Yesterday it was a gorgeous morning. Cool crisp, cristal clear and not too breezy. Gobble time comes and nothing.. zip.. not a peep! Couldn't believe it, not even a far off gobble that makes you second guess the direction.. nothing! Well I'm not much on sittin still so I start to cover ground. Walked a big circle, glassed some fields, sat and called some.. yet to hear a gobble or see a turkey. 10 o'clock or so and its downright windy at this point. I'm walking back towards where the truck is to check some fields in the other direction and continue trying to locate a bird when I yelp once and think I hear a bird answer.. yelp again.. nope. I keep walking in the direction I suspected it came from when he gobbles again on his own, confirming what I heard. I get over to the field edge, with a narrow strip of woods, then asphault road and him in the woods on the other side. I call a little and he likes it. Gobbling on his own a bit as well. Looking everywhere for a place to sit and just can't get a comfortable spot, and really don't like the idea of him being so close as soon as he comes across the road. Sounds like he moved away a little so I back out, run down towards my truck and cut into the woods on the other side right across from my truck. Only moved 50 yards into the woods and sat down at a tree, yelped and he was all over it, gobbling with even more enthusiasm than before. I got him worked up then shut up. It wasn't long before he was working my way. There's a nice open holly/oak flat about 50-60 yards out from me with some thick swampy area between it and me. Of course he hits that flat and struts and struts and struts. As he starts working away, I yelp, then break into a fast cutting sequence and the entire time he's gobbling his brains out, I finish calling and he triple gobbles on his own, then gobbles again, and again. Then he shuts up and I watch as he breaks strut and starts my way. He picks his way through the swampy area, I pass some decent shots at 40 yards due to brush and wait him out. He is steady moving to my right and I move a little each time he goes behind a tree.. seemed like the next 15 yards I never got real a shot oppurtunity. Now he's boardering on being close and I see my window, when he goes behind the next tree I'll move and shoot him on the other side.. he steps behind the tree and I make my move, only he never pops out.. I lean back a little and see him standing on the left side still with his head tall looking at me.. slowly get the gun on him and at 20yards seal his fate at 10:25. Flopped back into the water and got a little soggy.
Gotta love a lonely 2year old.
20lbs 2oz
9 3/4" beard
3/4" spurs
This morning another gorgeous day. Heard a bird gobbling way out there (same bird Bonce heard) and started to head after it. He never really gobbled to me directly and soon his gobbling slowed and he went quiet. Can't say I ever really got close to him. I keep in that direction and worked around the woods some to no avail. At one point I had a hen yelp back to me, so I sat for a bit hoping she had a boyfriend. After a while and her not showing I hear a bird gobble across the street. I get to it and get to the other side, notice a truck parked where I had just come out of which potentially was my hen (sounded pretty good if it was I must say). I can't get a gobble out of him, but I ease my way up to the field I suspect he's in and see him out there strutting for 4 hens. Soon I get the "Lbd" text from Bonce, which only motivates me to get it done. I call to them, and he stretches up, struts my way, but then goes to his hens who are walking away towards the back of the field.. There's another field next to the one they're in seperated by a thin autumn olive hedgerow. I do a big circle to the side they're going to come out of and as I'm inching forward I see them in the gap between the fields.. they beat me.. They might have seen me a little, but stayed in the field they've been in. I call with some light clucks, purrs and quiet yelps and they start heading in the other direction. I back out and go halfway up the field.. time to crawl across a wide open field to get to the hedgerow on the other side. I about make it when I see a red head looking in my direction.. I make some light clucks and purrs and he soon puts his head back down.. I finally get into the hedgerow and can see the birds moving towards an opening I have. I'm just waiting it out when I notice a bird moving away from me.. well, they're in range at this point so rather than let them walk out, I'm going to reposition to get a shot. When I do he stretches tall like he sees me, I slide my gun up and put the dot on his head and pull the trigger. I can tell he's hit but he's still on his feet and runs a little so I shoot again and he disappears. When I get up he's laying on his back where I took my second shot. 10:14 and its game over. Of course Bonce was too far away already to come give his buddy a ride back to his truck! Was only 1.5miles but seemed like a lot more than that with a turkey on my shoulder. Luckily he wasn't a heavy one!
16lbs 2oz.
10" beard
1" spurs.
