Yesterday's hunt was in the rain on the opposite end of the 1/2 mile winding field and I had a bird start to work me in between showers but when it started pouring again he clammed up. I sat with no sightings up until hunting hrs were over at 1pm and had been rained on several times.
I went back to roost birds last night in the drizzling rain and although I was pretty sure where I wanted to set up this morning the visual of some birds in the corn stubble late just confirmed my game plan.
I started off this morning shutting the alarm off at 4:30, as I could hear the rain beating on the roof. I still decided to get up and check the weather map, where it appeared that it was going to be raining most of the day off and on, (hmmm a repeat of yesterday).
I turned on the TV, hit the recliner and at about 5:30 it looked like it was clearing off, back to the computer and I hit update on the weather map where it showed some promise of partial clearing for the early morning so I headed out.
I never heard a bird gobble off roost this morning but had 2 jakes in the decoys shortly after fly down. At about 10:00 a gobble rang out from way down the field, I guess his hens left him and he decided to investigate the calls that I had blindly let out every 1/2 hr or so throughout the morning.
It took him about 20 minutes to make it up the field road to my location as he would stop, strut and let out a roar to let everyone know the king of the court was present. I would occasionally cut him off with some quick excited yelps to keep him interested.
Finally as he approached around the 100 yard mark I noticed the 2 earlier jakes had reappeared in the decoys. As the Gobbler approached within 50 yards the jakes scattered back a bit to watch the show.
BIg Boy ran in full strut up to my DSD strutter and immediately gave him a chest bump followed by a floggin, this in turn gave me time to draw and pick a spot with my pin.
I let him strut around until I was presented the angle I wanted and released the Spitfire Gobbler Getter through his chest. A mere 5 seconds and less than 20 yards later this toad of a Gobbler was mine.
I quickly took a few pictures, loaded my bags and and started my trek to the truck in a drizzle of rain. It was pouring by the time I reached the truck and I was soaked but somehow it made it just that much sweeter of a rewarding memory that will always bring a smile when I look back.
I knew this was a heavy bird when I went out to pick him up but little did I know that he would top anything I ever killed in the weight department, coming in at 26.55 lbs.
Sorry for the lengthy read, bow hunting for spring gobblers gets me pumped! Have a great season to all that are still hunting.
