Winding down

[Dukhuntr1991]

Well we've got less than a week left down here in FL. The birds have been less consistent overall lately with gobbling but there has still been a couple around that were willing to play.

My dad and I were able to get together for a morning last week. I had found 2 gobblers and 1 hen the evening before but they were across the property line heading to a large roost area on neighbors property so I figured the following morning would be challenging at best.
Morning came and we heard a bird gobbling on neighboring grove in a large oak head. He wasn't gobbling hard by any means but being that we hadn't heard a peep anywhere on our side we decided to try to draw him over. We got about 75 yards from property line and were able to get a gobble out of him on the ground about 250 yards across a grove after a few cuts. Surprisingly after about 5 mins he gobbled again but sounded 100 yards closer. We set up on the edge of a road and called lightly a few times with no response but he did gobble on his own a couple more times, closer each time. A few minutes passed and a hen popped out and walked to within 3 steps of us. About the time she got suspicious, a gobble rattled off at maybe 40 yards and a strutter appeared in the grove row directly in line with us. It took a minute or two for him to get in view of my dad. As soon as he did it was over!


A couple hunts went by without much action other than a swing and a miss on an afternoon hunt for a client from out of state. Bird was at 50 yards and he felt confident, but no dice.

Yesterday morning my best buddy and I were able to get together for the first time all season. I wanted to try a pair of gobblers that I have chased in circles since opening day this year and have been outsmarted in a bad way. On more than one occasion I would have sworn up and down I had these birds coming on a string and every time I've ended up dumbfounded and empty handed. These birds had been painfully quiet the last couple times I tried them but I was itching to try them again, more out of principle than anything. There was originally 3 birds that earned the name the 3 amigos but after finding a bird dead in the grove last week, either poached or spurred I guess, they were now known as the 2 amigos.
Morning came and surprisingly a bird started hammering very early, pretty close to where they typically roost, had to be them I figured. It was plenty dark enough still so we eased to about 200 yards and were able to find the bird gobbling in the binoculars as it was just starting to break daylight. We made a quick plan to stay low and slip down a road that should put us to within 100 yards of the roosted bird.
By the time we made it to the road to start making our way into position, we noticed the bird was no longer in the tree, but had pitched down into the road we had just stepped out onto! It was still very dark, dark enough the bird could not make out what we were. We slowly laid down in the road and held 2 decoys out in front of us. I figured we were busted for sure but the gobbler started hammering right in the road and went into full strut at 150 yards! A second bird pitched across the road and into a large field. The strutter soon followed and hopped into the field across a small ditch. The bird continued to gobble so once we had some cover blocking us we eased to the ditch bank. We quickly spotted the strutter and a second longbeard on the edge of the field, no hens in sight. A little bit of light calling drew them to maybe 100 yards but they were not interested in coming any further. We made a plan to get back in the grove and crawl down the row that was even with the birds and try to get a shot from the ditch bank. The bird continues to gobble constantly on the edge of the field which made our approach much easier, being able to keep tabs on him the whole time. We ended up crawling to the ditch bank on the edge of the field with both gobblers directly across at 50 yards. We let them gobble and strut a little more while my buddy waited for a chance to get a shot. Things worked out and he dumped one of the 2 amigos. The whole hunt lasted maybe 30 minutes but felt like a whole mornings worth of action! Not much of a picture after he flopped in the dew soaked field but a good bird none the less.

[Muzzy61]

Congrats. I'm in North Florida and the season has gone by fast,already planning for next year.

[Dukhuntr1991]

Congrats. I'm in North Florida and the season has gone by fast,already planning for next year.

That's the truth. Feels like it just started.

[Gooserbat]

congrats

[Sir-diealot]

Congratulations.

[randy6471]

Congrats

[zelmo1]

Nice birds, winding down, lol. I don't start for 12 more days 

[Dukhuntr1991]

Nice birds, winding down, lol. I don't start for 12 more days 

I'm jealous you guys still have a whole season ahead of you! We're going to try to run up to south GA in a couple weeks to stretch it out just a little longer.

[RutnNStrutn]

Congrats!!

[surehuntsalot]

congrats

[renegade19]