After getting my 1st bird of the season opening morning with my bestfriend, Anmarie I really wanted to sleep in again but I got out of bed and threw my camo on. I was only going to bring my bow but Jim/rNs talked me into my shotgun. Thank God he did. On the way to the Freak Zone I was stopped by some hogs rootin' near my ladder stand that I use during deer season. They were gettin' a close and I was gettin' a lil spooked so I put one foot on the ladder in case I needed to start climbing. The closer they got the more I started to get scared so I hit the ladder with my gun making a loud clanking noise. I was figuring that there were a couple hogs, maybe a few but the woods exploded with hogs. I about died right then and there. After I gained my composure I was able to start moving again....my legs were shakin' so bad. I got to the creek and got set up...i could hear birds gobblin'. I was so flippin' excited. After a short time I heard crunchin' next to me and headin' towards my decoy. I started shaking as always. I got my bow up and was ready to go but it turned out to be a hog about 125-150lbs. It saw my decoy and freaked. I was able to call him back...lol...don't ask....but then he "winded me" and ran across the creek....lmao. Anyways, shortly after that I hear a shot about 200yds away from me. I knew I was the only licensed/permitted hunter out on that side so I got livid mad. I decided not to let it ruin my hunt. It was only the second day of my season so it was all good. A few minutes later I hear this bird to the SE of me and CLOSE. It was makin' some funky noises so I didn't know what it was but I knew it was a turkey. As it approached I could see a red head and a decent beard. I got my bow up and was trying to call him into range. He wasn't having any of it....until I yelped real soft. He spun around and started trottin' over to me and the decoy. I started shakin' so bad I couldn't pull my bow back. Well then as he's gettin' into a good shootin' area, close and open, he stopped. That bird stood behind a clump of palmettos and a palm tree for 15minutes spittin' and drummin' but he would not budge. I decided to get a lil aggressive and yelped a bit louder. That got him coming again. He was right behind the 26yds mark...i said nothing over 20...but he kept coming so I pulled back and was ready to put my sights on him and he spotted me and turned around and headed towards the creek. I called a couple more times which got him to turn around and come back towards me but he stayed out about 30-35yds. I grabbed the shotgun and missed the first clear cut so I quickly moved to the next opening and nailed him when he cleared the trunk of the tree. I ran over to him and went to grab him and he started kickin'. How I didn't get nailed by the spurs I'll never know. I was finally able to get him secured. I looked at his beard and it turned out to be longer than I had first thought. Then I looked at his spurs. They were awesome too. I went back to the blind, called Jim/rNs and Casey/Huntnma (and a few others), and started packin' up my gear. While packin' Casey/Huntnma calls and she scored a nice one too. We both whoooo whooooed and got all excited. We met up at the check station and took some pics. Two birds in two days of huntin'!!! I soooooo didn't think that would happen again. My bird turned out to be my best to date. He only weighed 16.8lbs but each spur was 1 1/8in and his beard was 10 1/8in. I finally broke 10 inches!!! Finally.
After a short time I heard crunchin' next to me and headin' towards my decoy. I started shaking as always. I got my bow up and was ready to go but it turned out to be a hog about 125-150lbs. It saw my decoy and freaked. I was able to call him back...lol...don't ask....but then he "winded me" and ran across the creek....lmao.
