Along with my taxidermists son Philip, we put a thumping on a NH gobblerSaturday morning ;D We got there around 3:50am and as I was setting up Leroy I had two cars pull up to the field. I was 125 yards out in the open field hitting my flash light and it didn't stop these guy from trying to move in on this small field. I don't know where they went at the time but later on in the morning, they were only hunting about 10 yards off the main road.
I had the gobbler gobbling on roost with just a few calls from "The Enticer" and thought it was just a matter of time before he would pitch down to our set-up. Well he didn't! Instead he pitch down on the other side of the field roughly 300 yards away and I could see him strutting and gobbling to my calls. Just as he started to work our way I noticed him running off into the tree line towards the river. I looked to my right along the field edge next to the road and there was two hunting walking down the field parallel from the gobbler. They walked as most 200+ yards and pass my blind, the decoy set-up Leroy w/two girlfriends.
Now I'm sitting outside of the blind, Philip and his Dad are in so I raised my arms up as if saying, "what the blank is up!" All they did was wave to me and keep on walking to a field directly behind us as if trying to cut the bird off from coming in that way. All this did was piss me off to no end >
I got up walked around the tree line and start towards them right in the middle of the second field. Once they saw me they stopped and I'm sorry but I will not repeat what was said by me! I ripped them both a new one >
I went back to the blind only to have my buddy tell me he heard the gobbler on the other side of the field where I last saw him. So instead of being more food for the mosquito's, I jumped in the blind. We heard nothing so I told them we would wait until 6:30 before leaving the spot. I did a crow call a few minutes later and boom! there he was. Gobbling across the river about 100+ yards away. I started up with the mouth call and man did I have him worked up. This went on for at least 1/2 an hour before I finally saw the white cap about 35 yards out from us walking into the field from the rivers edge. I gave a few soft cuts and yelps and he went to full strut. As he did I gave a few more calls and he turned our way. He made a few steps closer and over a small rise in the field and saw Leroy! Once he laid eyes Ole' Leroy, he went to a half strut and ran the rest of the way in looking to kick some butt. He almost looked like me running towards those two slop hunters
;D Young Philip did an excellent job getting the gun up and out the blind as he charged within 15 yards of us. As he got to my hen decoy and went into full strut, Dan & I both whispered, "take him". Boy did that 20GA absolutely flatten that gobbler
He never knew what hit him. That young man put an excellent shot on him and he just dropped like a mating hen kicking maybe once or twice but never flopping a wing.
The bird turned to out to be an AWESOME gobbler with stats like
20lb
10" thick beard
1-3/16" hooked spurs
"The Enticer"
15 yards shot
I'll post up the photos real soon
"The Enticer"
