| Author | Message | ||
| Big Bird |
Maverick and Big Bird swap hunts. Maverick flew up from Texas to hunt the Jeff National Forest with me for the first couple of days of the season. We camped out Friday night and roosted four birds at the top of "one of the tallest mountains in the world" according to Maverick. We were in Carroll County in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area. The rain began just after dark and continued through the night and up through the morning. At dawn the woods were silent and stayed that way until we were packing camp at 12:30. The rain quit and a bird started gobbling just below us. That's life. On Monday we went to the JNF in Montgomery County. Birds were pretty vocal at daylight. We heard hens all around. We called in one beardless jake and had another fired up at 11:45 but we ran out of time. We went back out Monday evening to a flatter section of the same area and roosted two birds. Tuesday morning we set up within 45 yards, but it was downhill. Best we could manage. It proved to be unsuccessful as the hens fired up just above us and we just could not compete. We struck several birds throughout the morning, but none would leave their ladies. So we switched tactics and started calling hens. It started to work. Soon we had a small hen and a beardless jake right on top of us. We could hear walking just out of sight and figured it was the gobbler. It was. He made an appearance at 55 yards while the hen and jake were within clubbing distance of Maverick. He moved cautiously off and the two others followed after about 30 minutes. Immediately we struck another hen. I cutt at her and she charged right to us. I was on one side of the tree trunk and Maverick was on the other. The hen marched up to within 12 feet of Maverick and I continued to cluck and cutt loudly on the other side of the tree. Talk about a mad hen! It was quite a show. She stayed for about 15 minutes, but her boyfriend never showed. Time ran out and the game was over for our VA hunt. The following Thursday, I flew to Texas to meet Maverick. On Friday, he took me to a beautiful ranch in Somervell County that borders the Brazos River. All I can say is AWESOME! In 2 ½ days, we saw 41 birds. Most were gobblers and jakes as the hens were setting. We called in 15. Nine were mature toms. We each took one. Maverick's came as we were walking along the woodline next to a field. A bird answered from below us. He was close. Maverick and I were about 50 yards apart, so we each sat down where we were. I saw him first. He was not alone. He had four buddies with him. He came and checked me out the walked down toward Maverick. All five looked to be jakes, so we let them walk on out to the field. Soon as they got out there, we heard a mature bird sound off near them in the field. We hussled up there and set out decoys in the corner of the field where two fences came together. We called a couple of times and the birds responded and marched toward us. Only this time there were six birds. The mature tom strolled right up to our decoys and started strutting. He was walking through the jakes and bumping them out of the way. Spitting, drumming, the whole bit only 20 yards from us. Maverick decides to take him. It was a good decision. This bird is a true trophy. He went 20 pounds and had 5 beards! Raw score of 67! My bird came the next evening. It happened quick. We saw some birds strutting among some cattle in a field. We managed to get to within 100 yards of them along the fenceline. Set out the decoys and yelped 5 times. I heard them before I saw them. No gobbles, just drumming. Three mature birds walked up in full strut. We watched the show for a minute or two then I took the lead bird. He weighed in at 22 pounds with an 8 ½ beard. This is certainly a trip I will never forget! Thanks Maverick for an awesome hunt. We will get your Eastern yet! I have pics, just trying to post. | ||
| Freddy McGuire (Vaturkey)
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Congrats! Great hunt and great story... can't wait to see the pics... BB, if you are having trouble posting the pics email them to me and I will post for you... | ||
| sixshot |
WAY TO GO, MAN!!! Gotta see the pics. I have always wanted to hunt in Texas and your story made it seem I was there. 10-4! | ||
| knight_va
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Hey Man.....sounds like u had a blast & scored as well...Can it get any better!? Max | ||
| GN |
Glad you took my March 4 advice and swapped hunts....Big Bird I would not want to trade mules(or knives) with you I think...hahhahhahah | ||
| Freddy McGuire (Vaturkey)
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Hey guys... I have the pictures on my home PC and forgot to send them here so I could post them... I'll get them up tonight... sorry BB... | ||
| Maverick |
Big Bird is right, the ranch near Glen Rose was AWESOME. It belongs to a buddy of mine, and he doesn't even hunt it very often. I'm not really sure he understands what he has got out there, but I'll probably educate him at some point. After the season, of course. HA! BB, let me know how you do this weekend - I may have to swing an emergency trip back your way very soon. | ||
| Freddy McGuire (Vaturkey)
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| Big Bird |
Thanks for the assist Freddy. | ||
| HODY |
How about a close up of the 5 beards, that is cool to kill one with that many beards!! Congrats to both of you. | ||
| BB |
Hody, I emailed you the beards pic. BB | ||
| HODY |
Beard Pics for BB  |