After my guides located birds, I unloaded from the truck and rolled out and into position. The setup was easy and hunt was so much fun! A three sided pop-up blind provided the necessary cover to hide my wheelchair along the side of the road. My shooting stick gave me the steadiness and balance needed to “close the deal” on my first turkey. Jimmy was seated close by doing the calling and David behind me running the camera. Jimmy hit the call and a short gobble echoed the woods. A few minutes later I saw a small white head bobbing and weaving about 12-15 yards away. It caught me by surprise as the turkey never made a sound. Without seeing the whole bird I wasn’t sure if it was ole Tom or what and then it was gone. David later said it was a gobbler. Jimmy made some calls again and we heard another bird or the same one. A short time thereof, we heard a gobble much closer and directly in front of me. I readied my aim and waited for his appearance. The bird stepped into view and I made the 35-40 yard shot. The bird never got a chance to “strut his stuff,” but did make his first and last TV broadcast. It happened really fast which probably worked in my favor as I didn’t get nervous or anxious about the shot. Thank you Jimmy and David for making my first turkey harvest one that I will never forget. Now I’ve got a story to tell over and over! David Thomas video coming soon!
March 30, 2010
Our season is going great and Jimmy and I are really blessed to have the opportunities we have seen in the past week. The quality of the birds we are harvesting confirms our idea that the big birds haven't moved in with the flock and it should get a little bit harder over the next week to pull these big birds in. We asked KC, one of our students from last years "Turkey Basics" class to join us on today's hunt in a new area we only scouted once this year. We didn't hear any birds early except some far off. We thought there should be some closer and eventually the Ol' Gobbler sounded off right next to where we parked the truck. We couldn't call him by the truck, so we set up in the woods. The bird stayed in the tree till 8:15 am, gobbling regular for a hen. We made a move closer to the water and tried a new tactic. He wasn't answering good, so I put the hammer on top of several of his gobbles and then shut up. He couldn't stand the quiet and had to come over and see the sweet hen that was interupting his gobbles. Well, he ran into some blended heavy shot at about 35 yards, and as KC said, he fell like a stone!
Congratulations KC on your 1st Wild Turkey! Beard 11 1/4"; spurs 1 1/4" and about 18 lbs. video coming soon!
March 31, 2010
Our guest today were Cynthia and Pete Caucci. They are avid supporters of the NWTF and both love to turkey hunt. We started with a great early morning set up and had birds gobbling in front and behind us. They put on a gobbling show and then the hens showed up and we were out of luck. We decided to do some prospecting and didn't get any takers till right before noon. The O'l Tom that answered was hot and came quickly. I didn't notice that he had a friend with him and it turns out there were 2 longbeards. Cynthia bagged a huge bird that may be the heaviest this season at 21 lbs, 1 1/2" spurs and a 10 1/2" beard.
Conratulations on a Big Bird and thanks for supporting the NWTF!
video coming soon!
April 1, 2010
April fools day started out with a cool clear beautiful morning in the woods. Jimmy and I headed out to hunt with Dean DeVane and his 10 year old son, Devin. Devin was looking to get his first Wild Turkey today and we started out this morning with a bright moon and no turkeys that we could hear. We know there are turkeys in the area, but after 2 different set ups and no luck getting a bird in, we had to head in for school. We told Devin we would try again before the season is over and he seemed to think that would be OK.
April 2, 2010
Jimmy headed back to Alabama for a meeting and got to hunt again with Louis. The morning was real foggy and the birds didn't do much. I had an appointment early in Jacksonville, so I didn't get to hunt Friday morning. I did go out Friday afternoon for a quick hunt / scouting trip. I arrived in the woods about 4:35 pm and by 5:10 I was holding my 1st turkey for the 2010 season. I enjoyed the hunt because the turkey gobbled good and I heard and saw other gobblers. We will have to take someone back in that area soon!
My turkey weighed 18 1/2 lbs., had a 10 1/2" full broom beard and spurs curved and a little over an inch. He came in strutting and drumming, what else could you ask for!
