Well, My wife got her first bird on opening day. My 6 yr old son, her and I went out opening morning. Great day... I could not have asked for better weather. Well, we got to the farm at about 5:45 and were in the blind by 6:15. Sunrise was around 6:30. the first hen came out around 7:00, followed by a nice tom. Started soft calling and after a few minutes, turned it up a little. I guess he figured he would get more action from me than the hen by him cause he started gobbling and moving right towards us. He got about 60 yards away and the brakes went on! All of the sudden he turns and starts walking away with a purpose. At first I thought it was me but then 4 jakes come running from our left, right at him. I guess he wasn't dominant after all! Well next thing I know there are about 7 hens in the field and then a second tom shows up. Then a third tom. After a while, I noticed the toms were gobbling back at my calling but they would not leave that group of hens. So I figure its all or nothing so I start getting real aggresive and then start hitting the fighting purr. Well the hens didn't want anything to do with that and high tailed it out of the field. Two of the toms followed but the hens steadily pulled away from them. The hens exit the field and the toms exit in the same area about 5 minutes after the hens. I figured all was lost but I said lets see what happens so I stopped calling for about 5 minutes. Then I went back to yelping and a few light cuts. Well I look up and both toms start coming back into the field. I figured since the hens left so fast, the toms couldn't keep up (especially strutting) and decided to find the hen that was ready for love. Well 200 yards and 5 minutes later, both toms were about 20 right in front of us. I told my wife to take the shot when she was ready and the next tning I see is a jellyhead tom laying right in front of us. He weighed 18 pounds 9 ounces with a 9 3/4 inch beard and 1 inch spurs left and right. You know what? I don't know who was more excited... my wife, my son, or ME!!! I think it was ME!
Wife's first TOM!
