Last Wednesday was the opener in the SC Low Country and I headed down that afternoon. They had some excitement before I arrived with our host Brady missing a gobbler a time or two the first morning after hearing a barrage of gobbling at daylight. That evening, in the same area after watching around 50 turkeys, Ken was able to bag a really nice longbeard as he was slipping out in a field in the late afternoon.

The next morning several of us (Brady, Mel, Diablo, Josey and I) all started along the edge of the swamp where the 50 birds were seen the day before. For those of you that don’t know… turkeys catch on quick! All they need is to be shot at or see on of their buddies whacked and it becomes a different ballgame. We heard several turkeys gobbling back in the swamp and Mel and I had one hen come by us at about 6 feet. Diablo and Josey had several gobblers fairly close and worked them for quite a while but they wouldn’t come out of the swamp. Finally, about 8:30 4 jakes made their way across the field to Diablo and Josey and after doing a dance in the blind to get turned around Josey was able to bust one jake about 30 yards and as another one took flight he dumped him in the ditch as well. (2 birds a day is legal in SC).

That afternoon we all headed out to watch some fields and try to roost birds for in the morning. The afternoon was really slow for everyone except Mel who had setup in the hotspot and had 12 turkeys feed right in on him. He noticed that one of them had a nice beard and dwarfed the other turkeys. He had a thought that it might be a bearded hen, but wasn’t totally sure and decided to go ahead and take the 25 yards shot. He made it and had a beautiful bearded hen for his long hours in the blind. She weighed in at 14 pounds and had a 7.5â€

great time I am sure and I am jealous.....beautiful photos Jeff....

What a great time. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like a great hunt! Glad to hear things went well. Nice pics!

It is almost unfair to bring such advanced turkey hunters down here to the Lowcountry to hunt our remedial birds! They don't seem to have a chance as the score is now Visitors =2 Home =0

It was a great hunt I'm just sorry I was not on the other side of the tree!

Hey man! Glad to see you registered! In hindsight, I should have handed you the call so I could continue to film! Those turkeys in there are tough, but oh what fun!

Another spring... another great start!

Congrats Guys! Awesome Pics!

Great hunts!! Hearing about it and seeing the pics is really getting me pumped!!!

Great Job guys. Nice pics too.

Congratulations to all. Loved the stories.
If we didn't have photos and tales for memories of our hunts, would we enjoy it as much?

barry

Great job on an early season hunt!

Doug

Thanks for such a great post! I wish the little guy could have scored! Sounds like he'll have plenty more opportunities and will probably out-hunt us all in no time!

Have to admit. Those photos are first rate to look at. That barn just sets the stage as its certainly been there for 100 plus years I would think.

Sounds like a good time was had by all! Congratulations guys!

Sounds like a great time... excellent pics as well!