3 Photos
Since the inception of Star City Whitetails in 2009 and the introduction of my website and facebook page in 2012 I have created both friendships and business relationships with many who share a certain love for our great hunting tradition, but none any better than David Coffman who is the editor of The Outdoor Report (Bimonthly E-newsletter/Blog from the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries) (VDGIF).
Several weeks ago David and I traded emails about getting together for a Spring Gobbler hunt, and after checking our schedules we both agreed that Monday April 18th would work well. I have recently become a new member of The Calico Rock Hunt Club and I took David to a piece of property in Callaway, Virginia that the hunt club leases. Having hunted this property for Spring Turkey several days prior, I was aware of some birds in the area.
The morning of the hunt we got to our spot just off the edge of a big open field well before light and got our decoys ready and took our place in our make shift ground blind. After settling in we gave a hoot owl call in hopes of locating some anxious gobblers, and on our second attempt we were answered with that primitive Spring Gobbler sound that is so inviting to a hunters ear. It was on folks!!!
We soon transitioned to box and slate calls and again we were warmly greeted by 2 different Callaway gobblers. Around 6:30 a.m. one of those birds showed up in the field about 30 yards beyond our decoys and 50 yards from where we were seated. This gobbler continuously communicated with us for some 25 minutes without coming any closer. We both felt the bird was just out of range for an ethical shot so we sat patiently, and anxiously enjoying the show with this hot gobbler perplexed that the decoys weren’t reacting to his strutting and gobbling…
A short time later the bird lost interest in the decoys and his location and began to move off to our left. Fortunately the field also had a finger that ran past us to our left about 40 yards away. The gobbler chose that exact path to travel and was possibly going to try and come in behind us all while still gobbling and fanning out intermittently.
David ranged the bird at 40 yards which was within his comfort zone for the Winchester 12 gauge 1300 speed pump shotgun he was carrying that had a Pro Diamond 2x32 scope. Now it was just a matter of the big gobbler reaching an opening in the tangle of autumn olives, grape vines and trees for David to get the shot off. David used a natural purring noise with his mouth, “err, err, err,” just as the gobbler reached an opening and the bird both stopped and gobbled and presented the shot.
In a split second David let fly a #5 Federal Premium 3” magnum turkey load which struck the gobbler critically and we both began to realize the value that this hunt had created for us both. April 18th, 2016 was not only special because of the harvest of a trophy Tom with a 9 inch beard and 1 ¼ inch spurs, but the day itself was absolutely beautiful and all of what the Virginia Spring has to offer was in full effect.
The leaves and grass were all lime green, bluebells carpeted the creek bottom, the dogwood flowers shimmered in the sunlight and the bees and butterflies were getting busy.
This was an epic hunt with a good friend that I will never forget and all of the happenings I just wrote about, I was able to capture on video. Check out this hunt in the “video gallery” on this site and I hope you enjoy it as much as David and I did.
Jeff Phillips
Since the inception of Star City Whitetails in 2009 and the introduction of my website and facebook page in 2012 I have created both friendships and business relationships with many who share a certain love for our great hunting tradition, but none any better than David Coffman who is the editor of The Outdoor Report (Bimonthly E-newsletter/Blog from the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries) (VDGIF).
Several weeks ago David and I traded emails about getting together for a Spring Gobbler hunt, and after checking our schedules we both agreed that Monday April 18th would work well. I have recently become a new member of The Calico Rock Hunt Club and I took David to a piece of property in Callaway, Virginia that the hunt club leases. Having hunted this property for Spring Turkey several days prior, I was aware of some birds in the area.
The morning of the hunt we got to our spot just off the edge of a big open field well before light and got our decoys ready and took our place in our make shift ground blind. After settling in we gave a hoot owl call in hopes of locating some anxious gobblers, and on our second attempt we were answered with that primitive Spring Gobbler sound that is so inviting to a hunters ear. It was on folks!!!
We soon transitioned to box and slate calls and again we were warmly greeted by 2 different Callaway gobblers. Around 6:30 a.m. one of those birds showed up in the field about 30 yards beyond our decoys and 50 yards from where we were seated. This gobbler continuously communicated with us for some 25 minutes without coming any closer. We both felt the bird was just out of range for an ethical shot so we sat patiently, and anxiously enjoying the show with this hot gobbler perplexed that the decoys weren’t reacting to his strutting and gobbling…
A short time later the bird lost interest in the decoys and his location and began to move off to our left. Fortunately the field also had a finger that ran past us to our left about 40 yards away. The gobbler chose that exact path to travel and was possibly going to try and come in behind us all while still gobbling and fanning out intermittently.
David ranged the bird at 40 yards which was within his comfort zone for the Winchester 12 gauge 1300 speed pump shotgun he was carrying that had a Pro Diamond 2x32 scope. Now it was just a matter of the big gobbler reaching an opening in the tangle of autumn olives, grape vines and trees for David to get the shot off. David used a natural purring noise with his mouth, “err, err, err,” just as the gobbler reached an opening and the bird both stopped and gobbled and presented the shot.
In a split second David let fly a #5 Federal Premium 3” magnum turkey load which struck the gobbler critically and we both began to realize the value that this hunt had created for us both. April 18th, 2016 was not only special because of the harvest of a trophy Tom with a 9 inch beard and 1 ¼ inch spurs, but the day itself was absolutely beautiful and all of what the Virginia Spring has to offer was in full effect.
The leaves and grass were all lime green, bluebells carpeted the creek bottom, the dogwood flowers shimmered in the sunlight and the bees and butterflies were getting busy.
This was an epic hunt with a good friend that I will never forget and all of the happenings I just wrote about, I was able to capture on video. Check out this hunt in the “video gallery” on this site and I hope you enjoy it as much as David and I did.
