3 Photos
Dustin Plummer age 22 has been hunting since he was 5 years old and harvested his first deer when he was 7, but little did he know that on Monday morning 4/11/16 at 7:40am he would harvest a Spring Gobbler that had 7 beards and that it would also be the new Virginia state record!!
The morning began on a Goochland County Virginia farm alongside his friend Bryan Henley. The two hunters sat out on a Spring Gobbler hunt and soon after daylight the hillsides surrounding the farm were alive with gobbles from multiple birds.
The hunters noticed that one bird in particular answered consistently to their calls and even cut off some of the other birds mid pitch. After lightly calling for a while they heard this bird fly down and move away from them, but was still answering actively. Four jakes showed up to the hunters location and mingled around for a short time before moving on.
Once the jakes moved on Dustin and Bryan made the decision to go after the loud mouthed bird. They moved toward where the bird was beleived to have traveled and found a vantage point to set up. The gobbler was still answering to the calls, but the hunters decided to ease up on the calling and started scratching in the leaves.
It wasn't long before the gobbler began to close the distance and when he appeared he was joined up with another less dominant gobbler that wasn't strutting or gobbling, just along for the ride. Although the hunters had several decoys set up the birds hung up at about 30 yards acting a bit spooked. Dustin decided it's now or never so he lowered the boom on the bird that had made such a ruckus.
Less than 10% of wild male turkeys have multiple beards and toms with 6 or more beards are extremely rare. As Dustin approached his harvest he immediately noticed that his gobbler had several beards and with a closer examination he began to realize just how unique this Goochland County Spring Gobbler was as he counted 7 individual beards.
On 4/21/16 the NWTF recognized Dustin's bird as the new Virginia state record scoring 167.750 beating the previous state record of 162.3750 set in 1996. It ranks #21 nationally for the biggest Eastern ever harvested.
Its measurements are as follows: 7 beards totaling 61.75" with 1 5/8" and 1 3/16" spurs. The weight = 18lb 10oz.
It was a pleasure doing my interview with this Virginia hunter who represents our great tradition with passion and pride. Dustin like myself is a Radford University graduate and likes to take his video camera along when in the woods or on the water in order to capture his outdoor experiences.
Make sure you check out some of his videos on youtube-"Property Line Productions" and on facebook.
Jeff Phillips
Dustin Plummer age 22 has been hunting since he was 5 years old and harvested his first deer when he was 7, but little did he know that on Monday morning 4/11/16 at 7:40am he would harvest a Spring Gobbler that had 7 beards and that it would also be the new Virginia state record!!
The morning began on a Goochland County Virginia farm alongside his friend Bryan Henley. The two hunters sat out on a Spring Gobbler hunt and soon after daylight the hillsides surrounding the farm were alive with gobbles from multiple birds.
The hunters noticed that one bird in particular answered consistently to their calls and even cut off some of the other birds mid pitch. After lightly calling for a while they heard this bird fly down and move away from them, but was still answering actively. Four jakes showed up to the hunters location and mingled around for a short time before moving on.
Once the jakes moved on Dustin and Bryan made the decision to go after the loud mouthed bird. They moved toward where the bird was beleived to have traveled and found a vantage point to set up. The gobbler was still answering to the calls, but the hunters decided to ease up on the calling and started scratching in the leaves.
It wasn't long before the gobbler began to close the distance and when he appeared he was joined up with another less dominant gobbler that wasn't strutting or gobbling, just along for the ride. Although the hunters had several decoys set up the birds hung up at about 30 yards acting a bit spooked. Dustin decided it's now or never so he lowered the boom on the bird that had made such a ruckus.
Less than 10% of wild male turkeys have multiple beards and toms with 6 or more beards are extremely rare. As Dustin approached his harvest he immediately noticed that his gobbler had several beards and with a closer examination he began to realize just how unique this Goochland County Spring Gobbler was as he counted 7 individual beards.
On 4/21/16 the NWTF recognized Dustin's bird as the new Virginia state record scoring 167.750 beating the previous state record of 162.3750 set in 1996. It ranks #21 nationally for the biggest Eastern ever harvested.
Its measurements are as follows: 7 beards totaling 61.75" with 1 5/8" and 1 3/16" spurs. The weight = 18lb 10oz.
It was a pleasure doing my interview with this Virginia hunter who represents our great tradition with passion and pride. Dustin like myself is a Radford University graduate and likes to take his video camera along when in the woods or on the water in order to capture his outdoor experiences.
Make sure you check out some of his videos on youtube-"Property Line Productions" and on facebook.
