Castin' and Blastin'

[MNfisher]

Headed over to the Dickson area early this morning to slip in the woods chasing the big ol thanksgiving birds! They were gobbling everywhere! about 30 minutes after legal shooting time, i had 5 hens come across the field to check out my decoy. They were getting right in the face of the decoy and trying to intimidate it. Then I realized one had about a 5" beard, this was clearly a bearded hen....a rarity. I chose to take it, I waited and waited, but they were too bunched up, at one point, i could have taken all 5 with one shot! I had the safety off and was awaiting a clear shot when a gobble about blew my eardrums out! I looked to my right with my eyes and about 50 yards and closing fast was a full strutting tom. The 5 hens saw that and moved off to the wood line and disappeared. I thought forsure the tom would follow the 5 hens, but he was locked on my decoy. It took a few minutes because he started doing his strutting circles about 45 yards out. Finally he committed and came right in. my decoy was set at 13 yards, he was doing circles around it full strut. They say never to shoot a strutting tom because of his head being tucked so low in his feathers. I tried calling 3 different times and waited almost 2 minutes i bet. He never stopped strutting! I was shaking so bad from adrenaline and excitement that I couldnt take it any more, he turned my way and i squeezed off a round and he flipped over at 14 yards! I ran out and confirmed the harvest and started texting my dad, I looked....it was 6:47. Not a bad 47 minutes of hunting! I took a few pics with my good camera and the timer, dressed the bird, registered it, put it in a cooler and grabbed my rods to fish the pond in the woods. I started fishing by 8:30.

I threw flukes, crappie mags and trout mags. I caught 25 bass between 9-11 inches, countless gills, but nothing too big, and tons of crappie. Here is the deal. This pond must have way to much fish in it! Everything but the gills were super skinny! I caught a 15" crappie and a 14 3/4" crappie, both super skinny, thin and had huge heads and tails. But i know it isnt lack of bait because all along the shore there were thousands of 1-2" gills, literally thousands. why arent they eating those fish? Can over population make fish skinny whether there is food or not? Neither of these 15" class fish i bet weighed over a pound. Maaaayyybe a pound, but more than likely less. These should have been close to 2 lb fish!

Any thoughts? I want to approach the land owner about having me put some time in managing it to try get healthier fish and bigger fish.

[Slacker]

That picture with the bird over your shoulder is exceptional. Thanks for the write-up. Great read.

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by Slacker

That picture with the bird over your shoulder is exceptional. Thanks for the write-up. Great read.

Thanks you very much. This was my first attempt at at solo photoshoot.

[Fish Whisperer]

That's one heckuva day!

I was in the woods early and had an owl set up shop right in front of me. It was frustrating as hell. I didn't see or hear anything all morning.


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[Fish Whisperer]

I did hear the owl.....early and often..


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[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by Fish Whisperer

That's one heckuva day!

I was in the woods early and had an owl set up shop right in front of me. It was frustrating as hell. I didn't see or hear anything all morning.


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Man, i pulled up and parked about 30 minutes before legal shooting, i got out, it was completely dark, an owl hooted, and instantly 2 gobblers answered in the complete dark. You can say that i got moving very fast to get out there!

[Fish Whisperer]

Owls and crows are awesome turkey hunting allies went they're not directly in front of you...

It was miserable.


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[tcintn]

Poor turkey. You felt bad didn't you?
Uh well,congratulations Mike,that picture needs to be sent to TWRA for their magazine,it is awesome. Hunting and fishing in the same two hours. Great.

[nomad60]

Nice going Mike and yeah, those are some exceptional pictures, especially considering you were doing solo shooting.

As for the small/skinny fish; I'm wondering if it's the same principle as an aquarium; if you put too many fish in there they won't grow as well?

[Dakota]

Good stuff MNFisher sounds like you spoiled yourself today.

[Travis C.]

Nice looking bird. They have been flocked and strutting up by me every morning last week and evening. Wish i had learned to hunt them or still hunted in general.

Was that your 15" crappie you been looking for?

Lots of gems like that pond scattered around here.

Well done man.

[Alphahawk]

Great pics.....as usual Mike.....beautiful bird! Sounds like too many fish in the pond to me. You know.....I hunted all over Sumner county....and some other mid-Tn areas......50 years ago. I am still amazed at the turkey and deer that have been re-introduced successfully. I sure wish there had been turkey and deer when I hunted....big congrats!


Regards



Regards

[Saltwaterwalt]

That's awesome Mike! At 13 yards, I don't think that ol' tom had enough feathers to duck into...LOL.

[creekcrappie]

Man that is so much fun to read! Thanks for the great report Mike!

[ttitan27]

Now that is a day that is hard to beat. Congratulations.