# Successful turkey hunts



## Flight of the arrow (Feb 11, 2008)

Always enjoy everyone’s successful pictures and stories post them if you have them.
Young Flights bird:
Monroe County 4/18/20
9 3/8 inch beard
3/4 inch spur other spur was broken


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## Gander Club (Dec 31, 2004)

Open day afternoon with daughter
11” beard
1” spurs
26lbs on a questionable scale.
















She called it in and seen it first coming in to attack the jake decoy.


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## Captain (Feb 11, 2000)

Opening day at 7:15am
10” bears 3/4” spurs










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## KMB2481 (Nov 12, 2010)

My 9 year old son’s first and first for the family! My boys have been persistent with getting into turkey hunting so we gave it a go for the first time this spring and at it hard since the opener! It’s been a learning experience for sure but blessed with this beautiful bird. 26# 11” beard, 1.25” spurs and he shot him shortly after 7pm on 5/2 as he worked his way toward the field with both boys and myself in the blind! What a rush!


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## Point Blank Kennels (Nov 15, 2015)

My 10 yr old sons biggest bird to date, 4-18-20, 4:20 pm, lapeer county. 10 inch beard, 1 inch spurs
View attachment 529589


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

KMB2481 said:


> My 9 year old son’s first and first for the family! My boys have been persistent with getting into turkey hunting so we gave it a go for the first time this spring and at it hard since the opener! It’s been a learning experience for sure but blessed with this beautiful bird. 26# 11” beard, 1.25” spurs and he shot him shortly after 7pm on 5/2 as he worked his way toward the field with both boys and myself in the blind! What a rush!


Easily makes the Michigan record book. Contact CBM if interested.

L & O


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

Point Blank Kennels said:


> My 10 yr old sons biggest bird to date, 4-18-20, 4:20 pm, lapeer county. 10 inch beard, 1 inch spurs
> View attachment 529589


If measurements are correct, 12 inches total would make the record book. Contact CBM if interested.

L & O


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## Brandon Malson (Oct 4, 2019)

My tag started the 25th so I went out scouting a couple days prior to places I had marked during the last snow fall. Found a handful of nice spots on public and sat all day Saturday and Sunday then did some morning and evening hunts throughout the week. Thinking back of the sounds from a mornings roost gives me chills and all fired up - unreal! Kept getting closer to a good opportunity and moved around a nice 90 acre parcel. Called a big Tom in last Saturday about 40 yards then I must have spooked him from continuing in probably from my heart pounding through my chest...went back out Sunday morning and finally got one to come in about 35 yards at 6:15pm. First turkey ever. Beautiful birds and awesome time hunting these thunder chickens!


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

Brandon Malson said:


> My tag started the 25th so I went out scouting a couple days prior to places ........


That bird would make the CBM record book if you have an interest.

L & O


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## Flight of the arrow (Feb 11, 2008)

Alcona County 5/8/20
8 3/4 inch beard
3/4 inch spurs 
21 1/2 lbs
44 1/2 inches long (hunting public style)
Flight


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Ingham county
10 1/4" beard
1 1/8" spurs


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## dewy2232 (Oct 24, 2013)

5/2/20 @ 6:45 am
I took my first turkey. I shot this bird @ 8 yards with my PSE EVO NXT 33, GoldTip Prohunter 400s, Rage Extreme broadhead, Rogue bowstrings, Bohning Blazer vanes, and Close Grip Bow Handle. 
This was my first time out hunting by myself using my own decoys and calls. The previous weekend I hunted with a buddy and he called in a bird to 8 yards and I made a bad shot and never recovered the bird. On this morning the birds were really vocal gobbling all around me. At one time I had 4 long beards in eye sight strutting and putting on a show. Finally, a hen drug on of the Tom’s in my direction and I was able to call him into my setup. I made the 8 yard shot and watched him tip over 30 yards later. I then sat in the blind watching the other Tom’s until about 9 am. My bird weighed 24#, had a 9.5” beard, and 1-3/16” spurs!

















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## dewy6068 (Jan 5, 2010)

It took a couple weeks of hard hunting, but I was finally able to call in this big tom for my 8 yr old sons first turkey! We roosted him the night before and he was fired right up the next morning. Right off the roost he started our way with a hen and just before sunrise my son made a great 35 yd shot on him with his 20 gauge. 23.61#, 1.5” spurs, and 9.25” beard! 























View attachment 530287






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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

For anyone interested in the CBM record book for turkeys:
The minimum is 12" gun and 8" archery. Spur+spur+beard=total.
Yearly awards in youth, women, men, senior, crossbow, multi-beard.
Similar categories for deer minus the multi-beard and add muzzle.
No rush to score. Needs to be done by March for next magazine and awards banquet.

