nice video & good shot..

   

Joebuck im glad you explained because i said....what was he shooting?...a compound???      :D  

And that was a great shot!!!    

I just dont know about those mountain oysters and grits though....  

Talk about a pole axe'n!!!! Wow, nice Joey  

Looks like a place that I'd be in "heaven" for sure!    

Thanks guys for a fun story, lots of laughs and some great pics .... turkeys are sooo much fun and it looks like this place is the mother lode of all turkey hunts.  

Congrats Joey      and condolences Whip    :(   I am certain there will be a blindless turkey in your future as practice makes perfect.

Hey, that link works . Great footage. I know you can call em in and now I know you can close the deal. I never seen a turkey shot with gun or bow that was that dead that quick.

Marty does still have the record ratio of miss to kill. Don't make me put the video up again.

Man what a trip looks and sounds like lots of fun. Great shot on the video!

TTT

Sure missed you at Bowjam this weekend Joe. Katty could have roughed you up for missing all those turkeys instead of giving me the business for every little thing.   :rolleyes:

Whip, thanks for throwing this back to the top.  I owe this thread a few more thoughts even though I'm a bit late.

Take a look at this pic of Whip. There is a steep bank with thick cedars that you can't really tuck into very well.

 

QuoteOriginally posted by Whip:

 

I've seen Joey's set up before this trip and always thought my approach would be just as effective.  Well, the brilliance in looking like a mound of dirt became obvious after a couple days here.  Joey's dark blob set up is the way to go here.  Blending in to the dirt banks in the shade of the cedars is really the ticket.  Whip made a good call on taking a pic of himself.  I do that here at home to see myself from the birds eye view.  While I'm happy with my minimalast approach to blending into the Southeastern woods, I've got to change my game a bit for Nebraska.

Batman,
I spent some time in your draw and there were birds in there each day.  There was almost always a bird strutting at the tank, but not enough cover within shooting distance of that tank could I find.  A couple of two year olds and plenty of hens.  I had one of the two year olds hang up at about 20 yards, not giving me a shot.  Your mojo in that draw eluded me....thanks.               :D

By the third morning, about half our group had scored a bird.  Nick started to focus in a bit more on me and Whip.  Since Nick was starting to get a feel for how I was hunting and what I was looking for, he made some suggestions and we hatched a plan.

He knows all the roost locations and mentioned a good spot that would likely provide good cover for me with a close shot.  There were two draws these birds might travel from this roost location but he felt good that they would probably use the one I would be in.

About 8am, he drives up and hops out of his rancher...."Dang, Julian! That stinks!".  No birds used my funnel and Nick had been watching through the spotters. They were all out on the prairie by now.  

With Nick wanting to keep me in the game, we saddled up and headed out to locate some birds.  Now, we were totally out of his element and totally in mine.  We knew he could have put me in a blind and I'd have had a shot within an hour but spent the next 2 running and gunning and had a ball!  

After a few attempts to work birds, but with no close calls, we spotted a strutter not too far from the road that looked to be headed towards a hill top.  There was a lone cedar just the other side of the hill and Nick said I should try to head him off.  Like I mentioned earlier, you don't just "tuck into" these cedars and I was thinking this is practically impossible but I may as well try.

We rode ahead and I jumped out of the rancher.  I scurried up to the cedar and Nick drove down the road to a glassing spot.  I got set up and actually felt good about being covered up enough to potentiall get a decent shot opportunity.  Two hens that I hadn't seen earlier actually crested the hill first and mosied right by me at about ten yards.  They didn't make me so now I'm feeling good about this.  Finally, a hen and the big gobbler crest the hill headed right for me.  About 40 yards out, the hen does a 90 degree turn and drops down a bank and out of sight.  The gobbler starts to follow and I hit him with a yelp on the diaphram.  He breaks into strutt and starts moving towards me.  He took about 5 minutes to cover the next ten yards, looking hard for the hen he just heard.  I'm on one knee with bow up and string tight.  Starting to shake and wondering how long I can hold it.  He inches closer and gobbles.  I've got to tell you, this is about as pretty a sight as I've ever seen and the air is electric at this point.  He's almost to my shot window but finally loses confidence in the ghost hen and drops down the bank after the real deal.  What a rush.  My hunt is made.

This one is worth a re-read for comedy purposes...my wife looked at me like a cross-eyed cricket several times due to the snickering        

Only 2 months to turkey season  

Pretty awesome hunt fellas!

ttt for Nick and the boys

All right boys , get the new thread started ...we need to hear the stories....

Yea Joey. Where ya been? I've been waiting to hear some tales from my turkey hunting hero!

Nice shot! This hunt looks like a blast!

This was a great story thanks for taking us along.

UP for a springtime classic.  

QuoteOriginally posted by 4dogs:
UP for a springtime classic.  

Ditto it's what's on my mind also! CANT WAIT

Oh heck let's bring this one back up    Huntin' stories!!!