April 3, 2010
Our hunting guest today were David and his son Cody. It was a perfect morning, just a little cool and clear and we got to the woods in the dark. We eased into the woods and hit the owl call to locate our turkeys. One gobbled and gave us a good location. We eased in a little further and hit the owl call again. This time 2 birds on the left and close. We setup with a hen decoy out front and all was looking good. The birds gobbled like crazy on the roost. David and Cody got an ear full of gobbling. It looked like our plan was working when the birds hit the ground and started gobbling right on the road. But as it happens with wild turkeys, nothing is a sure thing. They skirted to our left and actually gave Mike Fletcher a shot, he was our back-up shooter for Cody. We tried moving and another setup, but the Ol' Longbeards had other plans. Today was not their day to ride in a Dodge truck!
April 4, 2010 No Hunts . . . . "HAPPY EASTER"
April 5, 2010
Jacob and his mom, Maurene joined us on today's hunt and we decided to team up on a couple gobblers that have slipped by us a few times. Jacob was in our "Turkey Basics" class and he shot his 1st Wild Turkey last year. He was our shooter today, but we also gave his mom a gun just in case the gobbler came straight in to the call. That's just what happened. Jacob and I were on the ridge and Jimmy and Maurene were on the road below us. The turkeys were slow getting started this morning, but one gobbled right out in front, right where we wanted him. Jimmy was going to call first and the bird hit the ground and went straight to them. I made a couple calls and he turned and came toward us. The turkey started moving away and Jimmy picked up on the calling and again the bird went right to them. It was a beautiful sight, said Maurene, seeing him come down the road. I wish I could have been there to get the video! He was a nice 3 year old bird about 18 lbs, 1" spurs and a 9" beard. Congratulations on your 1st wild turkey!
April 6, 2010
On today's hunt Jimmy and I joined John, George and Matt for a turkey hunt on their place. They had some birds that wouldn't come in and wanted us to help young George get his 1st longbeard. Matt had a nice bird he harvested with his bow and George had shot a Jake last year. John came along for support and to help us in the woods. We had a bird gobble on the roost, but it turned out he had 2 hens nearby. We did manage to call the big bird in to 55 yards, but we couldn't get George a shot. I did manage to get some great footage of an owl picking up a crawfish right next to John and Jimmy. I'll post that soon! video coming soon!
April 7, 2010
Our good friend and "Life Long Turkey Hunter" Les Lindsey has joined us for today and tommorow's hunts. We had a beautiful morning this morning, but all the hot birds were across the river and had hens yelping all around them. The easy times are over and the Ol' Toms have hens coming to them now. It might get a little harder to make one come early, but later in the day may bring good dividends. Les struck out on his own this afternoon and had a gobbler hot behind him and one shot from another hunter ended that.
April 8, 2010
Les joined us again this morning on a hunt we had been saving for a new product we received just yesterday. This place has a long view and there have been several gobblers working the area. We got in real early, before good daylight and setup. The bird gobbled in the dark on the way out. I did an owl hoot and we got a good fix on his location for our setup. The birds were vocal on the roost and it didn't take long for the action to begin. Les harvested our 13th bird and there was a good story that goes along with it. Be sure to catch the video for the rest of the story!
His gobbler weighed about 17 lbs., had 1" curved spurs and a 9" beard. Congratulations Les! video coming soon!
April 9, 2010
Jimmy and I joined our friend Nolen Cox today in an area that had a big gobbler crossing a powerline. We thought if we could get there early and while it was still dark, we could setup without him seeing us. That all changed when we heard one gobbling in a different place. We moved to the hot bird and setup. He gobbled good in the tree and the next thing we knew was he had sailed out into a plowed field nearby. He moved off with some jakes after a short time. As we were standing to leave, 2 jakes came running in to the decoy. Nobody wanted to shoot a jake. Nolen said he would get that big bird tomorrow morning. Send us a picture!
