Bird Watcher

Looks like one of those Georgia Hybrid sunfish to me. I think a cross between a red ear and a bluegill. They were, maybe still are, very popular for farm pond stockings due to their fast growth rate and large size. It might also just be a true redear, on second thought and after a google search, I think it is just a red ear.

I think you pretty much covered my thoughts on it. Art is art, pictures are pictures. As long as neither is falsely represented to be the other, I'm ok with it.

yep. Probably just a young male passing through Missouri from South Dakota looking for his own territory.

Your reports are the best fishing reports I've ever seen for Beaver. Yes, the AGFC report is a joke.

Thanks Marty. I know. lots of variables to come together and they were both nice Toms. Just a great hunt and a great hunting memory.

Well, that answers my question I guess. My last one was horrible about hanging up in the brush. It was made of netting with the die cut leaves sewn on. My current one isn't too bad. It's made of a nylon or maybe polyester material and most of the stuff slides right off it. it still hangs up some, but definitely worth the trade off for concealment IMO. I'm thinking this will be a real good season for early geese. They might have some mulitlple broods this year.

real nice Marty. Still loving that ghillie. I think I might look at that style when mine wears out. How does it do in the briars? Do they stick to it or slide off of it?

One of my friends made his annual trip up to hunt last week. The first day we had a great hunt. We started at daylight on a group of birds, but after about 2 hrs with no sight or sound of them, we thought the birds had moved off to the North. We started moving towards another bird that started gobbling and on our way we glimpsed from afar the birds we had started on originally. They hadn't moved from the last place we heard them gobble and were strutting in an opening for a couple hens. We waited until they started moving and then ran all the way back around the section, close to where we started, put out the strutting decoy and set up to wait. 20 minutes and a couple game plan speeches later, we ended up with this double. It was awesome. They came running to the strutting decoy and started kicking it at 10 yards in front of us. We had talked about each of us shooting the bird on our respective sides, but the birds kept switching as they would run in, flog the decoy, then jump back. We were both a little confused about what bird to shoot. It all worked out though. High fives and smiles all around.

Yeah, it's really weird. I've never had one like it on other boats in the past. It's two completely seperate sets of leads(4 wires) that both go back to my batteries independent of each other. They don't intersect again until they hit the rocker switch on my front panel. It doesn't look cheaper to me. It's another 18' of 6 gauge wire and another thermal breaker that I didn't have on my last boat. So that's at least another 30-50$ more expensive than the last 24V system I had. I don't know why they did it that way, but it's definitely factory original. Actually, in the past i felt the same about 12V vs 24V, but I've found that in really shallow clear water, I like to switch to 12V and put my TM on the lowest setting. There is quite a difference between the thrust and noise when compared to the 24V mode on the lowest setting. It really helps me sneak around in the tiny clear water creeks without alarming the fish I'm after.

This may sound like a stupid question, but does your TM have a selector for 12V or 24V on the foot control? I have one on the front panel and one on the foot control and if I bump one to 12v it will only run one battery down.

well yeah, of course you should. Nice bird for the Mrs BH. You guys are going to kill all the grass in front of that garden spot with turkey blood at this pace. Good going Marty. How's the goose hatch looking up there?

I'd say a red corn snake.

Yes! I love it Marty. You are a lucky man to have a buddy like that for a wife. That bird looks like it has a mohawk with all those beards. Tell Mrs. Billet she has set bar for all of us. Keep living it up my man. I'm laughing at the incognito picture. She is definitely learning the ways of the ninja:)

Good for you oneshot. We should all aspire to be a little more like you in appreciation of nature's bounty.

That is as big as they come, or at least the ones I've seen. I hope he had a short walk to the truck!

real nice oneshot. I liked the play by play too. Almost felt like I was there.

Nice Marty! That's a pretty bird. I abandoned the bow. I lost two birds in two days in KS. I wish I would have missed them. It made me sick. I don't think I can shoot another arrow at one. I know a lot of guys(and gals) get it done with one, I'm not one of them I guess. I have managed two with the shotgun. One in MO and one in KS. The one in MO had the longest beard I've ever had on a Turkey and it was double bearded. a 12" and 10" beard. It came from about 15 miles west of you. Weirdly, it was the second turkey I heard of Yesterday with a 12" and 10" beard. I wonder if the lack of snow and ice made the beards a little longer this spring? I've always heard they get matted with ice during the winter and break the tips off. Anyhow, good work and congratulations. Here's mine so far.

