This friend is over 200 for his lifetime. He is in his 90's now. Seeing or hearing them gets me excited.

Word has it they have not been calling much and have not been moving much this year. Lots of frustrated hunters in the lowcountry this season.

I saw two gobblers while out with my youngest son this weekend, so that got him all excited. It was on the ride back to the house, but I will take sightings as I get them.

One thing about turkey hunting, it is easy on the shotgun shell budget.

"One thing about turkey hunting, it is easy on the shotgun shell budget."

Except if you shoot the 3.5 inch Hevi-shot turkey loads. $6 a shell. So if you miss about twice at the same bird, you'll have more than one reason to cry. I can't imagine missing three times at $18.

I use RST no. 5's and it is not too bad. Now if I miss with the 8 gauge . . . that is another story

Why 3.5"? (I hope the answer isn't "Because they don't make a 4 inch"
Why Hevi shot?

1 1/4 oz of lead 6's is plenty strong medicine.

Why a 30-06 when a 70 grain big game bullet in a 22-250 will do? Sometimes you want them to stay put.

I laugh at tv hunters with the perfect calling where the bird comes in and struts right in front of the camera for five minutes or more. Mine always seem to be in a six year old pine plantation peeping between the branches to see you while you look for them. There is a difference between hunting fields and thick woods.

Killed one this morning with the 10 hammer Parker, could have done it with a 20, waiting long enough with a .410. But one never knows. Same bird came to 60 yards three times Saturday, and I had big-medicine waiting for him then. Just needed ten more yards in. But did not want to cripple him.

Why hevi-shot? Superior patterns. Dead as a door-nail dead. No flopping.

To each his own. Bad weather and it will always be a parkerized synthetic modern gun, loaded to the max.

Yeah. Turkey hunting cannot be condensed into an 8 minute Youtube video

You are living the good life Charlie!
Ron

Charlie, I got tired of waiting for a turkey to try out your shells for the old 8, so shot four of them at sporting clays this weekend. What an experience! Now looking to get set up for reloading myself. I sure appreciate your sending me the shells

your welcome mills i hope you get to shoot a turkey with that 8 ga..it rained here all day today and is raining now i hope it stops by morning i ve got the clock set for4.00... charlie

Charlie,

Wish you had kept all that rain and cold weather. Rained cats and dogs all day yesterday and frost overnight. Had 8 new apple trees and one peach had to cover last night, and they call for frost again tonight.

Heard a gobbler at daybreak and thought it would be a good day to sneak right in on him, except all the leaves were frozen this morning. Sat down 100 yards away, but he would not answer once he came to the ground.

My six hens are still there where I killed the gobbler, now going to be old maids I guess. I'll give them a week and I'll bet some new man moves in. Just like when an old fart dies and the next thing you know theres a young whipper-snapper living with the widow using his guns, cars, money, and wife.

Saw another strutting at 10 a.m. but by the time I figured how to get across the beaver swamp he was gone from the field. But I'll be there tomorrow before first light if all goes as planned. Any luck today?

That is turkey hunting. Those who have never been would never understand why it is so addictive, but we know

The most exciting time of year. Until the next season comes in. But it is one of the best. By the end of our five week season which is a total of 31 days I am worn to a frazzle. Little sleep and bone tired. But each day in the woods is a blessing, and you are right, until one has done it, one would not understand the drive to get out of a warm bed to go listen for a bird that with his little bird-brain wins almost every time.

Planning to blitz it this weekend and hopefully get one. Not taking the kids and hoping to block out all Saturday and half of Sunday. We will see. I have been lucky to hear or see something most of the time, even when I was out later in the day.

Be careful of those old longbeards that clam up and won't say a word after you call. They're wise to you or aren't sure of who or what is over there sounding like another bird...... They'll sneak in on you from a different direction and stay in the thick stuff watching for you to give yourself away when you scratch an itch or turn your head looking around and then, BAM... you're busted!!!!

That is right Another reason it is so much fun.

