# Dad Slams a Beast! Story and Pics:



## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

The story of this bird starts over a month ago.

With the extremely warm weather of March ramping up the gobbler-talk early, I began to blanket the area in search of birds. Not only do I spend countless hours scouting, I also take advantage of birds other folks see and tell me about. My wife told me of an area where she had consistantly been seeing turkeys, so I had to investigate.

The first cool, March morning I walked the area, I heard plenty of gobbling. Knowing the area now held birds, I began to camo up and "hunt" them with binoculars at least once a week to see if any 3+ year olds were in the area. These scouting trips revealed an extremely dominant bird meeting that criteria, whom was also extremely consistant in his patterns.

"That bird will be flopping within ten minutes of flydown on opener", I thought to myself. Never before had I come across an animal so regular in habits. 

Opening morning found me quietly tucked into a tree, exactly 32 yards from the tom, whom I could see moving around before light. Just before 6am, he began belting out gobbles and for the next 30 minutes, gobbled over a hundred times at everything, including himself.

I was confident I could get him to drop into my lap with the help of my hunting partner Adam. 

Well, it was not to be, and the bird made fools of us for 5 straight hours. 

We backed out and decided this ol' boy would be tougher to kill than we thought. Lucky for him, I put my tag on a bird who's midday patterns I knew quite well just 2 hours after we left.

He was safe from me.

All was quiet and peaceful for the dominant tom, whom had throughly beaten his opponent in Round 1.

A storm was brewing though. The man he had "outsmarted", and whom was now tagged out, knew of another man that could help. That man was my Dad, whom had a tag for the same season I did and failed to fill it opening day.

DING DING DING! 

Round 2:

Two mornings after I had chased the tom to Hell and back, my Dad and I were back in his world again, this time 200 yards from his roost on the edge of a field he just loved to muck it up in. I placed a hen and strutting jake decoy 15 yards in front of us. The bad boy just couldn't resist, could he?

Well, he could and did, and proceeded to frustrate and belittle us for another 5 hours before we finally tucked tail and left him alone.

Another knock down for Tom!

Bloodied and bruised, I stewed over how to beat this pea-brained fowl. He didn't like calling (although he'd gobble like mad as he strutted the other direction), he couldn't be decoyed, and the dry Spring has made the woods almost impossible to stalk in. 

Time to get unconventional.

(Cue Rocky theme)

After letting the area rest for another day, I waited till dark and erected a groundblind in the freshly tilled field in the moonlight, in the exact spot where the bird consistantly strutted, a spot that rendered him unapproachable due to terrain and cover. Would he avoid the camoflauge death-cube smack in the middle of his hill? We'd find out in the morning.

DING DING DING!

Round 3:

Dawn broke and Mr. T began getting lippy. My Dad and I sat patiently in our extremely conspicuous brick. No decoys made this trip, as they failed miserably before. At 625, a hen and a jake flew down into the field, about 150 yards from us. I let out a few soft yelps and purrs from my slate call, which were cut off by the gobbler, now down and approaching the field. 

At 645, Mr. T and an entourage of super-model hens sauntered into the field 125 yards from us. They ignored the blind...

A few more soft yelps and purrs from the slate, broadcast the opposite direction of the birds in the field. 

"Come get some..."

The hens began to work our way with Mr. T in tow, gobbling, strutting, and flashing his bling...er I mean spurs.

After a painfully slow zig-zag in our general direction the lead hen stopped 25 yards from us, the rest of the birds strung out some 40 yards behind her. Did I mention we were in a 6x6 camo-cube in a barren dirt field?

Putt!

WHAM! Punched in the chin again. 

"Please, don't bail..."

Purrrrrr. She resumed sniping bugs from the dirt and Mr. T cleared into an open window.

My Dad's breathing sounded like Darth Vader. He hadn't killed a turkey in a dozen years and never had come close to a tom of this caliber.

I ranged the beast and whispered 40 yards. Go get em' Rock...

BOOM!!!!

The train of super models split. A jake gobbled in the distance. Mr. T, the aggressor and oppressor in this neck of turkey country, was down for the count!








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I swear he must have gotten in one last jab before he went down, because my eyes were watering awful badly for a few minutes.








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25.25 lbs (the second heaviest bird I've ever seen), 10.5" brush, 1 1/8" spurs.

The only real stat that matters though, is the time we share together.


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## AllSpecieAngler (Jun 12, 2008)

Awesome job J. Way to get it done.

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## michiganoutdoorsman (Dec 29, 2010)

Great story and awesome bird!


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## Hunt'N'Fish (Jul 11, 2011)

Congrats to you and your Dad for putting that bird on the ground!! Awesome Story and Great Bird!


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## bassburner (Jan 6, 2011)

Great story and def a giant turkey. I am trying hard to get my old man out with me this weekend. I have not had time to get out yet but have seen some nice birds on my property. I hope we can have the same out come. Congrats to your dad on a beast of a turkey.


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## michiganduckmaster (Dec 28, 2011)

Great job!!! I'm looking forward to getting my two boys on some swingers. Those memories will last a life time.


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## gunsnrods (Jun 8, 2009)

great story and bird. thanx for sharing


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## BWHUNTR (Oct 3, 2008)

Nicley done guys!


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## SPITFIRE (Feb 10, 2005)

Thats a dandy! pretty cool to get some hunting in with your dad.


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## 88luneke (Jan 13, 2009)

Great story and an awesome bird! Your stories crack me up man :lol: conspicuous brick"


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## QDMAMAN (Dec 8, 2004)

Saaaaaweeeeet! Way to go!


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## FireDoc66 (Oct 9, 2005)

Awesome! Congrats!

Isn't it just awesome to put the time in on one bird, and then have the culmination of all that work pay off?! What a blast!


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## slwayne (Aug 27, 2009)

Great story J. Those memories of good times with your Dad are what it's all about. Sadly, my Dad is gone and my boys don't have the blood for it but I have a 3 year old granddaughter that I've already starting grooming to be my turkey hunting partner of the future .


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## scottywolverine (Nov 12, 2008)

Great bird and great story, Congrats!!!!


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## calebbrwr (Jan 6, 2011)

way to go on both birds


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## flockshot (Feb 23, 2007)

Awesome dude!!!!! so glad he finally died..i do believe that bird was bothering me pretty bad on monday. lmfao! kinda glad it was your dad too...means a little bit more to him being with his son and having this be the first in a long time! tell him i said congrats!!!! (too bad your camera man wasnt there)


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## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

flockshot said:


> Awesome dude!!!!! so glad he finally died..i do believe that bird was bothering me pretty bad on monday. lmfao! kinda glad it was your dad too...means a little bit more to him being with his son and having this be the first in a long time! tell him i said congrats!!!! (too bad your camera man wasnt there)


I never wanted to kill a bird so bad. I knew what that fool's breath smelled like and he still beat us to crap. 

Watching the ol' man shoot him was awesome. I kinda know what you feel like now when you tag along with me.


Camera man scramera man! LOL! I've gotten more compliments on those pics than anything. The macro shot is pimp. At least cartoons are good at something! LMAO!


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## Pier Pressure (Dec 21, 2008)

What a monster! Great story and pics. Congratulations to the both of you.


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## Gobblerman (Dec 19, 2004)

Great story and congrats to Dad!


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## DGF (Nov 23, 2000)

So, have you ever had a bad season? 

Congrats once again on some fantastic work!

Dan


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