Here is my opening day Missouri gobbler:



He came in from about a quarter mile and gobbled every time I called at him. I took an inadvisable shot of about 45 yards (I know better than to do that) with #5s that were bought at Cabelas as a hot new load especially for turkeys.

He flopped a second then gained his feet and started running. Fortunately I had put in my old standard 2oz of #4s as a backup and the second shot dumped him. The #5s were found just under the skin. From now on I am sticking to #4s.

Well done Palmer! I'm counting the days.....14 to be exact.

I finally drew an AZ unit 33 Goulds turkey tag.
My hunt starts May 3. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated.
I've been scouting & found quite a number of mature gobblers up there.
Should be a fun QUICK hunt!

Great bird, Palmer!

Best wishes for good hunting Norton and Scottyboy. These birds are amazing critters. I have been trying to figure them out since 1972 and still have only a faint clue why they do what they do.

Here are 2 different views of my opening day bird from VA. He was just a whisker under 20 lbs and had an 11 inch beard.





Sorry the pics aren't real clear but he hit the ground 30 minutes into the season and the pics were taken immediately so we could continue hunting.

Pirate

Osceola #1- 10.5 inch beard. 1 5/8th spurs



A spur from #1.



Osceola #2- 11.5 inch beard. 1.25 inch spurs.

We are off to Nebraska tomorrow to hunt Merriams.

I had been seeing turkey since the first of the year. However, due to circumstances I had not been able to get back to my lease since late February, so I was ready to hunt. Got out Thursday afternoon. Took a couple calls and my Foxpro FX3 caller. Carried my Sako Riihimaki in 222 Remington as I had let one of my brothers use the shotgun I usually turkey hunt with. I’ve loaded it with 45gr. Barnes TSX’s. Good for both turkey and hoglets should I see any. We only have three water sources on the particular pasture I hunt. Turkey and dove usually hit this in the evening before they go to roost. Got to the water trough at the”Y” and sure enough about 200 yds. south of me, a line of hens was heading down one trail and a line of toms was heading down another. I jumped off my four wheeler, got my rifle and fx3 caller. I tried calling for a few minutes. The toms would gobble but didn’t stop. So what the heck, they won’t come to me , I’ll go to them. I keep the caller playing “excited hen yelps and start stalking them. Followed about 300 yds. through juniper and brush. The toms had stopped in a clearing just before the serious woods start and were strutting. I was inside a copse of juniper so they did not see me but could here the hen yelping on the caller. I braced on a low lying juniper branch and nailed one. They started moving and I nailed a second. Then they took off flying. Not bad, one hour in and and already had the opportunity to take two toms.











Best

GWB

Larry

any recommendations on hunting Osceloas in your part of the world? I have never hunted in FL and have no contacts there. I lack the two "O" birds to have the world slam. A small hunting achievement I'd like to fill.

Great birds, BTW!

Super job guys....great pics.

Nice birds! Our season doesn't open for another week here...

Despite the crappy weather the kid was able to connect friday morning with a pretty descent sized jake. He went 18.5 lbs. 5" beard 1/4" spurs. Dumped him at 43 yds.

[IMG]<a href="http://s1315.photobucket.com/user/Johnsy09/media/P4190531_zps023d511c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t595/Johnsy09/P4190531_zps023d511c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo P4190531_zps023d511c.jpg"/></a>[/IMG]

Nicely done, one and all!

I called in this turkey for a friend to shoot yesterday. He was one of three mature gobblers that came in at the same time. When he was shot the other two pranced back and forth beside him - wonder what that was about?

Allen :

That is fairly common. I have often seen other gobblers jump on the downed gobbler . They try to get their licks in when it is low risk for them. I would bet that you shot dominant bird. The others were not sure of themselves .

My son shot one Friday. Another gobbler ran over from 100 yards and pounced on him.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Allen :

That is fairly common. I have often seen other gobblers jump on the downed gobbler . They try to get their licks in when it is low risk for them. I would bet that you shot dominant bird. The others were not sure of themselves .

Yup, exactly right Larry.

Rio Grande taken a couple of weeks ago. 10 1/2 inch beard.

Great Birds fellas, beautiful pictures, and a awesome job Johnsy...what a smile!!!

Butch

Some pictures from last week:

This hen was looking at a gobbler:



This is what she was looking at:



Just for fun I set up one of my mounts inside a window at my office and this old fella did not like it at all. He stayed around and pecked at the window until he could hardly puff up any more.



This one would be an interesting mount with the tail turned a little (picture was taken out of office window)

My turn finally rolled around

Drew a coveted Arizona unit 33 Goulds Turkey tag (only 6 given). Luckily, I can be hunting them in 25min from my doorstep. I did plenty of scouting and found numerous shooter birds. My 5yr old came along on her very 1st hunt (I knew it was going to be an easy hunt). By 9AM on opening day, we were taking photos of the great tom.. We took him at 8423ft way up in the steep pines of southern AZ. I felt privileged to have the chance to hunt these special birds here in their historic range.



Now I need to figure out what I want to do with him! Lifesize or just a fan mount.
Osceola and Occelated left to complete my Grand, Royal, and World slams!

We will work on the Osceola next March or April.

Damn, that country looks like where I need to train at for my upcoming sheep hunts.

Congrats.

Wow. That's a fantastic turkey Scottyboy. Congratulations on the hunt and great family as well.

Whew! That's a beauty scottyboy!

Thanks, guys! I appreciate it. It was a really cool experience to hunt Goulds right here near the house.
I hope I can draw another someday, although from here on out, I will try for a Chiricahua mtns tag down in the SE corner of the state.

Larry, I am keeping the fingers crossed on that FL hunt next spring.
As for training for your sheep hunts in those mtns, they'd work just fine. In fact, they ARE sheep mtns. They (AZGF) is restocking this mtn range this summer with desert sheep.

Congratulations everyone.
Scottyboy... beautiful Goulds!

Here is a photo of my fourth Alabama gobbler this year. I have one more week of the Tennessee season left.

Congrats ghostbird......4 birds is almost an embarrassment of riches. Must be a hell of a lot of birds in bama.

Nice bird, GB!

Had two repeat clients from Arkansas down this past weekend for a Spring Turkey hunt. I believe this is the fourth year they have hunted with us.

Nice paint brush on that Rio CHC! Why not display the fan and spurs? Weight? Doesn't look quite 20 lbs....

What are the spurs typically like on those Rios?

Those guys were really tired so I did not want to get to involved in taking pictures. The biggest bird had about 10 inches of bird, 1" spurs and weighed in right at 20 pounds.

The other two birds were big jakes, 1/2 to 3/4 inch spurs 5 to 6 inch birds both about 20 pounds each.

In comparing the birds back at camp the two smaller birds tails were shaped like the bigger birds, all feathers the same length, without the central feathers being longer than the outer feathers in the fan.

The longest spurs I have seen or taken were between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inches long. Weights have ranged from 16 to 22 pounds.

Here is a pic of my son's first turkey. He took it on the 7th with a 20 ga. shotgun. He's tried for 4 yrs. to get a tom, with no luck. I found some birds on a piece of woods I squirrel/deer hunt. I cleared it with my farmer buddy for the boy to go. The bird was taken in NW Indiana.





Mad Dog