05-03-2009, 11:24 PM
The wife and I have hunted our birds the past two weekends, she passed on a jake last weekend and maybe shouldn't have. Since the tag numbers have went up the turkey population has really dropped in our area and they have deffinately gotten smarter. They won't decoy worth a darn and will answer a call but usually won't come in. I got my tom Fri. morning after chasing after him for 1/2 mile or better, as you can see in the one picture I was wearing waders and had to cross the Duchesne River several times before he finally held up in a big thicket. I crossed the river one last time and crawled up the river bank. I gave out a short low hen call and he answered right back with a gobble, after a couple minutes of this here he come gobbling thru the brush right toward me, at the last minute he veared to my right and I saw his head thru the brush, soon as he stuck it up the old Benelli plastered him brush and all. He was 41 yards and was stone dead when I got to him. He was a big bodied bird with an 8 1/2 beard and one inch spurs. His beard was wore off at the end maybe losing an inch or more of length. I didn't know that they could wear their beards off but my taxidermist when he saw him said that he see's them come in once in awhile especially if they hang out in thick cover. I'm having him mounted in the full strut position. All and all we had a fun hunt together as we always do.
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