Post by vwthing74 on Apr 27, 2007 10:04:50 GMT -5
Wow am I stoked! I got my first bird this morning at 7:50am. My two boys (16 and 17) decided last night that they were going to school even though they had only 1/2 day. Can't argue with their decision; school comes first. So.....I decided to take my chance at Tri-County FWA and try for a no-show lottery draw this morning.
My luck started when I was drawn for one of the 4 open slots. They had 3 birds taken yesterday so those 3 guys didn't show plus one other. Anyway, I scurried out the door at 5:30 and made tracks to an area that I noticed a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't anyone parked in the lot so I pulled in.
Walked to the end of the path and went to an area where there was a small woods behind me and the path and open field in front. Woods beyond the field and woods to my left. Put up my blind, decoy, loaded my gun, said my prayers and settled in.
At about 7:30 I heard a gobble off to my rear-left that was answering my slate call. I kept up the clucks and calls and then I heard a gobble in front of my about 80 to 100 yards. Wow! My heart was pounding as the ranger this moring said there was no gobbling happening yesterday.
Fifteen minutes later I see a tail display coming toward me on the other side of the path down a small swale. Here comes Tommy!! He was all by himself and walking to me. I put down the slate call, slowly readied my gun and hit the mouth call a few times. He rounded the tree about 25 yards in front of me and slowly came up the 5' hill. He was staring directly at me; I don't think he even saw the hen decoy off to my left.
Well, do I take him now or wait for him to drop the strut and raise his head? Grandma always said "A bird in the hand....." so I put the crosshairs on his head and squeezed the trigger.
Wow!! Dancing in a muddy trail is better than it sounds. I checked him in at the ranger station:
Weight: 23.5 lbs
Spurs: 20 mm
Beard: 9 1/2 inches
I'll get pictures posted (If I can figure out how?) as soon as my wife gets home from work. The boys will be stoked when they get home. Maybe I'll take them back in the morning to try their luck at the lottery, etc.
Tonight will be a plucking / cleaning party in my garage. I stopped at a buddies house and borrowed his turkey frying setup to boil the water.
Thanks for listening to my story,
VWthing74
My luck started when I was drawn for one of the 4 open slots. They had 3 birds taken yesterday so those 3 guys didn't show plus one other. Anyway, I scurried out the door at 5:30 and made tracks to an area that I noticed a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't anyone parked in the lot so I pulled in.
Walked to the end of the path and went to an area where there was a small woods behind me and the path and open field in front. Woods beyond the field and woods to my left. Put up my blind, decoy, loaded my gun, said my prayers and settled in.
At about 7:30 I heard a gobble off to my rear-left that was answering my slate call. I kept up the clucks and calls and then I heard a gobble in front of my about 80 to 100 yards. Wow! My heart was pounding as the ranger this moring said there was no gobbling happening yesterday.
Fifteen minutes later I see a tail display coming toward me on the other side of the path down a small swale. Here comes Tommy!! He was all by himself and walking to me. I put down the slate call, slowly readied my gun and hit the mouth call a few times. He rounded the tree about 25 yards in front of me and slowly came up the 5' hill. He was staring directly at me; I don't think he even saw the hen decoy off to my left.
Well, do I take him now or wait for him to drop the strut and raise his head? Grandma always said "A bird in the hand....." so I put the crosshairs on his head and squeezed the trigger.
Wow!! Dancing in a muddy trail is better than it sounds. I checked him in at the ranger station:
Weight: 23.5 lbs
Spurs: 20 mm
Beard: 9 1/2 inches
I'll get pictures posted (If I can figure out how?) as soon as my wife gets home from work. The boys will be stoked when they get home. Maybe I'll take them back in the morning to try their luck at the lottery, etc.
Tonight will be a plucking / cleaning party in my garage. I stopped at a buddies house and borrowed his turkey frying setup to boil the water.
Thanks for listening to my story,
VWthing74