April 10 - 11, 2010
Jimmy and I were honored to take Col. Kenn Todorov and his oldest son, Aidan on a turkey hunt last year. We learned of a great passion Aidan has for the outdoors and especially turkey hunting. His dad is our guest today and we were looking forward to a great hunt for Kenn and a video to send Aidan. The morning started out good with 4 different birds gobbling and 2 close to our setup. The bird on our right gobbled after hitting the ground, but wouldn't come, probably with hens. The bird in front of us just disappeared. A beautiful morning, but no luck. The next morning was a different type of hunt using our new decoy. The owls started strong, but only 1 gobble was heard way off. No action, but it was a great morning to be out hunting. Jimmy and I are honored to have the opportunity to hunt with Kenn and Aidan and to become friends with the Todorov family. May God bless you and your family for all that you do for our country! Thank you!
April 12, 2010
Today, Jimmy and I went on a hunting/scouting trip on another property we hunt to see where the birds were. We split up to cover more ground and when we got back to the truck at 9:00 am, we both had big grins on our face. I told Jimmy that was fun! He said, how many could you have killed. I said 3 different turkeys. He said me too! We had them coming to us from all around. What a morning! If one would have been a giant, I would have shot, but all were good longbeards, except for one sassy strutting jake that thought he was a longbeard.
April 13, 2010
Jimmy and I scouted another property we plan to hunt on Thursday. It was a nice morning, but we didn't hear any gobbles. There was some traffic noise and maybe we weren't close enough to the birds. We did find some good fresh sign to make a good try on Thursday!
April 14, 2010
Jimmy had a meeting out of town, so I went to another area to scout for this week-ends "Disabled/Abled" Turkey hunt with Tim Keller. It was a nice morning, but the only bird I heard was way off our property. I returned to the property we went to Monday and had 4 large jakes in shooting range 3 times before leaving.
April 15, 2010
Mike Allen and his son, Krew hunted with us in the 2007 season and Mike killed his 1st turkey. The best part about the hunt was watching little Krew carry out that big ol' longbeard which was almost as big as he was. Well Krew got to carry another bird for his dad today. We hunted with our good friend Young Tillman and we set-up on a food plot that had good turkey sign we found earlier in the week. After 2 hours of sitting patiently, we were ready to head out and look at a couple other food plots. We walked down to a nice plot and I hit my mouth call and one answered. We set-up real quick and the birds were on us in short time. There were 3 longbeards and a shortbeard (maybe a jake or an ol' Tom in disguise?). Mike enjoys shooting a shotgun because he fired all 3 shots and after the smoke cleared we had 1 longbeard on the ground. Congratulations Mike on another wild turkey harvest and your son being there to be a part of this great experience. I know he will be ready soon to take the gun in hand and see if he can harvest his own bird. video link
April 16, 2010
Today, Jimmy and I were joined by JC Bell. He is a new friend and wanted to see what it was like to turkey hunt. He does big game and pheasant hunting, but had never tried turkeys. We were happy to shop him what it was like. After all the walking we did today, he might decide this was too much like basic training. We heard a few birds early far off and found a bird later that morning strutting down the road, but we couldn't get any takers.
April 17, 2010
Today was the Talon Outdoors 2nd Annual Abled / Disabled Turkey Hunt. Many local outdoorsmen and volunteers got together to make it possible for some disabled hunters to enjoy the great outdoors hunting the Eastern Wild Turkey. We all met for an early breakfast and then struck out to our hunting locations to try and fool an Ol' Tom into gun range. Jimmy and I had Stephen Ezzell hunting with us on this beautiful morning. This was Stephen's second attempt at turkey hunting because he attended the 1st hunt last year. We had a nice bird roosted and set-up in an area we new he wanted to go. After about a hundred gobbles and 45 minutes, Steve made a great shot at 45 yards to harvest his 1st wild turkey. He was very excited and thanked all of the folks involved in this great event!
video coming soon!
