New Yadkin County Record Turkey
– Time: 7:35am
– Score: 101.5 consisting of 5 beards
– Calls : Ole Man Box & Lil Deuce Slate, wooden striker
– Gun: Mossberg 500 Turkey Edition, 12 Gauge
– Ammo: Winchester 3″ Longbeard XR, 12 Gauge, 5 shot
– Has been scored and recorded by NWTF and awaiting approval for the NWTF web site records.
It was a cloudy, breezy morning not ideal for Turkey hunting.
As it got daylight I wasn’t even to my set up spot yet and gobbling was happening on a ridge top about 800 yards away.
I did not know the Turkeys were roosting there. We had tried “roosting” any birds in that area some days before. Nothing…
I just knew the routes of a Jake and Hen I had called within 80 yards a few days prior and another who had hunted the area had seen the same path. I had called in a large Coyote a few days prior to that.
I decided to set up much closer to this intersection of an old farm road and crossing creek with cutover to the right and fields to the left. This intersection was kind of a funneling point as it suddenly seemed clear in my mind.
The box call got them answering back and the Slate call kept the back and forth going for around 45 minutes. At 1st there were two different Gobbles then it was down to just one.
I debated in my mind after about an hour and thought of cutting the distance in half. This I had learned from an avid Turkey Hunter and friend of mine. I knew though it would be very hard to not get busted by the Gobbler in trying to go up that area towards the gobbling. They were 800 yards up an area over a big field on a hillside with a wide open field between the birds and I.
A few more minutes had passed and all of a sudden a seemingly panicky gobble was coming down the hillside. I couldn’t see any Turkey yet but the gobbling was coming my way. Heart racing and hands semi shaking I knew I just might get a chance at killing my 1st.
I got my shotgun up on my left knee and had it aimed at this farm road in a spot I felt theTurkey would come.
As the TWO Turkeys rounded the hedgerow corner onto the old farm road, I saw a big gobbler and a Jake. Suddenly the Gobbler ran the Jake into the cutover to the right. The Gobbler was hot and came looking for that, “supposedly Hen”, from the calling.
The Gobbler walked right into my sights and I pulled the trigger. The bird hit the ground hard and started spinning on the ground. I ran to him and got him under control.
It was my 1st kill and upon inspection noticed 4 beards ! I immediately called and sent a photo to a friend of mine who was part of NWTF and he told me that I had killed a very unique Turkey. He told me you must get this bird scored and explained the scoring process. From initial review it appeared the bird would be in the high 90’s.
I took the bird and officially got it scored. Upon inspection the NWTF official scorer noticed a 5th beard! It was only .75″ but scorable, he said.
The rest is history and the bird officially scored at 101.5. This shattered the old Yadkin County record by nearly 30 points.
It is a hunt/day I will cherish and remember forever when the good Lord and lady luck really shined on me.
Kevin Sizemore
Yadkinville, NC (Forbush)
336-416-8101
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