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It's complicated. Ended my GA season this morning. No shortage of turkey sandwiches around my house now.

I normally hunt turkeys with a 12ga single H&R. I swore off repeaters years ago, the last time I had to tote 60 lbs. of grown gobblers a mile and a half out of the woods. Bad as dragging a deer! I realized I just can't be trusted in the turkey woods with a magazine full of ammo.

Due to health problems, I've been hunting all Spring season with a Nitro Special .410 and some of Gil Stacy's fairy dust tungsten #9 loads. Hadn't seen a bird. Turkeys were probably laughing at me for showing up with a pop-gun! I decided my problem was a bad luck gun and decided to go to a 20ga gas automatic this morning to change my luck and because of the reduced recoil.

My luck had been so bad that I spent the afternoon last Saturday driving the firebreak roads through planted pines looking for tracks. I checked every road intersection for strut marks and found a likely spot.

That's where I hunted this morning. The birds started gobbling about 6:30 and were answering every sound I made on my calls. Some were close. I heard one fly down close behind me at 7:00.

Shortly after I spotted a group of 7 birds come out of the hardwoods below me and step into the firebreak road. Six jakes and a hen. I clucked one more time and the whole bunch ran up and stopped in front of me. One of the jakes was pretty big.

I decided that due to the turkey meat shortage around the house and because I'd experienced such poor luck all season so far, that I would take the biggest jake. He dropped in some grass when I fired and all the rest of the birds either ran or flew off.

I called a few times to see if anything was dumb enough to come back, and another pretty good jake returned and began to strut over his dearly departed brother. Not seemly, I felt. Shooting an automatic of course I had two more shells in the gun. Somehow I justified it in my mind to shoot him as well as the one I had down. No problem, I would still have another tag to carry though the season waiting on a long-beard.

When I stood up I saw the two birds I'd shot and a third young gobbler on the ground as well. I must have shot the other bird along with the 1st. When I went over to inspect the birds, one jumped up and ran so I used my third shell to finish it off.

At any rate I closed out my Georgia Spring Turkey season with a limit of three jakes. Sort of like kissing your cousin, not just what you wanted but not bad either!

Glad I live on the Florida border and their season's still in!...Geo

Any grown man that shoots a jake needs his ass kicked up around his shoulders. Sounds like your household is near starvation. Hope you're real proud. Should have kept that shit to yourself.

Unh, unh, unh.
JR

You shoulda seen how fast they ran up to the decoys John!...Geo

I don't see anything wrong with shooting a few jakes. Much better eating for certain. I take one once in a while myself. Maybe I will tomorrow just for the hell of it.

I thought this place was relatively free of primadonnas.

It ain't funny to me. But that's just me. Ego is hard to figure.
JR

Your ego seems to be the one that is impossible to figure, John.

The ego must be fed, Brent. I'd say George fed his well today. And you think I fed mine by calling George out. Go figure. Not impossible, it would seem, but difficult.
JR

John, I really don't know where you or anyone else gets off telling someone what they should and shouldn't hunt. You are flat out nuts in my book. You are the one stroking his own ego, and screwing up the best thread I've seen a long while on any forum.

I've never noticed your posts before, and after this I'll never have to look at them again.

Adios

Ok.
JR

Some have questioned why I chose not to respond in kind to JR's post. He and I have different opinions regarding the supposed ethics of certain perfectly legal turkey hunting techniques and practices. I can only respect his opinions. However I am not required to agree with him.

While I think that his opinions regarding tungsten shot, decoys, the taking of legal jake turkeys (young gobblers with beards less than 6 inches), and his personal decision to limit himself to one bird notwithstanding local regulations are nothing but unfounded personal prejudice and an expression of ego on his part, I won't get into an argument with him about it. He's free to believe what he will and express his opinion, though I wish he had not verbally attacked me in this particular thread.

I don't think JR and I would enjoy hunting together. He'll just have to place me in the "I'll hunt my way and you hunt yours" category...Geo