April 18, 2010
Jimmy is in Alabama and I am hunting today with Tyler Turk and his dad, Trent. I met Tyler at the Valdosta NWTF Banquet and he asked if I would take his dad on a turkey hunt. We got there early and didn't hear anything close. We set-up on a food plot and heard some gobbling up North, so we decided to move. He gobbled several times but I believe he got with a hen and hushed. We couldn't fing a bird that wanted to get fired up. Trent said he enjoyed getting in the woods in the spring. Me too!
April 19-20, 2010
Jimmy was still out of town and I used these two days to hunt and scout. The birds weren't very hot and not a lot of gobbling.
I did get 2 longbeards in at 30 yards, but decided to let them walk. If they would have gobbled or strutted, I might have shot. I did have some second thoughts. One was about a 11" beard and the other had a 10" kickstand. I got a report from Jimmy and he called up a nice 3 year old with 1" spurs.
Congratulations Chris on a nice longbeard!
April 21, 2010
Jimmy and I were honored to have Col. Don Derry, Commander of the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody AFB, hunting with us today. His group of airmen provide much needed security throughout the world and recently got back from Haiti to help in the earthquake relief. I am partial to his airmen because I am the Honorary Commander for the 820th. Today was Don's first turkey hunt and I think he was breathing pretty hard when the 1st gobbler we worked was coming straight down the road. A suspicious hen came in and gave us up to the big ol' tom. We moved and found a couple more hot birds, but couldn't get them to commit. Thanks Col. Derry for all that you do for this country and your airmen. video coming soon!
April 22, 2010
Our special guest for today's hunt is Joe Parker, the guy that stared Jimmy turkey hunting, and his friend Rick Herr. Rick killed his 1st turkey with us a few years ago and is back to try again. Our 1st attempt was with some field birds that could have been a chance for a double. We heard them gobbling, but they never made it to the field. They hunted a blind later for an evening hunt and saw a few hens.
April 23, 2010
We split up today to give Joe and Rick a better chance for a shot. Rick and I had several birds gobbling, but only 2 kept it up after hitting the ground. We set-up on them about 4 differnt times, but couldn't get them to come. Jimmy had birds gobbling with him and Joe and likewise, they couldn't get the birds to come in. I believe they still have hens close and are just not ready to go to the call.
April 24, 2010
I have my son in town and we were able to make a hunt together today. We didn't hear anything early, but moved and found some birds gobbling. Just as we were making some progress, the thunderstorm moved in. The turkey were gobbling to the thunder and it was interesting. We sat in the truck for the rain, but decided to look at another place. When we got out of the truck it was still light rain, but a turkey was gobbling. We set-up and he answered every call, but wouldn't come. He moved of a little and we tried to me in closer and got busted by hens. We moved again and got another bird started, but I believe it was just a courtesy gobble. Lots of fun! Jimmy had Joe and Rick, and from his text message, I don't think their birds did anything.
April 25, 2010
This wasn't a good morning to go turkey hunting because checking the weather radar before leaving home we could see there was a lot of rain coming. We had to try because we were hunting with our good friend John McTier and our new friend Roy Cannon. It did rain on us but we managed to see a hen fly down, hear a gobbler on the roost, and work a gobbler in a food plot before we had to leave.
April 26, 2010
Jacob's older brother Nick joined us today, along with Arnold, who also has hunted with us before. It was a beautiful morning after the rain event yesterday and we expected some good gobbling, but only heard 2 birds gobble once each on the roost. We split up and did some walking and calling, but no birds were interested.
April 27, 2010
We joined Nolen Cox on some old hunting ground today. Jimmy and I were excited about going in on some place we enjoyed so many mornings chasing and harvesting wild turkeys. We got to a slow start, but finished with a bang. We managed to fool a smart ol' tom into gun range and Nolen was ready to pull the trigger. He weighed about 18 lbs. had a curved inch spur and a 11" paintbrush beard. great video!
