Well sunday was the last day of our 2003 season and it couldn' t of ended any sweeter!Was fortunate to be part of many successful hunts this year and managed to take 3 dandy longbeards myself through the course of the season!I' ll post stories and pic' s through the year as its a heck of a long time till 2004 rolls in next year!
The last day of the season I found myself waiting on a client till 7:00 am until finally I said thankyou very much as he never showed and I headed to the turkey woods myself!The birds really had slowed down the last couple of weeks and the majority of the active gobbling birds were gobbling some on the roost and very little to none on the ground,so whats nice about knowing your birds and the terrain they inhabit gives the turkey hunter an opportunity to possibly get in tight or at least it puts you in a position that even though they may not be to vocal your at least in his area code!!lolThe first monday of the season I had 4 longbeards come into my set-up which was clear back on Mar,31st and I' d thought I' d head back to that area as like I had mentioned earlier I knew the ground well and had an idea where the birds might possibly be!I rolled up to the spot a little after 8:00 and parked the pick-up finally making my way up to a particular ridge I had in mind.The birds roosted usually in a large grove of river bottom oaks and would make there way up to this ridge I was headed for!The gobblers seem to love to get on this ridge and use it as a strut zone and sounding board for all the hens in the area and I hoped being that it was getting late that they weren' t there yet!I eased my way up to the top of the ridge finding shadows harder to find as the sun continued to climb and finally set-up as I was afraid of bumping a bird!I settled in getting comfortable deciding to make a day of it seeing it was the last day.I put my ears on straining to hear any turkey sounds listening over all the other birds of spring!I' d been there for about an hour or so and was pondering this past spring when that first rattle of a gobbler rang out!He was about a couple of hundred yards down the ridge to my left almost where I expected him to be!I immediately put the diaphragm in my mouth and mini boatpaddle was already out!Seeing he was still quite aways out I gave the boatpaddle a few strokes and he boomed right back!A smile came upon my face and I stroked it again this time with a little more feeling and intensity!Once again he boomed back!I repositioned myself at his response surveying the terrain in front of me for obstacles that might hinder or help in getting on him if he came in!He gobbled again on his own this time and i could tell he either moved a little closer my way or at least was now facing me!I positioned my mag 10 in the direction i figured he' d come by looking over the terrain and direction he was and picked up the box again!Once again he hit me again and this time began gobbling on his own quite a bit noticably closing in!Just like they have a tendency to do about the 100 yard mark he suddenly stopped and just gobbled his head off to me!At this point I put the diaphragm to work and got about as aggressive with my calling as he did with his responses!Like longbeards do he just strutted holding his ground wanting me to come to him!I' ve played this game before and decided to let him make up his mind if he was coming or going!I let loose with a series of loud aggressive yelps and at his response I went silent on him!He gobbled off and on for about 10 minutes and the woods went silent!I knew he was making his move and I hoped it was my way!I gripped the 10 a little tighter balancing it on my knee peering out over the tall grass cause it was so late in the year!I strained for any movement looking for that white cap and red head,or those beautiful tail feathers fanned out in full strut coming my way!Instead a booming gobble rings out no less than 20 yards to my left almost behind me!Startled to say the least and a little p-off cause even after I looked over the ground in front of me he still made it by me without me seeing him!This late in the spring everything is leafed out and once you sit down it can make you feel visually impaired and at that moment I was cussing the damn manzanita bush in front of me or this hunt would' ve been over!!Anyway I slowly peered to my left and there he was!Because I didn' t call and went silent on him he didn' t quite know exactly where I was and the fact I could see him gave me opportunity to hurriedly swing my gun left as he went behind a big oak and deadfall! At about 25 yards he stepped out from behind another oak and my 2003 season ended with a another magical moment in the turkey woods!Little did I know the big surprise was when I got up to the gobbler ,he was sporting 4 beards,and a set of hooks that were a little over an inch!I knew he was a longbeard but I didn' t know he was multiple bearded!!What a hunt and what a way to end my spring season!Hope you all enjoy the turkey woods this spring as much as I did!!!Here' s a couple of pic' s!9 1/2 inch primary beard with 3 other 5 inch beards,1.1 and 1.2 spurs,20lbs!