Scratch one TN Tom!

The spring turkey season here in Tennessee started at dawn on March 28 this year and will continue until continue until May 12. So Saturday morning, I sat in my blind until 10:00 in the morning but had only one tom respond to my call, and he hung up on the other side of a creek I was hunting near. Saturday afternoon's hunt was done by 4:00 when a rain storm moved in and was pounding down rain... Sunday morning was a bust as I didn't get a single bird to work a call. So I went out that afternoon, hoping for a little more success. I managed to get one tome working again, but this one too hung up on the other side of the creek. So we "conversed" for an hour and a half until he got bored and moved off to the south. About 6:00 I thought I heard a tom gobble far off to the north so I yelped and he answered. I gave another yelp and he was a LOT closer! I gave a third yelp and he was in almost the same spot as the previous bird... It was getting late by this time and I thought if I could just keep him in the area until the birds started roosting, I might be able to put him to bed there, and come back in the morning for another shot at him. But for whatever reason, I gave a series of excited, fast ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki calls and was rewarded with the FWAP, FWAP, FWAP sound of a large bird flying and crashing through tree branches! I looked out the side window of my blind and watched a decent tom land in the field.. I have a mounted hen decoy and a KillerB tom decoy. With the bird on the ground, I pulled the string to drop his tail, then slowly let the tail back upright. When I did this, the tom immediately puffed up and started heading towards the tom with the intent to kick some turkey butt! I did this a couple more times to draw the bird in range, then gave a loud hen yelp. At the sound, he stopped, stood straight up and I fed him a load of #6 buffered shot from my Browning BPS. At 44 laser ranged yards, he simply tipped over on his butt and never even twitched! The bird weighed 17.5 pounds, had a 10 inch beard and 7/8th inch spurs, so while not a monster, a decent tom turkey. So I'm one bird down, with three more toms on my tag and almost a month and a half to fill them. I love Tennessee! Formerly Steve @ G & S

Thanks man! Yeah, I've been growing the stache for almost a year now. I told my wife I want to braid finger bones into it! I'm telling you, Tennessee is one of the greatest places to live if you're an outdoorsman. Nice weather, friendly people, long seasons, liberal limits and less restrictions than many other states. I don't have to apply for a permit that limits me to one part of the state for 5 days, I can buy a license over the counter, go anywhere in the state for 45 days and kill up to 4 bearded birds, one per day. Then in the fall, I can shoot either sex birds, up to 4. Deer hunting starts the end of September and runs into January. September is bow hunting, October is muzzle loader, November is rifle. But if you like to bow hunt, you can still do that during the muzzle loader or rifle season (without blaze orange). Crossbows are legal here, but I don't see too many people using them, so I don't have any problem with that aspect of the sport. And I can legally shoot 3 bucks during the season, and up to 4 does a DAY for the entire season! Coyotes are legal game year round, and there's no permit application process if I want to go bobcat hunting. As long as the season's open, I can shoot one if I see it. And we've got at least three different cats right in my neighborhood according to my trail cameras... And then there's the fishing on Kentucky Lake... Formerly Steve @ G & S

Thanks man! Yeah, I've been growing the stache for almost a year now. I told my wife I want to braid finger bones into it! I'm telling you, Tennessee is one of the greatest places to live if you're an outdoorsman. Nice weather, friendly people, long seasons, liberal limits and less restrictions than many other states. I don't have to apply for a permit that limits me to one part of the state for 5 days, I can buy a license over the counter, go anywhere in the state for 45 days and kill up to 4 bearded birds, one per day. Then in the fall, I can shoot either sex birds, up to 4. Deer hunting starts the end of September and runs into January. September is bow hunting, October is muzzle loader, November is rifle. But if you like to bow hunt, you can still do that during the muzzle loader or rifle season (without blaze orange). Crossbows are legal here, but I don't see too many people using them, so I don't have any problem with that aspect of the sport. And I can legally shoot 3 bucks during the season, and up to 4 does a DAY for the entire season! Coyotes are legal game year round, and there's no permit application process if I want to go bobcat hunting. As long as the season's open, I can shoot one if I see it. And we've got at least three different cats right in my neighborhood according to my trail cameras... And then there's the fishing on Kentucky Lake... Formerly Steve @ G & S