A thread for Bonescreek

[fingershooter]

Turkeys from B.C. that I was in on this year:
my bird opening day...run and gun.

my first double beard...

all done before the sun comes up...

two we worked hard for. One we snuck up on while he was roosted and called him down after he outsmarted the boys the day before. The other we called for a long time, left and came back to lure him in with aggressive calling. Both were an absolute blast!

couple of buddies with great toms. 9 3/4" and 10" beards and 1 1/4" spurs. Bigger than anything I've shot. I set up a great blind for them near a feeding area and a couple of hen calls...

This was my first week of turkeys this year.

[waterninja]

Congrats on a great hunt. They really are beautifull birds. I like that double bearded one.
I won't ask what they weighed. lol

[fingershooter]

Originally Posted by waterninja

Congrats on a great hunt. They really are beautifull birds. I like that double bearded one.
I won't ask what they weighed. lol

Ha, ha! Actually I was surprised that my tom weighed only 17 lb or 18 lbs.
They are incredibly beautiful - if you don't look at the face, lol. We were surprised as well at the difference in colors. A couple were almost all black while the others were very colorful. I wish I could have got better video of the one my son shot as we called him in from a long ways up the mountain. He had a great fan and a really red head while strutting. He actually flew down and landed about 80 meters away and immediately went into a full strut. A hen we also called in from behind us proved to be his undoing as she ran in to our decoys. I may have to get out again just to do some filming.

[ganderblaster]

Incredible pictures! Whoever shot those photos has a good eye for photography! Great hunting skills.

[calgarychef]

Nice photos! Please tell me you kept the wings for arrow fletching!

[fingershooter]

Originally Posted by ganderblaster

Incredible pictures! Whoever shot those photos has a good eye for photography! Great hunting skills.

Thanks. We have figured out that long after the meat is gone we have only the photos so we put a big effort into getting some good ones. Digital camresa really help.

[fingershooter]

Originally Posted by fingershooter

Ha, ha! Actually I was surprised that my tom weighed only 17 lb or 18 lbs.
They are incredibly beautiful - if you don't look at the face, lol. We were surprised as well at the difference in colors. A couple were almost all black while the others were very colorful. I wish I could have got better video of the one my son shot as we called him in from a long ways up the mountain. He had a great fan and a really red head while strutting. He actually flew down and landed about 80 meters away and immediately went into a full strut. A hen we also called in from behind us proved to be his undoing as she ran in to our decoys. I may have to get out again just to do some filming.

Finally able to load a piece of video...
You have to look hard through the pines and watch for the hen coming from the right . I couldn't move for better shots or the turkeys would have seen me.

[fingershooter]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

Nice photos! Please tell me you kept the wings for arrow fletching!

Yep. All spoken for.

[Bonescreek]

Congratulations! Those birds truly are beautiful.
It's really tough to get photos like that after a hunt, for me it seems
I'm always appearing way too serious or maybe angry but it's simply
the stress showing of worrying about getting everything done like..
having the bird dressed and in the cooler before it spoils, getting the pics
as best you can, getting the phone call done to register it same day,
cleaning up the guts and wings and feathers, getting to work by 2:00 Pm.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few other things todo.

But aside from all the mentioned above, I've always thought the true colors
of the bird never came out as good in a picture as they actually look in
real life.

Your pictures I think are the best I have ever seen to capture the colors.
Very nice. :-)

If I ever get a chance to hunt a Merriam I would really love to get that one
done in a full mount.

Thanks for sharing.

P.S. You thinkin' about going after turkey triad ?
Those arrows looks so good I'ld be afraid to damage one target shooting to
try them out. :-)

Gotta be honest hear and say that I would not hesitate to shoot at turkey
with those arrow heads at under 20 yards, turkey ribs break pretty easy.
But I would not try to shoot a deer with the head in the top of the picture,
just don't think it could hold up to a deer's rib bone, might break upon entry
and deflect. Just my opinion.

[fingershooter]

Originally Posted by Bonescreek

Congratulations! Those birds truly are beautiful.
It's really tough to get photos like that after a hunt, for me it seems
I'm always appearing way too serious or maybe angry but it's simply
the stress showing of worrying about getting everything done like..
having the bird dressed and in the cooler before it spoils, getting the pics
as best you can, getting the phone call done to register it same day,
cleaning up the guts and wings and feathers, getting to work by 2:00 Pm.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few other things todo.

But aside from all the mentioned above, I've always thought the true colors
of the bird never came out as good in a picture as they actually look in
real life.

Your pictures I think are the best I have ever seen to capture the colors.
Very nice. :-)

If I ever get a chance to hunt a Merriam I would really love to get that one
done in a full mount.

Thanks for sharing.

P.S. You thinkin' about going after turkey triad ?
Those arrows looks so good I'ld be afraid to damage one target shooting to
try them out. :-)

Gotta be honest hear and say that I would not hesitate to shoot at turkey
with those arrow heads at under 20 yards, turkey ribs break pretty easy.
But I would not try to shoot a deer with the head in the top of the picture,
just don't think it could hold up to a deer's rib bone, might break upon entry
and deflect. Just my opinion.

Hi Bonescreek!
I have to be honest and give credit where it's due. My good friend, and turkey hunting partner, Pierre Tessier took the close-ups and taught me how to try to get the full colors on film. It takes dozens of photos and a lot of patience to try to capture the true colors.
Not really thinking of turkey triads. I'd like to have the bag limit increased here to have more fun, though.
I agree, I will not target practice with these beautiful broad heads but I am planning on trying one out on a deer this year. Live bone cuts easily so there should be no problems there and the broad heads are sharp. I will be holding out for the optimum quartering away shot, never-the-less. I was lucky enough to have my neighbor give them to me after I gave him a few wings and stuff.