Well guys, I don't have much time, I just got out of the shower and I have to be at work in 20 minutes. I went out this morning for a short hunt before work and it was a great morning. I had 5 different birds goin nuts behind my blind and after some very aggressive calling (fighting purrs and hard cutting), a hen walked out 25 yards from my decoys followed by this big boy. Let the BowTech sing and the rest is history.
1-1/8" spurs
9-3/4" beard
21.75 lbs
**UPDATE**
Well guys, I decided that I better get on here and give a full story. It really all started lastnight, I had planned on going to bed early so I could get up and get some hunting in this morning. Well, I couldn't fall asleep and ended up watching ESPN all night listening to stories about how Roger Clemens suposidly had an affair
Well, I fell asleep around 2 a.m. and when my alarm went off at 4:40 a.m. and I really didn't want to get up. The temps had dropped and it was a brisk 38 degrees outside with a chance of rain. I figured "what the heck" and got all my gear together and my girl and I headed out. We set-up on the edge of a clover field where a powerline runs out to the field. I had a feeding hen decoy and a breeding pair decoy set up where the power line clearing came to the field as it would allow for the best visibitly of the decoys. I hurried up and set-up my blind and we climbed in for a sit. As it started getting light a gobbler sounded off straight behind me about 100 yards in a stand of pines, and then I heard him again (or so I thought) and it sounded like he was further away. Well, it wasn't until I heard two distinct gobbles at the same time from there that I realized there were two birds gobbling behind me. After that I heard a faint gobble behind me and to the left, and then two more gobblers sound off behind me to my right. There is a house in the middle of these woods that a co-worker of my father owns and I was hoping that nobody was awake or planning on leaving as the birds were roosting right beside their driveway. As it got light it became very difficult for me to not call, but I knew that the birds would be heading to the field so I should just wait. This was the only green field around and it is a major strutting zone. Well, as the birds flew down, they headed the other way. I decided that drastic times called for drastic measures so I put in a mouth call and started yelping. I didn't get any response so I broke out my slate call and did some yelps and purrs and I heard the gobblers start back my way. When they got behind me, probablly around 75 to 80 yards out they stopped and wouldn't come in any further. I knew they had to be henned up so I started some very aggressive cutting followed by some fighting purrs. The gobbles kept getting closer, they were behind me to my right and headed straight for the field. I was paying very close attention to the right side of my blind and for some reason I just looked to my left to see a hen standing about 30 yards away looking at my decoys. I then saw my bird step out and he let out a couple gobbles while in full strut. I slowly reached down and grabbed my bow and told myself that I wanted him to come in a little closer. Some soft yelps and purrs and he closed the distance to 25 yards. At that point he went out of full strut and started looking back towards where the hen went back into the woods. I knew my opportunity was fading so I quickly drew my bow back, settled my pin and squeezed the release. I saw the bird flip up in the air and land right where he was standing. I hurried up and threw my orange hat on and ran to the bird. When I got there he was still alive and a quick stomp to his head put him down.
I am almost positive that this is the bird that I missed in the exact same spot last season. When I first walked up on the bird I noticed the beard seemed alot thinner than the one I missed last year but after closer inspection I found that almost half of the beard had been broken off, I am not sure how much he lost in length, but he sure did loose a good bit in girth. All in all it was a great morning, beautiful day to be in the woods, even with the cloudy skies and cold temps. I broke the 82nd Airborne in the right way, and after work I got out to do some fishing (caught a dozen trout, had a big palamino hit my roostertail but didn't get the hook set). Right now I am about to fall asleep but I wanted to say thanks to everybody for the positive comments, I really appreciate it. This is my 2nd gobbler, and my first spring gobbler, and my first gobbler with a bow.
P.S. The trout in my avatar was a 24" brown, caught on a 2" Yo Zuri Pins Minnow (gold flame pattern), and earlier that morning my best friend landed a 22" brown on the same lure.