Season start?

[HillclimberWV]

I went to a farm i had scouted prior to season and knew had some birds. They liked to work a large field that has trees on 3 sides and a large knoll in the middle so you cant see the oposing tree lines.

I didnt get a chance to roost the night before so i was going in somewhat blind. I recently picked a new jake decoy to help with taking kids so i thought id try it out. I've never really used decoys so it was a new experience for me. I made my setup at the base of a big red oak And put my decoy 20 yards into the field.

As daylight approached i could hear
at least 2 gobblers on the same side of the field i was on but they were on a neighbors property i didnt have access to. There was also another gobbler on the opposite side of the field to me. I was effectively between the gobblers but both had a lot of ground to cover to get to me.

After flydown the gobbler on the opposite side of the field went quiet. The gobblers on the neighbors property stayed vocal but started drifting farther away from me. I made the decision to stand up and start working back around to the other side of the field. I left the decoy where i had sat it up figured id come back for it later.

I didnt make it 20 yards before the gobbler fired off on his own and he was now on my side. He had already looped around the edge of the field and was now maybe 80 yards from me. I didnt think i could make it back to my original setup so i sat down under another large tree that unfortunately had a rose bush at the bottom of it.

I called again the gobbler and he had closed the distance in half. He quickly came in to view but while i was trying to range him he caught sight of the decoy that was now about 35 yards behind me. He immediately popped strut and started marching towards the decoy. I only had a short window before that rose bush was going to be between me and him and i coukdnt get him to stop.

As he strutted by me only 5 yards away spitting and drumming as he went. I had to wait until he was past me and had his fan between me and him to rise to my knees and turn. I then wait a few seconds for him to   circle the decoy i called to him once to break strut before i pulled the trigger.

[JeffC]

Thats awesome, I bet that if I had a Tom at 5yds, he would hear be breathing heavy, heart pounding out of my chest. Great write up, Congrats again! Are you still hunting or tagged out?

[HillclimberWV]

Ive still got one tag in WV then PA starts in a couple weeks.

[Muzzy61]

I'm on the board. Will get pictures and a score up tonight.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Congrats !

[lacire]

Great job austin! was it an up grade? is that the call you made?? Give us some story or details.

Yes he was a few points more, working on resizing the pics now to post them. Also yes, that's one of my pot calls, and also my late poppa's box call and my late papaw's old browning. I struck that bird at 10 am with the box call, approximately 500 yards down ridge from me, on other side of a drain. I made a move towards him,  but he never would answer me again, but gobbled at every crow and he was steadily moving up the drain, headed towards a saddle about 700 yards frome me, so I moved up the ridge and took off trying to get a head of him. Right ad I started down ridge into the saddle he gobbled, on the saddle,  I was about 100 yards and called to him but no response. For the next 20 minutes he gobbled 15-20 times at crows, but wouldn't answer me,  but I could hear him drumming so I knew he was interested,  so I went silent on him.  After 8-10 minutes he'd gobbled on his own twice looking for me, but I didn't respond. Next time he gobbled was at a crow, going down drain on the other side of the saddle... so I called and no response, but he gobbled at a crow in a few minutes and was still going down that other side of the drain. So I got up and looped down the opposite drain and made a big loop to get in front of him. Thankfully there was plenty of crows keeping him gobbling while I made the move, finally got around in front of him and was roughly 100 yards, I hit him with a few soft yelps from my crystal call and nothing... 30-40 seconds later a crow sounded off and he gobbled, definitely closer! Then i could hear him drumming, and he gobbled on his own,  I clicked and purred at him with the crystal 3-4 times and he gobbled, MUCH closer, so I sat the call down and got ready. In about 3 minutes and 4-5 gobbles and drumming later, I got sight of him at about 50 yards. He gobbled looking for me, and was searching hard, then he broke and kept coming My way, I knew this gun was deadly at 40 yards, but I was going to let him get as close as he would.  He got to about 35 and started moving parallel to my left, so i was following him with the bead as he was moving in and out of trees, well he popped out in an opening  and stopped and periscoped his head up and I decided that that was enough and pulled the trigger! He folded up and barely even flopped,  that ol gun rocked him really good lol. Just a cool deal to kill one with something from each of my grandfather's with me and finished him with a call I built. 

Nice bird and you shot him with one of my favorite guns, congratulations 

[lacire]

I'm on the board. Will get pictures and a score up tonight.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

I'm on the board. Will get pictures and a score up tonight.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Congrats !

I'm on the board. Will get pictures and a score up tonight.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

I've only shot one that could hang from a limb like that, congratulations on a good bird 

[austinc]

I drew a tag for another state and got to make that trip this weekend. Had an area in mind I hunted 2 years ago but hadn't been back to since. Anyways Sunday afternoon I left about 4 pm and made the 10 hour drive, got to the spot I wanted at 2 am. I slept in the truck til 5:20ish and then started getting dressed and ready. 5:58 walking in I hear 2 birds lighting it up, game on! I knew exactly where they were and made a move and was setup by 6:10. I sat quietly just listening to these 2 birds light it up about 80 yards in front of me. At 6:28 I heard some hens yelping, it was right at flydown and I decided I should probably call and see what they do. Right as I yelped a bird hammered to my left not 60 yards away, on the ground! I called a couple more times and him and the other 2 would gobble, and he was close, but I couldn't see him, he was just over the lip of a hill. At 6:35 I saw his red head poke over and here he came. Took the first shot I got, and filled my tag in under 30 minutes of hunting for 20 hours round trip... but damn it was fun!

[JeffC]

Great job austin, guess you will be making more of those calls!?! I dont think I could drive that far on no sleep, the 2am wake up and hour plus drive I do now is really taking a toll, getting old sucks. Enjoy it while you can.

[JeffC]

Great job on the upgrade austin! Great pictures with an outstanding story and effort!!

[austinc]

Great job austin, guess you will be making more of those calls!?! I dont think I could drive that far on no sleep, the 2am wake up and hour plus drive I do now is really taking a toll, getting old sucks. Enjoy it while you can.

Oh I was dragging at work all day today lol. 20 hours of driving on 3 hours of sleep was tough, but I'd do it tomorrow if I could! I still got 1 tag left for AR and our season goes out this weekend, so I'll be trying again. On the calls, I've made and sold about 25 this spring, and I've got 6 other people wanting calls, but they're gonna have to wait til after season. I know of 17 turkeys that have died to them this spring, so it's been a great year for me!

[austinc]

I went this morning with a buddy, we had 2 gobblers and a jake get to 50 yards and see something they didn't like.  One Gobbler was a GIANT, but I couldn't make a move to try and shoot him. We let them ease off and circled around them and ended up bumping them for good that time 

[JeffC]

At least you are finding Toms you can hunt austin, stay after him, good luck with him. Thanks for the up-date.

I went back to same area yesterday where I got lucky Monday, went to area a little South of roost. Nothing there, heard gobbling North of me on private. Both roost sites were quiet. I jumped into truck to head to areas deeper into the WMA, didnt see many trucks drive thru in dark. Was able to get a picture of one big Tom who was gobbling and strutting for a hen. Not a full smokey phase but had a lot of gray/ white feathers. Of coarse he was on private. Did a little scouting, rain started, nothing. Headed to truck for rain gear, decided to look at area I was on opening day, no one there, went into back where there is a field, sat, scouted till 11ish, nothing. Going to try another new area Monday. 

[GobbleNut]

You guys are killin' it this year! (pun intended)  Congrats to all...