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Thread: Last day WMA Success

  1. #1
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    Default Last day WMA Success

    This Spring has had it's ups and downs but I kept fighting til the end and was able to kill a nice one. I had a lot of close calls and a lot of excitement with the gobblers but dang if SC WMA gobblers aren't the hardest birds to kill that I've ever hunted.

    I prefer not to use decoys, so several times I had them in the early season come in looking for a hen, didn't see one from afar, and leave. That problem goes away as more growth in the creek bottoms (my favorite habitat to hunt) impedes their line of sight.

    Spring started out with me finally figuring out morel mushrooms. For a few years now I'd been trying to find them only to occasionally find the really skinny "tulip morels" as they're often called. They're really small and I never found enough of them to get much out of. This Spring I found more stretches of bottom growing large yellow morels than I know what to do with.

    Morels.jpg

    And this particular creek bottom also had a lot of turkey sign. Last Saturday I took a redeye flight back from a week in MN (work travel) so that I'd have time to hunt the evening. A gobbler made an absolute fool out of me after making me think several times that he was coming.

    I gave it another shot on Saturday, entered the bottom at about 11:45. Got him to gobble a few times and was worried I was on the wrong side of the creek but didn't want to risk getting busted if I'd switched sides. He was too close to take the chance.

    The gobbles got louder then I spotted his white head probably 100 yds away, full strut, working his way through the bottom. He was on my side. I only called one more time after that point and figured it's best to just let him keep coming.

    He very cautiously made his way towards me, looking for a hen he never saw. During the whole approach he was putting on quite a display and gobbling so hard I could feel it. I just prayed I could keep calm and take a good shot. At 35 yds I let him have it and was in disbelief as well as overcome with gratitude as I watched him fall over and flop a few times.

    Judging by the spur length, he's a few years old and been through this battle before. I'm honored to have won. Based on the location I'd have to guess it's the same gobbler that fooled me the prior Saturday.

    Took the photo of the spurs at 12:21. Mid day turkey hunting is my absolute favorite. Fewer hunters in the woods and lonely gobblers.

    Gobbler.jpgSpurs.jpg

    All I wanted was to kill one early enough in the day that I could get a picture with both of our daughters. Our oldest daughter is still a bit upset because she had just gotten her foot lit up by fire ants while we were trying to get the photo haha.

    PicWithGirls.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
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    Good stuff!
    “Duck hunting gives a man a chance to see the loneliest places …blinds washed by a rolling surf, blue and gold autumn marshes, …a rice field in the rain, flooded pin-oak forests or any remote river delta. In duck hunting the scene is as important as the shooting.” ~ Erwin Bauer, The Duck Hunter’s Bible, 1965

  3. #3
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    "spurs are not indicative of age"


    good killin
    Ugh. Stupid people piss me off.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    "spurs are not indicative of age"


    good killin
    Thanks. And I have always read and been told they can indicate age, to a degree.

    Jakes have tiny bumps, 2 year olds have slightly longer, but dull spurs. 3+ year olds have the longer, sharper spurs. I do not believe a certain length can really correlate with age past 3 years but when you see spurs that are sharp and approaching that 1" or greater length, you can bet it's a 3+ year old turkey.
    Last edited by JimmyD714; 05-01-2023 at 07:11 AM.

  5. #5
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    Great work

  6. #6
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    Thanks, we're all just tying to be as good as you one day!

  7. #7
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    Nice work!

  8. #8
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    Congratulations.
    "Rivers and the inhabitants of the watery elements are for wise men to contemplate and for fools to pass by without consideration" -Izaak Walton

  9. #9
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    Congrats, Jimmy.

  10. #10
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    Strong finish
    Vegetarian: Native American for Piss Poor Hunter

  11. #11
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    Jan 2021
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    Congrats. Im surprised you got him to gobble in the middle of the day so late in the season, being on public land with hot temps. It has been my experience that if the temperature high is greater than in the 60s, gobbling in the middle of the day substantially declines. It was in the 80s and very muggy here, which is the excuse I gave myself to not go after a bird ive hung with all season long on my favorite public spot. I knew he would be there, i just gave myself an excuse to give up. Good for you to hang in there, and thanks for sharing. I will take your experience into consideration next year.

  12. #12
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    Way to keep after it

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by pluffmudder View Post
    Congrats. Im surprised you got him to gobble in the middle of the day so late in the season, being on public land with hot temps. It has been my experience that if the temperature high is greater than in the 60s, gobbling in the middle of the day substantially declines. It was in the 80s and very muggy here, which is the excuse I gave myself to not go after a bird ive hung with all season long on my favorite public spot. I knew he would be there, i just gave myself an excuse to give up. Good for you to hang in there, and thanks for sharing. I will take your experience into consideration next year.
    Was cool in the upstate today- didn’t get out of the 60s.
    Carolina Counsel

  14. #14
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    Nice work

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by pluffmudder View Post
    Congrats. Im surprised you got him to gobble in the middle of the day so late in the season, being on public land with hot temps. It has been my experience that if the temperature high is greater than in the 60s, gobbling in the middle of the day substantially declines. It was in the 80s and very muggy here, which is the excuse I gave myself to not go after a bird ive hung with all season long on my favorite public spot. I knew he would be there, i just gave myself an excuse to give up. Good for you to hang in there, and thanks for sharing. I will take your experience into consideration next year.
    Killed one in Fairfield county a couple weeks ago when it was in the 80's at 1:30 in the afternoon. Him and his buddy were gobbling and tried to run me over like a train. Gotta be there for it to happen.

  16. #16
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    Surprised you could see him through the sweetgum and briars. Congrats on finally figuring it out.

  17. #17
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    Congrats. Glad to see you measure the spurs like a normal person instead of using that curved bullshit thingy that people use and say every bird they kill has 1 3/4” spurs. Don’t listen to 2th he could fuck up a wet dream rushing to make a point.
    \"We say grace and we say maam, if you ain\'t into that, we don\'t give a damn.\" HW Jr.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
    Surprised you could see him through the sweetgum and briars. Congrats on finally figuring it out.
    The bottoms only have a few sweetgums, scattered amongst about 10 other types of trees. And there's some open canopy for sunlight to get in and help all sorts of green stuff grow. That's why there are game animals down there.

  19. #19
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    Way to stick with it. Congrats.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by pluffmudder View Post
    Congrats. Im surprised you got him to gobble in the middle of the day so late in the season, being on public land with hot temps. It has been my experience that if the temperature high is greater than in the 60s, gobbling in the middle of the day substantially declines. It was in the 80s and very muggy here, which is the excuse I gave myself to not go after a bird ive hung with all season long on my favorite public spot. I knew he would be there, i just gave myself an excuse to give up. Good for you to hang in there, and thanks for sharing. I will take your experience into consideration next year.
    Thanks. As for mid day, warm weather gobbles - gobbling always declines in the middle of the day. Regardless of temperature. In my experience hunting pressure is the #1 gobble reducing factor. But I've also found that when you get one to gobble after, say, 10am, there is a much higher likelihood you're going to at least see that bird. In the morning they gobble more but often times have hens distracting them that they roosted with. I've killed and seen more turkeys in the middle of the day than early morning.

    I don't think I did anything special, just stayed after it and found the right bird at the right time. Once he started gobbling frequently and obviously getting closer I just sat quiet and waited. They've heard constant yelping from hunters for 4 weeks now so I didn't want to make him suspicious.

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