Got me my first turkey of the year. 2nd morning out.

Our season opened yesterday and the turks like to roost on a certain ridge. As long as nobody messes with them they will be there. There is a picked cornfield on top and a creek bottom with a grass field down below. Sometimes when they fly down they stay up top, sometimes fly down to the bottom. Yesterday morning i picked the wrong one. I was waiting at the bottom and they flew down on top of the ridge. This morning, well before daylight, i was setup on top of the ridge watching the cornfield hoping they wouldn't fly to the bottom. I got lucky and 2 toms flew down about 60 yards out and strutted for about 5 minutes. The hens decided to stay roosted a little longer, which was good. When the toms got about 40 yards out i took the dominant looking bird. 25lbs. 6 oz., 10 1/2" beard, and 1 3/8" spurs. 3 or 4 year old bird i guess.

Even though it didn't work out yesterday it was still cool to have 5-6 toms (all gobbling) and 12 or so hens roosted withing 80 yards of me. I have found out that if you get there early enough, an hour or so before daylight, you can pretty much set up as close as you want to them without them seeing you. As long as you don't make too much noise. I was setup within 40 yards of the gobbler i took today.

wow!! 1 3/8" spurs. i think he is at least 4 yers old.

did you get a picture of the spurs? where they starting to turn up?




oh yea, congrats on the monster bird

Congratulations, nice bird and a good story to go along with it.

Congratulations!!!

My field photos of the spurs were too blurry to keep. I did get some after photos. With this tape measure it looks more like 1 1/4". Still nice. My personal best spurs go 1 9/16" and 1 1/2".

dang, 25 lbs! thats a hefty one. Congratulations, looks like a neat area to hunt by the picture too

Congrats on a very nice bird.

congrats Iowa, that is one nice bird, hopefully i can get that lucky next week

Thats a good tip about being there early to set up. Were you in a ground blind or just out in the open? If you set a blind... was there much noise setting that in the dark? Is noise even a factor and what about scent control. How important is that? Sorry about the 20 questions, I'm new at turkey hunting. So, here's another one for you and anybody else with any input. I bought a $4 diaphram call from Walmart and am trying to learn it. Seems tough but I found some vids on the net and I guess I'm getting better(only a few days into it). Ok I'll get to the ques. ...Is this call not a good one because it cost $4 and came from Walmart or is it sufficient enought for a beginner? Thanks for ANY input! and congrats on the hunt!!!

I was out in the open. I decided not to put my decoys up just to keep the noise down a little more. There was no moon so that also helped to hide me. They're eyes are not any better than ours in the dark, maybe worse. I have also busted many birds off the roost doing that too, but it seems to me like i was right underneath the roost tree at the time. Just have to keep as quiet as possible and move slow. Maybe they think you are a deer.

Scent control...you don't have to worry about that. I think someone said if a turkey could smell, nobody could kill them.

Some people take to mouth calls good, others don't. I have been using them for 20 years or so but i think i sound like crap. I need lots more practice. I have heard alot of real turkeys sound terrible too. Pushbutton calls are the easiest for a beginner to use, and they sound good too, but mouth calls are good so you can cut down on any movements when that big gobbler is closing in on you.

I'm sure that mouth call you bought is a good one, but they all sound different. Try some others and you will find a favorite in the bunch.

Thanks Iowabucks!!!