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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 05:44 |
 “Gobbler on the right”, dad said as the huge bird emerged over the rise in the field. He then eased up his gun and clicked off the safety as the bird strutted from one hundred yards down to forty. With a quick cut on my diaphragm to get the gobbler’s head out, dad took the shot and down went to bird. My dad, Mike Lee, cousin, Matthew Story, and I had just completed and amazing hunt together on that muggy April morning. This particular bird had been seen several times strutting in this same harrowed cotton field. The 21 pound, 10 inch bearded gobbler was another result of hard work that finally paid off in the Turner County farm fields. Hunting turkeys in farm fields can be extremely difficult but adrenaline filled throughout the entire spring season. Many times as hunters, we have to deal with many factors when hunting birds in this manner, with most of the factors not in our favor. Having started turkey hunting about seven years ago, the circle of emotions runs from the highest high to the deepest low all in a matter of seconds. This holds true especially when hunting difficult field gobblers. The above mentioned bird was seen on four different occasions before the opportunity finally presented itself for a harvest. What did we do wrong the first few times?? By the unofficial unwritten “rule book” of turkey hunting, nothing at all. On the different occasions, the bird was setup on before daylight, called to very sparingly, and was even alone in the field so that there were no hens to blame for stealing his attention. What finally went right though? On this final morning we quietly snuck into the woods just off the edge of the field in a centralized location. Slowly, in stealth mode, the decoys were placed about 20 yards off of the field edge in hopes of enticing the bird to visit. Decoys can play a huge role in being successful in harvesting a field gobbler. When hunting in large fields that a bird can easily be out of shooting range, decoys aid in the visual aspect of bringing a bird in. Along with some sweet talking to a gobbler, he can see his potential girlfriend out there waiting on him. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 15 July 2008 01:19 )
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