Roosting birds the night before opening day was not good. I only saw one bird in a lower field from my roosting spot, heard one bird fly up to roost and heard one gobble on another ridge in front on my buddies house. I started in the lower field and as the opening morning sky started to break, I heard two gobblers to my right 200 yards away on my ridge, three gobblers to my right on another ridge and two gobblers across the road in front on my buddies house. The hollow I was hunting and have taken a few gobblers out of was silent.
I started working the two gobblers to my right in hopes they would see my pretty boy decoy with hens and come out of the woods to run him off. I had them going pretty good but just couldn’t get them to come out of the hollow so I quit calling thinking the silent treatment might get to them. I could hear my buddy Raymond across the other ridge and man did he have his gobbler going! That bird must have gobbled every 30 seconds so I just kind of sat back and was enjoying the action. After about 10 minutes of not calling I heard one of the gobblers to my right gobble from just inside the wood line. I gave him a few soft yelps on a new double reed / double end cut call I wanted to try this season and got a good response back. I continued to call to him thinking I was going to see him at any second but he never showed himself. Just about the time he shut up, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I made a big mistake of turning to see what it was! A hen standing right in front of my pretty boy decoy and I was busted! Running off about 10 yards and taking flight to southern part of the WV.
She came right out of the hollow that I normally hear birds in so I quickly shifted tactics to try and save the hunt. I gave a few soft purrs and clucks in hope if she had anyone with her they might calm down and continue to see what was going on top on the field ridge I was set up on. I’d say about 10 minute went by without hearing a bird (other than Raymond across the way) when a white capped gobblers head popped up over the grass line just behind my set up. He walked right up to my pretty boy decoy and circled him once and I believe he pecked him. He then walked back around between the decoy and me and defiantly pecked his tail! As he walked behind the decoys Jake fan I shoulder my 870. As came out from behind the decoy 20 yards away (or less) I gave him a few cuts and then a face full of Winchester 3 ½” 2oz. 6 shot! Those few cuts were, his last call he ever heard!
I’m still not sure if the shot actually killed him or if the blast from my shot gun slammed his head to the ground and he died from a concussion. Either way he never flopped and was dead at 6:35 am opening morning of my WV season. Not even two minutes after I shot, Raymond’s 12ga rang through out the ridges and hollows of Jake’s Run Road but unfortunately his bird didn’t stay down.
He just had stitches removed a week earlier from his eye and his depth-perception is off. He thought I bird was 30 yards away and he turned out to be more think 70+ yards away. He was set up 20 yards in the woods shooting out to a field which as we all know, is a tough one to range. Keep that in mind this season. In case anyone was wondering, he was using a Tom’s Favorite while working that gobbler
Well, here are the photos and the stats on my bird.
NWTF Score = 61.5 (my best WV bird to date)
22.5 lb
1” spurs
9.5” beard
Thumped to a test call (Tooky River Calls double reed / double end cut White Cap Enticer?) and a Pretty Boy & Pretty Girl and a hen decoy set-up 20 yards or less away