Robb harvests state record turkey

By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
April 2, 2004
John Robb of Philadelphia experienced the hunt of a lifetime last Friday in Neshoba County. What started out as a routine turkey hunt turned into electrifying news that resounded around the state. Robb harvested a turkey that was officially weighed in at 25 pounds, 3 ounces, which surpassed the current state record 24.68-pound turkey that was taken in 2003 in Copiah County.
Robb had hunted this particular turkey for the first time last Wednesday morning. However, the gobbler had a harem of hens that took control of the situation and promptly took him away from the veteran turkey hunter. Not to be outdone however, Robb regrouped and made plans to return to match wits with the gobbler the following Friday.
Arriving at his preferred location before the crack of dawn, Robb got ready for the action to begin. He didn't have to wait long either. Shortly after it started breaking day, the old gobbler sounded out his first gobble, heralding the coming day. As it turned out, Robb had set up within 85 to 90 yards of the King. If it hadn't been pitch dark, he would never have been able to set up that close.
Set up is key
The battlefield was basically a large greenfield area surrounded by cutover and some big pines. The turkeys were roosted in the nearby pines. There was one thing different with this hunt as compared to his previous hunt. This time the hens were north of the gobbler, and John Robb was smack dab in the middle. It just couldn't have been set up any better.
Sometimes it doesn't matter how good a caller you are if you aren't set up properly. If you sit down in an area that the turkey doesn't want to go to, then you might as well be back at the house. However, if you set up in an area that the turkey feels comfortable in, then you stand a good chance of killing him. Robb's woodsmanship skills were more than enough when it came to matching wits and battling this old gobbler.
Using a Primos brown box friction call, Robb sent out some sweet tree yelps to let the turkey know where he was. After a short period of time the big gobbler started really cranking out the gobbles on his on. When the time was right, Robb did a fly down call and the bird couldn't stand it. He came off of the roost and hit the ground. "Once he hit the ground I yelped two or three times and that's all it took," exclaimed the talented turkey expert.
Heavy load
The turkey met his match and master at five minutes till six last Friday morning. When Robb picked up the turkey he knew he had harvested a monster. Now a 25-pound turkey might not seem big to some people, but try toting it a half mile and it gets real heavy in a hurry. Once he got to a store to weigh it, someone told him that they thought that it would beat the current state record of the biggest turkey, by weight, ever killed in Mississippi.
As it turned out this turkey did indeed beat the current state record taken just last year. It also bested his previous best turkey that weighed 22 pounds and had an eleven and three quarter inch beard. This Goliath gobbler had a ten and a quarter inch beard and had spur lengths of one and a half and one and nine sixteenth inches. This was truly a trophy of epic proportions. When the giant gobbler was pictured beside a nineteen-pound gobbler, it really dwarfed the smaller turkey. And a nineteen-pound turkey isn't small.
Robb has only been turkey hunting about nine years now but has really taken to the sport. This veteran hunter might hunt a long time before harvesting another turkey as big as this one. One thing is for sure however; he won't soon forget his battle with old Goliath, a magnum turkey that beat the previous state record turkey by weight. And who knows, old Goliath might have a big brother just waiting in the wings.