Every turkey hunter should own and read a copy of America's Greatest Game: Archibald Rutledge's Turkey Stories, edited by Jim Casada. Great stories and lots of pointers on techniques. A lot of the stories take place in South Carolina, but there are a fair amount that take place in the Pennsylvania/West Virginia mountains, for you northern hunters.

Rutledge hunted with a Parker to boot

Ahem..... Pennsylvania and West Virginia ain't even close to "northern". :bigbye:

They didn't secede, did they? :whistle:

Okay, I get it.... I thought you were talking latitude, but now I see you're defining North in terms of the Mason-Dixon line of demarcation... :)

Dean, I'm sure that has happened to me this season. You're lucky to get one gobble out of an Osceola. After that is all a waiting game to see who makes the first mistake.

That's why I make my last call at least thirty minutes before I get up to leave. I gave that bird that much or more this morning before I got up. They are all "henned up" here first thing in the morning. The hens are flying down and moving to him while he is on the roost. Unless you get close enough where he can sail down to you, it is tough now.

up at 4.00and in the woods by 5.15..i hunted hard todayit was a interesting day..the early morning produced no gobbling heard..i then came to the house at 8.30 and had breakfast with the wife..nothing like a good long morning walk to make a man hungary..the grandaughter came over and said she had seen some turkey tracks were she rides her horse on a old road...as i walked down the old road watching for turkey sign i see a huge deer track but upon farther looking it was a large hog track..this is the first wild hog track i ve seen close to my house...any way back to turkey hunting..i finally found a spot i liked and made a stand for about 30 minutes..i did get a cakle out of a jake but he never came in..i then went back to the house made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich..throwed me some vienie s in a sack some crackers and a coupla dr pepper s.then off to the big soybean field but before i got to the field i seen a gobbler in a green field i stopped and circled around the small field got inbehind a large cedar tree and called to him..well here he come i got the gun up on ready if that beard hada been a inch longer...well let himgo into the woods and cut outa there when the big jake left...i went to the big soybean field got my binockulers and gun i eased up to the field but all i seen was abut 4 big canadian honkers and a field full of crows..i decided not to hunt the big field i decided to hunt my grandfathers old place instead..going there i see another big jake but it s beard was on the short side..finalkly reached my stand and i put out the decoys..i then set there till 5.30 with nothing seen or heard...it was a good hunt....charlie

Charlie. there's a beard length requirement in your state?? Tomorrow is the last day of the season for me, I'll be up at 4.

I am planning on blitzing it this weekend.

Sometimes I hate a double...
 

Charlie and all,

Two gobblers in the trees before good light gobbling. Got as close as I dared and gave them my best, and they flew down about 100 yards away. Hens would not let them come to me, as they will do, in fact carried them the other way, as they will always do if possible.

Heard another. It was the same bird I had fooled with four mornings this week. Saw him Wednesday at 10 a.m. Could not get across swamp. Daybreak Thursday set up in his strut zone at 6:08 a.m. Five hours. He never called (very cold). Walked two miles to him Friday, and he shut up when I got there. Got to him this morning in good time, 8 a.m. After thirty minutes of courtship, here he came, big white head and all puffed up.

Went to my right which made it difficult. I aimed carefully at his head. Twenty-five yards and a big 10 gauge. Easy. Knew I had him. Trouble is the sights and rib were on his head, and the right barrel full of number fours was headed to a maple tree ten yards away. Second shot, well he was hauling a__ over the hill so it was wasted into the ground from what I could see.

Had I been using a single-barreled gun, dead bird. Had I thought about what you see down the rib is not what is going to happen if there is a tree off to the side, a dead bird. My second bird is safely in the woods I am guessing, not a single feather could be found.

I don't think he will respond to that call again.

boy them kinda misses really hurt..but i could not help but smile a little..i heard a fellow one time say after he had missed a big turkey say how can a man miss something as big as a wash tub with a shotgun... i went this morning it was cool i gave my best calls but nothing was seen or heard..a turkey has to have at least a 6 inch beard in miss....i ve got till may 1 to bring something home... charlie

Jerry, at least you saw a turkey. Spent 6 hrs in the woods today and only saw a cotton mouth.

