ShaunM

Nice bird Mike.

+1

I would try the #6 shot and see how it will pattern. Does it have interchangable chokes? Federal Ammunition 16 Gauge 2 3/4" 1 1/8oz Game Shok by Grady's Great Outdoors 52288 - Ammo 16 Gauge Hevi-Shot Classic Doubles, 2-3/4" Shell, #6 Shot, 1 oz., 1100 fps, 10 Rounds per Box Winchester Ammo XU166 16 Ga Game Load (Case Price) Remington Express Ammunition 16 Gauge 2-3/4" 1-1/8 oz #6 Shot Box of 25 - MidwayUSA

Yeah once you shoot a blow up decoy it's pretty much gone. You could always patch it but would look funny with a bunch of rubber intertube patches all over it.

Like I said you can't eat the feathers...well i'm sure someone has tried . I remember I accidentally shot one of my decoys. 4 or 5 years ago I had a big tom come in double beard one was 12 inches and the other was about 5 inches and 1 1/2 inch spurs weighed 23 pounds my best bird I have ever killed. He came and walked right up to my hen decoy and I had tunnel vision I pulled the trigger and killed the tom and decoy. It was a blow up decoy at that. I use a blow up hen decoy now and a rubber jake decoy. I guess I might be more carefull well unless I get a shot on another great bird. Even though you didn't get him it was still pretty damn awesome video!

Good luck! I am going this week sometime. I am going to try and hold off for a really good one since I only have 2 tags left. I have seen a few in the areas I hunt that had 9 inch beards or bigger. Seen one 2 weeks ago that looked like he had a 11 or 12 inch beard but it was a thin beard.

Yeah mine had missing feathers all over it's stomach. When he started to come in I could see a spot on him and couldn't figure out what it was. He got in around 30 yards then that spot turned out to be were he was missing some feathers. Overall he looked rough he wouldn't have won any beauty contests.

Thanks but it wasn't the prettiest bird I have ever taken. Good thing is you don't have to eat the feathers lol! I took the turkey breasts to a place here in Murfreesboro called Slick Pig and they are going to smoke it for me for a small fee. Can't wait to get it back tomorrow. If it tastes as good as there other food then I will be in turkey heaven.

I use a jake and hen decoy.

No but he was a young bird and he did look rough. The land I was hunting on is were I hunt coyotes and it's full of them. I thought maybe he had a run in with a coyote or something. On his stomach he was missing a bunch of feathers and his was missing some tail feathers, some even looked like they were ripped or torn.. It's possible that he could have been a jake but most jakes I have killed have never had a 7 3/8 inch beard but I guess a jake could have a beard that long. Heck a friend of mine killed a tom the other day that had 7 beards so anything is possible.

Got one yesterday around 3:00 pm. It had 7 3/8 inch beard and half inch spurs. Not sure what it weighed. This poor guy looked beat up. I guess he might have been in to many fights.

I think I will keep my thoughts to myself on this one.

Well Rightwinger went to your home town this morning but only seen 1 hen. I heard a jake gobble a couple of ridges away but that was about it. Had a great time though enjoyed the scenery.

Yeah thats cool looking. Great idea.

Lets keep this topic clean and civil please.

I'm going again Thursday but staying in the boro area. Not really wanting to get up at 3:30 again at least not for awhile. I have great friends and am going again with another friend I work with to his lease land out in the county. Called 2 into 70 yards a week ago but thats as far as they got. Hope to get out their earlier and get the jump on them.

I have deer hunted their before, but this is my first time turkey hunting the property. I doubt he will let anyone else go or I would say meet you their .

A guy I work with his grandparents owns some property down on Lake road or maybe it was West Lake road. One of those or something like that.

Well went to Westmoreland this morning to my friends gandfathers farm. We got there around 5:15 am. We started out across the field and I hit the ol' crow call and they started to gobble on the back side of the field. We set up on the opposite side of the field as not to spook them, they were roosting close in the trees on the edge of the field. We put out the decoys and as soon as we seen them hit the ground I started calling. I would call and they would gobble. Well the damn things walked the tree line and came out in the middle of the field. There were several jakes and hens and 2 good toms. One looked like he had about a 10 inch or so beard. I called but they never left the hens. So I did the only thing I knew to do, I started crawling across the field as soon as they went over the little hill. They were about 90 yards when we started crawling. Just to let everyone know this was a dried plowed field with big ruts and rocks in it not fun to crawl across. We crawled about 40 yards and then about 50 yards in front 2 turkeys came out of the woods so we stopped crawling and I began to call. Well they took the bait and I called them up to 10 yards or so. I wasn't going to shoot one as they where not very old birds but I had just crawled 40 yards through rocks and dirt with my shotgun. I made a 10 yard shot from the prone position and down he went. He had right at 6 inch beard and almost 1 inch spurs. Not a big one but I felt after all the work we put into this hunt it was well worth it. Sorry about the pic it is a cell phone pic couldn't find my camera.

I would if I was closer.

Going in the morning hope to have a turkey by mid-day. I will be in Westmoreland hunting.

Well I would think that money would go towards the elk. I donate money every year to support the TWRA so $10 dollars to help with TN wildlife to me is a good investment, especially when it comes to our next generations to come. Also TN is still trying to get the elk population back up so this is kinda like a fund raiser but you get a chance to hunt one. It is a win win situation in my opinion. I am not against going out of state to hunt but saying that supporting TN elk is a joke in my opinion is just wrong. We need to support OUR wildlife here in TN first.

Nice bird!

Also I meant to mention some other calls I have used. I also use a bird in distress call their are a bunch but my favorites are lucky bird, blue jay distress or a woodpecker distress, kitten distress calls also work good as well as squirrel distress calls.

Wow just wow! Guess you can hunt from a climate controlled bubble.