Opening day long beard in Tn. Had to work hard for this one!

Isomaad · April 06, 2015, 03:33:49 PM

Here is my opening day bird of 2015. Whooooohoooooo! He gobbled at day break when some crows started going off but he wouldn't gobble back when I would call. He was quite a ways off behind me and up on a steep ridge. I'm assuming he was still on the roost. I kept after him though and at about 9:00 he answered me back with a gobble. It was on! He was still a ways off and I could tell he was working his way closer but he definitely wasn't in any hurry. The ridge is so steep that I couldn't get low enough in my blind to see him because he was still up so high. So, I kept calling and hoping he would find another gear. After about 30 minutes or so it sounded like he was about 60 yards away but he still wasn't low enough for me to see him. Then I heard some cutting and some soft yelps to my right and a couple of hens stepped into view at 25 yards and I started to pour it on then. This really got ole Tom tore up and he added some drumming and spitting to the mix. At this point I knew he was close enough to see my decoys but apparently he wasn't looking for a fight. I think he wanted my hen decoy (Aphrodite) to come to him. I kept cutting and yelping though and he finally came into view. He was puffed up like a toad and drumming and spitting like crazy. I'd call and he'd gobble. At this point, we were only about 25 yards apart but I couldn't get him to come out of full strut. The only time he wanted to stick his head out was when he would gobble. He just kept strutting back and fourth drumming and spitting. To make matter worse I was on one side of a dry creek bed and he was on the other. There was also a lot of limbs and brush piled in the creek. Finally at 10:14, he stretched that noggin up just a little too high and I let the Hevi's fly. Down for the count! Man, he made me work for it and he put on one heck of a show. It has to be the most exciting solo hunt I've ever had. Sorry for such a drawn out story, but trust me...this IS the short version. Lol! He weighed 20lbs with a 10" beard and 1" spurs. Shot him with my 930 Turkey with an Indian Creek BDS .660 and Hevi 3-2-7's.