AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Darkhorse on April 17, 2020, 07:53:41 PM
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I left the house with plenty of time before daybreak, and there I was just driving in the dark, thinking about the hunt ahead when it ocurred to me I had left my turkey vest at home. I had made about 20 miles of a 25 mile trip but there was nothing to be done but turn around and go back home. So I finally got to my spot a little after 7 AM. I had heard nothing on the walk in so I settled in and got my stuff in order while the woods quieted down.
Over the years I had discovered a spot of higher ground where my calls carried a long way and I have a permanent blind here. Should of killed one here last year but I got impatient and he spotted my gun barrel moving and he was gone.
I have a routine here. First I let out a cluck or two just to see if one is close. Then using a box call that carries a long way I let out a series of yelps. Loud yelps, then I listen. After awhile I do it all over again. So that's what I was doing when I thought I heard a gobble right at the edge of my hearing. A few minutes later I heard it again, clearer, closer, he was coming. At this point I add some long distance clucks with a tube call. So I did and he gobbled right back. For this stage, the middle stage I call it, I use both the box and the tube and it seems to really fire them up. In the final stage I use a slate because I can control the volume better. He circled my hen decoy out of sight and suddenly gobbled to my left, he was close. This had taken an hour and a half.
I couldn't see him but I could hear him. He was gobbling and waiting for the hen to come to him. Now I could see him about 70 yards away strutting in a small area until finally he came on in. Over half an hour had gone by now when he went into a full strut and stayed that way. He looked huge. My target is the wing butt with this .40 caliber and I don't like to shoot one in full strut if I can help it. He came to the hen then made a circle around the decoy still in full strut so I made the best shot I could and he was DRT, and I mean Dead right there.
It was 21 steps to where I shot him.
He weighed 22 pounds with a 9 3/4" beard.
(https://i.ibb.co/nC4DXKK/SS850183.jpg)
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Nice big bird. Well done. Good looking rifle, too.
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Nice bird, nice lefty gun, and just the right amount of contrast in photoshop to bring it all to life. Well done.
...I found myself looking for Morels in your pic....
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Very nice. Well done sir.
Man do I wish we could hunt turkeys with a muzzleloading rifle here.
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Congrats Darkhorse, sounds like a great hunt!
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It is getting to be morel season isn’t it?
A nice morel giblet gravy would work well across that roasted bird.
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Congratulations beautiful bird nice looking rifle to.
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Congrats Darkhorse. Darn nice bird
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Really nice bird and a pretty rifle!
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Beautiful bird with a nice paint brush beard. What state may I ask? You're fortunate to be able to use a rifle. If PA would allow it, I'd be going out with my .40.
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Don’t get much better than that. Congrats !
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Congratulations on a fine bird. Here in Maine it's "shot" only, no rifles allowed. I've lived in Georgia and Virginia and rifles were okay there.
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Great hunt, bird and picture! Congrats. I'm in N Ga myself but I've left the turkeys alone this spring. The kayak keeps distracting me!
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Congratulations Darkhorse. Your tardy beginning turned out very well! Beautiful gun and gobbler.
I'd love to be able to take my forty on a turkey hunt but our state says "no".
Just curious.....do you usually get full penetration with your forty on turkey? I know many would assume so, but those quills are like a weak armor.
Best regards, Skychief.
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Congratulations Darkhorse. Your tardy beginning turned out very well! Beautiful gun and gobbler.
I'd love to be able to take my forty on a turkey hunt but our state says "no".
Just curious.....do you usually get full penetration with your forty on turkey? I know many would assume so, but those quills are like a weak armor.
Best regards, Skychief.
Skychief, I shoot a stiff load of 60 grains of 3fg. with a .395 ball. No turkey yet has managed to stop it.Wingbones, breastbone, it hasn't mattered yet, always complete penetration. Now I haven't shot one over 50 yards distance yet, so I don't know about that. This one was close, about 21 long steps, I did see feathers beyond the smoke cloud and then there he was flattened out on the forest floor. He moved once then settled back and didn't move again. None of the usual flapping wings and kicking and other stuff.
I have never shot one before that seemed to be hit that hard.
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Beautiful bird with a nice paint brush beard. What state may I ask? You're fortunate to be able to use a rifle. If PA would allow it, I'd be going out with my .40.
Scottmc, I live in the great state of Georgia. Here, any muzzleloading weapon is legal for turkeys. I am a rifleman at heart so I built a rifle just to hunt turkeys with. Thing is I think nearly all of my flintlock turkeys were close enough that I could have killed them with a smoothbore.
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A quick word about my load here. As some may remember I posted another flintlock turkey I took a couple of years ago and the load I shot him with. That has changed slightly, for the better so far.
Still 60 grains of 3fg but now on top of the powder is a layer of wasp nest torn into small pieces then pushed down on top of the powder. Followed by a .0175 pillow ticking patch saturated with Canola oil, then a .395 ball. I had noticed when shooting that the saturated patch on occasion wet the powder excessively causing hangfires and weak ignition. Since everything else was satisfactory I tried the wasp nest solely for the purpose of absorbing excess lube before it could wet the powder.
I test fired the new combo a number of times pre season and have noticed no powder contamination to this point.
The benefit of Canola oil as a lube is that I can leave the rifle loaded for a couple of weeks with no fear of a rust ring forming. I have lost no accuracy with Canola oil, at 50 yards it will still shoot groups with all shots touching if I do my part.
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Excellent Darkhorse. Thanks for your reply! Enjoy eating your bird.
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A great hunt, well told!
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Enjoyed your story. Nice rifle nice bird.
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Very nice. Well done sir.
Man do I wish we could hunt turkeys with a muzzleloading rifle here.
Hooray for the lefty gun!
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Nice Bird ! Beautiful Rifle ! Great Story !