Jethro
New Member
sneaks no more. Here is the pic of my turkey from last Thursday. The story goes; I hunted all day Wednesday and it was one of the worst days ever. Heard gobbling in the a.m., but not like normal. And then there was the wind. It was ridiculous. All day long I only seen one bird cut across a field only to go right back into the timber to get out of the wind. Left that night felling like a whipped pup from no action and fighting the wind. Thursday morning woke up to calm & clear conditions and decided to set up at a different location than the morning before. Gobbling was better but still not normal. At 7:15 seen two toms out in the field about 600 yards with 6 hens. Called to no avail. Decided at 10:00 to move down about 200 yards and set-up along a draw heading into to a big timber patch hoping to catch a lonely tom either coming or going. Hunted until 1:30 and nothing. Mind games are starting to set in. I have had really good hunting here in the past years and couldn’t figure out what the deal was. Head back to the truck for a break and a snack and was back out set-up at around 2:45 p.m. Started a series of calls and finally at 3:06 I got one going on two ridges over about 250 yards away. He was not hot but he was answering me and ever so slowly making his way to me. For the next 35 minutes we talked back and forth and then he quit. I couldn’t get a peep out of him. I called for another five minutes with nothing and decided to let it rest for awhile and see what happens. After about ten minutes I picked up the call gave a few soft clucks & purrs and BOOM there he was not forty yards away down over the crest of the hill trying to sneak up on me. I still couldn’t see him yet but I could hear him spitting & drumming coming up the hill towards me. Then I could see the tips of his tail feathers as he was strutting up the hill. He made it to the top of the ridge about 25 yards out in full strut and stopped directly behind a bush, no shot. Then he gobbled again and strutted ahead from behind the bush. (Man I love it when they gobble that close, just makes your insides shake.) At straight up 4:00 on the nose, it was over. He wound up going 24 1/2 lbs, 1 1/8” & 1 1/4" spurs and had a 10 3/4" beard.
