Post by Scott Kirsch on Jun 9, 2005 20:10:49 GMT -5
My most interesting turkey hunt to date. Enjoy the read. Picture is posted at the end of this post.
Species: Eastern wild turkey
Date of Harvest: 05/02/03
Time of Harvest: 9:45 AM
County of Harvest: Owen (near Spencer, IN)
Weight: 19 lbs 10 oz
Beard : 9.50" (1-inch thick "paintbrush")
Spurs: 30 mm
Gun: 2004 NWTF 3.5" Browning Gold MOBU w/ 24" barrel
Sight: EOTech Model 552 Rev. F Holographic Sight
Choke: Rhino 2” Extended 0.670 Hevi Shot
Load: Nitro Company H51013 (2-1/4oz) 4x5x7 Hevi Shot
Yardage: 15 yards
Call: None
Decoy: None
The Story:
At 7:00 AM, I decided to unleash my secret weapon: the “sleep hunting” technique. The early morning hours from 4:39 AM until 7:00 AM were disappointing and uneventful with only 2-3 gobbles from the roost. A neighboring novice hunter in the adjacent property yelped with a mouth call to no avail so, I decided to keep my calling silent. At 9:15 AM my hands began to feel the morning’s chill from the 33°F low temperature. I awoke and opened my eyes with no birds visible. I removed my Wal-Mart special hunting gloves and replaced them with a more robust pair of camouflage Thinsulate gloves. Next, I thought I would unscrew my turkey choke out of my shotgun in order to remove some mud and leaves that stuck in the barrel (I left the shotgun on the ground next to me). I cleaned out the obstructing materials and took a quick look up. Not making a single sound, Mr. Longbeard stood a mere 20 yards in front of me looking for another relationship with a new girlfriend. Mr. Longbeard strained his neck and sounded a very subtle “cluck” while looking into the woods from the pasture. S-l-o-w-l-y, I screwed the choke back into my Browning without being busted. Next, a two-fingered shift of the gun’s safety switch to “fire” mode” was also completed without detection. Assessing the situation, I opted to wait until Mr. Longbeard opened up his tail feathers during a strut in order to move my barrel into firing position. Unfortunately, stealth never makes up for stupidity when I realized that my “can’t miss” EOTech holographic gun sight was not turned on! I had no point of aim! While my sight trouble-shooting activities were being completed, I barely noticed that Mr. Longbeard had moved off to my right 5 yards and began to enter the green-up of the forest. Once his vision was blocked by a rose briar, I managed to activate my sight and swing my barrel 30 degrees around a small tree in order to complete my aiming attempt. Just as Mr. Longbeard stepped clear of the briar, I looked through my sight and the red dot was on the waddles of his neck. Boom! 2 1/4 oz of Nitro Company Hevi Shot sailed through the air. But did I hit him?!!? Looking up, I could not see anything but, my instincts told me to run into the woods. Once in the woods, I discovered the motionless Mr. Longbeard. I ventilated him at a mere 15-20 yards away. Mr. Longbeard was deceased but Sloppy was very much alive from the life experience. A 1-mile tote back to the car seemed effortless as I couldn’t stop smiling.- :)Sloppy_Snood
The Pictures:
Species: Eastern wild turkey
Date of Harvest: 05/02/03
Time of Harvest: 9:45 AM
County of Harvest: Owen (near Spencer, IN)
Weight: 19 lbs 10 oz
Beard : 9.50" (1-inch thick "paintbrush")
Spurs: 30 mm
Gun: 2004 NWTF 3.5" Browning Gold MOBU w/ 24" barrel
Sight: EOTech Model 552 Rev. F Holographic Sight
Choke: Rhino 2” Extended 0.670 Hevi Shot
Load: Nitro Company H51013 (2-1/4oz) 4x5x7 Hevi Shot
Yardage: 15 yards
Call: None
Decoy: None
The Story:
At 7:00 AM, I decided to unleash my secret weapon: the “sleep hunting” technique. The early morning hours from 4:39 AM until 7:00 AM were disappointing and uneventful with only 2-3 gobbles from the roost. A neighboring novice hunter in the adjacent property yelped with a mouth call to no avail so, I decided to keep my calling silent. At 9:15 AM my hands began to feel the morning’s chill from the 33°F low temperature. I awoke and opened my eyes with no birds visible. I removed my Wal-Mart special hunting gloves and replaced them with a more robust pair of camouflage Thinsulate gloves. Next, I thought I would unscrew my turkey choke out of my shotgun in order to remove some mud and leaves that stuck in the barrel (I left the shotgun on the ground next to me). I cleaned out the obstructing materials and took a quick look up. Not making a single sound, Mr. Longbeard stood a mere 20 yards in front of me looking for another relationship with a new girlfriend. Mr. Longbeard strained his neck and sounded a very subtle “cluck” while looking into the woods from the pasture. S-l-o-w-l-y, I screwed the choke back into my Browning without being busted. Next, a two-fingered shift of the gun’s safety switch to “fire” mode” was also completed without detection. Assessing the situation, I opted to wait until Mr. Longbeard opened up his tail feathers during a strut in order to move my barrel into firing position. Unfortunately, stealth never makes up for stupidity when I realized that my “can’t miss” EOTech holographic gun sight was not turned on! I had no point of aim! While my sight trouble-shooting activities were being completed, I barely noticed that Mr. Longbeard had moved off to my right 5 yards and began to enter the green-up of the forest. Once his vision was blocked by a rose briar, I managed to activate my sight and swing my barrel 30 degrees around a small tree in order to complete my aiming attempt. Just as Mr. Longbeard stepped clear of the briar, I looked through my sight and the red dot was on the waddles of his neck. Boom! 2 1/4 oz of Nitro Company Hevi Shot sailed through the air. But did I hit him?!!? Looking up, I could not see anything but, my instincts told me to run into the woods. Once in the woods, I discovered the motionless Mr. Longbeard. I ventilated him at a mere 15-20 yards away. Mr. Longbeard was deceased but Sloppy was very much alive from the life experience. A 1-mile tote back to the car seemed effortless as I couldn’t stop smiling.- :)Sloppy_Snood
The Pictures:
R&S 
OWNER/PRESIDENT
