For the first time I decided to turkey hunt on my own. No one to make decisions but me. My girlfriend and I went out to a ranch in Concho County with lots of birds for the end of the season. The general theme of the weekend was that I screwed things up over and over.

Day 1 - Friday

I called in a jake within ten minutes of setting up at 1 pm. He came in silently and surprised me. I spooked him and did not get off a shot. Then I spent the rest of the day watching hens at water holes and in fields.

Day 2 - Saturday

Called to one gobbling bird in the morning. Got some answers but the bird would not move closer and eventually got quiet. Then it got hot. In the evening I called in another jake, took a long shot at 40 yards. I hit him, he flopped once, got up and absolutely bolted. Crazy. I guess I should have been more ready to plug him again.

Day 3 - Sunday (today)

We set up on a big field (105 acres) we had scouted. There were birds in the field every time we looked. I put my girlfriend in a blind on the field corner next to a fence line turkeys had been walking. I set up in another blind on another field edge. We were 500 yards apart. It was very windy. Too windy for decoys or even effective calling. Fifteen minutes after sunrise, three mature toms walk out into the field 150 yards away. I called, they did not respond except for an occasional look, and kept walking. Later, over the next hour, a hen walked all over the field twice, coming in range of myself and my girlfriend. This hen spent tons of time just out picking insects out of the field. Eventually she left.

At 9:30, I look up, and at least 700 yards away is a big tom. After inspection with binoculars, we see that he is a big gobbler. My girlfriend and I are texting back and forth. The turkey is walking directly towards her blind, just as planned. He's just taking his own sweet time, picking up insects as he goes. The turkey is about 400 yards away from her and I hear her shoot. Bam. One second later. Bam. One more second. Bam again. I see a turkey fly up in the air into the brush next to the field. The gobbler out way in front runs off into the thick mesquite. My girlfriend calls and tells me a big gobbler stepped out of the mesquite onto the road right next to her blind at twenty yards. She plugged him, he didn't go down so she shot two more times, hitting him each time. She had patterned her 20 gauge and it had patterned well. I don't know why she didn't kill it. She tells me she is going to go look. I tell her I'm packing up and coming in the truck. Before I get to the gate I hear the gun go off two more times. Right about then I'm thinking, "Crap, he's running and she's trying to finish him off." About a minute later I get a photo of a dead turkey. The relief I felt was immense.

I get over to her location and she has the bird. She walked about eighty yards from where she shot him and there he was, on the ground, flipping just a little. After seeing my jake get away from the day before, she plugged him twice more in the head while he was in the final stages of kicking. She did not want him to get away.

Here are the photos. The beard is ten inches long. Would anyone help guess the age based on the spurs? They were 3/4 of an inch long and quite worn.

After all the trials we went through, I'm glad she got a bird and it was a good one. I'm also glad she had the readiness to keep shooting him when he didn't go down. I've also included a photo of a five foot long bull snake we found while driving a ranch road, which was released unharmed.

Nice turkey and that bull snake appears much more docile than I took them for. Really cool pics, congrats.

Cool pics!!! Congrats to you both

DQ Kid,

Bullsnakes are mostly bluster. They will hiss like crazy and sometimes gape with an open mouth, but most of the time if you pick them up gently and support them, they won't bite. I've picked up probably twenty five and only been bitten by two I think. I'm pretty good at dodging strikes though!

2yr old bird, congrats to her

Congrats.

A good story and a nice turkey.

Trash2, thank you for the age estimate. Are you basing that off the spurs? My very limited understanding was that spurs could also be worn down to look short like those in the photo and that beards continued to grow through their life, so a bird with a ten inch beard should be at least three years old. Not disagreeing, as I know very little about this.

I'm enjoying learning about turkey hunting and trying to get better at it. This type of hunting certainly is challenging.

Congrats on a fine bird.

Great story! Fantastic first bird!
The spurs are not worn, they are dull because they have not grown long and sharp yet. Google 3 yo and 4 yo spur images and you will see the progress each year. Think of them as a horn that grows each year.
3 year olds are impressive, until you hold a curved and sharp 1 1/4" spur of a 4+ year old in your hand.
The beards, in my experience, vary a lot from region to region. Turkeys killed in TX, LA and MS all exhibit their own character from my hunt log. Some times they wear them down from dragging it, or a mite or fungus may keep them short. Some research will even suggest wildfires may singe it and frozen winters may have snapped it off as they leave a frosty roost limb.
One property near Fowlerton we hunted for 10 years wouldn't produce a beard much over 10 1/4", from 2 to 4+ years old (50-60 birds sampled).
Most beards had a white tip to the brisle and we believe that this was a mite or fungus that made the beard brittle, keeping them short.

Nice bird. By spur length I'd say probably a 2year old bird

Love bull snakes. Have a 6+ footer that hangs out around the house that is cool as they get. It seams that the bigger they get the easier they are to handle. The little 2 footers that we find have a BAD attitude but the big boys are cool glad you let it go unharmed.

Thanks for the information on aging birds, everyone. Now I want to shoot a four year old one day!

Pretty much summed up in the previous post, but there are always exceptions. Beards and weights do very little in accurately aging a bird. Have killed 3/4 yr olds w 4" beards. If they have a full fan and gobble ill assume beard rot and lay a short bearded bird to rest. The spurs will grow sharper and begin to hook at 3yr, a typical 4yr old bird should have 1 1/8+ spurs that are dangerously sharp and hooked. That being said I've also killed 9-11" bearded birds that have 1 or both legs missing any spur formation. The spurs are what make a trophy IMO. However as long as the bird is 2yr old there isn't any disappointment!! Congrats again!

Congrats to her, and she even handles snake!

No I offense but she has bigger ones than me. I don't do snakes!

It's funny about people's reactions to the snake or snakes in general. I'm a herpetologist and she has worked at three zoos, so a nonvenomous snake is no big deal. She moves rattlesnakes out of the road with a pair of tongs all the time. People really exaggerate the danger from snakes, even the venomous ones. Deer kill more than thirty times more people in the US than snakes every year and everyone isn't killing every deer they see. Well maybe some people are.

Heck of a Tom, real dandy! She got it done, even considering her guide LOL (ribbing you of course)

Marry that girl, she hunt's, "aint sceered" of snakes like some "men" on THF and she's "purdy", so you wont find better

Western, my guiding abilities leave a lot to be desired with turkeys! Maybe in a few years I'll be better.

I get the "you should marry her" comment about twice a month. I'm considering it.

Well, I'll tell you what, you didn't go through anything that allot of us haven't gone through as well. That's probably the reason Spring turkey is so fun, just when it seems "simple", they throw you a curve-ball.

Nice Job

"Considering it"? Buddy you need to drag that girl to the J.P. as quickly as possible. She's a goodun'.