Took a drive this afternoon and in a place that I have seen a bird last year once there was a adult bird strutting in the edge of a hardwoods to one hen that I can see. 3:30pm I head home and get my stuff and back I go. I get back and I take down the far side of the hardwoods and then cut towards the field side that the bird was in and I get close to the edge I'm looking and can not see the birds. Sitting wondering if they busted me I just slowly looked around and at the bottom of the field some 150 yards away I spot the fan. I turn and get on the tree and set myself. I notice with the binos there is 5 hens and one with a beard as well. I start to give a series of subtle yelps and have learned NOT to cut to birds this season. The hens fire up and then a gobble. I wait a few seconds and yelp once again and he double gobbles and I see the hens all turn and start my way up inside the woods. I get the gun set and wait and watch as they make their way. I yelped about 4-5 times real soft and the hens speed up a little and the gobbler comes along behind with the tail fanned out. Closer and closer they work to the place I click off the safety and a second or two later I spot a hen on a slow run right at me. The hen makes it to about 10 feet and the crosshairs are on the gobbler as he makes to my guess of 45 yards. Suddenly the gobbler drops out of strut and throws the head up as I figure that the close hen made me, but its to late. This was the perfect time to have a gun that you know what is going to happen with the pattern when fired. At 4:30 pm the 20 gauge sent down a 20 ga, 3in #6 Hevi 13 sandwich that made contact perfectly and the gobbler drops to the ground with NO movement what so ever. My 2013 season is done, its been tough as the bird numbers are not much better then last and most of the properties I hunt are very low on birds. All across the northern USA is the same and it makes it tough to kill a bird if you can't find them. Over all I have done well and am very lucky to use up some tags.
Wolfsden weight - 20.84
spurs 7/8 matching
Beard 9 1/4
