine tree and he didn't like the way I looked. So, I kept up some soft chatter, he calmed down and started talking contentedly.

A little later, I heard the two birds down in front of and below me fly down, and then I saw two from behind me fly down to my right, at about 35 yds away, in the direction of the birds that had already flown down. They were both in range, but I couldn't get a shot. I tried to work them in, but I never saw them again, never heard them again, and the two remaining in the tree behind me -- I never saw nor heard them again either. And the last I heard of any of them were some good-bye yelps as they left the area and headed down into a creek bottom.

So, I got up and moved down the draw on the opposite side of the ridge they moved down, and set up down at the bottom to see if I could get at them from that angle. I stayed there for about 2 hours, but never heard from nor saw the gobbler flock again.

However, as I was down there working, I called up a flock of six hens from the opposite direction. One of them answered me off and on, and they slowly made their way around the side of the steep ridge towards me. I was too wide open for my tastes down there, and the closest I could persuade them to come was about 55 yds. I thought they were going to keep coming, or I'd have been tempted to let the T9s out and drop one right there. But they ended up scratching up another draw after that, and turned back around and headed the opposite direction as mid-day approached.

So, when it became apparent that they weren't coming any closer, and once they got out of sight, I made a big flanking move and set up on the other side of the ridge they were on. I stayed there and worked for a couple hours, but never saw nor heard from them.

Well, by then it was lunch time, so I decided to move to a new location across the creek where I suspected it would be a good mid-day loafing area. There is a field, a pine thicket, and some open hardwoods that all come together at that spot. My plan was to relax, eat my lunch, and sit and call for a spell.

All was going as planned until I got to the tree I wanted to set up against and eat my lunch. I looked up and saw turkeys moving away from me in the hardwoods about 50 yds away. $#@%!&! Wouldn't you know it. I had made a good choice about the mid-day loafing spot, but I got there too late. However, all was not lost, because they didn’t act too spooked, and I could see that they actually stopped back in the hardwoods. So, I carefully backed out, made a big swing, and set up on them from a different direction. I ended up working them for about another hour and a half, but never heard a peep nor saw them again.

So, at about then I decided to go back to the gobbler roost from that morning and set up till roosting time. I got there about 3 o’clock and started at it. I got an answer about 3:40 from what sounded like a hen about 80 yards away. So, I moved around to that side of the tree. I didn’t hear from the turkey again till about 4:20, in the same spot. At that point I got a bit more aggressive. At 4:30 she answered me again, from a closer distance away. I went to full alert and started sweet talking. At 4:35 I heard footsteps and got my gun over in that direction. At 4:40 here they came, and I had already made up my mind to take the first thing that showed. At 25 yds she popped into view with several others trailing behind.

So, the purty little jennie is going to make a good dinner!



And just for those that are interested, here’s what she had in her craw.

[hawglips]

looks very cool with the coloration. definite subspecies hybrid crap goin on.

Her secondaries were light compared to most birds in the area, and her primaries were pretty dark. You can see that a little in this picture.


But her white barring would have increased some after she moulted this summer and got her adult plumage. I think the birds in this area are from the original native stock. I've killed one 50 miles or so farther south that could have qualified for an osceola. I think he was from some of that South Carolina low country osceola stock.

[Turkey Talker]

that girl liked snails and rocks!

hens usually dont start eating the land snails until late january. they use the snails as calcium for egg production.She fit snails into her complete diet. Guess she wasnt goin hungry

[hawglips]

There were no snails, and just one rock. She liked beech nuts, sans husks. Not sure what the purple berries were, or the white ones. She picked up one half eaten (deer) large northern red oak acorn, a southern red oak acorn, and 3 willow oak acorns. A little bit of salad too. And two soybeans.

[Turkey Talker]

There were no snails, and just one rock. She liked beech nuts, sans husks. Not sure what the purple berries were, or the white ones. She picked up one half eaten (deer) large northern red oak acorn, a southern red oak acorn, and 3 willow oak acorns. A little bit of salad too. And two soybeans.

crap, a couple of those looked like land snail shells to me. lol