Just finished my last hunt in Minnesota this past weekend. First, I was off to Wisconsin the week before. Called in two gobblers for a buddy who only had a day and a half to hunt. He missed and we had a few other birds in close but offering no shot for him.

After the 2nd day of hunting, we were kickin' back at our host' s house and the Minnesota Wild were playing hockey so needless to say it was a 2am night and two less hunting partners the next morning. It had rained most of the night before but had subsided to a damp windy morning. Not too windy to where you couldn' t hear them though. I walked along the edge of the woods walking down a trail cut for horse riding. I took out the Quaker Boy Grand Old Master and cranked it up as I went along. I finished around about the bottom end of the field as it was like one big funnel and the gobblers always seem to take the hens that way to mate in the mornings. I found a big oak set away from the edge of the field about 15 yards and along with the brush there it made for a good blind. I setup two hens with one close to the ground out from a clearing in the brush and then setup a buckwing struttin jake decoy right behind her so it looked like he was about to get some. Once I hit my seat against the tree, I heard him gobble. He was coming from beyond where I was on that trail. It drops off there to a logging road which leads to the valley below. They seem to roost there during bad wind and/or rain. He then gobbled again closer and soon appeared above me. He was in no hurry to come in and half fanned back and forth above me. I was wondering if I' d run into another decoy shy bird when he finally started down towards the dekes. I lost him thru the brush but started to hear his spit drummin' as he came still closer. I was straining to see him but nothing yet. I figured that I might have to wait for him to fan away and that is the way it went. I caught sight of him when he was about 5 feet from the dekes and I didn' t dare move a muscle. He approached the jake and then made a quick jump and stomped him!! I' m sure he was startled by the feel of the jake and was on high alert. He swung to my left thru the brush as I shouldered the black Remington and fired two shots. Down he went and I quickly scooted over to him. Wow, that was definitely an exciting morning and one that I' ll remember for a long time. He weighed 24 lbs and was my first double beard. 9.5in and the 2nd one being half that size and he had some nice spurs as well.

I couldn' t have asked for a better way to end the season than I had last Friday. I arrived at my destination in SE Minnesota on Thursday evening after pushing it hard to make it there before dark. That way I could put a bird to bed and get a leg up on the first day. I pulled in the driveway and Dave was working on his tractor. Just as I got out of the truck a gobbler sounded off. Dave pointed to the hillside across from his driveway. I headed on over there and heard the gobbler again several times. He was roosting below a rocky outcropping on a hillside above a field.

The next morning I was out the door about 5:00am and he was gobbling not long after that. I slipped across the road and up the hillside along the edge of the field taking my time and figuring out a good spot to setup. That is one aspect of my hunting that I really want to work on so I took some extra time and found a big oak that was about 10 yards off the field and slightly above so that I had a good view in all directions. I setup, snipped some brush, and pulled out my slate call. I yelped a few times and was answered immediately with a few gobbles. This bird was hot and gobbled almost continously for awhile. I clucked a few more times a little later and he gobbled some more. I shut up and figured he would either choose to come my way or get a better offer somewhere else. About 15 to 20 minutes passed and I then I heard his wingbeats as he flew out of the tree. I then heard the loud whoosh of air flowing thru his wings as he flew over above my right shoulder. I froze as he went by figuring he' d fly down over the hill and land. Instead, he flapped his wings and set down about 30 yards out in front of me. I didn' t have the gun up yet and had to calm myself and say " Let' s just see what he does next" . Well, he let out a thunderous gobble that had that deep low sound they make when they are close to you. My plan was to move every time he gobbled and it worked out just right. It took about 10 gobbles and the Remington was at my shoulder and beaded. Boom!!! He went @ss over tea kettle and the hunt was over. I was shaking a little and weak in the knees as I got up to trot over to him. The hunt was over at 6:05am and I was heading for the farmhouse. He was a nice bird weighing in at 23.5 lbs and had about a 10 in. beard. In a way, I was sad to leave the woods as it signaled the end of another season. I' m already thinking about next season!!