Jeff Phillips
Dustin Plummer age 22 has been hunting since he was 5 years old and harvested his first deer when he was 7, but little did he know that on Monday morning 4/11/16 at 7:40am he would harvest a Spring Gobbler that had 7 beards and that it would also be the new Virginia state record!!
The morning began on a Goochland County Virginia farm alongside his friend Bryan Henley. The two hunters sat out on a Spring Gobbler hunt and soon after daylight the hillsides surrounding the farm were alive with gobbles from multiple birds.
The hunters noticed that one bird in particular answered consistently to their calls and even cut off some of the other birds mid pitch. After lightly calling for a while they heard this bird fly down and move away from them, but was still answering actively. Four jakes showed up to the hunters location and mingled around for a short time before moving on.
Once the jakes moved on Dustin and Bryan made the decision to go after the loud mouthed bird. They moved toward where the bird was beleived to have traveled and found a vantage point to set up. The gobbler was still answering to the calls, but the hunters decided to ease up on the calling and started scratching in the leaves.
It wasn't long before the gobbler began to close the distance and when he appeared he was joined up with another less dominant gobbler that wasn't strutting or gobbling, just along for the ride. Although the hunters had several decoys set up the birds hung up at about 30 yards acting a bit spooked. Dustin decided it's now or never so he lowered the boom on the bird that had made such a ruckus.
Less than 10% of wild male turkeys have multiple beards and toms with 6 or more beards are extremely rare. As Dustin approached his harvest he immediately noticed that his gobbler had several beards and with a closer examination he began to realize just how unique this Goochland County Spring Gobbler was as he counted 7 individual beards.
On 4/21/16 the NWTF recognized Dustin's bird as the new Virginia state record scoring 167.750 beating the previous state record of 162.3750 set in 1996. It ranks #21 nationally for the biggest Eastern ever harvested.
Its measurements are as follows: 7 beards totaling 61.75" with 1 5/8" and 1 3/16" spurs. The weight = 18lb 10oz.
It was a pleasure doing my interview with this Virginia hunter who represents our great tradition with passion and pride. Dustin like myself is a Radford University graduate and likes to take his video camera along when in the woods or on the water in order to capture his outdoor experiences.
Make sure you check out some of his videos on youtube-"Property Line Productions" and on facebook.
Jeff Phillips
Dustin Plummer age 22 has been hunting since he was 5 years old and harvested his first deer when he was 7, but little did he know that on Monday morning 4/11/16 at 7:40am he would harvest a Spring Gobbler that had 7 beards and that it would also be the new Virginia state record!!
The morning began on a Goochland County Virginia farm alongside his friend Bryan Henley. The two hunters sat out on a Spring Gobbler hunt and soon after daylight the hillsides surrounding the farm were alive with gobbles from multiple birds.
The hunters noticed that one bird in particular answered consistently to their calls and even cut off some of the other birds mid pitch. After lightly calling for a while they heard this bird fly down and move away from them, but was still answering actively. Four jakes showed up to the hunters location and mingled around for a short time before moving on.
Once the jakes moved on Dustin and Bryan made the decision to go after the loud mouthed bird. They moved toward where the bird was beleived to have traveled and found a vantage point to set up. The gobbler was still answering to the calls, but the hunters decided to ease up on the calling and started scratching in the leaves.
It wasn't long before the gobbler began to close the distance and when he appeared he was joined up with another less dominant gobbler that wasn't strutting or gobbling, just along for the ride. Although the hunters had several decoys set up the birds hung up at about 30 yards acting a bit spooked. Dustin decided it's now or never so he lowered the boom on the bird that had made such a ruckus.
Less than 10% of wild male turkeys have multiple beards and toms with 6 or more beards are extremely rare. As Dustin approached his harvest he immediately noticed that his gobbler had several beards and with a closer examination he began to realize just how unique this Goochland County Spring Gobbler was as he counted 7 individual beards.
On 4/21/16 the NWTF recognized Dustin's bird as the new Virginia state record scoring 167.750 beating the previous state record of 162.3750 set in 1996. It ranks #21 nationally for the biggest Eastern ever harvested.
Its measurements are as follows: 7 beards totaling 61.75" with 1 5/8" and 1 3/16" spurs. The weight = 18lb 10oz.
It was a pleasure doing my interview with this Virginia hunter who represents our great tradition with passion and pride. Dustin like myself is a Radford University graduate and likes to take his video camera along when in the woods or on the water in order to capture his outdoor experiences.
Make sure you check out some of his videos on youtube-"Property Line Productions" and on facebook.
Jeff Phillips
