I shot a longbeard yesterday morning. I had some great assistance from a hunting buddy.
We first heard the bird at 5:50AM He was 400-500 yards away. We set up about 6:00 and started calling. He responded well, but would not come in. We started to notice a difference in the gobbles and then realized there were two birds roosted close together. About 7:30 we here a nearby cluck and I got my gun up but the bird was moving fast and I didn't see a beard. My buddy got a better look at him and decided he was a jake and told me to shoot, but he was behind me. I tried to move into position for a shot, but the jake putted and flew off.
We decide to move about 8:15 and get a little closer, mean while the other gobbler is still gobbling. We eased down a path and started calling again. Same deal the bird, the bird would not move, probably henned up. My buddy backup about 30 yards and called from there. The bird stood his ground. We decided to move down the path even more and get still a bit closer. The path ran east-west and the bird was south of us. He was still gobbling but not moving. I suggest that we stop calling for 5-10 minutes. After 5-6 minutes he gobbles and he is on the move, but he's headed toward our last setup position. When we guesses he was on the path he called again. And the bird was coming and I had to switch the gun over to left-handed. We were about 4-5 yards off the path. I got a peek at him about 30 yards out. At 22 yards I dropped him.
It was a gorgeous bird, nice paintbrush of a beard and ivory spurs. Notice the beard across the receiver of the gun. This is probably the same bird that I worked Thursday and Friday.
Pics at
http://www.advanceddesignsinc.com/RN...%20Gallery.htm
Weight 17.5#
Beard 10.25"
Both Spurs 1.125"
A big thanks to Hawglips
First turkey (pics link)
, especially of the two of you
[8D]
