I had a little over a week off of work and was going to hunt AR and then MO in some combination. I was lucky enough to kill AR the first day so I hauled tail back home and picked up my son. We left on Sunday morning after a quick unproductive hunt at home headed north. We got to the lease right at dark in the rain and didn't roost anything.
Day 1 Monday morning was quiet with no birds gobbling in the block of woods where they were during youth weekend. After a long walk over and around another block we had a bird gobble down in this bottom. We got set up(not in the best spot) this place is very open and there were no leaves on the trees at this point and I was scared to move much. The bird couldn't have worked much better but came in on a crooked string coming halfway around us. As we were rotating around the tree my phone fell of off my leg. I didn't think much about it at the time but the bird came in to about 30 yds and was two steps from being in the wide open and my son tells me he turned around and is going back the other way. The birds goes out to about 50 and starts strutting, he wants to come bad as he is just standing there gobbling and stutting. He eventually eases off and we are sitting there trying to figure out what happened. I finally look down the hill and my phone is laying face up pointing in the direction he came from. I think that had to be what spooked him.
Day 2 was cold and wet and we bumped the only gobbler we heard that morning. The weather was supposed to get bad in S. MO but be clear in N. MO so we took off to some public ground near where we had hunted a few years ago with a friend on some private. We got there just in time to roost a couple for the next morning.
Day 3 We start in early and thank goodness cause it was super dry and the leaves were terribly crunchy. Get in about where I thought the bird was and set up. He ended up being a little farther off so we start easing toward him but he is across a HUGE vally. We set up on a finger ridge that goes off toward the big valley. Bird pitches down on our side and takes his dear sweet time but comes in. He starts skirting us at about 40 yds and I realize Zach isn't going to get a shot. The bird hit a hole I could shoot through and I just rushed my shot. He flew off unscathed. We poked around a little more that day but the woods were just so open and about 10am the wind picked up to like 15 mph. I just felt like we were only gonna spook birds so we rode around and window scouted the rest of the day.
Day 4 We go into a spot where we had heard a bird day 3. Due to the way the other bird acted the day before I sat Zach up about 20 yds in front of me. I was hesitant to do this and obviously shouldn't have. We were set up right in a little fork of two ridges and there were birds on both ridges. After they flew down they all got together and were a couple hundred yards from us but I wasn' t risking a move. I was just calling off and on at them when one broke and came quick. I hear him start clucking that where are you something aint right cluck and he is close. I finally see the bird as he crest the ridge to my right and think that was pretty close. He goes right over the hill and gobbles. I give him about 15 min to ease off and can see Zach moving so I go check on him. I ask where did he come to and he points at a tree and says walked between me and that tree. Rangefinder said 28.5 yds, when I told him he just lowered his head and said so I could have killed him huh. I said yeah but it's ok we will try and find another. He did say though the bird was walking fast and he probably shouldn't have shot anyway. The wind picked up again, we tried to cover a little ground but he was getting flat wore out at this point so we called it quits about noon. The weather had passed down S. MO so it was back down to the lease for one more hunt before heading home. We didn't hear anything on the roost that evening it had just quit raining as we got back.
Day 5 found us headed to try the bird we had bumped on day 2. As we are walking in there were some goats and more importanly some sheep dogs in a field I didn't know they were in. As we get to where we want to set up the dogs stand 100 yds from us in their field and bark non stop at us in our field. Quick change of plans we go over the hill to other side of field and set up. A bird starts gobbling in what almost had to be the tree we parked the 4 wheeler under, flies down and goes straight to where the dog is barking non stop. Eventually the bird stops gobbling and three jakes skirt us about 100 yds headed to a bird behind us gobbling. Evidently they beat us to him cause about time we got to where he was he took off and left covering some ground. I'm assuming these jakes were ganging up on the gobbling birds. We go back to our original set up to pick up the decoy we left their thinking the day may be done. I walk to the crest of the hill and glass the other hill about 800 yds away on the other side of the lease. There are two longbeards and 2 hens working down the hill towards us along a wooded draw. We kick it into high gear over the hill across the creek and up the draw. We get to about where I think the birds are gonna be and tell Zack he has got to get into ninja mode. I ease up behind a little knoll and ease up by a tree and see them about 75 yds away. I motion Zach to me and the birds start working our way. I help him get set up and give some directions, when I look back up the birds are not in sight. I tell him to get ready cause they may be in our lap when they reappear. I'm looking where they were when he tells me he see's them. I look down and they are crossing the draw to the other side at about 50. Over the next 30 min we rotate 90+ degrees around the tree and have hens feeding less the 20 yds. The gobblers are strutting and preening(at 30 yds) the hens feeding and preening.There was a pretty big ceday between us and the long beards that was blocking a shot. Finally the main strutter steps down the hill a few steps and hits an opening that Zach can shoot through. The little 410 ate his lunch and my little buddy had his first bird. Big 23.5 lb 10' beard two year old 3/4 and 7/8 spurs.
