Monster Osceola Gobbler Spurs!

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Now this is a limb hanger if ever there was one! "Better than money from home" as one of my old fishing buddies used to say.

My good friend Rick Edwards stopped by my office today to show me a set of monster Gobbler spurs he took a few years back. They were so large I wanted to share a few pictures of them with everyone.

They are the largest hooks I have ever seen in person with the longer spur measuring a full 1 11/16" along the curve. These are as long and sharp as they come.

Don't know how Ricky managed to take such a monster. Obviously, the bird was older than dirt and had to be in declining health. Probably just came limping by, looking for some hunter to put him out of his misery......sorry Ricky! couldn't resist that. Probably just my envy showing thru.

All joking aside, if your a turkey hunter, you know just how special a bird this is. A Gobbler that has lived this long has seen it all and is one of the wariest creatures in the woods. No sense of curosity. If something don't seem  right, he packs his bags and leaves, no questions asked. 

The following is a short recount of how Rick felled this magnum sized Gobbler.

Rick was invited to hunt a private ranch near Green Cove Springs, Florida. Recognizing this could be a hunt of a life time, he jumped all over the opportunity.

In the pre-dawn darkness, the ranch's hunt master took Rick to a promissing spot where he knew a number of turkeys were likely roosting along a large rolling pasture.

As daylight began to crack in the sky and the red birds started to sing,  Rick was able to just barely make out the gobble of a distant tom roosted all the way on the other side of the pasture. Eventually, the tom pitched down to a big flock of hens on the back side of a rise in the field. After a considerable time the hens finally began to top the hill. Ricky pleaded as loud as he could on his slate call to try to pull the flock his way. Just as the hens were nearing a road along the field, the hunt master showed up and split the hens off from the gobbler.

Rick was pretty worried that this had just ruined his hunt but decided to stay put and play out the cards he was dealt. At least the Bird was split up from his hens.

Rick let things settle down and started calling again. A period of time passed and a big white head finally appeared beyond the rise in the pasture. The old king made his way in at a painfully slow pace as many wary Gobblers will. Strut, step and look, strut, step and look.....Ricky was eventually able to hold out and coax him in close enough to roll him up.

As most turkey hunters do, Ricky raced to the bird to make sure he was down. He grabbed the still flopping gobbler by the ancle but the old bird managed to exact a measure of revenge before he gave up the ghost. The big beating wings rolled the gobbler's almost 2" dagger in Rick's hand and just about punched all the way through between his thumb and index finger.

Rick came out on top but he was bloodied!

There's something about a floundering gobbler that just makes a hunter want to grab a hold of him every time. His beating wings causes his body to spin in a circle. If he's got sharp spurs, they'll catch in your glove and before you know it your cut and bleeding and can't let go! Gobbler's revenge! I can't tell you how many times I've done it myself. Guess i'll never learn.

I hope when I grow up, I can shoot a turkey like this!

Great job Rick, a Limb Hanger to be sure!

Best of hunts,

Larry Stephens