BilletHead

Well then, It finally happened this morning. Up at 4:30 and off to the woods at 5:15. A long walk in store. Yes could of drove the atv part of the way but walking is good and I can still do that. We get to a field surrounded by timber with a creek bordering one side. This was where I had hunted early one day and seen but could not work birds. I knew where they were roosting and where we should set up hoping not to spook them off the roost. So we slipped in and set up. The woods came alive with every kind of creature. We literally had birds in trees thirty yards away. It got crazy with bird talk but we kept quiet. Soon they were hitting the ground out to our left. We had one tom land in the timber fifteen yards behind us and he walked in stuff too thick to shoot. They gathered in the field out of range. Seven hens and three toms. I could see Mrs. BilletHead begin to shake. Then two of the smaller birds Come our way along the field edge with in five yards. They needed ten more feet for the shot. I think they seen our eyes as they putted a bit and walked off with the group. I thought the Mrs. was going to cry. As they left out of sight (I did try to call but it was ignored) we could hear more birds to our South across the creek. I ask you want to look for them? Yep she said. We had to find a place to cross the creek. We did and slowly made our way to the field. I long necked up to see two birds in a island of timber out from the field edge. I tell her we got to crawl on our hands and knees tot the fence. We did slowly and se up again. Her in front and me with the call behind. I call softly and all I got in response is they stretched their heads up to look around. Then they go back to preening themselves. I cannot believe this. They could care less. Call more and see five more toms feeding out farther. They slowly make their way as I call a bit more. Still not amused with my calling but closing the gap. I tried to get them excited but then all of the sudden a hen flies in. The Mrs. said another hen that way too and I could see another tom that way. This set in motion something pretty cool. The group of five all of their heads turned bright red, the two birds in the timber island came alive and it was game on. They keyed in on my calling and bee lined it our way. As they got close I told the Mrs. To pick one and do the deed which she did. She was shaking really bad when I got her bird to her feet. A tear too. It is awesome to have your wife/best friend hunting beside you, BilletHead PS she doesn't care if it doesn't happen again but we will see next week

I bet you guys are beginning to dislike I like this topic Mrs. BilletHead Scores Sometimes Turkeys Can Be Fooled She Has Got Her Bird Billethead is a haiku poet and didn't know it.

Well Played Flysmallie! MFU Haiku Very Few Are Chosen They Follow The Teachings Ned MO. Fishing Unit

Oh then it wasn't about fish. That was my first guess. So do you hold the goats for each other? Is there a fly rod in the photo or is the goat not on the ground? BilletHead

Not only do they ban the Ned but I found out from a reliable source they have regular meetings on how to hold them (fish) I think. BilletHead

Thanks Men, You too Wrench and someone is full of that baloney! Had a funny thing happen in the food plot this Evening. Had six hens go through it. One was very spooky. She would pace around in circles. I missed the fun part. The Mrs. seen her gawking at something. The something jumped at her and right back down into the grass. Turkey hen went straight up and back down. Soon all the hens were circling the object in the grass. Then a Tom gobbled in the field to the South and the girls left and went with him. I grabbed the binoculars and tried to see what was in the grass. All I could see was a dark form. So Out I went and got closer and closer until I seen hair? Thought skunk as I could see black and white fuzz. I got closer again until I seen green evil eyes looking back at me. It was a freaking big old black and white ferial cat. I think those hens were going to take it on. I will take care of the cat sometime. It won't take out a adult turkey but the chicks would be an easy take. It was comical to watch the turkeys circle the cat. Their long necks stretched up looking down at the cat. Wonder what he thought? BilletHead

