gobbler one

[Mike Franzen]

Hey Destry I got some good pics of the massive Loomis 8 gauge Charlie got from you. What predators were you controlling?

[charlie cleveland]

this morning i was up at 4.00 am eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and headed to the woods...the wind was really blowing this morning we had quite a nite of rain and wind...no gobbler was heard or seen this morning i hunted till 10.30 and went home and eat a real breakfast ..2 eggs 3 pieces of bacon and 2 sauage s and 2 big bisquits...after eating i loaded up the old lawn mower and worked on my daughters yard...itwas about a foot high...yep low gear and high rpm s......i then came home and unloaded my grass cutting stuff and jumped into my hunting clothes it was now 3.30 pm was not long till i had the decoys out and climbed into the blind...forgot as iu walked in to the field i was hunting there was a big gobbler grazing in a far corner the big bird seen me about time i seen him...he was a large bird for sure...as i settled in the blind i called about every 20 minutes with no success...then at 6.00 2 bird came out of no where to my right i said to myself i ve got to shoot left handed...i put the gun to my shoulder took aim and pulled the trigger to my surprise the gun jumped almost out of my hands.i guess i had tripped the other trigger under the recoil... after recovering from the recoil i was surprized the turkey was only crippled by the time i got up and found a shell the turkey was into the woods i looked for a long while but never found the bird he was a good one 9 or 10 inch beard nice ...the bird was at 37 yards..i was using whinchester ammo in 3 inch mag no 6 shot...the other barrel was a load of no 2 shot federal shell...boy them things are bad on the shoulder when both barrels go...i shot the turkey at 6.00 and i hunted till 7.30 for it i guess some varmint will have a good meal tonite...boy i hate crippling that bird i have praticed shooting left handed a lot it should have been a bird in the bag....charlie

[J. A. EARLY]

Charlie,

I know that feeling all too well. After the cripple on opening day I have passed two times on birds at 40 yards, afraid of doing the same thing again. You just can't explain it but shooting paper targets and a big tom are two different things.

[Mills]

It always stinks to cripple one. I would much rather miss completely or not get a shot, but it happens.

Jerry, hope your season is doing well otherwise

[charlie cleveland]

up at 4.00 this morning eat a bite checked my equipment then headed for the woods..arrived there at 5.20 daylight was coming fast...i got the gun out of its case got all the decoys out of the truck then relized my seat was left at home this woulda not been to bad except all 3 of my turkey calls were in the seat...not enough time to go get them so i went on...i found my crow call in my pocket as i was walking i gave a call on it yep you gessed it a gobbler answered me was not 200 yards from where i was putting my setup..i got all 4 decoys out grabbed a plastic bag i was carrying and tore off a piece of it to use as a turkey call. only thing i was a little rusty some good calls some like a jaybird..any way turkey gobbled a lot at every sound made if a crowed called or if i gave a loud call with my imprivized caller he would gobble..i come out of the woods at 7.30 tommorrow is another day...hope i don t forget something...charlie

[J. A. EARLY]

Charlie,

It happens so I have a dozen calls, three masks, three seats, multiple boxes of shells, three pairs of gloves, a half dozen hats, two guns; if someone breaks into my truck I am in trouble. Half of a Gander Mountain in there.

Left my gloves and mask in the woods the other day and got on a gobbler at the next stop. It was pretty hot in an insulated mask in the rain at 70 degrees for two hours. Could barely breathe. But I stuck it out. Put two additional thin ones in the truck that night.

[charlie cleveland]

up again at 4.00 oclock it had turned cool this morning with wind blowing pretty good..i had to get my winter coat on...i was in the woods by 5.00 oclock daylight at 5.30 now...after setting up my decoys i got out my locater call a crow call and gave a coupla loud calls no gobbler answered ...tayed till 10.30 nothing seen or heard...did not get to go back this evening grandson was playing his last band concert in high school this evening so wife and i went to it....but i will be up at 4.00 again in the morning...i m about wore out getting up and chasing birds that never show up...charlie

[Gerald McPherson]

Hi Charlie Don't feel too bad. I went out yesterday evening for a couple of hours and when I returned home and went to unload my gun guess what? I had forgotten to load it. I did get to see something that I had never seen before .About 6:30pm an extremely loud noise very close. Some large trees were down to my right so I began to look for him on the closer logs. I leaned to the right to see farther down and there he was sitting on a log.He would turn around every little bit and get off the log and then back on. After trying to focus on him for so long my eyes began to hurt. This is very far south for grouse but there he was. That was worth the trip even though my gun was empty. The gobblers have been very quite here for two weeks only the hens are talking. Good Luck. Gerald PS Hard to believe that little bird can be so loud.

[Dean Romig]

Word gets out quickly among the ol' longbeards that there are hunters out there making "turkey noises". Where I hunt, by about two weeks into the season they are pretty clammed up except while they're still on the roost early in the morning. Once they fly down they're pretty silent for the most part. Oh, they'll sneak in on you silently and bust you while you're calling.... that's how they get so soon smart.

[charlie cleveland]

up at 4.00 againin the woods by 5.00 this morning...made several moves this morning trying to get a turky to gobble but no luck...quit at 8.30 this morning..then went to the store and got some deasel and poured it in the bulldozier and worked on a new roar i m slowly building around the farm..its rough going in a field of stumps...takeing off hunting tommorrow going to a small engine and tractor show lots of them hit and miss engines there i love the sound of them old engines...be back in the woods monday...charlie