April 28, 2010
We headed back out with Nolen again looking to score on a big gobbler we saw the day before. Our set-up was a little off and we didn't get a chance early, but later on we were able to call him up to about 70 yards in full strut. He walked by us at about 5o yards, but we let him go. Nolen and I went back for an evening hunt and got in a downpour rainstorm which ended our hunt before good hunting time. video coming!
April 29, 2010
JC Bell came back to hunt today and we found a few birds gobbling early, but no luck when they hit the ground. We did chase one around the pond for a good while, but couldn't get him back to us. Some days are just tuff and the turkeys win!
April 30, 2010
Jimmy and I split up today and I went back with Nolen to try and harvest the big bird we got on camera a couple days ago. The morning started out perfect. We used a blind today in a new clear-cut and when the 1st bird gobbled, we knew we were in business. I gave him a few tree calls which he cut off with a gobble. We saw him on the ground pretty quick and after 12 minutes of strutting across 200 yards of clear-cut, Nolen dropped the hammer on him at 24 yards. It was just perfect and the video is nice! The bird weighed 20 lbs. and had a 10 1/2" beard with 1 1/8" spurs. He also had a crooked toe, so we named him "Crooked Toe". Jimmy had a bird working with Britt McLane but had dogs run through twice to make the ol' bird silent.
video coming!
May 1, 2010
My son was in town for the weekend and we went on a hunt in an area I had seen some large birds. We hunted hard, and I enjoyed getting to hunt with him again, but we couldn't get a bird to work.
May 2, 2010
Jimmy had some friends come into town to hunt a few days and we split them up for today's hunt. My son and I took Cameron and set up early where we thought some birds might be roosting. We heard one way off to our right and I finally went after him. He gobbled, but wouldn't come, so we went towards where I thought they would cross. It turned out to be 2 gobblers and they got to the road quicker than us and we had to set-up quick. We had 2 jakes come in real close to Cameron, but he didn't know to shoot. Later that day Cindy and I went for a walk/scouting trip and I shot a nice gobbler at 22 steps. Number 19 to tie our old record!
May 3 - 4, 2010
Jimmy and I tried different places and technics over the next couple days to try and get one for Cameron, Haze or Corey, but all we could get was a few hens and a couple jakes in gun range. Sometimes you just can't make it happen. That's why it's called turkey hunting. They said it was fun and they learned a lot!
May 5, 2010
Jimmy was out of town so I joined Tony and his son, Talon on a hunt. It was warm and a little foggy and the birds didn't gobble on the roost. Talon left early for work and Tony and I made a loop through the Gobblezillas domain. He answered our multiple calling and we moved towards him, but he said no more.
We picked up and stopped off at an area that Tony found a few birds a few days before. We got out and made 1 call and heard a gobble. We coursed him and went to him, calling to to check his location, we were coming together too fast. We couldn't even sit before he was right on us. Both of us standing behind a tree, the ol' bird strutted up onto the ridge 15-20 yards in front of us and Tony dropped the hammer on our 20th bird for the season. That breaks our old record of 19 for a season. Sometimes it just all works!
May 6, 2010
Jimmy and I hunted with John McTier and his son, Robert. The morning started out real foggy and it was after 8:00 before it started to brighten up. We did have 2 longbeards come by in front of us, but they skirted around our decoy just out of range for our shooters but at 40 yards on my side.
May 7 - 8, 2010
Our friends from Alabama, Louis and Jeff came over for some business and some turkey hunting and we thought we had a good set-up for early this morning, but we got there a little late and some fog rolled in. The birds gobbled a few times on the roost and nothing on the ground. We tried an evening hunt by sitting on some food plots, but saw only a few hens and heard a big bird fly up. Maybe we'll get a chance at him tomorrow! Jeff and I were in the food plot early Saturday and I decided to put out B-Mobile. It was looking good until our gobbler sailed out towards the food plot then banked hard left and out when he saw our decoy.
