Sorry for not posting earlier but I get kind of obsessed during turkey season. Eat, sleep, turkey hunt, repeat....

Opening day I killed a nice field bird. I had seen him in his strut zone three days the week before the opener. He was following a single hen around in the field and paid little attention to calls. Finally got him into range about 9:30. 22.75 pounds, 11.5 inch beard, and 1.25 inch spurs. I think this it the first turkey that I have ever killed with white spurs. I fooled with a big turkey in this field last year several times and could never get him away for his hens. I am guessing he is likely a four year old,

First Tuesday I set up on some field birds right off the Appomattox River bottom. Two gobblers came in following one hen and finally came to me after circling around me at about 150 yards. Light two year old, 17.5 pounds, 9.5 inch beard, and .75 inch spurs.

Yesterday I knew it was going to rain and I figured the birds would come to the fields. Sunday afternoon I set a one man blind in the field edge and set decoys yesterday morning. It started raining hard at 6:15 and I could not hear anything inside the blind but it was relatively dry. At 8:00 a hen came into the field and fed around the blind at about 50 yards. At 8:30 two more hens came into the field and were feeding to my left at about 60 yards. At 8:45 a gobbler came into the field about 150 yards to my right where he could see the hens and my decoy. i was sure it was a slam dunk. He walked through a wet knee high cover crop, got within 100 yards of my decoy and three live hens, and turned to the right and walked directly away and out of sight. It continued to rain off and on, while the hens were close feeding they kept shaking like dogs to get the water off. The hens drifted off in the direction that he had gone. At 9:15 a gobbler showed up right where the gobbler had come into the field ( I assume it was the same turkey that had walked all the way around the field). I called and he gobbled one time (the only gobble I heard all day) and came straight to the decoy. Average 2 year old, 18.5 pounds, 9.25 inch beard and .75 inch spurs.

First year I have ever killed three field birds and never hunted in the woods. Birds seem to be gobbling fairly well on the limb but have been pretty quite and in close proximity to hens. I really dislike hunting in a blind, but I love turkey hunting so much that instead of staying home on rainy days I put the blind up and enjoy the semi-dry. I think the best hunting is yet to come.

I have now started my period of mourning......

Great job, but now what to do? Congrats.
V

Congrats on a fine season!

Congrats man.. I've been skunked so far.. Travel brother.. travel..

Now thats a great report and season! It amazes me sometimes how field birds act, and some of the strange antic we are able to observe in open country. You obviously have this field hunting sort of figured out. Congratulations.

Congrats! Like WVBoy said, time to travel

What a great and short year, congratulations on those birds and season.

Earl