My brother Kevin and I headed out opening morning despite the rain and things started off terribly. We parked on the back line hoping to sneak in undetected and we spooked a single bird from directly above our car! I've never seen them roost there before.
We set up and didn't hear a single gobble. We called and called and didn't hear a thing. We saw a bird roosted about 500 yards away and don't even know when it flew down or where it flew to because we looked back and it was gone. Again, we sat and sat and called and didn't hear a single gobble and this is a property that I had scouted two toms on a couple days ago.
We decided we had to sit until 7am before moving and at 6:58 we got antsy and Kevin got up to look in the next field. We got 30 yards away and we heard a gobble in our field but just over the knoll. He ran back and jumped in the blind and within a few seconds we see the fan come over the hill. The hen came straight in to the decoys and she knew something was up. Just in time the toms came at a brisk walk straight at the "jake breeding a hen" decoys and Kevin let loose on the strutter when he was 5 yards from the decoy and 27 yards from us. I followed up on the remaining bird and we had two toms on the ground.
My buddy on the left was hunting a different farm and shot his. 22lbs 1-1/4" spurs and 11" beard.
Mine was just a wee lad weighing in at a whopping 16.4 lbs 8-1/2" beard and 5/8" spurs
Kevin's was 18.2 lbs 8-1/2" beard and 5/8" spurs.
Well, I left work early on Thursday and headed out to a property that none of us had hunted yet this year. We'd scouted it and seen a couple gobblers and figured out where they were spending a lot of time but hadn't yet figured out their routine.
At 4:45 I started calling and was answered immediately. The tom worked his way in and to make a long 3 hour story really short, I couldn't pull him close enough for a shot. The closest he came was 65 yards and his hens would just keep pulling him away from me. Finally, at 7:00pm I had to admit defeat and unloaded my gun and pulled out the camera. Using my binoculars for zoom, here's the bird I was working...
I was eager to get back there but decided I'd best leave him alone in the morning as I knew he roosted on another property. My brother Kevin and I headed back there Friday after work and we spotted him from the car. A quick plan had us set up within 100 yards of him and his hens. I managed to get in to about 75 yards on him and then Kevin began calling. After 30 mins, I finally had him in range and was thrilled to end my season on the same bird I'd worked the night before.
The birds stats are 19.6 lbs, 8.5 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs.
Here's a photo....
We then headed out to get Kevin a bird and at 6:40 pm, we finally worked a group of gobblers in to range...only to find out they were all jakes....there's more to that story but I'll save it for another time.
This is Kevin laying beside me in a pasture with nothing but a decoy between us and the birds...
By moving the decoy around in a feeding motion and using some calling, we fooled these birds into staying well within killing range until we got sick of them and spooked them off...
We then went out today to get Kevin a bird and after nearly 1.5 hours we finally worked these gobblers into range only to once again find out....they were both jakes. Now there's nothing wrong with killing jakes but they just weren't what he was looking for.
Here's a photo of the two jakes and one hen...Kevin who was shooting had a much clearer view and they were only 30 yards away...
It was definitely a sweet season but it only lasted for 4 hunts
We set up and didn't hear a single gobble. We called and called and didn't hear a thing. We saw a bird roosted about 500 yards away and don't even know when it flew down or where it flew to because we looked back and it was gone. Again, we sat and sat and called and didn't hear a single gobble and this is a property that I had scouted two toms on a couple days ago.
We decided we had to sit until 7am before moving and at 6:58 we got antsy and Kevin got up to look in the next field. We got 30 yards away and we heard a gobble in our field but just over the knoll. He ran back and jumped in the blind and within a few seconds we see the fan come over the hill. The hen came straight in to the decoys and she knew something was up. Just in time the toms came at a brisk walk straight at the "jake breeding a hen" decoys and Kevin let loose on the strutter when he was 5 yards from the decoy and 27 yards from us. I followed up on the remaining bird and we had two toms on the ground.
My buddy on the left was hunting a different farm and shot his. 22lbs 1-1/4" spurs and 11" beard.
Mine was just a wee lad weighing in at a whopping 16.4 lbs 8-1/2" beard and 5/8" spurs
Kevin's was 18.2 lbs 8-1/2" beard and 5/8" spurs.
Well, I left work early on Thursday and headed out to a property that none of us had hunted yet this year. We'd scouted it and seen a couple gobblers and figured out where they were spending a lot of time but hadn't yet figured out their routine.
At 4:45 I started calling and was answered immediately. The tom worked his way in and to make a long 3 hour story really short, I couldn't pull him close enough for a shot. The closest he came was 65 yards and his hens would just keep pulling him away from me. Finally, at 7:00pm I had to admit defeat and unloaded my gun and pulled out the camera. Using my binoculars for zoom, here's the bird I was working...
I was eager to get back there but decided I'd best leave him alone in the morning as I knew he roosted on another property. My brother Kevin and I headed back there Friday after work and we spotted him from the car. A quick plan had us set up within 100 yards of him and his hens. I managed to get in to about 75 yards on him and then Kevin began calling. After 30 mins, I finally had him in range and was thrilled to end my season on the same bird I'd worked the night before.
The birds stats are 19.6 lbs, 8.5 inch beard and 3/4 inch spurs.
Here's a photo....
We then headed out to get Kevin a bird and at 6:40 pm, we finally worked a group of gobblers in to range...only to find out they were all jakes....there's more to that story but I'll save it for another time.
This is Kevin laying beside me in a pasture with nothing but a decoy between us and the birds...
By moving the decoy around in a feeding motion and using some calling, we fooled these birds into staying well within killing range until we got sick of them and spooked them off...
We then went out today to get Kevin a bird and after nearly 1.5 hours we finally worked these gobblers into range only to once again find out....they were both jakes. Now there's nothing wrong with killing jakes but they just weren't what he was looking for.
Here's a photo of the two jakes and one hen...Kevin who was shooting had a much clearer view and they were only 30 yards away...
It was definitely a sweet season but it only lasted for 4 hunts
