First Fall Turkey hunt. What fun!

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Got invited to hunt Fall turkey on some private property last week. The owner promised me a shot at it to repay a favor.

He make it clear that Fall turkey was not as successful as Spring turkey and said if we weren't successful on this morning we'd try a few times later in the season. Fortunately, however, it was.....as he said.......text-book.

He had glassed some turkeys the evening before and suspected that they would arrive at another field he owned to glean the corn he had just fed his cows. So, we arrived at his house at 0600 (dark). We drove to his field, parked, and walked the 3/4 mile to a huge round hay-bale in the middle of the field and setup. As soon as the first light broke, we could hear the turkeys. Within about 30 minutes, they were flying into the tops of the trees surrounding the field, waiting. Then, one by one they landed in the middle of the open field between me and the treeline. We stood stock still in our camo, shotgun at the ready. He tapped my leg which indicated that I could shoot at any time. My problem, however, was that the turkey's were all grouped up and moving as a group. There's no way I had a shot at any one bird. And, while I was looking for an old-timer, they were satisfied landing in the other field futher our. So, this flock was filled with juviniles and some 2 years old young jakes. They flock moved closer and closer and would eventually circle around us and most probably "make" us. Then, on que, one of the largest birds decided to struct out from the flock. When he was about 30 yards away from me and a good 15 feet from the flock. I whipped the shotgun up to my shoulder. At that precise second, the entire flock stopped and all 35+ head looked directly at me. That's when I pulled the trigger. The "leader" dropped nicely and the rest all beat feet out of our area.

My "guide" lept to his feet and yelled about what a "text-book" fall hunt that had been! We were done at 0730, headed back to his house and I offered to take him for a nice breakfast down the road as a thank-you. We breasted the bird out because it was too small to pluck and the meat is in the freezer waiting for Thanksgiving where we'll serve it up along side of our store-bought feast bird. It'll give us a chance to share out that bird and compare what it tastes like compared to farm raised.

Here's a pic. I'm really pleased and would like to do this again before it gets too cold.

Me%20back%20turkey%20small.jpg


May all your turkey hunts be as easy and fun as this one!

Rome
 
Nice bird!

I might get up very early tomorrow morning to see if I can get one in the woods near my neighborhood. It will be the last day I can get out to turkey hunt. I haven't even tried since Spring as I didn't know until last weekend that there was a Fall season for us out in eastern MA this year.

Crossing my fingers.
 
Congrats on your bird. I got my first turkey last week. I dipped some of the breast meat in batter and deep fried it. Fantastic. My plan for the rest of the breast is to wrap it in a bacon blanket and smoke it. I can't wait.
 
I was disappointed to read that the Fall firearm turkey season is over already. Wow, such a short window. I will, however, now swap my attention to pheasant. My buddy has a new dog he wants to work while I shoot. Can't beat that combo!

Rome
 
I'm pretty sure tomorrow is the last day (assuming you mean Mass)?

I'm headed out tomorrow am, with my bow, turkey tag, doe tag and buck tag! Wish me luck!!
 
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