Team 2 - TOMBOYS

[IlliniWalli]

RBS, GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!

i salute you and the other guys that participated in the DAV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nbadger23]

I scored last Thursday in Minnesota on a bird. I haven't entered it yet because the birds in Wisconsin have been giving me the run around and I needed to ask Borch for some confirmation on what to enter. He wasn't the biggest bird in the world, only 19.4 lbs according to the sport shop scale and only 1" spurs on both sides but he did have 5 beards so I'm hoping he scores well. What an odd bird to go with a very odd hunt.

I was hunting a small woodlot that is surrounded by fields. They are usually roosted pretty well into the timber but I don't have permission to be in the woods so I set up on the fence line and hope to call them into the fields. I was going to do the same thing this year but when I got to the spot on the fence line I normally use I found a big tree had come down and I couldn't sit there. As luck would have it, the grassy drainage ditch/old fence line about 15 yards away in the field has an old sawed off tree on the end of it that's been brushing off over time. Between the brush on it and the grass in the fence line I figured I'd be covered and could see down both field edges. I put the decoy out, got under the brush and snapped a few branches out for comfort and sat down. This was around 5:15 or so. At 5:30 I haven't heard a thing so I did a few soft tree yelps... nothing. At 5:45 I do another set of tree yelps and right after I'm done I see a flash of black come straight down out of a tree 15 yards in front of me and hear a little 'whoosh' like sound. My brain immediately thought crow because of how many of them were flying around and how in the world could a turkey be roosted 15 yards away from me and not get spooked by me? Well, 30 seconds later, out walks a tom towards my decoy. I'm in the unenviable spot of still having my call in my hand and my gun on my lap. I drop the slate and striker to the ground between my legs and it doesn't make much sound given all the wet grass but the bird is getting kid of edgy now with that movement and the fact that my hen looks like she's been drinking all night. I some how set her up sideways in the dark so she's tilting to one side. He turns to walk away from me so I make the move for my gun and manage to get it up and get it centered on him I don't know what kicked in in my brain at that point but I made some sort of a noise that made him raise his head up and bam, down he went!

There's nothing like a lone shotgun blast at 5:45 a.m. on a foggy morning to make you sit back in amazement and say 'what the heck just happened???' How the heck I unknowingly got that close to that bird w/o spooking him is beyond me. It's a reminder to me to not get down when they aren't talking cause they can still be there.

I plucked some feathers from the neck to show the beards better. None of them are very big - mostly around 4-5 inches with the main one being 9 or so... but it's kind of neat.

[IlliniWalli]

holey moley, badger, that is one heck of a tom.

conservative estimate of score on NWTF calculator would be in the 90s!!!!

big congrats on true trophy bird!!!

[rbs]

Awesome job! Get that submission in, can't wait to see the score on that!

[Borch]

That'll jump up the team score!

Nice bird!

[DrJ]

Nbadger23. Great job and a really cool shot of the beards. That makes 4 for the Tomboys.Now if RBS can get a Monster we will be up for the title again this year. Good luck RBS on your upcoming hunt. DrJ.

[rbs]

thanks for the pressure lol

I won't be getting out till this weekend, I don't pick my new bow up till Friday...still waiting for my rest to come in...sheez

[rbs]

well boys the weekend didn't happen for me. Got my new bow on Friday afternoon and was shooting some broadheads with it getting prepared for Saturday morning and ended up going to the hospital for stitches on my bow hand. The cut is right where my grip is(of course) so I wont be shooting till probably Wednesday now. I have it close tho so it should only take a few and I will be ready. Nice bow, dam slick tricks!

[Abndoc]

way to go boys...wish i could of helped out...Come on RBS, whats the bow, lets see some pics...sorry to hear about the injury.

[rbs]

Here's my new bow - Martin Onza

[Abndoc]

Sweet!! don't just love a new bow. doesnt matter the kind or the brand...they are so pretty!!

[rbs]

all black carbon fiber dip on it...tight spot quiver will be here this afternoon, Spot Hogg-it sight, Smack Down rest and of course the B-stinger stabilizer. Only shot it about 40 times but it was very nice! Hope to shoot it again Wednesday or so...don't want to risk ripping the stitches!

[Abndoc]

My wife bought me a new bowtech invasion on saturday...i threw some gear on it so i could shoot it right away, now i gotta get back in and get some new toys for it. I'm keeping my rip cord drop away, but going to put a hha sight and try out a few different stabilizer for it...she also got a half dozen bemans...had them both in bed with me saturday night

[IlliniWalli]

that is a sweet lookin setup, rbs. good luck with stickin a tom with it.

...had them both in bed with me saturday night

lol

[Archerysniper]

had them both in bed with me saturday night

I'm jealous wish I had something that sweet sleeping with me.

[rbs]

Pulled it back a few times last night to see if my hand would hurt and it didn't so tonight I will be broadhead tuning! Can't wait to get her broke in and fine tuned for Friday morning turkey hunting! My dad is out there right now and hasn't heard a gobble all morning

[DanOmite19]

My wife bought me a new bowtech invasion on saturday.. ..she also got a half dozen bemans...

Wow. I'm just happy my wife lets me hunt when I want, I don't know what I'd do if she bought me toys too. A keeper for sure...

[rbs]

Got my bow all shot in today at lunch(long lunch) and will be in the blind in the morning! Hope I hear some gobbles!

[DrJ]

Hope the morning is turkey time. A nice quiet morning here in Ramsey. I hope you have the same. Good luck rbs DrJ.....

[rbs]

yeah not a real nice morning...the valley looked tan with all the dust. Felt good to get out for a couple hours tho. If I would have known the wind was going to be so bad I would have went to one of the wind protected ravines right away this morning. Never heard or saw a bird.

[rbs]

Wind finally stopped blowing today so tonight I went out and actually heard some gobbles on the roost....guess where I am going to be in the morning! Definately not at work!

[DanOmite19]

Good luck rbs!

[rbs]

The birds were sounding off but refused to come out into the field. Never had such a problem with birds not wanting to come out of the woods before. The underbrush is so thick that threading a arrow thru it would be almost impossible. Well, taking the wife out this weekend but I will have my bow with also in case we can double up(wishful thinking right!)

[rbs]

Well, I am still at it. Went the last 2 mornings with my wife and have not seen a bird while in. The blind yet. When we left yesterday we spotted a tom all by himself strutting on land we can hunt so that is where I put the blind this morning. I have seen that bird strutting here before so hopefully he will be back. My wife wasn't feeling good so she stayed home. Would be awesome to bring a bird home today!

[DrJ]

RBS, Good luck today. I hope you can put one down. We have 4 birds for our team but as you know we haven't heard from pikeslayer yet.It would be great if 5 out of 6 Tomboys connected. I'm the only failure in the whole group. Good Luck and Take Care. DrJ.......

[rbs]

Well I am sure you know by now that I didn't get a bird this year. Was really tough out there for me. The last weekend I was really concentrating on getting my wife one but that didn't work out either. Out of all the times I was out I never had a tom or jake come in to me at all. Seriously was thinking they were not there but every once in a while I would hear them gobble so its not like they were not there. Either way, thanks for all your hard work and I hope to get one next year!