The better part of the day got shot by helping my wife get her car's oil changed. Did get out this afternoon for awhile, but saw nothing

My season here in MN starts Mon. morning. My wife and I will be out giving it a shot. A friend of mine and his son each got their birds on the same farm this past weekend and saw several other Toms so we're hopin for the best.
I'll be using my VH 12ga in hopes it can add another bird to it's history.
As long as we have decent weather and see a few birds that's all I can ask as it's great to be out this time of year.

[QUOTE=Jerry Harlow;137360]

the right barrel full of number fours was headed to a maple tree ten yards away.
maybe 2's next time??:) Can't wait for our season to open on the 3rd:corn:

[QUOTE=scott kittredge;137425]Yep. Had I shot the left barrel, he would be in the freezer now. Had spent about $45 with shipping getting a 10 pound bag of nickel plated number 4s to my house from Precision Reloading. Loaded an ounce and a half in the 10 gauge hull and the pattern was perfect at 40 yards. Wanted to try them out so I did, and they sure can kill a tree.:cuss:

Good luck. There are more turkeys here than for many seasons. Theory is even though we had a wet spring last year which is supposed to kill a lot of them, there were so many high-protein cicadas around, they thrived. But with so many hens it is tough to get them to come to you.

send some of them over populated turkeys my way..we usally have several turkeys in my area but for some reasoni have not seen to many this year..i have not tried you load out yet but i will it looks like i might have to start tree hunting before long...charlie

I got lucky and took a nice bird Wednesday morning. Unfortunately the 8 gauge was just to heavy to hump into the woods were we located him and used a auto. We put a bird to bed at dark the night before using a hoot owl call. Back before sun up but when my brother blew the owl call to locate him he was already on the ground less than 80 yards and busted us. We drove down the road and blew the call again and had 2 birds gobble about 1/2 mile up the canyon. We bailed out and at that point made a decision not to take the 8 gauge. (In retrospect wish I would have taken it. ) Ended up having 5 to 6 toms fired up. George set up below the first birds and I moved up the canyon a little further. I found a small dirt tank about 20 yards across. Placed a decoy and made a few yelps. Gobblers sounded off, but would start to come in and then hold off about 100 yards out. Finally started to try calling the hens when they yelped I called back. When the gobbler called I cut him off with a cackle. Still no good they closed the distance to about 80 yards but still would not come in. The sun came up and about an hour later some light shined on my decoy, I spoted a few hens moving through the trees so I just started purring softly with a few puts. I watched a hen look right a my decoy and started coming in very quickly with 4 other hens in tow. Suddenly there was a race as I watched one tom just tearing it up to catch up with the hens, suddenly 2 more toms joined the race with their beards just a swinging. It has been years since I had the shakes this bad. At 35 yards I sent a load of #5's his way, he went down flopping down the bank into the edge of the water and turkey's scattered every where. I did not have a scale but he is a nice mature bird with a beard just over 9" long. George is still up in the hills hunting, and has had a few chances but no luck yet. I hope to get out before the season ends and this time just take the Parker 8 gauge.

Enjoying the stories. any pics to share? Cheers, Jack

Good to know one of us finally got one

George will have phone reception tomorrow when he returns and will send me the pictures. I will be sure to post them.

About twenty minutes into the season and ten before sunrise this morning, my friend, Dale, and I scored on a couple of young gobblers on my place. We set up and placed the deeks about five thirty and listened to a couple or three gobbling back and forth from the roost. About 6:20 down comes one and moves to the deeks. He was followed by one, two and three more. Dale got his and, a couple of seconds later, my Trojan got one for me at about 40 yards.

Another nice one!

you boys have got some nice birds there.. phil i hope you get another chance to use the 8 ga on a bird...i m still looking for my bird..and remember jerry s bird make sure ain t no tree in the way when you pull the trigger on them parker s .... charlie