Gobbler Photos!!!

Last years bird.

Here's my baby brother's first bird. He hot him the first time I ever took him. It was a great experience. At one point, we had some hens come in on the decoys. One hen got so close to my brother, he could have reached out and bumped her with his gun. I really don't know who was more excited, him or me!

Heres my 1st and only bird kill. Took these on our 3rd trip out in 2002. That was my 3rd time ever! WE pulled a double on these jakes. 1 14lb. the other 15lb. Im on the right...my turkey huntin buddy brad on the left. Last year i blew it..this year is revenge!

There's the attitude I like to hear! Man, I went four years before I took my first bird. The first time I ever went my buddy took me. We had this tom gobblin his head off about a quarter mile away. Since I was green I was only concentrated on him. Next thing I know, I've got five jakes ten yards away from me who came in silent, and no shot. Anyway, here's the bird I took last year. The first morning, I had him and two others come in just out of range who took off with some hens. The second day, I took my buddy and a video camera. We had em gobbling and then they found the hens before us so we decided to go stalking. Obviously, we found em. I got in position and he came right to me. No calling or anything... just happened to be at the right place at the right time. He weighed 25 lbs, and was sporting a 12 inch beard and spurs like I've never seen. Best part was, it was all on video. Sorry the picture is so bad. Better ones on the way.

I start with just a few soft clucks early off, just to let em know I'm there. If I don't get a response, I usually get a little bit louder. Don't start any hardcore yelps. I'm gonna be honest with ya though, I have an edge. Both the my hotspots for birds just happen to be near train tracks so when that whistle blows, I can usually get a shock gobble before the fly down. If you can't hear them fly down, you just have to listen really carefully. Pinpoint the area where the roost is, then start listening to fluxuations in the gobble next time you hear it. You should be able to tell if the bird has moved or not. As far as evening hunts, I don't like them. I stick to the morning mainly because I work pretty much every afternoon. I have buddies who have taken birds at any time of the day. One of my good friends took a beautiful tom a couple years back about 5 pm. In that situation, he didn't need to call. There were ten birds, 3 toms 7 hens in a field and he stalked. By the way boys, less than a month to opener now!!!