Been tough getting Mrs. BilletHead's bird. Just cannot get them to come to a call. We were in birds both Saturday and Sunday for her but no dice. Same thing for me yesterday morning AFTER getting walked into by another hunter I can hardly blame him as I had birds roosted and gobbling hard. He herd them and came right to me carrying his hen decoy. So I stand up and wave, he still is coming. Crap! Then in a rather loud voice "Who are you" I say my name and know his. Louder his response "I cant see your face" I say I told you who I am as birds begin to spook off their roosts. I say thanks a lot. Louder he says "DO YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO BE HERE " I respond as birds are now going everywhere. Yes I have had permission to hunt this place since 1975. ( Not turkeys back then as we had no season that far back.) " Oh I will get back on my place" Through the fence he goes as I fume a bit. So I stay there and finally a couple of hours later I hear a gobble. Go set up on that bird and just like the weekend he would talk and I would talk and forty five minutes later he shuts up and leaves. Not a good day. Today another field and early gobbling. They hit the ground and sounded off more. I call, they respond but do not come. Well then just shut up I tell myself. So a couple hours later I head home, grab a soda, sunflower seeds and head to the blind where the Mrs. has been hunting for an hour before she goes to work. Can you see where this may be going? I settle in drink a cold coke, eat seeds and spit out the hulls and be happy. Just after noon out comes a hen with a tom in tow. Heading my way. I keep quiet and here they keep coming. Well that was that and I am done. Now in fairness the Mrs. said to hunt it later in the morning so I did So I tell you my friends as in turkey hunting and in life a man needs to keep his self quiet at times. 21lbs 14oz 11 1/2" beard 1 1/8 " spurs

Turkeys can be smart Hunters are sometimes stupid Second turkey dead The Billethead

Heck I am not sure how it is pronounced. Found it in the Asian food section in the Wal-Mart. House of Tsang is the brand. It is really good. From the bottle "Bold and Fiery. with hot peppers, onion, ginger and garlic. I know it sets you on fire going in and going out That sounds good Ness. BilletHead

Breakfast came early this morning as we headed to the turkey woods well before dawn. We got to work a good bird for Mrs. BilletHead but couldn't get him to commit. Guess it was the cool misty morning here. Who knows but we got back pretty hungry so lunch got worked up before noon. More of my Thursday's bird was on the menu as was wild asparagus and grilled Vidalia onions. Eat for the seasons best I suppose. Wild asparagus trimmed up, While the inside cooking was going on I did the onion grilling. Drizzled olive oil on as they were being grilled, Asparagus out of the oven. They had been tossed in olive oil and sea salt and pepper, Turkey sautéed with olive oil until tender and then spicy Szechuan stir fry sauce added , Plated up eating seasons best. Not too fancy and pretty simple but tasty, BilletHead

Well I thought I might start another thread called stepson of what's cooking after seeing RPS's pie! Looking good there my friend. So I will take a chance and go ahead and post here:) Fishingwrench doesn't know what he is missing. Wild turkey and noodles swimming around in a volcano of smashed taters. Had to have a side of frozen sweet corn we put up last year for Ness. See where I kept the corn as far away from the taters as possible? Right now they are mixed in my stomach though The timber chicken was super tender. BilletHead

Tried this morning Ham, All I can say is she had a poor guide. I got an "E" for effort though. Maybe tomorrow? BilletHead

Nice Bird John! We tried for the Mrs. This morning. They were noisy on the roost and then went silent. Lost track of him and came to the house. Maybe tomorrow, BilletHead

Well done Mr. Moody, BilletHead

Thanks guys, Yes Ness it is a pretty good trip for me too. Over four hours if I do the speed limit. Got to go back in a couple of weeks for the ladies retreat. Tom and Lisa are the ones who run it for the new owners. Great people. Construction constantly going on. Need to give a shout out to my fellow fishing buddies. Out of the ten of us six are out of the Ozarks fly fishers out St. Louis. Great bunch of guys. I did not know they had shooting at Westover . Pretty neat, BilletHead

Yes Wrench they are tough but more tasty that that mushy butterball. kind of like the groceries from my garden. By the way got your garden going yet? Have the legs and thighs in the crockpot going. Will be going with noodles and entering a crater of mashed taters this weekend. That will not be tough. It will be fried strips of wild turkey breast this afternoon. Got the Mrs. out with the push mower doing some of the lawn while I am recovering from the last three days and this mornings hunt. Things are good here in BilletHeadville today!