L & O


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## METRO1 (Oct 8, 2009)

What a great season so far.sat out 5 times for total of 6 hours and went 4 for 4.marsha and I doubled first nite.
Following week called for buddy and first 2 hours of morning called nice tom for him.
Then last sunday called 3 Tom's in for son
He filled his tag in little over hour


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## DuckMan (Jan 18, 2000)

2020 Turkey




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DuckMan


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May 11, 2020


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1










  








2020 Limb Hanger




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DuckMan


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May 11, 2020









I am blessed to hunt with a longtime friend who has a lease. He takes me turkey hunting every year and we have harvested some nice birds. This tom is my first limb hanger and was taken on May 3, 2020. He was finicky in the morning and ignored us at first. 2.5 hours later he came right to the decoys across a plowed field. I got a record book bird 20 yrs ago in Benzie county and this guy is nicer.

11.5" beard
1 3/8" spurs
27 lbs (on my Rapala fishing scale)


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## fishdip (Dec 29, 2010)

Sanilac county 10” beard,never had to work so hard for a bird,they would not come in this year.


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## Snowlover 77 (Nov 17, 2009)

Newaygo County 
May 2nd 
10.25" Beard 
1.1" Spurs


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## nate3387$ (Nov 8, 2018)

Very first bird. Beard just shy of 10" and 1" spurs


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## BUSTA'YOTE (Aug 26, 2003)

April 24, 2020

First day out hunting this year. Just sat down at 10 AM and I called in 4 mature gobblers from different directions that morning in under 20 minutes. No decoys set out, in the woods, so they had to come find me. This one thought he was the Ruler of the Roost and Beyond, so I decided that he would be IT. The Mighty Little .410 Bore roared!

Only down side,,,, my season was over in 20 minutes.


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## DuckMan (Jan 18, 2000)

BUSTA'YOTE said:


> View attachment 531111
> 
> View attachment 531117
> 
> ...


Nice bird and great pics. Re: Over in 20 minutes.....Always a thought I have as well when you get one to cooperate so quickly into the season. But look at it this way.......you won't have to fight bugs later in May to get your turkey.


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## Gander Club (Dec 31, 2004)

Her first turkey hunt ever this morning due to the change in the hunter safety rules.










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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Gander Club said:


> Her first turkey hunt ever this morning due to the change in the hunter safety rules.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Awesome! Congrats to her on a nice bird.


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## thill (Aug 23, 2006)

My fiancee's 2nd bird in 4 years. We set up within 20 yards of where she got her 1st bird. We watched a Jake come in a beat up my strutter decoy before finally losing interest. When the Jake got far enough away I made a few yelps and had a few gobblers respond and they were pretty close. A hen came in first to check us out and we got into a shouting match while the 3 toms were gobbling their heads off all strutting for another hen. The lead hen wouldn't pull them any closer as she was hung up trying to spot the source of the angry calling. It was comical trying to communicate with my fiancee trying to tell her which tom to shoot. The hen started to move back towards the group of toms and I told her she had to shoot soon because they were all going to leave. As a last ditch effort I made some aggressive yelps and was able to pull the biggest tom away from the rest just enough for a clean shot. She shot the biggest of the 3. 10 1/2" beard and 1 1/8" spurs. Beautiful bird! 
47 yards, 20 ga 7 shot TSS.


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## kstout (Dec 26, 2005)

Shot this one May 6th. 10" beard, 1 1/8" spurs. He came in to a hen and jake decoys. Shot was about 6 yards. Northern Mist longbow, 47# @ 28"


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## springIstrutfallIrut (Mar 30, 2012)

May 10th


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## JohnnyB87 (Sep 27, 2018)

First turkey for me, and it’s been a hell of a learning experience. Knew where he was roosting, and hunted him 7 days before I finally got a shot at him. The fanned out jake did the trick, as soon as he saw it he lost his ******* mind. Ran over and met his end. Not huge, but a good first bird. 8” beard, 1/2” spurs


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## Bowhunt (Jul 27, 2010)

My sons and I all tagged out. Absolute loving taking these guys out and the success they are having at such a young age is incredible. Enjoying every minute as I know it won’t last forever.


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## Namrock (Apr 12, 2016)

The Sat before mother's day my hammerhead 14 yr old got his 2nd bird, & his 1st since opening day 2018. He really worked his butt off this year. I'm guessing he was on between 12-15 longbeards at different times before this one. They were all hung up with hens, & I evidently just wasn't good enough with the calls & deke set-up to get them to come off the real girls. This bird pitched down @ 6:05 & strutted around 2 hens in the same field we were in till just before 9:00. The hens left for the woods & for whatever reason he stayed in that field strutting all by himself. After about 20 minutes of soft calling & a couple gobbles on the shaker he couldn't stand it no more & came in to investigate our decoys. & No he didn't quite make to them, Grandpa's 20 gauge 1187 & the Remington Nitro #5's flipped him over at about 15 yds. Super proud of how he stuck it out even when it seemed like every other time so far we had struck out.
9-3/4" beard & just over 1" spurs.








