Very long read. For those not so good at reading I have included some pictures.
Day 1
I started opening morning with my pops and of course the birds that have been doing the same thing for two weeks did the exact opposite on opening morning and left us shaking our heads, Oh well. Dad heading back to my house to spend the afternoon with my mom and my little boy. Griffin met up with me at my club and we went on a multiple mile stroll to finally strike a gobbler 300 yds from the clubhouse at 230 pm. He gobbled 10 times in under 5 minutes and closed the gap from 300 to 150 just to shut up. We gave him some time and he never showed, so we walked over to where he was to see if he hung up on something. Looked like he should have came right down the road we were on so just for shits and giggle I hit the call again and he gobbled 200 yds the other direction and was now in a food plot 100 yds behind the camp. We eased over there to no avail. Griffin had to roll back to town so I decided to go sit a field and take a nap. I set out a strutter and hen decoy and settled in, soft calling every 30 minutes or so. About an hour into it this small jake wondered out and messed around with the decoys for about 20 minutes.
He was fun to watch but kind of snapped me out of my mid afternoon nap mode. About an hour later I look across the field and see a turkey standing there. I ease up the binos and see a red head with a beard hanging. Game on!! I hit the call and he cut me off. I could watch his head go from red to snow white. He started easing across the field, strutting and gobbling the whole way. He got to about 80 yds and broke out of strutt and sprinted to the decoy, I love it when they do that. I settled the speed bead on his head and let him have it. The rest with him is history.
Day 2
This day dad and I started on a powerline and heard a few birds quite a ways off and nothing really came of the morning hunt. When we got back to camp we spotted a stud in a field with 11 hens. We decided to try a DixieDeerSlayer ninja sneak move. Eased into position in the direction they were heading. I saw heads starting to come into the woods and figured we had pulled it off but the group had split up and 6 hens came by me and the other 5 led the gobbler off the other direction.
Day 3
Dad and I eased in the birds from opening day and got set up real early in their bedroom based off where we heard them opening morning. He was right where he was supposed to be. Roosted about 80 yds from dad gobbling his head off. There was also another bird down in a bottom about 150yds out. The bird flew down in the road and Dad could see him going in and out of strutt. The gobbler started easing down the road to dad and when he was just about in range he cut into the pines and went around him. I started calling then but there was no bringing him back. We get up to get around him but he gobbles way ahead of us and we think there is no getting around him. I hit the call anyway and the original bird gobbles 60 yds in the woods next us, we immediately sit down. The other gobble I heard was a different bird. This bird is hammering the call but follows a hen that crosses in front of me at about 50yds, he was just not close enough for a good shot. He walks off toward the other gobbling bird that is in a small field. We ease up that way to see where to set up in the am to cut these birds off. As we are standing there looking at the spot for the am, the longbeard steps out in the road in strut 40 yds from us. I throw the gun up and he moves to the right to go back in the woods and I shoot an miss. I go running up there to find no bird, I regret taking the shot and hope I didn't hurt the bird. There were no feathers and dad said he saw a bird flying so I am hoping it was a clean miss behind the bird. In the meantime, I look up at the little field were the other bird was gobbling from and he is still strutting out there with 10 or so hens and gobbling like nothing ever happened. I could not believe it. We ease out and I figure I will come back in the morning.
Day 4
Dad had to head back to NC so I was going solo this am. I woke up to a rainy morning but figured I had the birds dialed in so why net get a little wet. I get to the property and find myself sitting in the truck watching the radar, the clock, and the sky lightning. It was not easing up and I was running out of time to get to where I needed to without blowing the birds off the roost. I am going to get soaking wet. Well, I get down to where I need to be and wait for the woods to come alive. Birds were late but finally started gobbling. I had a the bird that was roosted in the bottom roosted behind me in a different spot along the little field, and the bird I missed the day before roosted almost in the same spot except right over top of the road that I walked in on. I was very happy to hear him and know that I did not cripple him. They are lighting it up. Then the hens start and they are all directly above me and have no clue I am there. I figure this just may be worth getting wet for me. Well, a lot of gobbling ensued and the bird behind me never left the field because most of the hens flew right to him and the bird on the road, walked the opposite way from yesterday and right out to another field. I sat there trying to get the bird behind me to leave the field to no avail and now I am WET and it has become personal. I am now consumed by these birds and they must die.
Day 5 (Today)
I am pissed off because I am supposed to guide some fellas this am and can't get after my birds that are all I can't think about now. I show up and there are 5 guides for 1 hunter. I get paid either way so the boys tell me to go get my bird, they will figure out who is going to take the one sport. I hop in the truck but am way behind schedule, I figure oh well, I will make the best of it. I get to the property at 705, way late. I ease down to the road and go as far as I think I can without bumping the first gobbler off the roost. If he goes the way he went yesterday I will kill him. Well, 725 or so comes and still no gobbles. Finally the bird let's loose and he is roosted in the exact same tree. My heart start pumping. 10 or so hens fly down in the road in front of me and walk towards the gobbler. He flys down and I can hear him spitting and drumming. A few minutes go by and I can hear the hens walking off the other way and his spitting is getting fainter and fainter. I decide to hit the call for the first time this morning as a last resort figuring I have nothing to loose. He cuts me off (first time he gobbled on the ground this am), leaves the hens, and comes running around the corner to look for me. He makes the bend, stops on a dime, sees there is no hen in the road, and turns to go the other way. I sent the 6's his way and he hit the ground. This part I wish someone could have videoed. I get up to run to the bird and quickly realize my right leg is paralyzed and I hit the ground, damn near face first. The bird is still flopping and the best I can do is hop 10 steps and then hold the gun on him till feeling came back to my leg.
The other bird that is still out there is a stud and he is next on my list.
It has been a very fun season so far!
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