Utah.....2018

ilovesprig

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Aug 3, 2012
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This is the story of the good, the bad, the good, and the ugly...lol...I awoke to the pitter patter of rain this morning, but it was early...Richard (Utahduckhunter) and I get to the same spot we hunted last year in the dark and the conditions were perfect, clear & calm...GOOD...As dawn broke, we don't hear a single gobble (last year was a gobblefest)...BAD...We decide to leave and try some new places...We get to a tank and it has a lot of turkey tracks, but no response...We go to another spot and I instantly get a strike...He's up a meadowie ravine...We scramble for our gear and head up to him...1st stop and he thunders back...Then nothing...We move closer and he thunders back again...Double & triple gobble...We got him...Then nothing...Move forward again and he gobbles again (only to a box call), but he's stationary...Yuck, hens...At this we decide we're going to try and head him off...The ravine splits. So I go left and Richard goes right...I move around where his last gobble was and I start to sit down, when I see a hen coming...I was in mid sit down and she see's me move...Doesn't putt, but starts moving away...Another hen, then the long...He's around 42 yds, when I let loose with the Federal TSS...Merriam longbeard down....GOOD...After lunch, we try an area where Richard had scouted and he said he had seen a couple of toms on private, but public was pretty close by...The walk around the private was a little over a mile, but as we got near where we needed to go...We hear a gobble...Thanks...We set-up and they instantly gobble back...Again & again...And before you know it, they're going under the fence...At about 20 yds, I lose sight of the 1st big boy and kaboom...No yelling, no flopping, no turkey...UGLY...Lots of lessons learned and that big guy will live another day...Richard now knows what turkey fever is...;)

ps...Feel terrible for Richard, but everyone has missed them close up & personal.


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Thanks for sharing the story Steve. Sounds like a good adventure was had.
 
Awesome job on the Merriam Steve. I would love to get on the Merriams around here but these Rios out east are killing me.

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Well, I had a great time hunting with Steve here in Utah...He got a nice turkey in the morning. Then my chance came in the afternoon, where I missed a nice long beard at 20 yards...No excuses...I just plain out missed the bird, when I shot. I guess I had turkey fever .
 
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Richard,

The pleasure was mine....Your scouting was the difference of us being on birds and each experience is a learning lesson....You'll get 'em next time....;)
 
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