April 14 2014
Today is opening day. Got to the farm at 5:30 a.m. Gathered my gear and headed to where I had planned on sitting up. I spooked a deer on the way in. Lucky it did not blow hard. It only let out a soft snort. Got to my spot in the dark. I was hunting a field that my daughter hunted on the youth opener last Saturday. I set out a hen and jake feather flex decoy. As it began to get light I heard a gobble from behind me on the neighbors property. He gobbled three times. A truck coming down a gravel road on the neighbor's property shut that gobbler up. I heard a different gobbler to my left toward the road and was too far to go to. I hooted on my hooter to try a get something to gobble close by. I got no replies. Right when I was about to start calling a gobbler sounded off to my right. I knew right where he was. When he gobbled his fifth gobble I had to go after him. I gather up my dekes and headed toward the gobbler. I crossed the creek and I sneaked up the hill to a small fields edge. He was still gobbling on the roost. He was roosted in a big oak tree on the other side of the field right where I thought he was. I could not get to the fields edge due to it already being to light. I set up by a big oak tree about 20 yards from the fields edge. I called to him with my mouth caller and he gobbled. I waited for him to fly down before I called again. This time I yelped softly on my short box. He would gobble back. His gobbles were muffled. He must be in the woods I thought. His gobbles were getting softer like he was going away. So I cut at him on my mouth caller. He like it. He started coming back to the field. I did a fly down cackled on my slate caller. He loved it and doubled gobbled. Then all of sudden four other gobblers began to gobble back where I was earlier. The gobbler in the field started gobbling more and was on the move. I cut at him and he was getting closer. I could not see him in the field but I knew he was getting closer because I could hear the rattle in his gobbling. After a minute with no gobbles I spied him straight out in the field at about 70 yards. He was moving from my right to left. He would strut and look. He was moving fast in search of the hen that was calling to him from the woods. I moved my gun with him each time he would go behind a tree or bush. When he was to my far left I could see a good opening. But he stopped short of the opening and began to strut. He slowly strutted toward the opening. When he got in the opening he broke strut and stuck his head up. I lined him up and took him. I rushed out to him in the field to my turkey. I stood on his head for a second but he was already gone to turkey heaven. I looked at my watch that my daughter and wife had gave me for fathers day and it was 7:35 a.m. I punched my tag and then began to check out my turkey. He was a heavy bird. The spurs were well over a inch. His beard looked to be over 9". I carried him back to my set up. I took a load of pictures. I was going to take one with me with the timer but I could find the timer setting on my new camera. I then had to find my spent hull. It took my a few minutes to find it. I loaded up my gear and through my turkey over my shoulder and head back to the truck. Got home and showed my wife and daughter my turkey. The final stats: Weight 20 lbs. 9 oz. with 9 ½" beard and 1 ¼" spurs on both legs. I took the gobbler with my Remington 11-87 SPS- T with Indian Creek .665 choke. The ammo was Hevi 13 3" 2 oz. #6"s. The calls I used were Mineral Poplar and Maple short box I got from Jeff McKamey, SS Custom Slate Caller and a Hook's mouth caller.Thank the lord for such a great bird to hunt. It was a beautiful day in the woods. I am very blessed. Sorry no Pictures. My attachments are to big.
