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Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORGIA
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Gobblenow
Co-Owner/Dog Feeder
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:20 am Posts: 3804
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Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORGIA
I made my annual trip to hunt in the Georgia -Fla area to hunt as a guest of a with a friend who has some nice turkey woods and fields.Only hunted the Ga side this year.
It was a cold and windy weekend , with mid 40s and a strong northeast wind 20mph at times, and consistent 15-18 mph if not 20+.. Low ceiling drizzle for some of it. Not the weather I have found to be good for a lot of turkey ground gobbling. But is it season opener for me so what the heck, if we can, we go when it is open, right? Typically I do not find the lower south birds to gobble in any weather much on the ground in mid to late March, as the hens are about under the trees waiting for the gobblers to fly down,. It is the peak of the mating season.
First morning I put on some duck hunting warm clothes and set up in a lane of green grass and clover through mature hardwoods , where I have killed some birds in the past. Sort of a hen highway in past years. Heard a few birds gobble a couple times at predawn at maybe 200 yards away, but only heard maybe one or two ground gobbles after flydown. I started a yelping sequence every few minutes hopping a hen might come my way with a gobbler in tow..
An hour after fly down, a lone hen came pecking down the lane and passed by my decoys without putting; and after she passed I made a few clucks on the Cody, and she yelped back. That sequence produced a gobble for a bird somewhere back in the direction she came from originally. In five minutes I see the gobbler step in to the lane fifty yards away. I looked closely with my small binoculars and could not see much of beard, if any. But I could see his spurs. The gobbler sees the Avian Jake decoy and his head lights up and here he comes in the Mean Walk. He came straight in and opened a full fan , and I knew it was game on. He beat the decoy up pretty good facing away from me and I had the wait several minutes for his head to pop up ,and stay up , before I had a clear shot. I got the shot I wanted and he dropped dead at 25 yards. The picture will show you why I could see the spurs when he first stepped out. A wisp of a 4 inch beard strands , but clear mature old bird..
Pictures of first bird and spurs
Second morning it was raining lightly and the cold wind persisted just as it had all night and all of the day before. .I heard a few birds on the limb. I was set up on a field edge in what they call a deer plot down there. Although I never heard the first ground gobble close to me two hens came in to the far end of the field and began looking in the woods behind them where gobbler soon stepped out of woods ; and two more hens joined the others at the same time. That group of five was 70-90 yards away from me for an hour, and I believe the gobbler bred everyone of the four hens in that period .I could not budge him my way. But who could blame him? That party of birds drifted back in to hardwood swamp. That male bird about never broke strut except to mount a hen and never gobbled one time in that period. He didn't need to.
After that group left the field about 920 am, I hit a crow call and a bird answered maybe hundred yards away in direction opposite where first group left the field. I made one yelp series and no answer. But i was watching that direction, and I soon see two longboards coming my way, I had a full fan B mobile out in that field and when those birds saw it they ran to it and left the ground to fight it from the air when they were still five yards away from the decoy. They really didn't like it. When I got a good shot picture on the larger bird I stopped the party. Amazing what old lead #4 shot will do to birds head at under 30 yards.
This second bird didn' t have the spur length of the first bird but the spurs were over an inch and sharp as needles. And a nice beard although wet from the rain. His wing was broken so it looks goofy in the posed picture but the beard can be seen easily. Neither of these birds was over 18 pounds.
All in all a great trip and a good good way to start the season.
Bird 2 photo
_________________ "even after almost a half-century of hunting of the noblest game bird I am going to confess that I am still in the kindergarten; and I doubt if any human being ever acquires a complete education in this high art."
- Archibald Rutledge
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Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:55 pm |
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Greyghost
King of Spring
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:12 am Posts: 2451 Location: Midland, VA
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Congratulations to another great start to the Umpteenth STR. With lots of rain and wind it don't gets any better then that. Nice mature birds.
Earl
_________________ God, Family, Country, Corps and then the Wild Turkey.
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Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:25 am |
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Bigmeat
King of Spring
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:23 am Posts: 670 Location: Hagerstown, MD
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Nice job GN, glad you found a few to put the crosshairs on right outta the gate.
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Wed Mar 24, 2021 9:53 am |
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brwndg
King of Spring
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 11:01 am Posts: 633 Location: Bluemont, VA
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Getting the season off right! Congrats on some long spurred Toms
_________________ "If turkeys could smell, you'd never kill one" - Bud Trenis my turkey hunting mentor & dear friend
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Wed Mar 24, 2021 11:41 am |
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Roy S
Longbeard
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:27 am Posts: 198 Location: Daniels, WV (I hunt Floyd Co., VA)
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Success!
_________________ Birds of a feather flock together.
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Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:01 pm |
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Vic
King of Spring
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:40 am Posts: 2706 Location: Baltimore, MD
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Good to see the masked turkey avenger still has it working. Congrats on 2 good birds. I see you still have your Amy seat with you. I still use mine a lot and had to find one for my son. They are about the best seat to tote around all morning. I have others that are comfortable too, but a pain to carry around. Thanks for stoking the fire.........Like we need it stoked, right? V
_________________ Vic
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
-Pericles (430 B.C.)
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Wed Mar 24, 2021 2:45 pm |
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HODY
Boss Gobbler
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 3:08 pm Posts: 1565 Location: Central VA
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Congrats again GN. Way to get it started.
_________________ "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."
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Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:49 am |
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tut
King of Spring
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:28 am Posts: 1181 Location: Hamilton, va
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
Nice start indeed. Always nice to read the stories.
_________________ "Turkey's have no curiosity"
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Fri Mar 26, 2021 8:21 am |
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WVBOY
King of Spring
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:33 pm Posts: 3037 Location: Powhatan, VA
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
First day on the board in while and I'm late to the party already.. congrats man.. good stuff..
_________________ RB
Take me Home Country Roads.
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Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:16 pm |
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Doug
King of Spring
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:25 pm Posts: 2092
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Re: Umpteenth SPRING TRAINING REPORT , 2021 FROM SOUTH GEORG
No suprise here at all!!! GN is a gobblers worst nightmare!!! Congrats on another great start.
Doug
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Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:13 pm |
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