Missouri Gobbler

sambo3006

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2004
Messages
1,393
Location
SW MO
Not exactly long range, but there is a scarcity of kill pics this time of year on this site. I tried out the Remington 12 ga HeviShot 1.5 oz #6 this year, worked like a charm. I heard this tom gobbling at about 0930 about 100 yds away this morning (opening morning for Missouri), set up under a tree and voice called. He came into view in about 2 or 3 minutes, but hung up at about 50 yards strutting and gobbling. I didn't have a decoy, and he was looking for the hen. I have killed birds at 50 yds before, but would rather have them closer. I only gave a few quiet yelps over the next 20 minutes, and he finally moved closer. My leg was cramping up, and I decided to shoot when he was about 40 yds. Definite bang flop, flop, flop some more. This was my 25th spring tom shot with my trusty Mossberg 835 Ultimag. I used to use 3.5" shells but the recoil was fearsome (way more than a .375 H&H which is the biggest rifle I have ever shot). I can highly recommend this shotgun. It is cheap and reliable. I would recommend a set of adjustable metal fiberoptic sights. Enjoy the pic and lets see some more turkey pics!
TurkeyMOApril2420060950.jpg
 
Congratulations

I have been out for three days including this morning and got nothing to take a picutre of. The dogwoods are in bloom and all the little spring peepers and the cardinals are singing their lungs out and it is just good to be out in the woods. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I will go back on Wednesday I guess.

I use a Browning Gold with 3.5 inch Hevi shot. The auto absorbs some of the recoil but I still usually will take a tylenol or two afterwards.
 
Congradulations,

Our season doesn't start till next Saturday, but I spent yesterday scouting and patterning loads.

Thanks for posting the pic, I need images like that to help convince myself that I really should get out of bed at 4:30 to go chase turkeys.

Carl
 
I blasted one a week or so ago in Texas. I just can't get excited about turkeys, simple as that. Not even close to interested. Nada. Nothing there. About like watching pudding thicken. I know, it is a huge challenge to outwit a wiley gobbler, but what the hell - it's only a turkey!!! So what if the spurs are 3/8ths of an inch long and the necktie or whatever the hell they call those hairs are something like 27 inches long? Plus, there is hardly any meat on them compared to the hulks you can buy at the meat counter. Plus, you have to get up about five hours before first light, so you can go out and get covered in ticks, maybe sit on some cactus or sand-burs, plus get chiggers and maybe have an eye-ball to eye-ball encounter with a rattler. Anyhow, back to my recent hunt. The guide was somewhat shocked when I told him I had very little interest in a turkey other than to try the neat new turkey gun and loads, and to enjoy the number of birds, sounds, early morning stuff and the excitement that the other hunters experienced. I was not in it for the meat...
We were cruising looking for javelina etc. when we saw a big gobbler making a complete fool of himself out in the next pasture - he was all but jumping a hen and had two others he was trying to impress. Bottom line - after a grueling two hundred yard stalk with the F-250 I got out and yelped a couple of times when I brushed against some cactus or some other damned pointed vegetation. **** turkey wanted to jump the hen, matter of fact he did while I was loading the shotgun. He totally ignored my presence for some reason... Guide did some kind of squawking and said to shoot when his head is extended outward. **** bird kept his head close to his body for - about twenty seconds, maybe twenty five... Then he crowed or gobbled or made some turkey noise that either said he was in love-lust or he could give a **** about me standing alonside a fence post trying to hide the Ford F-250 parked ten feet behind me. Anyhow, eventually he stuck his neck out, so I aimed the brand new full camo'd turkey smacker (had a vent rib and two beads for some reason - hell I always thought shotguns had one bead), loaded with some kind of #5 shot out of a box with turkeys printed all over it, and I blotched out his head and fired. **** bird took off like I had just shot over his head - which is what I had just done. Reflexes took over and I cranked the pump and just let one fly as he ran to the right about as fast as a horned-up but somewhat surprised turkey can scramble. Second shot was not aimed, it just let go - shotgun went off by itself. Damned if the pattern centered that old bird's head - he went down like he had just taken a load of #5 shot into the motor-nerves. Fact is, he had. First shotgun turkey, others I have shot with rifles. After my heart stopped pounding - maybe 0.36 of a second, I shucked out the empty, put the big shotgun on safe and walked over to the bird. Took a few photos and went back to rifle hunting. Guide's grandmother loves turkey so I gave it to her - thought that was a nice thing to do.
Later I did enjoy listening to a hunter call in a gobbler with a neat succession of different sounds - hen and gobbler calls that suckered him in. We could hear both the real turkey and the lady hunter for some time - then BOOM and a girlie yell. She did a fine job, called that bird into range from some distance. I sat in the f-250 chewing on some jerky, sucking cold bottled water while the performance went on. That was good, as long as the truck was not too infested with ticks.
 
