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Here's the story of my second bird this year...

The Gobblemaster Versus the Gobbler that Couldn't be Killed

The heat was almost unbearable & we had walked about 6 miles without really getting on a bird. Lance convinced me to head back to the camp house to cool off & eat some lunch. I wanted to see if anyone had done any good so down the road we headed with the AC blasting. When we got back, Paul & Darryl had shed most of their turkey gear & were sitting at the picnic table. We told them our sorrows & they shared theirs. Their sorrows, however, seemed to lift my spirits a little. They told me they got on a bird & had him strutting on a ridge about a hundred yards out, but couldn't do anything with him. This was the same bird Paul got on the day before. To say this tom was well educated would be an understatement. They graciously told us where he had been & urged us to go get him on film at least. I think the exact quote was, "Y'all go get some footage of him strutting around. You won't kill him, but he should put on a pretty good show for you." That's all it took & team Gobblemasters was high steppin' our way to prove our turkey hunting brethren wrong. We arrived in the area around 10:30 & made our way to a greenfield about 500 yards away from the 'strutting ridge.' We set up & did some multiple feeding calls for nearly an hour. Not a peep from the bad boy. We decided to move closer. We made our way down a road bed that led from the big woods were he had been observed to some thick 4-year-old cut-over. We were about a hundred yards into the cut-over when I let out a sharp cut & on the second series he hammered from high atop his ridge. I nodded at Lance with confidence. I've always had a high success rate up into the day if I can get a bird to answer me. We quickly moved back to the big woods & I yelped... thunder, son. He didn't seem to be getting closer, but he was responding. At this point we were about 300 yards below the bird & decided to circle around behind him. To do this, we had to climb Mount Everest of Coosa County Alabama. When we got to the summit we were both soaked with sweat & our vests seemed to weigh a hundred pounds. When we caught our breath we continued on our plotted course. I thought we were pretty close to where the bird gobbled last, so we set up & I let out some more yelps. He gobbled about 150 yards down below us. He was actually looking for us! We repositioned slightly & waited. After about 15 minutes of anticipation I couldn't take it anymore. I clucked twice to see where he was. He didn't answer. This wasn't our first rodeo & we have learned the hard way not to assume he's not coming. In all actuality he was about 60 yards & closing fast. I could hear him walking. The leaves were sealing his fate. I had my 835 shouldered with the safety off when I saw the fan. He was in full strut @ 45 yards! He would relax, take about 3 steps, and then blow up again. It was truly amazing to watch. The last time he came out of strut, I clucked & he stuck his head up. I blew him about 30 yards back down the hill! It was 12:45, & we where set up where he had roosted. That tactic has delivered on several stubborn birds for me in the past & it came through again on this tom. Needless to say, Paul & Darryl were astonished. Lance & I were just plain tickled we added to the mystique of Team Gobblemasters. [8D]