BY
APRIL 1, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #1
LOCATION: BALDWIN COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: CHASE FOWLER
AM HUNT: CALLED IN 3 GOBBLERS
On opening day Chase and I would again hunt our club in Baldwin
County. We didn’t hear
anything close at daylight, but after about an hour we had one gobble in the
distance behind us. It wasn’t
long before we had what sounded like two coming and they entered the food plot
on our left side. There were three
which at first appeared to be 2 year olds but the third we thought was possibly
a 3 year old. We decided to only
take one again with the population so low and Chase would get the choice. As we tried to pick the largest one what
may have been the oldest bird slipped off just as he had did last year. Chase picked the best one out of the
other two and took the shot. Chase’s
Gobbler weighed 19 lbs. had 7/8 inch spurs and was double bearded with 9 ¾
and 5 ¾ inch beards. See the
footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
3, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #2
LOCATION:
TWIGGS COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: ALONE
AM HUNT: CALLED IN 1 HEN AND 8 GOBBLERS
I would hunt my Twiggs club on this morning and
didn’t really hear anything close at first. A hen came in from in front of me. I think her and I called the first 2
Gobblers up. They came from my
right front and as soon as I saw them knew they were shooters. Both had nice 11 inch plus beards but I
couldn’t tell much about the spurs in the tall grass. I was just waiting
for them to separate so I could take the shot when they seem to get nervous and
left the jake decoys. As I began to prepare to shoot out my
left side I saw the other three gobblers coming from my right front. They too all seem to be shooters and at
this point would have to be my choice as I had let the other two pass beyond a
shooting point on my left. They
mingled only a little around the jake decoys and
began to move away. It was now or never I thought as I decided to take the last bird that
seemed to be the strutter. The Gobbler only weighed 16 lbs. 10 oz. and
had 7/8 and 15/16 inch spurs but had a 11 1/8 inch
beard. See
the footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
11, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #3
LOCATION:
WILKINSON COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: ALONE
AM HUNT: CALLED IN 1 HEN AND 1 GOBBLER
I
would some private land in Wilkinson County on this morning. I chose to take my
bow to try and get my second (last) Georgia gobbler. The closest gobbler sounded off to my
right front and gobbled quite a bit until he flew down. A hen made her way from his direction
and I felt assured it was just a matter of time. As she came out of the woods to my
right, she mingled and fed along my right and behind me. Once he got to the field he stopped and
looked to find her. He came within 40 yards but would not come any closer for a
bow shot. He strutted and stayed within sight of her for over 2 hours before he
finally gave up on the hen and made his way back into the woods to my front
right. See the footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
15, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #4
LOCATION:
WILKINSON COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: CHASE FOWLER
AM HUNT: CALLED 2 HENS AND 1 JAKE
Chase
and I would try again for the bird I saw on the previous hunt. This time I would also take the bow but
Chase had his shotgun for backup.
There were 2 birds gobbling but were much farther than the previous
hunt. When they flew down they went
farther away. A couple of hens
entered the field and then a Jake.
The jake finally made his way to my decoys but
the Toms never showed. See the footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
17, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #5
LOCATION:
LAURENS COUNTY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: KEITH SMITH
PM HUNT: 1 GOBBLER KILL
Keith Smith and I hunted a food plot on this
evening where he had been getting trail camera pictures of a couple of
gobblers. We clucked and soft called about an hour
before this gobbler entered the plot quietly. With the grain high we couldn’t
tell for sure if the gobbler was a jake. His beard
looked like an older jake but Keith had seen him on
his trail camera and thought he was an older bird. As the gobbler skirted the plot he acted
like he wouldn’t come any closer so Keith took the shot. The gobbler was definitely an older
bird. He weighed 20 lbs. 2 oz., had
1 1/8 inch spurs but his beard was only 7 inches long. See the footage on my
2023 video.
