Outdoorsman Thread

garddogg56 · Post by **garddogg56** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 12:16 am

I sit on field also OH frustrating

I see more birds in the truck

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 6:05 am

garddogg56 wrote: I see more birds in the truck

Maybe you should be more polite when you drive GDOGG!

Old Hunter · Post by **Old Hunter** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 8:22 am

Nice birds TF. Finally got a Blue Bird nest in our Blue Bird house - been up three years, never had a nesting pair before.

Dogg & Scott, you guys are tough! Out again this morning, leaving in a few minutes, going to try to tag one. OH

garddogg56 · Post by **garddogg56** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:01 am

TripleF wrote:
garddogg56 wrote: I see more birds in the truck
Maybe you should be more polite when you drive GDOGG!

TOO late to start now Scott

Good luck OH we start in May::shrug::

Old Hunter · Post by **Old Hunter** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:00 am

Connected this morning about 0900. Strange morning, I was in the woods at 0530 and set up at a road intersection in the woods - road runs down a ridge. On either side of me I can see down to the swamp that I wade through coming in, down into a grove on the other side where there are several good, historic roost trees, straight out in front of me down the ridge for a good 180 yards - the birds cross the road during the day. Behind me is a new feature - a cutover where formerly there was a pine forest. The birds never gobbled today - not a near, moderate, or far gobble was to be heard - a silent morning in the woods. At 0845 I looked into the cutover behind me and saw a bright red head at about 100 yards - the big tom I saw when out scouting on the 12th. He was following three hens today, stopping to fan and strut. I was facing the opposite direction and had 15 yards of semi-clean hardwood between me and the edge of the cutover - I cleared off my gear and lay flat on the ground, inching toward the edge of the cutover - it was windy enough to cover my sound and the ground cover was wet from last nights rain to further muffle my sound. I pushed my shotgun ahead of me to jump any Copperheads or Rattlers that might be in the leaf cover (don't want one in your face). I got to the only tree and it had some debris in front of it (dead branches, etc.) - perfect - I eased up into a sitting position in the cover and shoulder my shotgun. I picked out a branch in the cutover that was about 40 yards away - my dead bird firing zone! Thank goodness the hens came my way - when brother tom stepped over the branch I let him take two more steps and put it on the waddles - he turned a backflip and went down, never to rise again. He is as nice a gobbler as I have ever taken; 20 lbs., 2 oz., 1-1/4" spurs on each leg (one ever so slightly longer) and a beard of 12-3/4". Helluva bird! I have butchered and frozen him already and will take the tail feathers, beard, and spurs to a taxidermist buddy tomorrow for a fan mount. I only clucked twice on a Sonic Dome mouth call; the Buck 112 in the pictures will give you an idea of this big boys size - look at those legs! 22 lbs. is a monster around here, most toms are from 15 - 18 lbs., I couldn't be happier to take a 20 pounder. OH

philco · Post by **philco** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:21 am

Congratulations Bruce! I know you've worked hard to harvest that bird and that hard work has paid off well for you. Way to go!

Old Hunter · Post by **Old Hunter** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:26 am

Thanks Phil - by the way, I notched my WRC Turkey Tag with the Old Cutler Texas Jack you gifted me with several years ago. OH

Colonel26 · Post by **Colonel26** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:29 am

Very nice bird!

FRJ · Post by **FRJ** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:51 am

A great story and a beautiful bird. Good hunting.

zp4ja · Post by **zp4ja** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 1:53 am

Congrats Bruce. Sounds like a memorable hunt and some good food on the table.

Regards, Jerry

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 2:15 am

Treefarmer

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:22 am

Very happy for you pal!

12 3/4" beard?........wowzah! Helluva bird! Awesome story!

Thanks for sharing

big monk · Post by **big monk** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 7:45 pm

WOWZER !!!!!! ____ Congrats on an ""XXXXTRA"" Fine Gobbler !!!!!!

garddogg56 · Post by **garddogg56** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 1:22 am

Congrats OH

Nice Tom

Old Hunter · Post by **Old Hunter** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 9:57 am

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the well wishes. Scott, the preponderance of the beard hair is 11", two hairs went all the way to 13-1/4" and 12-3/4" - I broke the longest one in handling it. When you score a bird the longest hair determines the length of the beard; this is the thickest beard on a bird I have ever shot. His wing tips were also well worn from strutting. OH

glennbad · Post by **glennbad** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:45 pm

Great looking bird, OH!

Dinadan · Post by **Dinadan** » Sun Apr 26, 2015 5:25 pm

Old Hunters bear photos made me think of this one that I took four years ago at Big Bend National Park. Of all the thousands of times that I have passed wildlife crossing signs, I think this was the only time the wildlife was actually crossing.

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:36 am

Cool pic dinadan!

Well, I'm strong enough to type now so I'll post some pics of this afternoon's mission with my youngest grandson. The oldest opted out

We started with lunch as he didn't have any.

Then we slipt a small stump and packed it in the cooler.
We were leaving the spot when I decided to swing at a fatwood stump partially , mostly buried.

That's where I got my a$$ kicked as he and I axed away at this section of the deep rooted stubborn fatwood stump for an hour or more. He worked like a dog after a bone - non-stop! I did too. I was whipped.....still am.

Old Hunter · Post by **Old Hunter** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:40 am

That is a great bear picture - as much as I'm outdoors I don't see very many black bear - lots of deer, turkey, other wildlife, but rarely a bear.

Cool Scott - sounds like a lot of work to me! OH

TripleF · Post by **TripleF** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:14 pm

And see the middle pic.....he has a knife sheath on his belt, and he's actually packing a knife in it!

Wha t a little stud!!

Oh and did I tell you I used my CRAFTSMAN AXE as a pry bar?

I know, I know...I know. Don't even say it........

MITCH RAPP · Post by **MITCH RAPP** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:25 pm

Scott! Great Photo's!

Some lasting Fond Memories!

Dinadan · Post by **Dinadan** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:59 pm

My mistake, double post

Dinadan · Post by **Dinadan** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:59 pm

Scott - Those are some great photos of a good afternoon. It is great to see a boy being taught and allowed to use tools. Those old stumps can be hard to get out. Heck, even a five year old mulberry tree can leave a stump that is hard to dig up! When I was a kid we heated with wood, mostly, and we were always on the lookout for old lighter wood. I have often wondered just how old some of that wood may be, and how old the trees that produced it were.

garddogg56 · Post by **garddogg56** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 11:54 pm

GREAT job Scott.Now rest my man

1967redrider · Post by **1967redrider** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:14 am

Great pictures, Scott.

I did some hunting this past weekend; morel hunting. Going to make some soup this coming weekend. Deeeeeeeeeelicious!

http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/morel-recipes.html

All About Pocket Knives

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