EQUIPMENT:
Sponsors
of the Grand Slammer |
OUTFITTERS:
|
Wells
Creek Outfitters|
HUNTS:
The
Osceola
| Rio Grande | Merriam's | Eastern
Grand
Slam 6-pack - March 2005
BOWHUNT
FOR THE FLORIDA OSCEOLA
 We
are hunting with David Mills of Zolfo Springs, Florida in Central
Florida's Osceola wild turkey country. David is an immediately likable
guy and makes you feel at home from the get go. He has thousands of acres
available to hunt Osceolas. He understands this unique species of wild
turkey and knows his extensive area like the preverbal back of his hand.
To contact David about Osceola
hunts, bow or shotgun, phone 1-863-990-9087. |
Doug
Crabtree Begins The Grand Slam Quest
DAY 1 - South
Florida Early March Season's Opener
 
Doug Crabtree and 3 other
hunters squeezed into the Double Bull Matrix blind and waited for daylight
to break. An owl hooted in the hammock and several gobblers sounded off
100 yards behind the blind.
Ten minutes later Doug made
soft tree yelps. Gobblers came from all sides. "We were surrounded," Doug
told me., "just like the indians circling the wagons of the cowboys." To
Hunt...
DAY 2 - Grand
Slam Quest
At first light a gobbler
sounded off in the distance. Doug Crabtree called aggressively for several
minutes and the tom gobbled constantly. GO...
NEW
- DAY 3 - First Osceola & More
 
Turkeys! In the palmettos.
Doug popped up the Double Bull on the edge, set the decoys, and called.
Without a peep the birds entered the field and ran to the blind -- 14 Toms.
To
Hunt...
Fred
Lutger, Doug Crabtree & I Hunt the Florida Regular Season
Day 1 (March 21) - Osceola Hunt, Florida's
Central Zone
Morning
Hunt: Fred is hunting but I needed to get Monday's web work out of
the way so I can be ready to update today's hunt.
Fred
met David Mills at 5:00 this morning. They hunted 50 yards into the woods
off a cow pasture and David gave an owl hoot. A gobble came from behind
them. The backed up and set up the Double Bull blind in an opening inside
a palmetto patch.
At
daylight they made hen calls. Fred saw a Tom fly down and there were no
more gobbles. They called loud, off and on, for an hour.
They
heard a hen making light yelps and a distant gobble behind the hen. In
front of the blind, on a clear trail leading into the palmettos, without
a sound, a big longbeard stepped out. He watched the hen decoy briefly
and walked away.
An
hour passed and the Tom showed up again on the trail in the same spot.
He watched the hen and walked away.
Half
an hour later Fred and David called together. The longbeard returned right
away, watched, and left for the 3rd time. David
When
they were ready to leave Fred walked to where the bird had stood to see
if anything was wrong. He could not see into the blind at all, which is
a good thing. David said there is a larger gobbler in the area and this
bird probably was afraid it would show up and although he was not spooky
he was reluctant to come to the hen decoy.
Knock,
knock. I opened the motel door and Fred and David told me what happened.
We drove to the Pioneer restaurant and ate lunch. There, I visited with
Ken Mayes of Florida Wildlife Unlimited (where we
hunted last year). Ken's hunters are having a good season
With
lunch out of the way we drove to a big orange grove and set up near an
edge with large roost trees along a creek.
  
And
that's were we are right now.
(4:17
pm) A longbeard entered our orange grove row and hurried toward our
decoys. Fred got ready with the bow and I had the camera at ready. It was
limping and hung up briefly at 60 yards and went somewhere else.
(6:20
pm) A barred owl buzzed our decoys and landed on a fence post 40 yards
away. David and I focused him in the binoculars. Woops, a gobbler walked
through my view, 100 plus yards behind the owl. Two more followed, longbeards
all. They went to the roost trees and flew up. We waited until dark and
slipped out, leaving the blinds and our gear there.
Tomorrow,
tomorrow, yea David, it's gonna be good.
Day 2 (March 22)
Morning
Hunt: We were there. The turkeys weren't. We are moving to a new area
this afternoon.
Afternoon
Hunt: We duplicated the morning hunt. But we are pumped for tomorrow.
Day 3 (March 23)
  
Morning
Hunt: Doug Crabtree broke the silence of the pre dawn woods with
an owl hoot. RaaaaaOuuuuuu, an owl answered. Suddenly Doug and an owl barely
missed him.
Three
owls landed on limbs, we could make them out against the morning sky. I
got my camera and clicked on the flash and took a picture of one
looking at us. Another was closer and in a different position, I took
its picture. And here it is close
up. It was definitely a cool thing. (Woodhaven Owl Hooter for anyone
wanting to know what call was used.)
A gobble
sounded very -- far away. At daylight we drove 3/4 mile and stopped. Doug
put on the Pro Ears and listened
for another gobble. He heard it and we walked half a mile and set up on
the edge of the woods. We hunted until 11:00 but no turkey encounters took
place.
 
