2008 Hunts are brought to you by: Click on a logo to visit the sponsor's website                                                 2008 Another Double   -- By Kevin Beasley --   Yet again, Kevin and Paul enjoyed a double header in the turkey woods. This one was a little different in that the shots were about 10 minutes apart which allowed them to video for each other. Read on and watch the videos of how the hunt unfolded.         April 29, 2008 was the first day we had ever hunted this farm. We had just received permission from the land owner two days before and were excited to get out and give it a go.     On the same day that we got permission, we took the opportunity to get out and walk the property to get a feel for where the birds would roost and spend most of their time. We weren't going in completely blind though; we had seen a few toms on the property the day before we asked and then Paul saw a few more the night before our hunt. He spotted them about an hour before dark so we were hoping they would roost in the same area for the next morning.     Morning came and we decided to get up a little earlier than normal because the gentleman that owned the farm was an early-riser and wanted to talk to us before we went out to the bush. We pulled into the driveway, completely red-eyed, about an hour and a half before legal light and went in and had a good talk with the land owner. He had some advice for us about the property and where he saw most of the turkeys. This conversation lasted a little longer than we had expected so despite our exceedingly early arrival, we were setting up a little later than we would have liked.     We had decided not to take our pop-up tent on this hunt like we had hunted on opening day because without proper scouting we needed to be mobile in case the birds weren't where we expected them to be. Instead of the pop-up tent, we carried our little portable mesh blinds to put in front of us. We really like these for turkeys because it allows us to get away with a little more movement for working calls and such.     On this particular morning we set up on a fence line with Paul and I each sitting behind our own mesh blind about 12 feet apart. We had our decoys set out about 25 yards down a slight hill to our right.     Just as daylight was approaching, we commenced our normal routine of pulling up our Zeiss binoculars and scanning all the trees around us to see if we can spot roosted birds. To our surprise we picked out 8 birds roosted up in the trees about 350 yards away. They were roosted in a large tree that sits on a fence line between two fields.     This was a really neat experience to watch these birds wake up and see their morning routine first-hand. We were also able to pick out some of the toms from where we were, just by their beards.     Now we knew that these birds would have two options. They would either land in our field or pitch out to the one behind it. About 30 minutes after first light, the first tom flew down to the other field. This was disappointing because we figured the rest would follow but that wasn't the case. The other two toms pitched down into our field and the hens followed suit.     This made us feel a little better but not for long because only minutes later the birds took a path through the overgrown fence row and crossed over into the other field. They stayed there for about five minutes and then came right back into our field. This was exciting at first but then they began working their way up and over a hill in the other direction.     At this point we decided to call a little more aggressively and to our surprise the lone tom in the other field lit right up. He started going crazy and gobbling at every one of our calls. He would even gobble at us when we'd give him the silent treatment.     Even though we couldn't see him because of the thick fenceline we could hear his gobbles getting closer and closer. After about ten minutes it seemed that he did not want to come across the fence so we stopped calling altogether and that made him even hotter. He started gobbling and wouldn't stop. After laying off the calls for about ten minutes we finally spotted him coming out of the overgrown fence line about 75 yards away. We gave a few quick cuts and then, as if on a rope, he came straight to us. He was giving us such a great show for the camera that I let him come right in to about 20 yards before squeezing the trigger. At the sound of the shot he dropped like a ton of bricks and did not move again.     Breaking away from the group, the lone tom was really hot and heavy and worked right into our calls putting on a great show. The above pictures are low resolution because they were captured from the video.         With all of this excitement I had forgotten about the other birds up on the hill about 300 yards away. The shot didn't scare them at all; instead they let out a shock gobble! Not wanting to lose the chance at killing them, Paul started making some really excited clucks and they kept gobbling. Realizing that there was still a chance to work these birds we quickly exchanged the camera and kept calling.     After about 30 minutes, the hens started working our way and of course the two toms had no choice but to follow along. Slowly they worked their way towards us. One of the toms was constantly in strut and kept pushing the non-strutting tom away from the hens.     As the birds worked in, Paul had been watching them with his Zeiss binoculars and determined that he was going to take the non-strutting tom because he had a thicker, paint-brush style of beard.     Not wanting to get the birds too close and risk a shot with a really tight pattern, Paul waited until they were just inside 20 yards and let out a cluck with his diaphragm. Both toms gobbled and with their necks still stretched out he pulled the trigger. His bird folded up and started doing the flap. Without even coming out of strut, the other tom ran right up and started jumping on and spurring the downed tom. This actually went on for a couple minutes before the last tom and his harem of hens worked into the other field.     We had never witnessed this with our own eyes before, we had only ever seen it on TV and we were lucky enough to catch it on video.     This was a great hunt and one that I will always remember. The 2008 turkey season was my favourite turkey season to date and I will always remember it for being the season that Paul and I doubled out. That actually marks the 4th hunt that Paul and I have doubled on toms together. Bring on 2009!     With Kevin's tom already on the ground, Paul gave the camera to Kevin and picked up his gun to end the 2008 season with another double header. The picture on the left is of the two toms gobbling right before Paul takes the shot. The impact shot is featured on the right. The above pictures are low resolution because they were captured from the video.     Below is a video of the hunt. Below is a video of Paul and Kevin discussing the hunt afterwards.     Return to 2008 Hunts Page