Ian, I totally disagree with you but that may be the funniest interpretation of turkey hunting I read in a long time.
 
I totally agree that you should totally disagree with me - enjoy your sport, it is hunting and that is what we are all about - right!
 
No turkey yet, have been blasting the crap out of coyotes, shot a male yesterday at 42 steps, 3in win #6 1 7/8 oz. I was thinking that it would pepper him. It flattened him out. Today was walking an old logging road trying to get a gobble, stopped and let out a series of yelps, out of the corner of my eye saw a flash of fur. I figured out that it was a coyote headed straight at me. All I had to do was place my left should on a tree that would help break my outline and waited. At about 21 steps I yelped, placed the front bead between her eyes and pulled the trigger. The coyotes head was drove back into her shoulders, took the whole pattern head on. I was using an angle port choke tube with a .655 constriction. From the looks of her head the pattern was no bigger than four inches across. Since Monday I have seen 18 coyotes, I am going to have to start hunting them more if I am going to keep turkey hunting. Bad thing is that you can not hunt them before turkey season. I will try to get some pictures if I run into any more. Oldfamily
 
I blasted a coyote while turkey hunting in Kansas a couple of years ago. 3 of them came in to my turkey calls and one of them hopped up on a stump at 50 yards. I didn't think it would kill it cleanly, but I blew him off the stump and he rolled around for less than a minute before expiring. This was with 2 oz of #6 from a 3.5" mag Winchester shell. I have never messed with it, but I think BB shot would probably be deadly on yotes at 50-60 yds or less if you were calling them.
 
I got my first turkey ever Saturday 04-22-06. Unlike Ian's experience mine was pretty good. At first light I had four or five gobbling around me and the one I shot flew off the roost about 50 yards from me. I made two or three yelps on a diaphram call and about 20 minutes (it seemed like) he strutted out from behind a small ceder tree and I took my 40 yard shot (bang flop).
 
Bryan D,
Congratulations on your first turkey!!! I must warn you that turkey hunting has been shown to be extremely addictive. The symptoms of addiction are lots of itching and scratching and red bloodshot eyes (seed ticks and getting up at 4AM 2 weeks straight).
You better post a picture or some of these guys will hound you until you do!
 
oldfamily,not to be an ***,but it is also against the law to shoot a coyote during turkey season in Mo.Also the pups are going to starve when you kill the female this time of year.Don't get me wrong now as I would rather hunt coyotes than anyother game we have in Mo.I spend more time hunting them than all other game that I hunt.You just never know who will read a post and admitting to a law violation over the net isn't too wise.Have a good one.
 
Bryan I also got my first turkey that morning. I had never been that big on it till last year. It sure is a rush when he is out there gobbling all the way to you.
good luck to all, Kevin
 
I've tried to post some pics, but can't quite figure it out right now. I will try some more later. I also talked to one of our game wardens two weeks ago, and he told me that if at anytime I see a coyote (other than Sunday) to shoot to kill.
 
John you can shoot them just not hunt them so to speak. The reason is that people would poach turkeys and say that they are coyote hunting. This is why they have a closed season this time of year. You can not even have a gun in the woods prior to the opening of turkey season. As far as the pups starving, it might sound harsh but, there are enough of these things around here. I have seen 18 total the first week of season. I have not seen that many around here before. Most at once was five in one field, all running the edges.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 18 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top