Opening day 2021

Stories of your favorite gobbler hunts.
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935
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Joined: February 4th, 2020, 5:55 am
Location: NE NC
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Opening day 2021

Post by 935 »

After the best turkey hunting season of my life last year, I was wondering how the 2021 season would go. I did my normal scouting and recon and in preparation for a permit draw hunt, I bought some TSS. In addition, I cashed in some Bass Pro points, added some Christmas money and bought an Avian-X hen and Jake decoy. I also had a fresh shipment of pot call strikers all the way from Texas.

In my experience, it’s best to go listen for gobbles on mornings when the low the night before didn’t dip below 50 degrees. Not that they don’t gobble when it’s below 50, I’ve just found that it might be waste of time. Your mileage my vary. Also, going before work the sun needs to cooperate. Before daylight savings time kicks in it works fine. After? Not so much. Around 2 weeks before season, it starts to get light early enough to make it work. Saturday-scouting the farm I like to hunt most was limited this year by traveling to the permit hunt area. At the farm, gobbling was hit or miss except for one morning 3 days before opening day. I heard more gobbles that morning than all the other 2021 scouting trips put together. Headed to work I was pumped. To add to the excitement, later that day the farmer’s son called to tell me that there was a strutter in the field just down a mowed path from where lots of gobbles had rang out earlier. I knew where he slept and where he met his ladies for breakfast. At least I did for that particular morning. Folks that have read The Slam will remember that throughout my life most good times were followed by something bad. At least that’s my perception. Real or imagined. So, I was cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season.

An online friend named Jim had gotten back into woodworking and was making mallets, bowls and other stuff with a wood lathe. I casually mentioned turkey call strikers and he said that making some would be a piece of cake. Now, Jim is not a call maker or even a turkey hunter, he just enjoys wood turning and likes new projects to work on. The strikers arrived just in time for me to pick out several that sounded good to me. The question was, would they sound good to a longbeard? Time would tell. Some are like traditional strikers, some are pretty radical, but that’s how innovation starts. They're made from 100 year old white oak, mesquite, lightning struck live oak, cedar and a South American wood that I can never remember the name of. I picked out one from each species that sounded like a sexy hen wild turkey and stuffed them in my vest.

Laziness, procrastination and other stuff to do caused me to put off pattering the 935 with TSS until the Monday evening before season opened on Saturday. My H. S. Strutt Undertaker choke tube patterned the Federal TSS factory loads just fine. I was impressed by TSS number 9’s. But, my pattern was right of center. The next day that time and weather came together was Thursday. I moved the rear sight left and shot some old shells I had lying around instead of the high-dollar ones. The pattern was WAY left. I moved the sight right and shot again, still left. Moved again, shot again, better. But still not where it needed to be. Daylight was running out and I tried one more time. Click, poof, bang! Sounded something like a flintlock muzzleloader. “What the H-E-double-hockey sticks just happened?” Jammed inside the receiver of my turkey gun was a tore up, crumpled up, paper shotgun shell. Thinking that there might be a wad stuck in the barrel, I packed up and went home. After a thorough check the gun was found to be just fine and the barrel was clear. The evening before opening day is not the best time to be sighting in your gun. But, that was where we were at so that is what I had to do. With the sight back to within a gnat’s buttocks of where it started, I shot some brand new low powered 7 1/2s. Much better. After moving the target back to 40 yards I shot a TSS load. Excellent! Then I shot the old standby Winchester Long Beard XR. Not as good a pattern as the expensive stuff but I was confident that I could kill a tom with either shell.

I didn’t sleep much that night and 10 minutes before the alarm was to sound I got up and turned the alarm off so it wouldn’t wake Wifey. After some coffee, I put some legs and thighs from last year in the crockpot because we were having wild turkey enchiladas for supper. After more coffee and a little internet browsing, it was time to head out. I was sure that the thunderstorms the night before would have the turkeys discombobulated and I was right. No gobbles early so I placed my hen and jake in the mowed path and leaned my back against a tiny sweet gum sapling in the edge of the cutover. 5 minutes after legal time and still no gobbles. There are highs and lows to most types of hunting but to me they are more pronounced with turkey hunting. After what seemed like a long time (5 minutes) a gobble rang out. He was roosted just 75 yards from my decoys. Jim’s mesquite striker had sounded the best so I scratched out a few soft yelps with it. No response. My favorite diaphragm call is a Primos Piggy Back and I had a deadly double already in my mouth. Before I could get the fourth yelp out, he cut me off and another player in the game sounded off behind him deeper in the timber. Not knowing how the hunt would play out and not wanting to screw things up, I decided to keep quiet. While I was coming to my decision, I heard some commotion in the trees and a tom sailed to a landing 30 yards from me. I didn’t have a shot because he was looking directly at me and caught off guard the Mossberg was still lying across my knees. At half strut he walked up to my jake decoy and proceeded to flog it. The soft ground gave way and the decoy fell over. This gave me cover to raise the gun and as soon as he cleared my high dollar pieces of plastic, I touched off one of the 4 roman candles in my shotgun. At the shot he went down without a single flop. Those 3 1/2” TSS loads are very effective at 17 steps.

I took a few pictures, including a self portrait of me and my prize. His spurs are nothing to write home about but his beard is impressive, a full 10”. I guessed his weight at 22 pounds. Because of the rain and the wet farm road I had to walk, my tom gained weight. By the time I made it to “The Bullet” he weighed at least 45. This was my 18th opening day of North Carolina’s turkey season and my first score on opening day. Turkey season 2021 is off to a good start.
Thank you Lord for creating these wonderful birds and allowing us to chase after them.
Prospector
Posts: 325
Joined: April 11th, 2016, 10:55 am

Re: Opening day 2021

Post by Prospector »

Congratulations! It never gets old- this year was my 34th opening and it was as great as the first one. Ty for sharing!
“Son, Turkey HUNTING starts at 40yds and in. If you can kill him farther that’s all you’re doing- KILLING. Make him think he’s answering you, call him up, kill him closer-Man! Now that’s what it’s meant to be…” Johnnie Keel ( an Old Pro most never know)
quavodus
Posts: 287
Joined: April 1st, 2021, 1:19 pm
Location: Moss, Tn.

Re: Opening day 2021

Post by quavodus »

Congratulations. I got a decent bird opening day here too. Not done all that good since though.
"I live in America, why do I have to press 1 for English?"
jhogue
Posts: 380
Joined: September 13th, 2017, 5:08 pm
Location: Van Buren, Arkansas

Re: Opening day 2021

Post by jhogue »

Congratulations! Great way to start your season for sure.
huntinsomd
Posts: 260
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 4:05 am

Re: Opening day 2021

Post by huntinsomd »

Congrats!
Swampstalk
Posts: 388
Joined: November 16th, 2018, 3:48 pm
Location: Palmetto Bay, Florida

Re: Opening day 2021

Post by Swampstalk »

Great story and congrats on the gobbler!
Don
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935
Posts: 281
Joined: February 4th, 2020, 5:55 am
Location: NE NC
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Re: Opening day 2021

Post by 935 »

I kinda hated it that my hunt ended so soon I wanted to give the new strikers a better try. Won't be back at it till Saturday. We'll see.
Thank you Lord for creating these wonderful birds and allowing us to chase after them.
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