Jeff Phillips
Since the inception of Star City Whitetails in 2009 and the introduction of my website and facebook page in 2012 I have created both friendships and business relationships with many who share a certain love for our great hunting tradition, but none any better than David Coffman who is the editor of The Outdoor Report (Bimonthly E-newsletter/Blog from the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries) (VDGIF).
Several weeks ago David and I traded emails about getting together for a Spring Gobbler hunt, and after checking our schedules we both agreed that Monday April 18th would work well. I have recently become a new member of The Calico Rock Hunt Club and I took David to a piece of property in Callaway, Virginia that the hunt club leases. Having hunted this property for Spring Turkey several days prior, I was aware of some birds in the area.
The morning of the hunt we got to our spot just off the edge of a big open field well before light and got our decoys ready and took our place in our make shift ground blind. After settling in we gave a hoot owl call in hopes of locating some anxious gobblers, and on our second attempt we were answered with that primitive Spring Gobbler sound that is so inviting to a hunters ear. It was on folks!!!
We soon transitioned to box and slate calls and again we were warmly greeted by 2 different Callaway gobblers. Around 6:30 a.m. one of those birds showed up in the field about 30 yards beyond our decoys and 50 yards from where we were seated. This gobbler continuously communicated with us for some 25 minutes without coming any closer. We both felt the bird was just out of range for an ethical shot so we sat patiently, and anxiously enjoying the show with this hot gobbler perplexed that the decoys weren’t reacting to his strutting and gobbling…
A short time later the bird lost interest in the decoys and his location and began to move off to our left. Fortunately the field also had a finger that ran past us to our left about 40 yards away. The gobbler chose that exact path to travel and was possibly going to try and come in behind us all while still gobbling and fanning out intermittently.
David ranged the bird at 40 yards which was within his comfort zone for the Winchester 12 gauge 1300 speed pump shotgun he was carrying that had a Pro Diamond 2x32 scope. Now it was just a matter of the big gobbler reaching an opening in the tangle of autumn olives, grape vines and trees for David to get the shot off. David used a natural purring noise with his mouth, “err, err, err,” just as the gobbler reached an opening and the bird both stopped and gobbled and presented the shot.
In a split second David let fly a #5 Federal Premium 3” magnum turkey load which struck the gobbler critically and we both began to realize the value that this hunt had created for us both. April 18th, 2016 was not only special because of the harvest of a trophy Tom with a 9 inch beard and 1 ¼ inch spurs, but the day itself was absolutely beautiful and all of what the Virginia Spring has to offer was in full effect.
The leaves and grass were all lime green, bluebells carpeted the creek bottom, the dogwood flowers shimmered in the sunlight and the bees and butterflies were getting busy.
This was an epic hunt with a good friend that I will never forget and all of the happenings I just wrote about, I was able to capture on video. Check out this hunt in the “video gallery” on this site and I hope you enjoy it as much as David and I did.
Jeff Phillips
Since the inception of Star City Whitetails in 2009 and the introduction of my website and facebook page in 2012 I have created both friendships and business relationships with many who share a certain love for our great hunting tradition, but none any better than David Coffman who is the editor of The Outdoor Report (Bimonthly E-newsletter/Blog from the Virginia Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries) (VDGIF).
Several weeks ago David and I traded emails about getting together for a Spring Gobbler hunt, and after checking our schedules we both agreed that Monday April 18th would work well. I have recently become a new member of The Calico Rock Hunt Club and I took David to a piece of property in Callaway, Virginia that the hunt club leases. Having hunted this property for Spring Turkey several days prior, I was aware of some birds in the area.
The morning of the hunt we got to our spot just off the edge of a big open field well before light and got our decoys ready and took our place in our make shift ground blind. After settling in we gave a hoot owl call in hopes of locating some anxious gobblers, and on our second attempt we were answered with that primitive Spring Gobbler sound that is so inviting to a hunters ear. It was on folks!!!
We soon transitioned to box and slate calls and again we were warmly greeted by 2 different Callaway gobblers. Around 6:30 a.m. one of those birds showed up in the field about 30 yards beyond our decoys and 50 yards from where we were seated. This gobbler continuously communicated with us for some 25 minutes without coming any closer. We both felt the bird was just out of range for an ethical shot so we sat patiently, and anxiously enjoying the show with this hot gobbler perplexed that the decoys weren’t reacting to his strutting and gobbling…
A short time later the bird lost interest in the decoys and his location and began to move off to our left. Fortunately the field also had a finger that ran past us to our left about 40 yards away. The gobbler chose that exact path to travel and was possibly going to try and come in behind us all while still gobbling and fanning out intermittently.
David ranged the bird at 40 yards which was within his comfort zone for the Winchester 12 gauge 1300 speed pump shotgun he was carrying that had a Pro Diamond 2x32 scope. Now it was just a matter of the big gobbler reaching an opening in the tangle of autumn olives, grape vines and trees for David to get the shot off. David used a natural purring noise with his mouth, “err, err, err,” just as the gobbler reached an opening and the bird both stopped and gobbled and presented the shot.
In a split second David let fly a #5 Federal Premium 3” magnum turkey load which struck the gobbler critically and we both began to realize the value that this hunt had created for us both. April 18th, 2016 was not only special because of the harvest of a trophy Tom with a 9 inch beard and 1 ¼ inch spurs, but the day itself was absolutely beautiful and all of what the Virginia Spring has to offer was in full effect.
The leaves and grass were all lime green, bluebells carpeted the creek bottom, the dogwood flowers shimmered in the sunlight and the bees and butterflies were getting busy.
This was an epic hunt with a good friend that I will never forget and all of the happenings I just wrote about, I was able to capture on video. Check out this hunt in the “video gallery” on this site and I hope you enjoy it as much as David and I did.
Jeff Phillips
