QuoteOriginally posted by Steve O:
Mike, aka Energizer bunny...

Did you have to put all the seat of the "hog machine" down to fit your suitcase in?

Energizer bunny???  Yes I have a problem of never giving up or stopping.  Doctor wanted to put me on Ritlin last month just so he could hold a conversation with me.  LOL

The most accurate description I could give of the car would be to call it a coffin on wheels.  I would dread the day I ever got in a wreck with that thing.  I went cheap, and realized its not worth my life.  Next time I'll spend the extra $5 a day to get atleast a full sized car.

Thats whats its all about fellas. Congrats!

I will try and tell as much of the turkey hunt, as I can before leaving for church. First of all, my history of turkey hunting, not that you need to know, but to qualify the point I want to make with this story.

I have been turkey hunting for many years, and have taken quite a few birds. I consider myself a fair to good turkey hunter, not a great turkey hunter.  Loss of hearing, bad knees and legs do not help.

Now, Ray called me on Wed. afternoon, he was not going to be able to get to camp, until Fri. afternoon. His words, "Pencil and paper, write this down." He gave me instructions of where to park, how far to walk up the road, how far into the hardwoods to set up, what calls to use and where the bird would come from. And the second option of where the bird would come from, "from across the highway, he will walk across, not fly in."

Friday morning found me at the parking area at first light, Mike V. had rode with me, he took off down the road going after hogs. I decided to change the script of this turkey hunt, that Ray had written. Yiks!!!

Got to go, will finish later tonight or Thur. morning.

Dennis

"I decided to change the script of this turkey hunt, that Ray had written. Yiks!!!"

OhOh...Yessir...Been there. Trying to make up a story as to why the hunt didn't go right, without looking guilty, even though you followed the plan word for word.

Lookin forward to the rest of the story...  

I am back, and will try and finish up.

I decided to wait in the area of the truck until I heard a bird gobble; well 30 minutes after first light, no gobble. I had heard  some hens down the road Mike went down, and hens in the area Ray had told me to set up in. Not hearing any gobbling, I decided I should get back into Ray's script. Up the highway 200 yds, into the hardwoods, and set up with my back to the highway, two soft yelps, purr, scratch in the leaves and wait.

After about an hour, my knee are killing me, and I realize that I have no cover behind me and that there is 50% chance the bird will come from that direction. Although I did not want to move after being set-up, I decided that I had to be aggresive and move into a more comfortable position with some cover.

In front of me 15/20 yds is a huge tree, wide enough to hide me from the back, with dry brush and green bushes on each side. I gather my gear and quickly make the move, it is a perfect blind.

As I finish up, I was told  that since this was The St. Jude Hunt, we had permission to tell the stories, this was a shotgun hunt.

I settled into the new position, I do not remember calling, just scrathing in the leaves as I settled in the new position. Some time later, I heard 'not a gobble', but what I thought was a gobbler yelp across the highway. I picked up my slate call gave two soft yelps, two purrs, laid the call down, scrathed in the leaves, laid my hands on my weapon. A sound off to my left, a slight move of the head and a roll of the eyes----there is gobbler standing 12 yds off my left shoulder. It happened FAST!!

Although, I did not see it, the bird had to have ran in, to have gotten there that fast. He is now on alert, probably that slight move of the head; turns left and is leaving, I pick him up, blot out his head and he is down at about 42/43 yds. A good, what we decided, 3 year old bird, 21/22#, 10" beard and good hooks.

Moral of the story: Listen to Ray! Ray knows his property and Ray knows his birds. Although I left Ray script, I managed to get back on track and into my turkey hunting mode, and with some luck----took a nice bird. Thanks Ray and Mike.

Now, does Ray have turkeys? Yes. Can you take a turkey at Ray's? Maybe/yes. If you have turkey hunting experience and have taken some birds, you can probably do it on your own; but, listen to Ray advice on where to go, how to set-up and how to call. If you want to learn turkey hunting, con, beg, plead, Ray or Mike to take you out. You will have a great time and learning experience.

The rest of the hunt was great also, did a little hog hunting Sat. evening, no sighting, but I did manage to lose a #250/300.00 pair of glassess. I called in a hen Sat. morning, but she did not bring a gobble with her. Mike (SB) helped me get a BD blind up Sat. afternoon, saw two hens that evening and got caught in a bad thunderstorm.

Great to meet everyone; Thanks Larry, Ray and Mike (SB). Great food. I will be back down for the hunt March 30, 31, April 1; will be using the bow more for the turkey hunt and trying to get into the hogs.

Good Hunting to All, Dennis

Can't wait to meet you.  I've made the decision (in my mind) to forgo turkey hunting.  I need to concentrate on one thing......pork.  I'm afraid I'll get sidetracked.

NICE bird!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Hammond:
 

Good job Dennis  

Way to go Dennis. How many arrows does that quiver hold?  

QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Vines:
 

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Hammond:
 

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Must be one of those "Straight" profile models.  

Well it has finally arrived!!  It's been a long wait.

We leave early tomorrow night for our 17 hour ride to Ray's...YAHOO!

Nice gobbler Dennis, good luck on the return hunt this weekend.

Two days and a wake up.  Phil and I will be leaving early a.m. on Thursday.  I'm ready to get my stalk on!

See you then Kyle!

Two big yanks are enroute!

Good luck guys.

Less than 20 miles from Pedro......