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TEAM 6- "BEARD BUSTERS"


pumper317

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I saw in the results that some illihunter or something got a bird too for the beard busters... Is he on our side?

sorry, i f'd that up. blush

guess i wanted to be on you guys' team. grin

but, seriously, GOBBLER GETTERS are gonna be tough to beat. laugh

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  • hugonian1

    23

  • pumper317

    23

  • delzz7

    13

  • elevatorguy

    10

Thats awesome elevatorguy. Sounds like a real nice Tom

Cant wait to hear about the hunt and see some pics

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It's O.K. IlliniWalli-

It is only natural to want to be part of the top team.

Pretty soon Donbo will be trying to join us. grin

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It's O.K. IlliniWalli-

It is only natural to want to be part of the top team.

Pretty soon Donbo will be trying to join us. grin

shockedlaughcrazy You wish! You'll all be "Thunderstuck" by the end of next week! cool

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Thats o.k. guys cause team 8 thought they would let everybody shoot the dumb ones, then the real hunters will go for the smart ones.

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Well guys here is a pick of my bird!

img0399pk.jpg

Shot at 2012-04-21

Wow what a great Minnesota season for me! I had probably my best turkey hunt I have ever had in Minnesota! I saw plenty of birds and had many close encounters till I finally sealed the deal this morning on my last chance and in the rain.

On my first day I had 3 toms in range at different places only to have a wonderful line called a property boundary in my way. It amazes me how they seem to know that extra 10 yards will cost them dearly. Especially when I don't have permission on the side they happen to be on. Well anyway on my second day we tried another property I didn't get to on the 1st day. I hadn't been to this property before other than driving by but my dad had hunted it last year. So we went in in the dark and my Pa got turned around just a bit so we just decided to park our butts. Well a good thing we did cause another 100 yards and we would have been darn near under the birds. Well anyway we had 2 different birds in different directions gobbling like crazy. And of course they went the wrong way. After about 45 minutes after I last heard the one he started our way. Well long story short I had Mr. Sly the fox wreck that opportunity. Had him about 80 yards and gobbling and coming to have the fox turn him not once but twice and he actually treed the turkey. That sucked but was kinda neat to see. Well after they took off I decided to go up the ridge just to look around and got up towards the top and I heard them clucking so I quick parked my butt and was able to call 2 toms down to only have them hang up and 60 yards. So after that we went to one of the places I was at the day before and located one on the right side of the fence this time and called him in to only have him to hang up at 60 yards. Kinda kicking myself for forgetting the decoy in the truck. Oh well it's still fun! So we went back to the morning place to try and catch them coming back to roost. Only to have only hens around. Well it crept up to about 20 min till sunset and shooting time so I decided to get out of there and I walked to the bottom and while I was talking to my dad we heard one fly up right at sunset right where I just came down from. So we snuck out a little further and tried to get a gobble at dark and got nothing. So a 50/50 guess hen or tom?

Well I had 1 more place I hadn't hit so the debating began. Go to where birds supposedly where in a field most mornings or go back to where one was but not knowing if it was a tom or hen or were there others we didn't hear fly up. And also the weather was gonna be a factor too. It was supposed to be raining. So I decided to go back and take a chance on that spot and since I got to get a good feel of the woods I had the master plan! Well I woke up to dampness and sprinkles and thinking I would set up till the birds were gone or I was wet then head to the other place and sit in the blind till I had to head home. So I went in early and up a ridge, down along a fence the slid in close to where the bird was roosted and was settled about 45 min before shooting time. I went in light with only my mouth calls and in rain gear to minimize noise. Well with the rain it actually helped me with noise cause of the leaves and as it got light low and behold that bird gobbles. Uh oh could I get this lucky?? So after he gobbled a few times on his own I decided to put out just a few soft yelps and some clucks as quiet as I could with a mouth call. And wouldn't you know it he landed about 65 yards away and came right to me.. And then bang I got my bird. I have NEVER EVER had a bird do that in how many times I have roosted and set up on them. I always have heard of this myth but never believed it until it actually happened to me. grin It also helped with him being alone and the noise of the rain muffling my calls. So with 12 or so years of turkey hunting I had a plan come together just as I saw in my head the night before. It is kinda neat since it seems I always have had shift on the fly.

Well I know I was I was a little long winded but I had a blast the last couple of days and as if I am not already hooked on turkey hunting this just makes it worse! Bring on the Black Hills in only 10 more days!!!

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Great story and hunt elevatorguy.

It sounds like tou had lots of encounters with an eventual happy ending.

You can't ask for more than that.

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Well hopefully we will have turkey no. 4 on the board tomorrow. smile

Activity remains high on the property.

Did some scouting today and the were gobbling pretty good.

Last year I had the same confidence level but the turkeys outsmarted me every step of the way. I guess that's part of the mystique of turkey hunting. I need to get that monkey off my back.

The weather should be good and I am ready.

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Good luck Hugonian1!

And I feel your pain about that heavy monkey! It took me six tries in the Hills and it took me five tries in Mn to get a jake and six to finally get a Tom. But once I got that 1st one in the Hills I've gone 3 for 5 since. And 2 birds in a row in Mn.

So once you knock that monkey off look out grin So once again good luck!

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Sounded like a exciting hunt elavatorguy!

Good Luck Hugonian!

I will be leaving for Nebraska in the morning. I will be out there until Sunday morning. Its a hunting trip I look forward to every year.

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Way to follow your gut feeling Elevator!!!!!

