But I took a bigger one to fill the second (& last) tag for the spring.
Had a hen walk by me this morning and when she got past she stopped & suddenly headed back the way she came in. I heard a couple putts off in front of me and she froze - then ran off. Then two jakes went running across in front of me at an angle taking them well out of range. A minute later a longbeard came past on the trail of the jakes. When he hit heavy cover about 60 yards to my left I figured I didn't have anything to loose, so I picked up the box call and did a few yelps and a purr. He almost ran over me when he came out of the brush! A load of nickel plated 6's from the ole' smokepole at about 15 yards ended his life's story.
23# - 10" beard - 1 1/4" spurs
Well Done,So far in the 3 morns. I've been out I've had all hens and no gobblers.Every morn. the hens come by at 7 a.m. stop for 1/2 hr. and yelp and cluck but no gobblers.I'll be back out Monday for another try.
"You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, and publicity." - Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I pilot
Tye,
I use a T/C NewEnglander 12 ga. Had a Knight TK2000 and it was awesome, but it actually hurt me every time I shot it. Something about the stock dimensions and my body was a huge conflict. The T/C patterns almost as good, but I like to keep shots under 35 yards. One big advantage to muzzleloaders is the versatility of adjusting loads for the best patterns. I've settled on 1 1/2 oz of shot with 90 grains of ffg for the T/C for turkeys. I installed a fiber optic front sight and installed a rear aperture for good accuracy. I started with a .50 cal rifle, picked up a new 12 ga barrel for it, then found a deal on a camo synthetic stock, had a spare trigger assembly, so I bought a spare lock on eBay and now I have 2 complete guns with interchangable parts!
Luckily the turkey hunting has been like last year's deer hunting. Practice for maximum ranges, then get close shots! Sure makes it easy when the drop within sight.
Way to go Wabi. Tagged out myself today also. Nice feeling. Good eating in the freezer. We had some turkey bites tonight. Shake N Bake coating on 1" cubes of the breast meat, then deep fried. Yummy.
Congrats wabi , me and my dad went out yesterday and got two birds .Keep thinking it would be fun with the front stuffer ,I`ve got a cva optima so all I have to do is change the barrel .Got to get out and buy another tag now.