Due to losing he and his dad’s turkey hunting property, Braelon Mister’s dad took his son to Blue Dark Outfitters in eastern North Carolina for his birthday on April 3, 2023. When they arrived they were greeted by Charles Decker, the owner of the outfitter, and they all sat down over supper and began discussing the game plan for the next morning.
Mr. Decker asked Braelon if he minded walking a bit, which Braelon responded by saying “No sir”. Mr. Decker said, “Ok then I know just the place”. The next morning they all loaded up in Mr. Decker’s vehicle and drove to the magic spot. They had about a 3/4 mile walk where they came to an old deer stand about 6 feet off the ground.
Braelon and his dad got set up in the stand while Mr. Decker placed out the decoys. As they got settled in Toms we’re gobbling from their roosts all over the place. There were at least 6 to 7 Toms all around gobbling on the roost. As they sat patiently waiting and doing some light calling, birds started to pour out into the field about 800 yards away.
Braelon and his dad remained patient and before they knew it a hen popped out about 75 yards to their left, which is where the birds were expected to come from. Shortly after, Braelon’s dad looked to the right and spotted a gobbler about 125 yards away on the wood line. He texted Mr. Decker, who was sitting below them under the stand, and told him there’s a Tom to our right.
No sooner had he sent that text and Braelon said, “Dad I can see a Tom in the woods to the left”. As they kept looking, the Tom turned and they were able to see his fan. In a matter of maybe three minutes the Tom on the left, accompanied by 10-15 hens, stepped into the field.
The Tom on the left came in full strut walking slowly toward the decoys. Braelon’s dad told him “Buddy I think we are gonna be shooting that one coming in on the left”. After about three minutes, Braelon’s dad looked over his shoulder to the right to see what that Tom was doing and he had closed more than half the distance between the decoys and where he popped out of the woods.
Braelon’s dad said “Buddy that gobbler to the right is close. We may end up getting him instead”. Within just a couple of minutes from saying that, both gobblers started trotting towards each other until they met face to face, which made the shot risky as they were so close together.
Braelon’s dad told him to just be patient, and when a large enough gap opened up he could put the bead on one of their necks and let it ring. Thats when they both began strutting in each others’ faces and then the fighting began. Spurs were flying and the two went at it like it was life or death.
After about 5 to 10 minutes of fighting, the bird from the right was clearly dominating the bird from the left and even stood on top of him and was pouncing on him trying to kill him. When the subordinate bird was able to get up, they both started moving quickly towards the right with the bully bird running the subordinate bird off.
That’s when Braelon’s dad saw a chance of getting one of them as there were a couple of brief moments that a large enough gap was between them. The only problem was Braelon was about to run out of room to get the sight on them, so when they separated by about 3 feet, Braelon’s dad told him, “Ok buddy shoot the one in the front when he lifts his head from my call”.
His dad hit his Dead End Game Calls diaphragm call and the bully bird turned to the left to strut showing the back of his tail fan while the subordinate bird lifted his head, and that’s when Braelon squeezed off the shot, rolling the subordinate bird standing roughly 40 to 50 yards out, with his granddad’s Mossberg 835 12-gauge. The excitement took over and Braelon, his dad, and Mr. Decker all started jumping and fist pumping in celebration.
It was one of the most exciting hunts and best memories made for all three of them. They got out of the stand and went and collected Braelon’s bird, which had some unique barring on his tail fan, which is a little difficult to see in the picture. The bird had an 8-inch beard and 7/8-inch spurs. What an incredible hunt they had with an outstanding guide and outfitter at Blue Dark Outfitters. Certainly a memory that all three will never forget.
–wesmister
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Tag-A-Turkey
Congratulations to Mister, who is now entered in our 2023 Tag-A-Turkey Contest.
This makes him eligible for our grand prize, which includes a 3-year subscription to Carolina Sportsman Magazine, a Thermacell prize package, a Convergent Hunting Solutions Bullet HP Bluetooth predator call, and numerous other prizes.
If you’d like to enter your gobbler in our contest, click here.
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