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Fooled By The Full Fan Phony

Lawdwaz

By Lawdwaz,
in Turkey Hunting

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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I have no problem with killing a jake every once in awhile, lets get that out front first.  B)

 

This morning I hooted (I know I'm not supposed to or I'll educate them too much!) for the first little bit then after I heard the first crow (I know, I know) I gave a few blasts on the "Ol Faulks wooden call.  Nothing...........

 

I took a loop around and got off the main trail and headed to the head of a gully/ravine.  With water rushing pretty good in the creek bottom it was tough to hear very good.  I backed off a bit and plopped down on a log and gave a little hen talk on my box call.  I'll be dipped, a gobble!  From across the gully a tom hollered pretty good to me.

 

I made a move down the ridge and set up.  I made a quick call and determined he was still on the limb.  After about 5-7 minutes he made a few more gobbles and then I could finally tell he was down on the ground. 

 

I moved one more time and I was set, he gobbled a couple more times before he showed his purty blue head.  He strutted twice, I noted a full fan and had a quick glimpse of a beard and pulled the trigger.  Cool.......

 

Much to my surprise but NOT disappointment I noticed he was a jake.  I've killed full fan jakes before so I wasn't too surprised.  He'll eat very good................................................. :good:

 

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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My buddies and I have weighed a lot of jakes over the year.  Most of them are 12-15 lb.

 

I remember a couple of years following  an early hatch year when 18 pound  jakes were common.

 

Heaviest jake I ever saw weighed 19 pounds.  That one was shot by my buddy Gator in Ontario. For whatever reason the birds tend to average a little bigger up there than they do here in NY.  Possibly it is because some of the turkeys originally stocked in that area of Ontario were trapped and transferred from Missouri.  Midwest easterns tend to get bigger than our birds do here.

 

Gator and I hunted  Kentucky  three years running and we shot several gobblers that weighed between 24 and 26 pounds.

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WNY Bowhunter Experienced

WNY Bowhunter

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My buddies and I have weighed a lot of jakes over the year.  Most of them are 12-15 lb.

 

I remember a couple of years following  an early hatch year when 18 pound  jakes were common.

 

Heaviest jake I ever saw weighed 19 pounds.  That one was shot by my buddy Gator in Ontario. For whatever reason the birds tend to average a little bigger up there than they do here in NY.  Possibly it is because some of the turkeys originally stocked in that area of Ontario were trapped and transferred from Missouri.  Midwest easterns tend to get bigger than our birds do here.

 

Gator and I hunted  Kentucky  three years running and we shot several gobblers that weighed between 24 and 26 pounds.

 

First of all, congrats on the turkey!  

 

I have killed several jakes over 17 lbs but none have had a full fan. My largest jake was a 19 pounder that fooled me into thinking his was a longbeard last spring.  He was lacking a bit in the beard and spur department but was the same weight as the 3 year old gobbler that my father killed earlier in the morning...

 

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Edited by WNY Bowhunter
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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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Those are big birds Dan. Was that a guided hunt or a DIY?

Did Gator make it down to hunt with you yet this year?

 

It was DIY...Gator had a friend who owned 400 acres in Kentucky... The guy was living in Belleville, Ontario, and his wife was a high powered executive in Proctor & Gamble. They owned the farm in Kentucky, but it had been vacant for a number of years. Gator got to know him because they were both dealing heavily in M1 Garand rifles at the time.

 

Gator went out there by himself the first year and killed a 26 pound HOG of a gobbler.

 

He and I went down the next 3 years...Best turkey hunting I ever experienced. The place was LOADED with birds and we had exclusive access. We stayed in the abandoned farmhouse, which was full of junk, no utilities..We ate MRIs....We slept in our sleeping bags on army cots.  It was wonderfull.

 

The third year we hunted there the owner was building a big new house next to the old farmhouse. Not being a hunter himself, he planned to lease out the property to hunters for more $$ than it was practical for us to pay.  The turkey paradise went away....It was nice while it lasted....<sigh>....

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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It was DIY...Gator had a friend who owned 400 acres in Kentucky... The guy was living in Belleville, Ontario, and his wife was a high powered executive in Proctor & Gamble. They owned the farm in Kentucky, but it had been vacant for a number of years. Gator got to know him because they were both dealing heavily in M1 Garand rifles at the time.

 

Gator went out there by himself the first year and killed a 26 pound HOG of a gobbler.

 

He and I went down the next 3 years...Best turkey hunting I ever experienced. The place was LOADED with birds and we had exclusive access. We stayed in the abandoned farmhouse, which was full of junk, no utilities..We ate MRIs....We slept in our sleeping bags on army cots.  It was wonderfull.

 

The third year we hunted there the owner was building a big new house next to the old farmhouse. Not being a hunter himself, he planned to lease out the property to hunters for more $$ than it was practical for us to pay.  The turkey paradise went away....It was nice while it lasted....<sigh>....

 

Wow, how cool must have that been?  Damn that would be one of those once in a lifetime deals.  Those are big gobblers!!

 

I had a good gig for exactly ONE year like that.  It wasn't exclusive but permission was limited to some of the guys that worked for the company (Lafarge Cement) and I never ran into them.  I killed a dandy gobbler one morning in Lancaster right next to a golf course.  Three longbeards came in and I smashed the fastest one to get to me!!  My buddy Gerry and I bow hunted that fall and then the plug was pulled...........we were all out of a honey hole.  Actually, that gobbler was the closest I ever shot to home, about 7 or 8 miles.  Usually they are 50-80 miles from home base!

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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Yeah, Larry..It was a long drive, but worth every mile.  In 3 years we killed about 10 gobblers between us, including our biggest ever birds, Gator a 26 pounder and me a 24 pounder. I also killed a 4 bearded bird there.

 

The property where I killed the gobbler yesterday is the FARTHEST away place that I hunt on a regular basis.  It's about 8 or 9 miles.  Most  of the properties I hunt are within 4 or 5 miles of my home here in downtown metropolitan Addison.

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