Alright guys/gals... it’s been an awesome turkey season and I hate to see it end. Haven’t been on here all season so I figured I’d compile it all into a season recap. I was fortunate enough to hunt a lot locally and see 4 San Diego longbeards hit the ground along with 2 longbeards and a Jake out of state. So here goes the stories... I’lol try to make them short but sweet.
Opening day 2018:
Hunted at one of our local private spots with my buddy and my father-in-law. We knew the spot had a good amount of toms so we were pretty pumped up. Lots of birds gobbling on the roost and the birds pitched down our direction. Right of the bat I had birds double and triple gobbling to the slate call. At one point the birds were about 80 yds behind a dead fall when a coyote came in and bumped them in all different directions. We watched one ton fly up into a tree about 100yds away and another still running in to the decoy (what a cluster). After about 5 minutes of turkeys running everywhere we had 1 Jake and a nice longbeard bearing up on the decoy so I told my father-in-law to kill the one longbeard and BOOM! He stone killed it at 20yds! Meanwhile I watched the other longbeard still sitting in a tree so I told the boys to hang tight. About 20 minutes later that big boy pitched out of the tree to my left and I let him have it at 41yds walking away. Hell yeah! My bird had a 9.75” beard and 7/8” spurs. My father-in-law’s bird had a 10” beard and 7/8” spurs. 2 down!
My wife’s first longbeard:
So after opening day I had a few fun hunts but couldn’t seal the deal on another tom until around week 2. My wife has killed a handful of Jakes prior to this year but this year she was determined to kill a longbeard. During the second week of season we camped at lake henshaw for a few days and hunted hard. One of the days my wife and I hunted a good private spot for the morning with no luck. After that we headed to lunch and then right back at it. We headed to one of my private spots for the afternoon that we knew had birds and as we drove up sure enough we had 2 longbeards in a field at 600yds. I had seen the birds in this field many times before so I knew exactly how to set up. We snuck to the edge of the field and I belly crawled the Avian X hen/Jake combo out to about 15yds. Soon after we set up I watched another 2 long beards and 2 Jakes run in to the field and chase off the 2 longbeards we initial saw. My wife was loving the excitement and after some aggressive yelping and cutting on the diaphragm I had them hot footing it our direction. The 2 longbeards tried to beat up on the Avian X half strut Jake and we let em have it. 2 longbeards down 45 min after we set up. We were pumped to say the least. My bird had a 9” beard and 3/4” spurs and my wife’s had a 9.5” beard and 3/4” spurs. 2 more down.
Utah turkey hunting:
After many hard local hunts and no more success (lots of close calls). I set off on 2 Utah turkey trips (1 trip with my wife and 1 with my good buddy Tanner). The first trip was with my wife and the birds started out hot and gobbling. By morning 2 I had my utah longbeard tagged with a 8.5” beard and 3/4” spurs. After that the birds got smart. We hiked a lot and had a lot of close calls on longbeards with no luck. By the last day my wife had decided that If she got a shot on a Jake she would take it just to fulfill her first Utah gobbler. Sure enough on the last day she tagged out on a nice healthy Jake at 35yds.
The second Utah trip was a lot tougher! My buddy and I hiked well over 30 miles up and down rocky hills in a 3 day span and had a lot of birds make us feel pretty dumb. The trip was a blast but after no success the last morning and only one evening hunt to go we were feeling a little discouraged. We we got out to our spot mid afternoon on the last day we were both barely able to stay awake and exhausted. I dozed off for a while and woke up with that feeling that there may be birds around. I started with some soft calling and sure enough I got a gobble. I called some more and then double and triple gobbles. This was surprising considering how the birds had been acting. After only about 35-45 minutes of calling and gobbles the birds came a few hundred yds and were right on top of us. As they got close they started to circle behind us so I had my buddy spin around facing the other direction. Despite the birds practically running in, when they got to about 70 yds they tried to pull the ol’ sneak on us and circle way around us. By this point we were done with their games so Tanner decided to put the new 3.5” #7 TSS loads to the test. Boom!! The gobbler dropped stone dead at 73 yds. I don’t recommend a shot like this for most hunters but desperate times called for desperate measures.
