For those of you that don't know Ive been a gate keeper of the heavy weight Tom turkey champion belt for the past 5 years in these parts. It was the last day of the 2011 season I lost to a Jake. I have and will always blame Joe for being my corner man. I lost my belt that I held since 2003. Through the past 5 years I've struggled mentally and physically and decided to start training other contenders, Joe and Travis. I was just a out of shape bum always cornering them and teaching them the methods I use to use but I'd occasionally strike up a few challenges only to keep shooting Jakes. My abilities to knockout a Tom were gone. Things were going down hill fast and I knew I had to find a way back. I sat in my truck watching several sun rises before season, listening to birds. One specific morning I looked to the sky and I heard it. Clear as day I heard the whisper " Get up ya bum, I didn't hear no bell".
That was all I needed. I went home and started scuffing my slates, hitting that "taylor swift" rhythm again on my diaphragms and going to bed by 9. I'd wake up fresh and walk out the door determined to get my belt back. This was the year But something was lacking. Monday morning Joe and I threw everything we had on a Tom only to have him stall in the bushes for 45 minutes. Ok, 1st round down. We developed a new strategy for the next morning only to have the birds flip roost 300 yards away. We had them hammering on the roost but again, they hung up 100 yards down in the hollow. Wednesday, they ghosted or weren't gobbling. I'd go back to the truck bitching, and Joe would tell me "Listen buddy, you can do this. You can beat this, just one more round!". Actually im lying, he pretty much told me to stop bitching and we only gotta get lucky once and they gotta get lucky everytime. I figured out what was lacking, I just needed not to give a shit anymore lol. This morning I was calm and collected, ready to do just whatever. Then bam, a distant gobble. I was ready to engage in this turkey calling brawl. You could probably say I got the "eye of the tiger" ready to mess this birds world up. As we walked towards this bird I whispered to Joe he'll angle this way. We setup, called lightly and the bird hammered away. IT got passed fly down time and the bird was still roosted, which at that point I assumed a hen had him tied up. All went quite. Yep, definitely a hen. He then gobbled a few minutes later but it sounded like he was walking away. We stood up and heard the bird shift closer towards us again but in a field to our right but still a ways out. We hauled the mail 80 yards and got settled up. The bird started hammering and then we sighted him as he turned a corner in the field coming towards us with a hen....
I collected my thoughts as I watched a rope dangle off this bird and reminisced a certain scene from "Rocky" as he walked our way.
[video=youtube;hnEST9Z_GP4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnEST9Z_GP4[/video]
Finish off this real life "Rocky" story Joe
That was all I needed. I went home and started scuffing my slates, hitting that "taylor swift" rhythm again on my diaphragms and going to bed by 9. I'd wake up fresh and walk out the door determined to get my belt back. This was the year But something was lacking. Monday morning Joe and I threw everything we had on a Tom only to have him stall in the bushes for 45 minutes. Ok, 1st round down. We developed a new strategy for the next morning only to have the birds flip roost 300 yards away. We had them hammering on the roost but again, they hung up 100 yards down in the hollow. Wednesday, they ghosted or weren't gobbling. I'd go back to the truck bitching, and Joe would tell me "Listen buddy, you can do this. You can beat this, just one more round!". Actually im lying, he pretty much told me to stop bitching and we only gotta get lucky once and they gotta get lucky everytime. I figured out what was lacking, I just needed not to give a shit anymore lol. This morning I was calm and collected, ready to do just whatever. Then bam, a distant gobble. I was ready to engage in this turkey calling brawl. You could probably say I got the "eye of the tiger" ready to mess this birds world up. As we walked towards this bird I whispered to Joe he'll angle this way. We setup, called lightly and the bird hammered away. IT got passed fly down time and the bird was still roosted, which at that point I assumed a hen had him tied up. All went quite. Yep, definitely a hen. He then gobbled a few minutes later but it sounded like he was walking away. We stood up and heard the bird shift closer towards us again but in a field to our right but still a ways out. We hauled the mail 80 yards and got settled up. The bird started hammering and then we sighted him as he turned a corner in the field coming towards us with a hen....
I collected my thoughts as I watched a rope dangle off this bird and reminisced a certain scene from "Rocky" as he walked our way.
[video=youtube;hnEST9Z_GP4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnEST9Z_GP4[/video]
Finish off this real life "Rocky" story Joe
