River Bottom Fall Gobbler

[Spring Creek Calls]

I shot this gobbler this morning in a river bottom where I hunt wood ducks. He was there yesterday morning, gobblin' at every noise, crows, coyotes and even the squeal of the wood duck. He was there again this morning, roosted on a high oak ridge. He gobbled a minimum of 30 times before flying down across the river into the bottom. I was able to cross the river without him seeing me, easing up to a spot where I could just see over  the bank and into the bottom. A couple soft yelps on a diaphragm and he was coming, gobblin hard. First time I saw him he was in full display at about 60 yards, next time he was 30 yards. I didn't have any turkey loads but the 3" Hevi Metal load with a combination of #4 steel and Hevi shot (probably #6) did the job. I also had a modified tube in and there were no pellets below the base of the neck.

[DC1.]

nice bird!

[WV Ridge Reaper]

Nice

[Spring Creek Calls]

Forgot to add that he was a double beard.

[mgm1955]

Great story, congrats on a super bird!!

[Gooserbat]

Great Job!

[alclark2]

Niiiiiice!!!!

[chadly]

Way to go.

[jblackburn]

Fantastic!  Congrats!!

[renegade19]

 

[Rokhal07]

Nice job. Congrats!

[bbcustomboxcalls]

Nice Fall gobbler!!!  I love hunting those big birds in the Fall.

Bill

[bbcoach]

Great job Mike!  Another beautiful bird!

[Spring Creek Calls]

Thanks all! I plucked this bird and it went into the smoker yesterday and after 8 hours at 225 degrees, it was perfect. Rubbed it inside and out with a mixture of red wine, vegetable oil, butter, minced garlic, marjoram and then salt and pepper. First time I used this method (NWTF recipe) and it won't be the last. We ( SIL and I) started in on it during MNF, right out of the smoker. Making turkey/barley/vegetable soup now out of the legs and had breakfast sandwiches this morning, egg/cheese/smoked turkey breast on toast. Man, life is good!

[Msbowhunter76]

Congrats! Groceries sound excellent as well. Thanks for sharing. Great fall pic.