Old Dominion gobbler down!

[trkehunr93]

Gave one the dirt nap this morning!  The VA season opened this past Saturday and it ended up being a quiet morning, today was a complete opposite.  I was on this group of turkeys since daylight this morning, I got up from my listening spot about 6:30 to move up the ridge so I could hear better when I hear a hen cluck not 20 yards from me to my right and then a bird gobbles.  I say holy crap and get in tight behind a big Virginia pine.  I can see a bird on the limb so I just keep trees between us and make a slip around to the left so I can get up higher.  While doing this I run into more hens roosted above me so I pull a fall hunting move and bust them off the roost hoping thats 2 less hens I have to deal with.  I get set up above where I think the gobbler is at and it goes quiet for a bit, I do a flydown and I get a response below me, I call he gobbles.  I hear something walking up the ridge and then I see a red, white and blue head below me and he clucks once goes behind a pine and walks away.  I call again and he gobbles and I think you don't sound  like your grown up yet, I start hearing real coarse yelps and clucks and I say, jake!  Well the dumb bird walks by me again this time from my right and goes out of sight, gobbles and then starts yelping and clucking.  He comes by again this time from the left and drops out of sight, I say to myself I know for a fact the first gobble was a mature bird so I put in a mouth call, grab my wings and proceed to imitate a no holds barred turkey fight.  They go nuts below me and I finally see a full fan about 60 yards below me and he works to within 50 yards but drops out of sight.  I call again and finally I get a gobble but these turkeys have moved into a creek bottom about 150 yards below me.  I decide to ease down there to close the distance only to have them keep moving away as I moved closer.  I finally hear a hen cackle and I know they are crossing the creek and going into the field on the other side so I double back and end up having to drive down the road to reposition.  I park at the opposite end of the field and slip into some cedars, I belly crawl and put a hen decoy out in front of me and I see 2 gobblers, 1 jake and 6-7 hens in the field.  One of the gobblers is off by himself and is closer to me so I start calling and he slowly starts my way, gobbling every few minutes.  He only gets to within 50-60 yards and decides to go back with the rest of the flock, not sure he could see my decoy or not.  I ease down and belly crawl past the opening I hoped he would come to and decide that if they won't come to me, I'm going to them so I sneak down the creek bank about 40 yards and and peep into the field but they are still to far away.  I ease down 30 more yards and peep over the bank and I see the dominant bird ( didn't mention I got to watch him breed a hen about 15 minutes prior) at 25-30 yards so I get my gun up and as I stand up I see the gobbler I was trying to call across the field standing at the edge about 15 yards from me so I shoot at him and miss, I pump in another shell and shoot again and this time connect.  I scoped my 835 this past summer so this is the first bird I have shot with it on it, gonna take some getting used too, but it worked out.  9AM and a nice two year old gobbler to ride home with me, I know this is long but I did alot with this flock to make this kill happen and I didn't want to leave out any details.  My two year old said it best, "Daddy shot a too-too" when I showed it to him. 

[davisd9]

Man that sounds like an exciting hunt!  Glad you got one!  How many tags you got left after this and the fall?

[JVA54]

  Congrats!!

[trkehunr93]

Man that sounds like an exciting hunt!  Glad you got one!  How many tags you got left after this and the fall?

Still have two tags, we get three per year.  Fall hunting was TOUGH here in VA, we had a near complete mast failure this fall.  Which surprises me as this gobbler weighed 21 lbs., saw another that was killed that weighed over 22 lbs.  Not sure what they survived on, likely buds off of yellow poplars.  To say the least my heart was pounding and I was drenched with sweat from all the moves I had to make.

[WV Ridge Reaper]

Sounds like you was on a mission this morning !!!

I talked to a guy today that hunts VA and he said it has been really quite where he hunts at.

Great job and nice shirt!!

[boomer]

Congrats!!

[trkehunr93]

Sounds like you was on a mission this morning !!!

I talked to a guy today that hunts VA and he said it has been really quite where he hunts at.

Great job and nice shirt!!

I didn't have to be at work until 12:30 so I was going down swinging and it paid off.  I like to call them into the gun but if they won't play the game I don't hesitate to go to them as long as the terrain allows it.  I'm a big fan of original Trebark, found that shirt on clearance a couple of years ago in sportsmans guide.  Opening day was really quiet.