[NickyHayden]

Well I gotta say we hammered them this last weekend. I had 2 good friends come up from Arkansas and an Uncle come home from VA. Our farm is 150 acres here and we have another 640 acre Ranch across the road that is a good friend of ours. We hit the woods Thur morning and split the 640 in half East West. My AR friends hunted the East and My uncle and I the West. By Sat everyone was done but me. I did not hunt till the guests were done as I have over a month to play around. PLUS I did some video for the first time with the GoPro for my uncle. Quite fun that was. Anyhow, Sunday morning with everyone tagged out Uncle and I hit it again. With Gobblers all henned up nothing had been calling in. We had been taking birds by ambush and it was not working for us Sunday morning. After messing up on 3 different bunches we thought what the heck and pulled out the calls. We plopped down under some ceders next to a pasture and my uncle began the game. Hitting the box first then the mouth calls. After about 20 mins 3 gobblers appeared. Im on point and uncle is about 20 feet to my left and back. I see nothing but he knows they are coming. He gives me a quick ( whispered TRACE!!) Im looking everywhere and see nothing. 2 mins pass and I finally see him on a dead run for my decoy. He holds up at 25 yards and goes into full fan. I cant swing my 28" Benelli that direction as........well, Im under a frigging ceder. I wait for him to move into my shooting alley and let him have it at 10 yrds with a 3 1/2" Hevi Shot Magnum. Hes REALLY too close for my Patternmaster Extended range choke as at 10 yards my pattern is about 10" wide. Well I blow him about 3' back and he jumps up and takes off running. Im like NO FRIGGING WAY and jump out of my ceder and take off running as well. I shoot 2 more times and miss him both times. Im now cussing my NEW patternmaster choke and wishing I had just stuck with a Modified. He hits the brush about 75 yrds away and me not to far behind. I get there as Im shoving more shells in and notice hes wadded up about 10' in. HOOOWAAAAA!!!!!

Well that was crazy. I dive in the thicket and fish him out and he is jellied from the top of the breast to about half way up his neck. How in the world he got up and ran off is beyond me. BUT, I got him in the end. It was one of my more exciting turkey days for sure.

Hayden.

 

[Dr. A]

Good for you! I have yet to go out this year. My buddies have done some serious damage to the population at my farm (I'm glad). Its up by Minneapolis. Where are you located? I live in Salina

 

[NickyHayden]

Hey Doc. We are right outside of Buhler. Well between Hutch and Buhler that is. Probably some of the best turkey huntn in the Nation here.

Hayden.

 

[Steve_In]

I have a week and a half to wait here. Way to go.

 

[Dr. A]

counted over 400 in one group the middle of March. They have broken up now, of course, but we have them coming out the ying yang. We need a rifle season to take advantage!

My son plays a lot of basketball with the boys from down in that area.

 

[Golphin]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing your hunt.

 

[AZsparrow]

Congrats! Sounds like all had a good time... and some good eating coming up. :eating:

 

[Macoz]

Hard to imagine hunting turkeys,as they were introduced here and are all domesticated. Sure looks like fun though.

 

[NickyHayden]

counted over 400 in one group the middle of March. They have broken up now, of course, but we have them coming out the ying yang. We need a rifle season to take advantage!

My son plays a lot of basketball with the boys from down in that area.

Yea we are kinda the same way. Big flocks of em during the winter.

A couple years ago we had a Pro Turkey hunter stop by the farm from WY. Wrote articals for an Outdoor mag or some such thing. Asked if he could hunt. It was late season so we didnt care much. He came back after a couple days just astounded. He said he had hunted turkeys all over the Nation and had never seen anything like what we have here in Kansas. More than a little impressed I think. We now have a steady stream of hunters in and out of here from as far as Idaho.

Hayden.

 

[NickyHayden]

Hammered another this morning.

After a completely fustrating day on Sat I headed out this morning for another try. If there was a way to screw up a turkey hunt yesterday I did. Messed up on 3 bunches. They are getting gun shy I think. It was Hot and Windy and things were just not working out. This morning I thought I screwed it up right off the batt. Pushed several off the roost walking in. I set up and just decided to sit and let things calm down. After about an hr I hit the calls and Nothing.....totally quiet. I heard a shot off on some other property about 400 yrds away. Not long after a hen goes running by about 80 yrds away. I wait a bit and hit the call again. I hear a hen answer about 100 yrds away over a hill. I watch for a bit and here comes 6 hens. They take the same path as the running hen earlier and take thier time. About 70 yrds behind them a big ol Tom wonders out. I chirp a bit but hes not leavin his hens. They walk off and get no closer that 80 yrds. Happy for at least a show I wait a bit and hit the call again. Much to my surprise a Gobbler lets me have it about 60 yrds behind me. Im tucked into a small ceder again and only have a shooting lane to my North and my hen decoy is set up about 30 yrds out in a mowed hay field with big cotton woods around. I shut up and I hear hens putting around just to my west but I cant see out there as the ceders are too thick. He gobbles again a couple times and is now about 15 yrds behind me. I got the Bennelli shouldered and point'n North and waiting for him to reviel himself. I take my eyes off my sites and turn my head a bit to see him walk by at 5 yrds to my west. Literally teeth chattering, knee knocking CLOSE!!! Im shaking like a leaf and worried he can hear my own heart pounding. Hes finally clear at about 15 yrds infront of me and I touch it off. He doesnt move an inch farther. Im so dam stoked I jump up and do a little turkey dance. It was an AWSOME Easter Morning to say the least!!!!

Hayden.

 

[crow killer]

congrats on another nice tom