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Spencie's 2021 Turkey recap

Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,046
145
Constitution Ohio
My passion is deer hunting. My instincts are apparently in line with turkeys. I seem to put myself in position to wreck their heads from time to time. I am also blessed (or cursed) with not being able to sleep past 5:00am, so I might as well go to the woods. Shift work also affords me lots of time off. I have had some great seasons in the past....this one was one of the best. I had 6 tags for 3 states and filled 5.
We kicked off our season in NC with Joseph. Our first morning found us slipping up to a cutover that had 2 toms sounding off. I ended up being in the shooter position when we called them in. At 42 yards the Federal TSS 9s destroyed him. Later that day we hit some public and I called in a bird that the boys couldn't get a shot at. Joseph and I were sitting over the bank from them without a gun and 2 Toms and a jake came in that the boys couldn't see. We worked lots of birds on the publicthe next day and I found a good looking swamp/hollow next to a river. Tyler went there the next day and killed a big double beard Tom. Those were the only shots we got but we were on other birds. It was a great trip.
17.5#
9-7/8" Beard
1" Spurs
IMG_3340 (1).jpg

Tyler's bird:
21#
9" & 10 3/4" Beards
1-1/4" Spurs
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Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,046
145
Constitution Ohio
We drove home Sunday afternoon from NC and I hunted the WV opener the next morning. I heard no birds on the roost so I sat down overlooking a beautiful pasture bottom. I let out one call and got a response. Just one gobble. I made a few more soft calls and then saw him strutting up the bottom. At 52 yards he turned to angle away so I let the 870 roar. He dropped and never flinched.
21#
9" Beard
1-5/16" Spurs
IMG_3378.jpg

The second day found me on a little ridge I've had success on before. At daylight 3 started gobbling in a deep ravine beside me. A few soft calls on the Sasquatch glass and 2 of them pitched down on my side and came right up on the ridge. A 25 yard shot and one was down...the other pecked him for 20 minutes.
16#
9.5" Beard
7/8" Spurs
IMG_3397.jpg

The 3rd day had me tagging along with a buddy. We were walking and calling mid-morning and I struck one up. I ended up calling him in to 40 yards but offered no shot. He circled back so we made a big loop and got back on him. Really cool hunt to watch unfold.
IMG_3421.jpg
 
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Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,046
145
Constitution Ohio
3 days later found me on 2 birds on the same ridge Tyler killed his on. We had a guy with a mulching machine clear off part of this ridge and the turkeys have been all over it. I set-up watching it with the birds still down over the hill. Within 10 minutes they were in front of me gobbling.
24#
10 1/2" Beard
1 3/16" Spurs
IMG_3475 (2).jpg
 
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Spencie

Spencie

Senior Member
5,046
145
Constitution Ohio
That brings us to the quest for one of the Giants we have using our place. There are 4 birds that have 1.5" spurs running around. Last year they disappeared when May rolled around. This year 3 of them are still passing through from time to time but "Frazier" was using the same clearing/ridge that we had already killed the 2 birds. I'm not sure how many times we worked him. He would gobble like mad, but not come in. Every day he would go by the cell cam once or twice. A couple times he showed up right after I moved. Tyler caught him in the clover plot one evening and crawled up to get a shot. Just as he was getting ready to shoot Frazier took off running and the shot got air-mailed. Monday I decided to not call and just wait for him. He gobbled his fool head off for a couple hours. My daughter was in labor so at 9;00 I decided to head to the house and prepare for a granddaughter. When I stood up he was 30 yards away and took off running. The next day he was on the cell cam twice right there so I knew he didn't know what spooked him.
This morning I decided to close the distance a little bit on him and set up on down the ridge. He started gobbling when a hen that was roosted with him started carrying on. He didn't stop gobbling until 8:30. At one point he left the ridge and dropped down in a little hollow on us. I ran around and down the point. I had the gun ready to fire because it seemed he was about to show his face. Nope he went back up to the ridge/clearing. I hustled back to my original position. At 9:30 I thought a fawn stepped out into the road. By the time I figured out it was a coyote it was too late to shoot. He went down the ridge and I heard turkeys putting. At first I thought it was over but then I figured if anything he just jumped up in a tree until the danger passed. I was going to give him until 11:00. At 10:45 he gobbled in the clearing. 5 Minutes later he gobbled on the ridge closer to me. 20 minutes later I saw him 30 yards away. I had some good cover and slowly raised the gun. When the crosshairs settled on his head I thought "that sucks for you".
Anymore when I kill a turkey I get a deep satisfaction, do a little fist pump and look skyward for a quick moment of thanks. Even though I had not called one time during this hunt I was jacked up. This bird had made it personal. He had won every battle. I won the war. He truly was dumb...just very lucky and I was dumber. I have killed lots of birds but he easily has the best spurs.
21#
11" Beard
1 5/8" & 1 1/2" Spurs
IMG_3695.jpg
IMG_3662.jpg
 
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