Friend called me asking about the 410. Pointed him here and figured I'd just update this thread going forward. 2nd Bird last year.
It was hot. They were quiet. I knew where they wanted to be. I had been sitting for 6hrs and ran out of water. Went into town to grab some more, drove by the field just in case. And they were in it. 15 minutes more is all I had to wait. Zero chance of getting in front of them unseen based on property lines & permissions received.
Then I remembered - I have ALL the gimmicky crap in the back of my truck that I pretty much never use. I unpack this stuff every year from the tote in the attic, put it in the truck, and then pack it back up at the end of the year. unused Now was the time!
Attached the fan to the barrel, put on the string pull call, strapped on the shoulder rest...and started crawling. 3 were in the field. 2 saw me and didn't like it, headed for the trees. One started to follow them and then gave me a look. He wasn't in the mood to run away. For every bit of 30 minutes I watched this guy strut, spit and drum his way over while I was working him with the pull string & fan. Every second I assumed I'd be busted and couldn't believe what I was doing was actually working on this bird. By now I was in the middle of the field prone. At 15yds I could take it no more and sent some tss down range.
Hands down, the most memorable turkey hunt I've had to-date. And I was glad for every piece of that gimmicky stuff I brought along for the ride. 410 strikes again.