What a season! Can’t wait till next time.
Keep em’ floppin,
Josh
Opening day 2018:
Hunted at one of our local private spots with my buddy and my father-in-law. We knew the spot had a good amount of toms so we were pretty pumped up. Lots of birds gobbling on the roost and the birds pitched down our direction. Right of the bat I had birds double and triple gobbling to the slate call. At one point the birds were about 80 yds behind a dead fall when a coyote came in and bumped them in all different directions. We watched one ton fly up into a tree about 100yds away and another still running in to the decoy (what a cluster). After about 5 minutes of turkeys running everywhere we had 1 Jake and a nice longbeard bearing up on the decoy so I told my father-in-law to kill the one longbeard and BOOM! He stone killed it at 20yds! Meanwhile I watched the other longbeard still sitting in a tree so I told the boys to hang tight. About 20 minutes later that big boy pitched out of the tree to my left and I let him have it at 41yds walking away. Hell yeah! My bird had a 9.75” beard and 7/8” spurs. My father-in-law’s bird had a 10” beard and 7/8” spurs. 2 down!
My wife’s first longbeard:
So after opening day I had a few fun hunts but couldn’t seal the deal on another tom until around week 2. My wife has killed a handful of Jakes prior to this year but this year she was determined to kill a longbeard. During the second week of season we camped at lake henshaw for a few days and hunted hard. One of the days my wife and I hunted a good private spot for the morning with no luck. After that we headed to lunch and then right back at it. We headed to one of my private spots for the afternoon that we knew had birds and as we drove up sure enough we had 2 longbeards in a field at 600yds. I had seen the birds in this field many times before so I knew exactly how to set up. We snuck to the edge of the field and I belly crawled the Avian X hen/Jake combo out to about 15yds. Soon after we set up I watched another 2 long beards and 2 Jakes run in to the field and chase off the 2 longbeards we initial saw. My wife was loving the excitement and after some aggressive yelping and cutting on the diaphragm I had them hot footing it our direction. The 2 longbeards tried to beat up on the Avian X half strut Jake and we let em have it. 2 longbeards down 45 min after we set up. We were pumped to say the least. My bird had a 9” beard and 3/4” spurs and my wife’s had a 9.5” beard and 3/4” spurs. 2 more down.
Utah turkey hunting:
After many hard local hunts and no more success (lots of close calls). I set off on 2 Utah turkey trips (1 trip with my wife and 1 with my good buddy Tanner). The first trip was with my wife and the birds started out hot and gobbling. By morning 2 I had my utah longbeard tagged with a 8.5” beard and 3/4” spurs. After that the birds got smart. We hiked a lot and had a lot of close calls on longbeards with no luck. By the last day my wife had decided that If she got a shot on a Jake she would take it just to fulfill her first Utah gobbler. Sure enough on the last day she tagged out on a nice healthy Jake at 35yds.
The second Utah trip was a lot tougher! My buddy and I hiked well over 30 miles up and down rocky hills in a 3 day span and had a lot of birds make us feel pretty dumb. The trip was a blast but after no success the last morning and only one evening hunt to go we were feeling a little discouraged. We we got out to our spot mid afternoon on the last day we were both barely able to stay awake and exhausted. I dozed off for a while and woke up with that feeling that there may be birds around. I started with some soft calling and sure enough I got a gobble. I called some more and then double and triple gobbles. This was surprising considering how the birds had been acting. After only about 35-45 minutes of calling and gobbles the birds came a few hundred yds and were right on top of us. As they got close they started to circle behind us so I had my buddy spin around facing the other direction. Despite the birds practically running in, when they got to about 70 yds they tried to pull the ol’ sneak on us and circle way around us. By this point we were done with their games so Tanner decided to put the new 3.5” #7 TSS loads to the test. Boom!! The gobbler dropped stone dead at 73 yds. I don’t recommend a shot like this for most hunters but desperate times called for desperate measures.
What a season! Can’t wait till next time.
Keep em’ floppin,
Josh