& Just to reiterate what @Bowhunt said earlier, I absolutely cherish everyone of these hunts we get, because you never know how many you're going to get together doing this thing we love!
This was 2 years ago when he got his 1st bird, & I can not believe how much he's grown up & changed in just 2 short years








Already looking forward to next spring. Shoot straight & be safe all y'all & whether you're hunting with friends, family, or solo & reflecting on years past make sure to enjoy this stuff, cause it's awesome!


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## Flight of the arrow (Feb 11, 2008)

Namrock said:


> The Sat before mother's day my hammerhead 14 yr old got his 2nd bird, & his 1st since opening day 2018. He really worked his butt off this year. I'm guessing he was on between 12-15 longbeards at different times before this one. They were all hung up with hens, & I evidently just wasn't good enough with the calls & deke set-up to get them to come off the real girls. This bird pitched down @ 6:05 & strutted around 2 hens in the same field we were in till just before 9:00. The hens left for the woods & for whatever reason he stayed in that field strutting all by himself. After about 20 minutes of soft calling & a couple gobbles on the shaker he couldn't stand it no more & came in to investigate our decoys. & No he didn't quite make to them, Grandpa's 20 gauge 1187 & the Remington Nitro #5's flipped him over at about 15 yds. Super proud of how he stuck it out even when it seemed like every other time so far we had struck out.
> 9-3/4" beard & just over 1" spurs.
> View attachment 532527
> 
> ...


Thats awesome......congrats to you guys on a great season, young flight turns 17 this June and there are so many things that catch his interest......#1 is his girl friend so my days are numbered, for a little while at least.
Flight


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## bill Head (Nov 8, 2019)

S


Liver and Onions said:


> For anyone interested in the CBM record book for turkeys:
> The minimum is 12" gun and 8" archery. Spur+spur+beard=total.
> Yearly awards in youth, women, men, senior, crossbow, multi-beard.
> Similar categories for deer minus the multi-beard and add muzzle.
> ...


so the one I shot with my longbow has a 11.5 beard and 1.25 inch spurs is a record? Does it have to still be on the bird to measure? My bird is at my decoy maker but I have the beard and legs .


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

bill Head said:


> S
> 
> so the one I shot with my longbow has a 11.5 beard and 1.25 inch spurs is a record? Does it have to still be on the bird to measure? My bird is at my decoy maker but I have the beard and legs .


All ya need are the legs and beard. 14" is a very nice bird. Might be in top 5 for archey kills.
If you have other toms that will make the book, take them along. For $30 you can put them all in the book. You will need to know county and year taken for the book so have that ready.

L & O


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## dewy2232 (Oct 24, 2013)

Where do you take beard and spurs to be measured?


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## BUSTA'YOTE (Aug 26, 2003)

dewy2232 said:


> Where do you take beard and spurs to be measured?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman



http://buckfax.com/measurers-list


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

dewy2232 said:


> Where do you take beard and spurs to be measured?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


As Busta said or at any show or banquet where CBM is scoring. In the past a guy would get free admission to the Woods-n-Water in Imlay if they brought something for CBM to score. Not positive if Tom still does that. Also, who knows about a show in Sept. ???
You have a scorer a few minutes from your house.

L & O


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## lumpy0910 (Apr 28, 2011)

My 8yr olds 3rd bird. I have the video, can't figure out how to post it. It was a great hunt, saw the bird on a ridge, so he had a long time to get nervous, kept saying I dont know if I can, my leg won't stop shaking.


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## Mortimer (Dec 18, 2020)

Calhoun County
18.5 lbs.
9" beard
3/4" spurs
1300 20 gauge
Federal TSS 9's


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## Mortimer (Dec 18, 2020)

SE Minnesota
20 lbs.
9" and 6" beards
1" spurs
Model 12 - 12 gauge
Foxtrot TSS 8.5's 2-3/4"


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## roostman (Apr 20, 2006)

View attachment 620429
View attachment 620429














2020 was one of our best seasons in years. Me and my boys all tagged out in Michigan, my youngest tagged out in Indiana youth season in mid April and I called in a good friends first turkey ever on the last day of Michigan’s season!


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## rightnow (Jun 12, 2010)

Two Tennessee, one Michigan


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## matt76cmich1 (Jul 28, 2015)

May 16th, 2020 around 11am in Gladwin County on public land.
















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