May 9, 2010 No hunts . . . "Happy Mother's Day"
May 10, 2010
Today we had as our guest Danny Sparks, Regional Director NWTF, and his brother Scott. Scott had never hunted turkeys and was looking forward to this opportunity. Our friend Mike Crown was helping with today's hunt and we had a really good chance of harvesting a bird. It was a perfect morning with the cooler weather and clear skies, and the gobblers didn't disappoint us on the roost. We heard a lot of gobbling, but couldn't close the deal on any birds. We moved a couple times and thought it might happen, but the turkeys won this round.
May 11, 2010
We joined Walt Gill and his son, Cameron for another hunt today and we were hoping for some excitement like our last hunt where father and son teamed up to get a really nice bird. But today was quiet and no birds talking. Cameron got to work on his calling and I believe could call one up for his dad next year!
May 12, 2010
Today was our hunt for the State Chapter NWTF Banquet and the lucky hunter is Shepard Moon. Shepard had his friend Jim Wimberly join us on the hunt and we started out early getting the blind out before daylight. The turkeys started gobbling early in the dark and it looked like we were in the right spot. The birds pitched down and continued gobbling and coming closer. The big bird slippedin on our left and gave us a look at him for a few minutes, some of which was in gun range, but Shepard was not able to get a clean shot. We had a great day and saw other birds and a couple bobcats chasing turkeys. We appreciate Mike Crown's help on this hunt and Shepard's mom for helping the NWTF.
May 13, 2010
Jimmy is out of town and I am heading out to make my last hunt in South Georgia for the 2010 season. It was a nice morning and I sat on a food plot only to hear a bird gobbling about a 1/4 mile to the North. I got to him and made a soft call and he cut me off. I thought this might be quick, but we talked back and forth and he moved off. I repositioned in front of him and made a call which again, he cut off. He was 15 yards in front of me in a couple minutes. He had a short beard and was traveling with a jake and a hen. I let him go!
That was it, and now I'm headed up to North Georgia, near Rome, to meet with Jimmy and hunt the last 2 days!
May 14 & 15, 2010
We hunted near Rome, Georgia with Dr. Bob Harbin and Robert Porter and the first morning started out slow with no gobbles early. It was a beautiful sunrise and after a short time we had some hens talking to us. A little further down the road we got a gobble to our call. We moved in and realized it was 2 birds as we got closer. We had to set-up in a place that didn't give us a good view and the birds ended up right across from us with no clear view. We decided to reposition and jst as we moved in to sit on a dim road the 2 gobblers stepped out about 20 yards from us. We were done and decided to back out and try them tomorrow. We met back up with Bob and Robert and learned that Robert had shot a nice bird early that gobbled good and came right in to his decoy for a close shot. We all made an evening hunt and found good areas to hunt for Saturday morning, our last day of the Georgia 2010 turkey season. Jimmy and I hunted with Bob on the last morning and had birds gobbling early. The birds came a long way and we had plenty of action and video, but couldn't get them to come close enough. We let them move out and repositioned and on the 3rd set-up, almost got a shot. 
Jimmy did have 1 in range for his gun, but it was too close to Bob to take a shot. It was an exciting morning for our last day and we all enjoyed the birds strutting and gobbling, especially this late in the season. Thanks Bob for the great hospitality and the opporunity to hunt this beautiful property!
The 2010 Georgia Turkey Season was a record season for Jimmy and me and one we won't soon forget. We had a record 59 longbeards come within gun range of one of us and of those birds, we had 20 birds harvested by many different hunters. One of our hunters got his 1st turkey ever from his wheelchair, another was a double amputee, and another a mother that had never turkey hunted. We had many birds over 20 pounds and only a couple of the birds harvested were under 2 years old. Two birds had 1 1/2" spurs and we had several 11" beards. We met a lot of new friends and helped the NWTF with 4 donated hunts. We had a great time with the Disabled / Abled turkey hunt put on by Tim Keller of Talon Outdoors and we look forward to more opportunities to help our diasabled hunters and new first time hunters get into the woods. A special thanks to Cabela's for their contributions and support! "Be sure to check back for video links that I will be adding to the 2010 hunts."