Wisconsin has been really tough. My buddy and I drove through the night to arrive in time to hunt Friday morning. The weather was terrible. Wet and foggy with gusty winds. We didn’t hear anything off the roost but shortly after fly down we heard a gobble but never managed to locate the bird after that. We covered lots of ground and later in the morning finally located a bird a long way away. We eventually closed the distance but he was in a field on private and wasn’t willing to leave. Still a successful first morning. My cousin (who I normally travel with) was set to arrive that night along with his dad and a family friend. Meaning total we had 5 hunters and 2 vehicles. Due to my good luck this year and the fact that my uncle and his friend have had a tough season I told them they were welcome to go hunt those birds I had located and we would head somewhere else trying to find birds. I went the next 3 mornings without hearing a gobble on the limb. My uncles friend killed a bird and my uncle hunted another every day but could never seal the deal due to many factors including several other hunters. My uncle and his friend hunted Sunday morning and then had to head back home. I didn’t have any other birds located so I decided I’d try my luck on this pressured bird I had found the first morning. Sunday night rolls around and all of a sudden I’m sick as a dog. Body aches and throwing up all night. Finally at 1:00 I’m able to fall asleep and have to wake up at 2:45 in order to drop my cousin at his spot and still get to my area in time. To say I was struggling was an understatement. Luckily my uncle had told me the area the bird had been roosted the previous morning because it was very windy. I sat there in the dark waiting on daylight just hoping to hear a bird and actually get to hunt one. Around 4:55 when the wind slowed down for a second I owl hooted and was pretty sure I heard a gobble down in the woods. I waited a minute and the bird gobbles on his own about 175 yards away. Because I knew this bird had been really pressured and because we had a strong wind my strategy was to slip very close to him on the limb. Using the wind to cover our sound and movement my buddy and I closed the distance to about 75 yards and got set up without him knowing we were there. He’s gobbling really good at this point and seems to be desperate for a hen. I give him two soft clucks and he literally gobbles for so long he chokes at the end. After clucking to him he clearly turned and faced our way and continued gobbling. About 25 minutes later I could tell he was facing away again so I gave another soft cluck and he turned back my direction and began gobbling more frequently. We repeated this process one more time and it was light enough I knew he should be hitting the ground soon. At this point I’ve been set up on the side of this hill facing along the side of it for about an 50 minutes and I’m really struggling. Body aching, drainage running down my throat and a head ache. When the wind would gust good and strong I’d sometimes manage to clear my throat a little. Finally I see the gobbler in the air and based on his path he is going to land in range. Exactly what I had hoped would happen. He did land in range but managed to do it behind 2 trees in pretty much the only place I couldn’t see. I don’t move a muscle. Don’t make a sound. Before long he gobbles right where he landed. A couple minutes go by and he gobbles in the same area. I’m really sweating bullets at this point but I’m scared to call cause he’s only 50 yards away and surely has to step out from behind these trees at some point. After what seemed like forever but in reality was probably 1 minute or so, he gobbled and I could tell he was going to come out on the down hill side of the trees. Finally he appears and is just staring hard looking for this hen he heard. He came out slightly higher than I expected and my sight was basically settled on his toes. He’s being very cautious and startling for 15-20 seconds then taking one or two steps my direction. After about a minute of this I’m afraid he is going to get back behind the trees where he landed because all he needs is a couple steps to my left. I decide to try and kill him right there. He’s on high alert so is start a 4 Yelp sequence and as soon as the second Yelp passes my lips I raise the gun from his toes and settle it on his head. He barely even flinched before I pulled the trigger and ended this amazing season in grand fashion
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