went out today, arrived at listening spot at 6am, heard one gobble right off. grabbed my vest and gun and took off. he was about 700 yds. away. across a small flow of water, down and up a couple of steep hills, and i was on him by 6:15. set up when he turned around on the limb. i was closer than i thought. i heard him moving on the limb and figured he turned around again, so i set up my decoy and found a good tree to sit beside. set up my fan shield, and hit the slate call very softly. he gobbled and turned again on the limb. i knew what tree he was in after he gobbled a few times, and then saw his form moving on the limb. he finally pitched out of the tree at 7:15!! an hour of me clucking, purring, yelping a few times, scratching in the leaves. anything i did, he gobbled! when he pitched out, he went straight away from me[X(]. he went about 100 yds. and i decided it was now or never. i yelped, cut, cackled, just made all the calls i could come up with- one after another. he started gobbling, and turned around, coming in like he was on a string. straight back to me and went into half strut at 35 yds. he went behind a huge pine and i got the gun on him. he came from behind the tree in full strut and gobbled. he looked toward my decoy, then walked 4 steps closer. he went out of strut, and took a high look at my decoy. he stepped another step or two toward the decoy and did another high look. i thought he's seen something he didn't like, so i shot. i saw the shot wad bounce off his chest!! he went down and i started to get up. i was set up on the side of a steep hill, and my feet went right out from under me. i bounced off my chest and went straight back up to my knees. i looked at the turkey and he was trying to get on his feet. i took a real close aim and when he took a couple of steps, i popped him again. i didn't want to try to track him, and with my bum knee, i knew i couldn't chase him down. surprisingly, he didn't weigh that much when i carried him out. i was on cloud nine. 1st turkey in 3 years. i gave my heart a good checkup with the run thru the woods, the excitement of the setup, and the return to the truck. NO chest pain!! and if my knee hurt, i didn't feel it!
as far as the bird- he weighed 20 lbs., had an 11 inch beard, and 7/8 inch spurs. good bird for down here in south Arkansas. got him in the freezer now. and am getting ready to try again in the morning. i saw 2 large gobblers and 3 jakes following a hen across a clear cut yesterday, between rain storms. couldn't do anything with them-they had only one thing on their minds. followed her around, one behind the other, looking like a snake, winding around all the stumps and trees in the cut over. so i know that there's at least 4 more out there, so the hunt continues. i wish you all luck as you go out. be blessed, and a blessing to all you meet-Bill
blind hog finds an acorn
