VA bird...4-22-16

[Vaturkeyhntr]

FINALLY...FINALLY....FINALLY the birds started acting right.  The birds here have been so henned up it has just been plain bad hunting!!!  I've chased this bird around for a few days the opening week, only to have his hens take him away everyday.  This morning I went back in and waited in an area that would put me between 2 spots he has been roosting.  Around that magical time I heard a bird way off and thought jeez here we go again.  As I slowly slipped toward that bird I stopped just before the ridge I was on dropped into a ravine and goes back up the other side very steep.  I hooted to get an exact location on the bird I had heard and unknown to me the original bird I was planning on hunting thundered back not 100 yards to my right.  NEW PLAN!!, I quickly set up and was happy with the set up since I watched this bird strut here the opening week before being beaten up by a group of 9 jakes.  Well as it got lighter he starts rolling off the gobbles and of course pitches down on the other side of the steep ravine.  I watched him strut and gobble for the next half hour and with all the gobbling he was doing he got another bird fired up further down the ridge.  After both birds dropped back behind the top of the ridge I quickly got across the ravine and up where they both had been strutting.  My first set of yelps were answered by one of the birds but it seemed he was heading the opposite direction, back the way he had originally come.  After a few more calls and gobbles it seemed he might come back.  I went quiet and waited for him to make the next move.  After a few minutes of silence I let out a soft Yelp and unknown to me but the original bird I was closest to off the roost was still in the same area and gobbled back about 80 yards in front of me.  After a couple minutes I hear a bird cluck a couple times and realize some jakes are coming right towards me.  All of a sudden the group of birds start running right towards me and I see the longbeard in front being chased by 4 jakes.  They ran him right up to 20 yards and it was over.  FINALLY a morning he had no hens with him and with the help of a couple mean jakes, the bird that had run me up and down these huge ridges here was dead.

20lbs, 10 1/4 beard, 1 1/8 spurs




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[SteelerFan]

Congrats!! *When it's right... IT'S RIGHT! 

[Happy]

Congrats! Glad to see determination pay off. Been frustrated the last two days myself with henned up birds.

[SS Calls]

Congrats. Been pretty much the same here for the last week.

[Dr Juice]

Congrats. That's a smoker for sure.

[longbeard11]

Great bird!!!! Congrats!!! Beautiful big fan

[Greg Massey]

Great job , nice bird..

[JLH]

Congrats on a fine bird.....great story, just like being there!

[mgm1955]

Congrats!!

[owlhoot]

Congrats , nice one 

[Hookinembig]

Congrats on the fine bird. And way to finally get it done!!!

[tomstopper]

Nice bird. Congrats