Rain clouds rolled in and
it started to rain. When we finished eating the rain was over.
Afternoon
Hunt: David Mills took Fred and I to an orange grove and we set
up in a corner so we could watch two roads. We saw a turkey immediately,
way off. Then 3 more. And a bomber longbeard.
Our view from the Double
Bull Matrix blind.
The
action picked up today and tomorrow we go to a new area that has not been
hunted.
Day 4 (March 24)
    
A
view from the blind, my decoy, a crane, a fox and a breathtaking sunset
on the way back to camp.
Morning
Hunt: We hunted in an orange grove today. Turkeys in Central Florida
go to them and eat bugs and plants. A variety of game was in the grove
but we saw nor heard any turkeys. No one else had any action either, it
was a quiet turkey day. But a great sunset day!
Day 5 - Swamp
Cabbage
A
pivotal day in our hunt. Hurricanes. And I learn about swamp cabbage. GO...
Day 5 - Mike
Leonard's Swamp Tom
David
Mills calls in another big Osceola longbeard and Mike Leonard draws a bead
on it. GO...
Day
5 (Mar 25) Mike Leonard's Deep Swamp Hunt
Fred
& I zipped this morning and when we returned to camp Mike Leonard told
us about his exciting turkey hunt in a Florida swamp. GO... |
 |
Day 6 - Mike
Bailey In The Swamp
Mike
Bailey went with David Mills returned to the same swamp. David called aggressively
for two hours, alternating between the Woodhaven Aluminum and Crystal Slates.
Suddenly they saw a big longbeard 100 yards away, running ... toward them.
GO... |
 |
Day 7 - Oranges
Anyone?
David
Mills takes us back to the orange grove where we saw the turkeys. And our
luck changes for the better. Go...
Day 8 - Fred
gets 'er done
 Fred
still had the Woodhaven slate in his hands when he saw 3 gobblers crossing
the cow pasture. He closed up 3 sides of the Matrix blind, leaving a shooting
hole where his hen decoy was. As the gobblers got close he lost sight of
them behind a palmetto patch. The first bird appeared 60 yards away and
trotted into the orange grove. To Fred's
Hunt... |
Action In The
Orange Grove
 Across
the adjacent cow pasture, 300 yards away, several black, turkey objects
walked into view. I cut excitedly on the Woodhaven Aluminum call and went
into a volley of yelps.
The
birds stopped.
I
cut again. Louder. They switched directions -- the right way too -- toward
me. To Hunt... |
What This Year's Grand Slam Bowhunt Is About...
It's
a wrap. We're all ready. This year Bowhunting.net is going for a six pack!
That's 6 Grand Slams for 3 Wild Turkey Bowhunters trying to get 2 each
of every species ... in one Spring season ... with the bow and arrow. Online!
TO
THE HUNT -- Now In Progress...
-
The
Florida Osceola: Doug Crabtree starts the hunt in Florida on
March 5 at in the Southern Zone. Fred Lutger & I go to the Central
Zone on March 21.
-
Rio
Grande: April 2 we hunt in Texas with the Duck and JimboTX.
-
The
Merriam's: On April 20 we hunt Merriam's in Nebraska.
Eastern:
We got drawn for Brown county, Illinois and start hunting on April 11 with
Fred
Lutger's Wilderness Hunts at
Wells
Creek Outfitters. Then we go to Ohio and hunt Doug Crabtree's turkey
haunts.
Recognizing Hens & Gobblers
The heads of hens and gobblers
are different and their overall appearance has a different purpose. GO |
  |
The Difference Between Wild & Domestic?
| Webster’s
Dictionary defines "turkey" as: a theatrical production that has failed,
three successive strikes in bowling, a stupid or foolish person and a large
North American bird that can either be domestic or wild. The large
bird is the turkey we're talking about and here is the difference between
Domestic
& Wild Turkeys |
  |
So What Is A Grand
Slam, Anyway?
The
Grand Slam consists of 1 each of all 4 of the North American wild turkey
sub species.
Eastern |
Merriam's |
Osceola |
Rio Grande |
4x4
Grand Slammer of 2004
TO
HOME PAGE of 4x4 Grand Slammer...
   
Four bowhunters go for
their online wild turkey Grand Slam, in the 2004 Spring season.
Follow, day by day, with
lots of pics, Doug Crabtree, Fred Lutger, Tony Dukes and Robert Hoague
on this Spring's adventure as we hunt wild turkey in Florida, South Dakota,
Texas, Illinois and Ohio. We got the pictures!
TO the hunts for the:
Osceola,
Rio
#1, Rio #2, Merriam's,
Eastern,
and Who Got The Grand Slam? (the pictures)
Sponsors
for the 2005 Grand Slam 6-Pack Bowhunt
Our Grand Slam 6-Pack
with the bow created excitement with several manufacturers and they stepped
up to the plate to sponsor the event.
SPONSORS
OUTFITTERS:
|