Just finished Reel Recovery yesterday. A two night almost three day retreat for men with cancer. We had ten men attending and ten of us River Buddies to take them fishing plus staff to facilitate their stay. This time we were at Westover farms. Nice place to have it and all were treated well. Great bunch of fellows. Each of us got to fish with three different participants. First morning I got to fish with Ken from Michigan. A young man(teacher) about the age of my Son. Hits pretty close to home when I think of it. He had only had a fly rod in his hands once before. We went to the stream and I asked can you cast? I think so he replied I have been reading and watching and practicing some. He then stripped some line out raised the rod, stopped, let it load and casted it out. Well done! We than began to throw and strip a wooly bugger. This was new to him also. No hits so we put on an indicator and rusty midge. I asked if he knew how to mend line? Well no and what is that. I showed him once and he got it down pat. Where we were needed both upstream and downstream mends which he did like he had been doing it all his life. Missed one fish and moved on. Found another spot in slower water with a few fish. Retied on the black bugger and it was fish on! The afternoon I got to spend with Carl. What a hoot it was. Carl is retired from Union Electric and we had in common the same jobs. We fished and talked shop. He caught in and out of rain showers. between we took shelter and had some good conservations. Talked about storm breaks. (where we would help other utilities during acts of weather) I would say our paths might of crossed in the past where he had helped the utility I worked for and the time I had went to union electric properties to work. Tornado once when he came my way and ice storm once when I went his. I guess it was a blast from the past you would say, Last morning it was with Kirk. Another great man who has served our country and then went into law enforcement. He retired from Omaha Neb. and now lives down near Taneycomo on table rock lake. I asked if he knew of Lilly's landing. Well yes he exclaimed groups of us came down from Omaha to fish and stayed there several times. That is why I retired here. So there you go Phil you may of met him and know him. Small world I say. There is so much more to this program than fishing. I learned his wife is a survivor and gave him the info for the ladies retreat, reeling and healing. He said my wife will love this and she is a better fisherperson than I am. Well I got to say Kirk did well and caught fish. I told him about this website and the friends he can make, the help he will get too. If we can get him on here please help him get going friends. Every time I said something to him it was yes sir. I said hey don't do that. He replied this is what 'I learned in the service and how I was raised. it is yes sir and yes mam from me. What a gentleman, Take a minute and be thankful for our health and than a few more to think of these fellows and the rest of this retreats men. They all have a story, BilletHead

Missed the first three days of season due to being a fishing buddy with Reeling and Healing. So this morning was the first day out. Mrs. BilletHead in tow on her day off. We found four birds. Three pretty hot ones together and a single less talkative bird. We got between them and set up. The Mrs. to my right and the hot talkers. I hit the slate and got all their attention. Wouldn't you know it the hot birds were just mouthy and the conservative bird came in slowly but surely on my side and I took him out. Largest bird for me to date. 23 pounds 8 oz. Four beards. 11" 8.5" 7" and 7" 1.25" on the longest spur. My butt is dragging, BilletHead

Well done gents! BilletHead

Plain old flour, salt and pepper. Do not like to cover up taste with breading, Fried up, BilletHead

Well done Ness, Just say no to free range pigs. Our conservation department does. I have shot two in Texas with my self bows. tasty but no fat hardly whatsoever. Actually they were very clean being out in the open and not penned up like stinking farm swine. They do tear up jack and destroy the environment. BilletHead

Actually I was kind of scared to open up this post. When I did I was glad it was two fish. BilletHead

Well Ness I am drooling waiting to hear if they tasted as good as they looked, BilletHead

On charcoal, why yes, yes that will work! Bet you were rigging up Ned rigs while waiting for the charcoal to get ready, Billethead

Guess I will post this over here in the Son of cooking thread. That Ness guy is hogging up the original thread with those RIBS! I think I have gained weight just looking at everyone's food posts. Thanks a lot fellows So todays menu. Charcoal grilled mallard topped with a plum reduction sauce, Asparagus from the garden and this mornings big arse morel finds. A nice glass of Zinfandel to wash it down, And that is that! BilletHead