woke up today at 0420 just like most every other day of this spring...decided to head back to a spot i only hunted once this season and had a gobbler skirt me...
got to the field and waited about 50yds from the woodline like always to listen for them sounding off. i think it was about 0545 when i heard the first gobble...boy was he deep..actually down a steeeeep hillside roosted at eye level of the flat i hunt on and pretty far off...i knew where he was and knew i couldnt get remotely close because he would see me a mile away...got about 200yds or so from him and setup..it was already well light out..figured id skip my tree yelps and flydown cackle and just wait till hes on the ground and throw some soft yelps out there..
i sit down and settle in and a bird pitched down right where that bird roosted last week..didnt go far so i didnt spook it..i get out the cody glass call and my favorite handmade striker for that call when a gobble thunders out from where that bird landed ~50-65yds away
oh man!! i throw some soft yelps out with the cody and he hammered again and the other bird cut my call off. the other bird hammered all morning..came maybe 50yds closer or so...the bird infront of me only gobbled occassionally. i wait and wait and nothing. maybe 20 minutes after my yelps i throw some soft clucks on the glass call...he hammered hard still in the same area and the other bird gobbled as well..(other bird never quit gobbling..he gobbled his head off)
maybe another 20 minutes or so passes and i am sitting there with the gun up waiting and waiting trying not to move a muscle incase the close one slipped in..he wasnt gobbling enough to keep tabs on him and i didnt hear him for a couple minutes...i had a old blow down slightly right, infront of me 10yds away..i spotted a bird just behind it! knew right away it was a hen but got ready just incase...
the hen mills around behind that brush pile for what seemed like an eternity, but was really maybe 30 seconds when i spotted a red head and a big ole fan!! hes behind her to my right and shes 5yds left 10yds infront of me. i kept her in my peripheral vision and kept my eye on him..
she stepped out from behind the blowdown and is now 10yds TOPS probably closer..right before she stepped out i got the saftey off and gun on the gobbler without either one noticing. shes milling around and like a good hen, she busted me! i knew she was going to..probably heard my heart beating...i had that all planned though :/ the gobbler broke strut and his head came up looking..i saw a good beard hanging and knew it wasnt a jake from the full fan...as soon as his head popped up i sent a load of hevi shot 6's down range! he was down for the count!!
he is the first strutter ive ever killed...first bird i ever killed that came in with a hen...and the closest ive killed. he was less than 15yds away..i bet he was right around 10yds. 0630 on the nose. oh...my best bird to date
heres some pics...
10 1/2 inch beard...one spur was 1 1/4 and the other was busted off and was just a hair under an inch. buddies OLD chicken scale said he was just over 18lbs..but i dont know how accurate it is... wing tips were non-exsistant..he spends alot of time strutting im sure! pretty sure he is the bird that skirted me last time i was in there..
silence is a killer...and greediness will kill an ole tom sooner or later! he couldnt be happy with the hen he had! lol
i skinned out the head and neck like always...i clobbered him with the hevishot..4-5" of his neck was jello...
mausers show and tell
(jk)