APRIL
19-20, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #6
LOCATION:
DAVID KENTUCKY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: KEITH SMITH
AM HUNT: HEARD 5 GOBBLERS, SAW 3 HENS AND 1 GOBBLER
Keith
Smith and I would travel and hunt some private land near David Kentucky for
the next week. We set up where we
had hunted the previous year on the first evening but was interrupted by a
couple of local kids on 4 wheelers. We set the blind up about the same place
on the next morning and heard 5 different gobblers. In this mountain terrain we weren’t
sure how far the birds were but elected to stay put and take our chances hoping
we wouldn’t be interrupted. The first bird to enter the field was bearded
hen. Later a gobbler came in along the hillside in front of us but would never
cross the fence. Again we were
interrupted by a couple of hunters who came in behind us on a side by
side. We saw the gobbler again but
it appeared too hot and late in the morning for him to leave the shade of the
woods and enter the field.
See the footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
21, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #7
LOCATION:
DAVID KENTUCKY, PRIVATE
PARTNER: KEITH SMITH
AM HUNT: HEARD 4 GOBBLERS, SAW 1 HEN AND 4 GOBBLERS/KILLED 2
Keith and I would set up on the lower food lot this morning which was where
the gobbler was the previous year. We heard 4 different gobblers after daylight
but they just didn’t seem that close. We soon spotted three gobblers in the
middle food lot. They came our way
but would not leave the middle plot.
Another gobbler entered the lot but would not join the three. Instead of coming across the fence into
the plot we were in, he flew across and down the edge of the hillside. Finally a hen entered middle plot and
the gobblers made their way back toward her and eventually out of sight. We called to try and get her in and was eventually successful as she came through the cattle gap
and right to the decoys. As she
did, the gobblers were in tow but hung up again at the fence. Unlike the year before they would not
come though the cattle gap but finally flew across the fence. It was my turn to
shoot so when one of the gobblers started to leave the others I chose him so as
to allow Keith a better angle to shoot the one of the others. Keith’s battery on his sights had
become too weak to work properly so I gave him my gun as soon as I shot. Both were nice birds. My bird weighed 18 lbs. 8 oz., had 1 1/8
inch spurs and a 10 inch beard.
Keith’s bird weighed 17 lbs. 8 oz., had 1 ¼ inch spurs and
an 11 inch beard. See the footage on my 2023 video.
APRIL
29, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #8
LOCATION:
JASPER COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER: CHASE FOWLER
AM HUNT: CALLED 1 GOBBLER, KILL
Chase
and I hunted some private property in Jasper County on this morning. We thought we heard a gobbler in the
distance after daylight but weren’t sure. We had set the blind up in the middle of
the field since the majority of the gobblers we had seen there over the years
always came to that point first.
After almost three hours we heard another gobble. It sounded to be in front of us but
after a short while I heard the gobbler dragging his wings coming in from our
right back. The gobbler stopped at the hen first and eventually made his way to
the jakes and put on a show. He actually broke my turkey stake and heavily bent
the rod. As the bird started to
leave, Chase took the shot. The gobbler weighed 18 lbs., had 1 inch spurs and a 9 ½ inch
beard. See the footage on my 2023 video.
MAY
5, 2023 VIDEO HUNT #9
LOCATION:
WILKINSON COUNTY, PRIVATE LAND
PARTNER:
LEIGH COOK
AM
HUNT: CALLED 1 GOBBLER, MISS
Leigh Cook
and I hunted their property on this morning. We had hunted a couple of times prior to
this but could just not get the gobbler to come out in the field. After daylight we heard 3 different birds
gobbling. The closest was to our
back right not very far from where we parked the golf cart. Once I got the gobblers attention, I
soft called as he was only about 75 yards away. The gobbler came in from our right side.
He strutted some around the hen decoy and then made his way to the jakes. He didn’t get aggressive with them
and soon started to leave. I had
placed the decoys a little close at about 18 yards hoping that if the bird
entered the field where he had previously been roosting that he might be in
range if he hung up. I had offered
my 20 gauge Benelli shotgun to Leigh to shoot since
it had a scope, hoping it would help in concentrating the aiming point since
her gun didn’t have rear sights.
I guess this was in part my mistake since the pattern is so tight on my Benelli that there wasn’t much room for error. She took the shot when the bird was at
about 20 yards and appeared to miss completely. Not familiar with my pump shotgun she
was unable to get a second shot. What a heartbreaking way to end my 2023
Turkey Season. But that’s Hunting! See the footage on my 2023 video.
THE END