I killed #3 yesterday in west GA - off the roost shortly after fly down...all 3 kills this season have gone this way!
I was hunting some private land in west GA that I have the privilege of hunting - a place my sister hooked me up with last year. It is a great place. Day 1 (Thursday) was no good - they were not gobbling much at all and I was worried about the possible hunting pressure since others have been hunting there. Plus, a railroad logging crew was making a ton of noise in the corner of the property where the gobblers tend to be. So, I realized that they had moved up the "mountain". Friday I took my son in hopes of landing him his first bird. I called in a Jake and some how he saw us and putted away then gobbled just out of sight. Then he and 1-2 more birds started gobbling for a whole hour just out of sight, but I couldn't get them to come back. I almost got my son a bird.
So, this showed me the ridge line on the high side of the property is where they are probably roosting. I get to the property yesterday morning at day break (my son slept in) and make the trek up the "mountain" - it's at least 1/2 mile up to the area where I want to listen. I'm walking and take a breather when I hear my first gobbles, so I pick up the pace - it's getting light out. I get to the top and do a hoot call and he gobbles near by! I get off the road into the woods in that general direction and setup. He is gobbling on his own now and I break out my Supreme Talking Dirty pot call and play few notes and he hammers back! Game on, he knows where I'm at now. I switch to my Primos mouth call and play a few notes and he hammers back! It's looking pretty good at this point. Shortly after I see him and get the camcorder ready to record. He comes in and hammers at approx. 80 yards and hammers again at 40 yards (or less) and keeps moving to my right, which isn't good because I have to reposition to get a bead on him. I was afraid I would get busted and I'm starting to worry he is getting too close (might miss at close range). I can hear the spitting and drumming at this point and I love those sounds (my second time hearing them)! He finally moves behind a big enough tree so I can move on him and BOOM! Big bird down - no flop at approx. 15 yards!
I put a beating on him since he was so close...he bleed out a lot.
Here is the video (play it in HD if you have the speed):http://www.youtube.com/embed/BWfiRqUVXKAListen for him to break a stick and then boom at the end, and he gobbles twice before all that!
Stats:
Killed at approx. 7:08AM on Saturday April 23rd, 2011
20.0 lbs. (yeah, he was getting very heavy toward the end of the walk down)
1 inch spurs
10 inch beard
A nice 2-year old gobbler!
It has been a great/blessed season!
Now I'm going to try and get my son a bird and take my wife for the first time before our season ends here in the low country.
