# Tuscarawas County Longbeard



## Kenlow1

We lease property in Monroe Co. for deer & turkey but decided to hunt a friend's farm in New Philly today. Had one of those unbelievable mornings. First gobbler sounded off @ 5:45am and was joined by at least 3 others. They gobbled non-stop till 7:15am then all went quiet. At 8:00 a lone hen approached the dekes (one hen, one jake, and one half strut jake). She was there for at least one hour, then 3 more hens came into the field for a total of 4 hens. The hens were clucking and purring on their own so I did very little calling. Finally at 10:00 a gobbler sounds off across the field 125 yes away. He came towards me but hung up 75 yds away in woods and went into a "half strut" but would not commit. He saw all the hens and decoys but would not approach field. He never gobbled at all. I watched him for 40 minutes and was getting very frustrated as with 4 live hens in field he would not commit! I did not want to call too much as hens were only 35-45 yds from me. All of a sudden I see another gobbler at bottom of field in full strut (150 yds away) coming hard to my setup and live hens! I was focused on this bird now and when he was 75 yds out from decoys the other bigger tom that would not budge for 40 minutes comes running on a string to confront the other gobbler. Before I could comprehend which bird to shoot, they were on the "half strut" decoy and "flogged" him and knocked him off the stake. Then the 2-gobblers starting fighting and had necks twisted around each other and I could not shoot without hitting both birds. Finally they separated and I got on the boss tom (The one that strutted back & forth for so long) and shot. Birds were going everywhere after the shot, but the big tom was down. He was a wise old bird as when I went up to him I could see his hooks! He weighed 21 1/2 lbs, 10 1/2" beard, and 1 3/8" spurs. Shot him at 10:45. It all happened so quick. What a great hunt!










  








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## FISHIN 2

Congrats Buddy, way to get it done. Cool story too, almost live it.. Some times its spend an hour in the woods and done deal, sometimes its a last minute choice that seals the deal, Sometimes it a last minute do it or tag soup too, Good job !!!


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## Pressman

That is so cool and a great story too.


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## joekacz

Congratulation's Kenny! You and I over the years have had a lot of conversations about turkey hunting and field hunting has alway's come up. It can be boring and frustrating but boy when it comes together there ain't nothing like it! You get to watch it all unravel in front of you and around you. You know where I'll be Saturday morning hoping for the same scenario. Good luck with the rest of the season. That's one hell of a gobbler!


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## Kenlow1

Thanks Joe, it turned out to be an exciting day. Watching that gobbler strut back and forth for so long had me ready to pull my hair out. Hope you get a good weather day in PA and I will be thinkin of you hunting by the air strip. I expect a similar story and pics when it happens. Good luck!


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## jaybird71

Kenlow1 said:


> We lease property in Monroe Co. for deer & turkey but decided to hunt a friend's farm in New Philly today. Had one of those unbelievable mornings. First gobbler sounded off @ 5:45am and was joined by at least 3 others. They gobbled non-stop till 7:15am then all went quiet. At 8:00 a lone hen approached the dekes (one hen, one jake, and one half strut jake). She was there for at least one hour, then 3 more hens came into the field for a total of 4 hens. The hens were clucking and purring on their own so I did very little calling. Finally at 10:00 a gobbler sounds off across the field 125 yes away. He came towards me but hung up 75 yds away in woods and went into a "half strut" but would not commit. He saw all the hens and decoys but would not approach field. He never gobbled at all. I watched him for 40 minutes and was getting very frustrated as with 4 live hens in field he would not commit! I did not want to call too much as hens were only 35-45 yds from me. All of a sudden I see another gobbler at bottom of field in full strut (150 yds away) coming hard to my setup and live hens! I was focused on this bird now and when he was 75 yds out from decoys the other bigger tom that would not budge for 40 minutes comes running on a string to confront the other gobbler. Before I could comprehend which bird to shoot, they were on the "half strut" decoy and "flogged" him and knocked him off the stake. Then the 2-gobblers starting fighting and had necks twisted around each other and I could not shoot without hitting both birds. Finally they separated and I got on the boss tom (The one that strutted back & forth for so long) and shot. Birds were going everywhere after the shot, but the big tom was down. He was a wise old bird as when I went up to him I could see his hooks! He weighed 21 1/2 lbs, 10 1/2" beard, and 1 3/8" spurs. Shot him at 10:45. It all happened so quick. What a great hunt!
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Congrats on a nice bird great story as well.


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## M R DUCKS

nice hunt !
congrats


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## Snakecharmer

Nice Ken...Great story too.


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