I'll post the story after I get some sleep.
19.31lbs 12 5/16" beard 1 1/8" 1 1/4" spurs Truly blessed this morning.
Talk about a great end to my MS season or lack there of. This season has been a depressing nightmare for me beings I'm working an outage, 6 12.5hr midnights a week. That only leaves me one morning a week that I can actually hunt normal, and the weather has been horrible on the few days I've been off. But I've walked a many a mile and found some great spots for next year on my mornings after I get off work. Birds having lock jaw sure didn't help.
I had a buddy ask me if I had any days off to hunt and I told him Monday would be my last day to hunt. He asked if I wanted to come with him that he has been on a bird the day before. I said heck yes if I can hear a bird gobble that would be a great ending to my season.
We met up around 4:15 and made the drive to our hunting area. He said where we were gonna set up that we would be really tight in on the bird if he roosted in the same area he has been all year. As daylight started to break he sounded off not 80yds from where I was setting. He gobbled about every 45-60seconds for what seemed like 20minutes until it got light enough for flydown. He dropped out of the tree with a few hens and started working up the ridge away from us. My buddy started calling behind me and the bird would answer but kept getting farther and farther away. Once he got out of hearing we decided to move to another location side getting ahead of him would be near impossible. Just as we get to the truck he sounds off and he's in a spot we know.
We are wanting to set up on a old path leading to to the ridge where he last was. As we're walking my buddy says if he gobbled far away he will take off in the opposite direction calling in hopes of bringing him in closer. As we're getting close to where we want to be he gobbled about 70yds away and I hit the tree I wanted and my buddy sets up on the tree between me and the bird. I look at him and he points down in another direction. He thought the bird was flanking us, he couldn't tell where he was. Once he realized he was on the end of the path as the bird he had to slide around the tree to get lined up the right way. We swapped rolls and I started calling and scratching the leaves and the bird gobbles. He goes goes quite on us and after about 15min I wanted to try to slip farther down the road away from him calling along the way. I scratched in the leaves one last time and he gobbles 40yds away. I start watching my buddy as he aims left handed and then a hen steps out at about 3yds from him. She looks around and clams back down and then my buddy shoots. I look around the tree to see a bird run and take flight, as he flies through the treetops I see my buddy trying to get his gun back right handed and I picked my gun up off my lap and rolled him as he passed by. As soon as he hits the ground my buddy's said good gosh what a shot and runs out to him. Then I hear my gosh what a beard and spurs. We're looking at the bird and he's looking at his head for any sign of a hit, there was one small nick on his neck either from a pellet or a limb. I finally said well I gotta ask, who's bird is he? He says well it's obvious if you hadn't shot he would be long gone and doesn't look like I hurt him at all so he's yours. My reply was I'm not gonna argue either way with the season I've had but THANK YOU!!! For a great hunt with a wild ending.
I didn't dig around in the cavity but I believe my wad was in him and I did retrieve about 1/2oz of shot out of the hole I put in him.
The good Lord really blessed me with a perfect ending to a rough season. That's a wrap for my MS season 2 fine birds.
