Western Nebraska Report

[nebgoosehunter]

I am finally on the board for 2021! It has been a very frustrating and hard season so far for me.  My first hunt of the season for archery I hit a bird at 8 yards and my arrow literally bounced off the wing after I hit it just a little back.  Walked away unscathed.  Since then, it has been all down hill with some bad luck, but plenty of opportunities and run-ins with gobblers.  This morning I was hunting a small 60 acre patch of timber (ponderosa pines and some cedar/juniper) next to a larger property that I've had permission on in the past. The son who I always get permission from said that his mom and grandma shut their property down because they have some elk that moved in and they wanted to keep them around. He laughed about it and wished he could give me permission, but said hopefully next year. Well anyway, that limits my hunting to an extent because they usually don't roost on the property that I had permission on. Beings that I needed to get to work by 8:00 I knew I had my work cut out for me, unless they actually roosted on my side. They did not and once I got into the timber to the property line I could tell there were some roosted in a traditional roost site maybe 600 from me according to OnX and then maybe two more gobblers roosted maybe 1000 yards away, so plenty far. I could barely hear them on the roost the way it was and then they went quiet once they hit the ground. I thought it was going to be nearly impossible to call them from that far away with a good breeze in a short amount of time. The only way I thought it might work is if I move up and down the property line calling and making it seem like the hen is moving around. After 30-45 minutes of doing that the birds that were roosting closest seemed like maybe they were getting closer as I could get them to respond to my diaphragm call, but not my box call. I think they held up a few hundred yards away still it seemed so I thought I'd work down the fence line again and call some more. I got maybe 70 yards from where I had just been sitting and hear a lone gobble from the direction of the far roosted birds, but it seemed very close to where I just was. Once again I thought I had just screwed up the hunt and my bad luck continued. I got hid behind some pines and cedars on my knees and he appeared over a rise maybe 100 yards away. He was coming right at me fairly fast, but would stop and strut every 25 yards or so. He got to 16 yards and it was all over. I'm convinced had I taken a decoy he probably would have seen it and hung up far and just strutted for it, but with no decoy he came looking for the sound. It happened very fast, from the time I first heard him gobble to the time I shot him was probably three minutes. I found a bonus elk shed too to cap off a great morning! I am heading up to my Pine Ridge ranch this Friday through Sunday. Should be a great time up there as well!

[FLGobstopper]

Congrats on archery success! Love them white tipped birds.

[nebgoosehunter]

Thanks!  This one was with a gun.  I only went out twice for archery before shotgun season opened.

[Yoteduster]

Congrats on a nice gobbler

[joey46]

Congrats!

[JeffC]

Congrats , great picture.

[goblr77]

Congrats on doing it the right way.

[Swenny]

Attaboy

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[WV Flopper]

Pretty bird,, nice.

[GobbleNut]

Great picture!  I, for one, really appreciate the guys that "honor" the bird after the hunt by taking the time to set-up a good photograph with their gobbler in a unique and picturesque setting.  Well done!

[nebgoosehunter]

Great picture!  I, for one, really appreciate the guys that "honor" the bird after the hunt by taking the time to set-up a good photograph with their gobbler in a unique and picturesque setting.  Well done!

I agree.  Every gobbler is a trophy, so why not turn the memory of the hunt into a picture that you will always remember.  Thanks for the comments everyone!  I'm looking forward to getting up to the Pine Ridge this afternoon and getting back in the field.  Can't wait to have my heart pumping again from a gobbler coming in!   

[nebgoosehunter]

*Long report so skip ahead if this doesn't interest you.  We got back from our Pine Ridge trip Sunday afternoon and had a wonderful time.  We got to our camp at about 4:00 on Friday afternoon and were only 15 minutes into setting up camp and heard a gobble only 300 some yards from camp.  We dropped what we were doing and changed into our gear and headed out after him.  We snuck up behind a little crest in a hill and could hear hens out there also.  We got sat down and started calling and instantly had two toms coming right at our calling.  I was up first so I was going to try and shoot both if they came in.  They got to 30 yards and stopped, so I pulled the trigger when both heads were lined up and all I heard was a click.  I ejected that shell out quickly, but they spooked and I took a shot as they were running away with no luck.  I was pretty upset after that.  There was a fair amount of gobbling that first evening but we didn't have any other close encounters.  The next morning we tried getting in on a roost with several gobblers but they flew down the opposite way across a big canyon so we didn't even go chase them.  It didn't take long however to find a small group of two toms and three hens.  We got set up again along a road through a clump of trees in not the most ideal spot, but it would be just fine if he came all the way in.  I had one of the two gobblers fired up pretty good and the other four birds just left but he stuck around.  They were out over 150 yards away and I could see him across the meadow.  He started coming in very slow, but as soon as those other birds left he picked up his pace slightly.  Once he got to about 60 yards I couldn't see him anymore, but I got him to respond twice and I could tell he was still coming.  Luckily he came right to the road in the trees and as soon as I saw his fan my heart was racing big time!  He got to 24 yards and gave me a good shot with his head raised and I put him down with the 20 gauge.  He was a beautiful bird and I couldn't have been happier!  I shot him at 7:00 and we heard maybe one gobble from 8:00 until 5:15 that evening.  We hunted until noon and then went to town for lunch and then sat in camp from 1:30 until 5:15 when we decided to go after that bird.  He was pretty hot and fired up and all alone so I thought we had a good chance.  We got sat down quickly and he started slowly strutting in.  He was tough to see because there were a lot of pines between him and us but we finally saw him about 60 yards out but he hung up.  We aren't sure why but he just didn't want to come so he turned around and walked off.  We thought maybe that was a time a decoy would have worked.  We were able to get out and in front of him and found him in a meadow feeding along.  I called once and he sprinted right at us.  As soon as he crested the hill at 30 yards my buddy thought he was going to turn away so he shot.  He is not sure what happened but he missed.  He was pretty dejected, but I knew the feeling as I just experienced something similar the day before.  We got on one more tom about a half hour before sundown that was strutting for us, but wouldn't come off his one hen.  We were pretty beat, so we didn't put a lot of effort in Sunday morning.  Birds on the roost flew the opposite direction over another canyon again.  We found a lone tom, that was pretty talkative, but practically ran from us the whole time we were after him.  He kept responding to my calling but just wouldn't stop so we gave up and decided to pack up camp early.  We did some calling on the way out of the property and got a response 175 yards from the truck over a hill.  We got out and buzzed over there quick and there was a lone tom feeding in a meadow while walking.  We tried calling to see if he would come and he stopped.  He went into half strut but would not come so we tried a fan and that didn't work either.  He eventually fed off and we decided to call it a hunt.  It was a lot of work but a great time for both of us!  Our phones said we probably hiked around 25 miles so we were plenty tired, but I can't wait to do it again next year!

[GobbleNut]

     Again, great pics and story.  Hope to make it up that way next year....

[AndyN]

Which shell were you shooting when the "click" happened? I've had two winchester longbeards do that on birds. Both light primer strikes with my M2 and yes the bolt was completely closed. I shoot at least 600rds of various ammo through it every year with zero issues except the longbeards. Can't decide if its a shell issue or if I just need to put a heavier hammer spring in it.

[JeffC]

Great job getting 2nd bird. Congrats again.