went to ol faithful (my favorite hunting place) this morning. it is public but i do dang good there. well heard a few gobbling around. so i drove to another spot. didnt hear any so i went to another didnt hear any so i went to another and walked up to glass the fields. you can see for about 2 miles. creek bottom runs through it and wooded finger ridges jut out from the main ridges. it is an awesome spot. i start my scan and spotted birds immediatly. one strutter and 8 hens. they are about a mile off but i can tell he has a full fan. he is is a decent spot to get at him. i know the place well and know how to get on him.
so i scan the rest of what i can see then go back to watch him. he folds strut and starts to feed. then streches up and turns broadside to have a look around.
holy cow. is that? yep it is. his beard is so thick i could see it at close to a mile with 10 power binocs. it looks exceptionally long as well.
while watching him a bird gobbled across the road from where i was. so all in all i located at least 4 birds. all of this on a cool windy over cast with slight rain showers morning.....