My season now has a happy ending! I did 5 morning and 2 afternoon hunts this year and but for one afternoon saw turkeys every time out. Learning from the last two times out to this property I had to get up at 3:20 am to arrive there while it was still dark, previously I was there at 5:30 to walk out but already getting light not that it hurt those hunts though. Even with the moon to light my way I struggled a little to cross a little stream as the grass has grown like crazy in the last two weeks, got my red light out to find firm footing and get across. My legs got soaked just wiping across the dew covered tall grasses. On my last visit I took an hour walk around the property to get a better feel for the lay of the land, first time hunting it this year. I decided to locate about 200 yards from where I was previously and shot at a jake. I bordered on the other neighbors crop field so my calling would reach across to their hardwoods and attract something in but still close enough to where the Jake was roosting on the other side so he'd come in if interested.
I heard no gobbling at all as the sun came up and did some calls every 20 minutes or so mixing up my slate, mouth and box calls. At 6:50am I heard a couple gobbles rattle off from the other neighbors hardwoods that I had set up closer to, hey a plan coming to fruition! Shortly I spied a hen walking through the crop field over 100 yards out towards my property line, and another bird a few minutes behind her I thought was a tom. They putzed around for a half hour then came over to my property 150 yards away on the hardwood edge and went into the forest. Dang! An hour later I thought they were long gone and I'd be in for the long haul for that hen to leave the tom and him to come back my way so I figured I'd have a leak, maybe a little nap and snack and see where the day goes. I set my shotgun aside and stand up, stretch and scan the crop field. Didn't see anything, look around a little more then it catches my eye, a tom walking through the crop field towards me! I sit back down ever sooooo sllllooooowwwwwllllllyyyy and there is now no line of sight between us due to the bushy property line. I get my gun back onto the tripod and give a few yelps to let him know I'm still there with the box call then dug out the slate to lull him in with sweet purrs. In minutes I've got eyes on him through the scrub and he is coming my way! There was a gap in the scrub that divides the properties and he was making a bee line for it so the calls went down and I was on the gun. He reaches the gap which is shooting distance, head down pecks the ground, head up BOOOM!!!! FLOP! FLAP flap flap. Yeaaaaahhhh baby! My second bird in my three seasons of hunting, a little smaller than my first this guy weighed in at 20.8 lbs with about a 7 inch beard and estimating 1 inch spurs. This time I disregarded aiming my tri-viz sight and just used the front bead like normal. Hit a little low into the chest none in the neck/head but a bird on the ground is a bird on the ground
Well I've got dinner to make and a mount to work on. Have a good final week of the season y'all!
There's my dog, Barley, sniffing the turkey head. He just has to check everything out!
I heard no gobbling at all as the sun came up and did some calls every 20 minutes or so mixing up my slate, mouth and box calls. At 6:50am I heard a couple gobbles rattle off from the other neighbors hardwoods that I had set up closer to, hey a plan coming to fruition! Shortly I spied a hen walking through the crop field over 100 yards out towards my property line, and another bird a few minutes behind her I thought was a tom. They putzed around for a half hour then came over to my property 150 yards away on the hardwood edge and went into the forest. Dang! An hour later I thought they were long gone and I'd be in for the long haul for that hen to leave the tom and him to come back my way so I figured I'd have a leak, maybe a little nap and snack and see where the day goes. I set my shotgun aside and stand up, stretch and scan the crop field. Didn't see anything, look around a little more then it catches my eye, a tom walking through the crop field towards me! I sit back down ever sooooo sllllooooowwwwwllllllyyyy and there is now no line of sight between us due to the bushy property line. I get my gun back onto the tripod and give a few yelps to let him know I'm still there with the box call then dug out the slate to lull him in with sweet purrs. In minutes I've got eyes on him through the scrub and he is coming my way! There was a gap in the scrub that divides the properties and he was making a bee line for it so the calls went down and I was on the gun. He reaches the gap which is shooting distance, head down pecks the ground, head up BOOOM!!!! FLOP! FLAP flap flap. Yeaaaaahhhh baby! My second bird in my three seasons of hunting, a little smaller than my first this guy weighed in at 20.8 lbs with about a 7 inch beard and estimating 1 inch spurs. This time I disregarded aiming my tri-viz sight and just used the front bead like normal. Hit a little low into the chest none in the neck/head but a bird on the ground is a bird on the ground
Well I've got dinner to make and a mount to work on. Have a good final week of the season y'all!
There's my dog, Barley, sniffing the turkey head. He just has to check everything out!
