On May 4 I decided to get up at 2am and make the drive to some public land in SE Oklahoma. I was a little apprehensive because I could see the lightning off in the distance is the same direction I was going to be headed. Checked the weather apps and they all said thunderstorms from about flydown till 9am then great weather after that so I said what the heck.
Got there a little bit late cause I had to drive through the storms on the way but the birds should have still been roosting at that time. It was just light enough to see without a flashlight. I walked in about a half mile to where the wildlife department had put 2 foodplots and sat down on the edge of the first one.
Not a single gobble on the roost and shortly after getting settled in the rain started. After about 30 min of rain I decided to sneak up to the edge of the larger food plot to see if any birds were out there as I have learned that they usually like the open fields in the ran but no luck this time. I went back to my seat and hear came the thunderstorms lol. No birds were gobbling to the thunder which I found really odd but I decided to stick it out. The storms were short lived thank goodness since I was not in a blind and about 15 min after they quit I finally heard my first gobble. Sounded like a good mature gobble. I hit the old box call and he responded with another 3 or so that sounded like jakes but they all sounded a bit far off.
This plot is off to my left so I spin around and set of for a shot from that direction. I played with these birds for several minutes and it finally sounded like they committed to coming in. I put the box call down and start with a few soft yelps from the mouth call. I paused for a few minutes and, WHAT THE HECK!! I heard drumming from my right! Slowly turned my head and there was a tom in full strut 20 yrds to my right just on the edge. There were trees close in front of me that direction so I couldn't move the barrel more than about half way without hitting them. As luck would have it he would take a few steps, throw the fan up then stick his neck out. After a few more minutes he was right in front of the barrel and I let him have a load of Winchester Longbeard #5. 21lb Oklahoma Eastern.
I will get the other measurements when I get home from work today.