Frankly I hate setting up on roosted birds because more often than not the old cliche "roosted ain't roasted" applies.

Congrats team 6

Keep rolling.

WD

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Frankly I hate setting up on roosted birds because more often than not the old cliche "roosted ain't roasted" applies.

WD

Exactly!! Like I have said before with the years and trips turkey hunting and I couldn't count how many birds I have roosted and have never had one come to me. I always thought it had to be some sort of myth! grin So that's why I was so excited to actually have a plan work just like I had pictured in my head!

And I still always try and roost birds cause all the experienced hunters seem to always say they will come back and look for you at some point in the day. But then again that hasn't really ever happened either! So that is why I absolutely love the challenge of hunting these birds!!!

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Well bird number 4 is in the bag for "Beard Busters" smile

The morning hunt went better than planned- for once!

He is quite a bird- for me and the area.

24lbs 4oz

11-1/4" beard

1-1/8" hooks.

I could not be happier.

It will probably take me a couple of days to get the pictures and story up.

It is now time to "cull" the entries. grin

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Awesome job Hugonian1!!!

Beardbusters are rolling now!! I bet those other teams are getting nervous now grin

I can't wait to see pics!

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Thats awesome Hugonian! Thats a really nice bird Congrats!

Beard Buster are on a roll like Elevatorguy said.

Cant wait to see the pics and hear the details

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Heck of a bird Hugo. Can't wait to see pics and read the story. Way to go team! 10 days for me... Getting excited. Land owner took a pic of a couple really nice ones in his back yard, and they have been gobbling every day.

Congrats to Hugo and all the team members on one heck of a good season thus far!

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man, you guys are kickin butt, i mean, bustin beards grin

thats one heck of a bird, hugo. big congrats. looks like you take the lead for biggest tom.

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Well I am finally getting an opportunity to get some computer time in.

I got my bird submitted.

This has been a hectic week but it started out with a BANG. smile

I got out in the blind early Monday. It was a beautiful crisp morning. The anticipation was high as I had pretty good turkey activity on my property leading up to my hunt and thought I had the birds patterned pretty well. With that being said the same was true last year and the turkey's kicked my butt. Every time I zigged, they zagged.

As daylight broke I heard a couple of faint gobbles from the woods west of me. This is where they roost. It was pretty quite until around 6:45 when a lone hen came thru in front of me. I thought it was odd she was alone. The next half hour there was no gobbling and no activity. I was enjoying the myraid of ducks, geese, pheasants, woodpeckers, etc. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement and started hearing some hen noise. It was a parade of turkey heading my way, lead by a bearded hen that I have seen the last couple of years. She has a good 7 or 8" beard. There was 8 or 10 other hens, a jake and then a Tom pulling up the rear. He was not strutting or fanning, he was just moving along. I got my gun ready and was waiting for a good shot when out of nowhere another Tom lets out a big gobble. It scared the begezzers out of me. I could not see him but he was coming from the same direction as the other turkeys. The birds were starting to get a little nervous it seemed. I thought they may have seen some movement or sensed somthing. Thet started to slowly move away and I thought I had blown it. Then the other Tom gobbled again and now I could see him coming. He was definately the bigger dominant Tom. He was fanned out and putting on a good show. True to form he started to veer away from me but was not spooked. I had lost track of the other Tom but there were still quite a few hens milling around. They had all moved to around 60 yards from me and went behind a little brush. I watched them there for 10 or 15 minutes. Everytime I thought they were going to move my way they turned or veered back. It was like they knew somthing was up but not to the point they were spooked. All this time I had my Benelli Super Nova up and ready. Thank God for the shooting sticks. Finally a few of the hens started working my way and the big Tom started following. There was a 10' wide pocket in the brush they were behind and as soon as he popped into the opening I dropped him. It was about a 35 yard shot and the Federal Premium Mag Shok did it's job. My season was all of 2.5 hours old and I had my bird. It was kind of bittersweet. I love the hunt more than the harvest. The last couple of years I have gotten a lot of hunting in as the harvest did not happen. I just sat in the blind for 10 or 15 minutes taking it all in. Several hens continued to mill around oblivious to what had happened. I gathered my things and went over to collect the bird. I could not believe how big he was. I knew he was a mature Tom but he exceeded my expectations.

He was 24lbs 4oz.

Had an 11.25" beard and 1-1/4" & 1-3/16" hooks.

This is only my 2nd turkey.

The extra weight was obviously in the breasts as I could not believe the amount of meat I got from him.

This is definately a magical sport that has no comparison.

The Spring woods are awesome to be in.

I will be out there tomorrow morning with my son who is hunting season "C".

Hopefully he can enjoy the same type of experience.

Here are a couple of pictures taken after the harvest.

full-13193-19911-dsc00284.jpg

full-13193-19912-dsc00293.jpg

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I just got back and looking at all the posts. Really nice bird and story. Sounds like you had a pretty exciting morning. Congrats to you... DrJ.....

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Went out with my son this morning for the "C" season opener.

Absolutely no turkey noise at all.

About 6:50 this guy came in heading toward my new D.S. decoy.

He weighed 20lb 6oz with an 8" beard & 3/4" spurs.

The turkeys definalely are healthy after the easy winter.full-13193-19927-dsc00317.jpg

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Awesome job Hugo! Congrats for your son too! I have 4 days to wait. Getting closer. Birds are somewhat patterned by the landowner, and I hope to have some good weather, and a bird in the truck by Sunday!

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