Looks Good Marty. I picked my first batch over the weekend and picked more last night. I've never seen it up this early, but that's the way this spring is going.

you're the man marty. a stringer of slabs on a fly rod. you never cease to amaze:)

Tell me about it. I can't think of a more awkward way for a Turkey to meet it's maker. If I'm lucky enough to shoot one like that, I'll make sure to put some pictures up so everyone can see how much damage my broadhead does on entry...Wait, that kind of came out wrong...oh,nevermind.

Ah yes! the ol' Texas Heart shot, or as you put it 'the dirt shoot' Actually, I wouldn't mind taking that shot at all. At least you'd have a nice pinpoint target to shoot at.

I hear ya Dave. I'm really kind of nervous about losing one, but I'm planning on limiting myself to 20 yds or less and I've been doing a lot of research on the different shot angles for their vitals. I think I am developing a pretty good mental picture of where I want to place my shot from different angles. I went with the Rage Turkey heads. I comtemplated giong with the guillotine or magnus bullheads and trying the head shots, but I was worried about what tuning issues those big fixed blade heads would cause with my bow. It does seem like the guys who shoot those big fixed blade broadheads for head shots are happier because of what you just said. They either have a clean kill or a clean miss. I'll have a 2 1/4" cutting diameter with the Rage heads and I can hit a 1" circle at 20 yds every time, so after that it's just placement and execution, I guess. I know that's easier said than done in the heat of the moment with adrenaline pumping though. We'll see. I really hope I don't lose the first one I shoot at. I don't know if I could keep going if that happens.

Well, I've made the decision. Boom or Bust, I'm comitted to archery tackle only this Spring. I've shot three turkeys in my life with a bow, but all were just sheer luck as a result of opportunities while deer hunting. To tell the truth, my entusiasm for Turkey hunting has waned a little bit over the last 5 years or so. Maybe I've been doing it too long without mixing things up. Tonight I was thinking back. I was lucky enough to bring my first one to the call and bring it home with me 21 years ago this Spring when I was 13 years old. It was quite an accomplishment for the North Central Ozarks of Arkansas. There weren't many birds around there then or now, I guess. After I took that bird down to the sporting goods store for a picture, the old men in town would stop and ask me, "are you that kid that called in a turkey out there on the mountain?" I digress, but that started a real obsession for me with the Turkeys every spring. For the next ten years, I hunted every state I could afford to drive to and buy the license. I haven't shot the Osceola, but I've never really been that concerned about completing the Grand Slam. Maybe someday. For the last ten years, I've been slowing down. I've mostly just stayed in Missouri with a few trips out of state sprinkled in, but the last few years especially it feels like my Turkey hunting is almost obligatory. A couple years, the only Turkey hunts I went on were to take youths. This year is different. After being in the blind with a buddy last year when he shot a nice Tom with his bow, I really started thinking about how I'd like to try and get an Archery Turkey myself, but different than the ones I've shot in the past, you know..on purpose. So I made the decision about a Month ago. I'm "pot committed" to the Bow and Arrow this spring. The weird thing is, I'm also more excited about Turkey hunting this spring than I've been in a long time. I've been shooting my bow nightly, going over my equipment, I've been out scouting properties on the weekend - I'm really looking forward to it. Kansas starts next Sunday on April 1st and I cannot wait. It's all I've been thiking about in my idle time. So, my question is: Does anyone have any pictures of some Archery Spring Turkeys they'd like to share? Go ahead and tell the story behing them if you are so inclined. I'd like to hear them.

I heard an interesting tidbit from the biologist over the PRC the other day. He said most of the fish that come through the center are from the same year class. He said he doesn't know what will happen when that year class dwindles, but it won't be good. I can kind of see it in that picture. Those all look like cookie cutter 35-45#ers. Great picture though.

Hey Bill, Don't worry. We needed that flow in a bad way. I think I know just the spot(s). I've been waiting for a rain event like this for about 8 months to try a couple spots out. You or Robert give me a call if you want to go give them a shot.