Ok guys, it looks like we are in the lead right now ( a long way to go to win the contest, though!)
So, here is the story of bird number 1:
I had taken this guy from Indiana to a place I can hunt in Fort Deposit, AL. I left the house at 3:30 a.m. to get in the woods by 6. We drove the 2 and a half hours and made it just as the sky was lightening up. We had a bird gobbling but he got henned up pretty quick. We ran all over that property till 11 a.m. and then he drove back down to Florida to see his mom and I went to meet another guy on his hunt club an hour away.
My buddy is the president of a 24 year old hunt club that is just amazing. It was 6,800 acres and had 68 food plots. (No chufas, though for all u purists!) Anyway, I laid down for a little bit and we went out to roost some birds. He dropped me off at about 4 p.m. and he went to another food plot. Since, I had seen some strutting in the middle of the afternoon, I recreated the scene with Killer-B and three hens. I picked the second row deep of planted pines to sit and listen. I yelped a couple of times on a glass because it was so windy. I looked at my watch: 4:17 p.m. I decided to take a nap.
I woke up and decided to have a look-see. There he was. He was walking just past the decoys coming my way. I picked up my Benelli and blasted him. It took about 5 seconds from seeing him to watching him flop. ...short hunt...Then I looked at my watch...4:30 p.m. Wow!
I pack up my stuff and wait for my friend....BOOOM.
He drives up 5 min later with his own bird: 9 3/4" beard, 18 lbs, and 1" spurs
We clean the birds and go try to roost some birds that evening. I hear a few fly up, but no gobbles.
The next morning we set up in a green field where I heard some fly up the night before.
At daylight there is a bird gobbling his head off, but he is like, half a mile away. We ditch the decoys and drive as close as we can to him. My buddy gets in the greenfield that he thinks the bird will come to. I set up at the intersection of the crossroads where I think he will come. I start calling and he loves it. The short version is that he flew down in the woods with some other birds. He stepped out at 75 yards or so and was followed by two other toms...I was stoked. I had to shoot through some privet and other small stuff but figured I had time for him as he would probably strut and show off down that road. Well, I was wrong. As that last Tom stepped out of the woods, the lead bird took off in a spring straight to me. I figured he would slow down at the intersection, but he rounded it like a baseball player going for second. I was swinging my gun on him when he jumped up for flight right in front of me. I shot as he started soaring and missed clean....I guess my jellyhead choke at 5 yards is a little too tight!