ShortMountain91
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2018
- Messages
- 59
Finally was able to connect on a bird I've been chasing most of the season! This bird was on a few properties close to the house so I would usually take the extra 5 minutes to drive by most mornings on the way to work and see if he was out there. Sometimes I'd see him, sometimes I wouldn't. He also wasn't always in the same field when I would see him but always in the same general area. I setup on this bird multiple times. Once early he was with hens and I just couldn't call him over. Once I set up and he was on the opposite side of the road and wouldn't cross at the road. Once I had him coming and 2 coyotes run him off. Once I saw him on the edge of the woods and tried to sneak up to him and ended up bumping him. So because of all the encounters I sort of became fixed on killing this one bird. But the last couple times I tried him, I never heard or saw him so I was thinking of giving up on him. I was thinking about going to another property this morning where I've been hearing a couple still gobbling but last night my wife said "why don't you try the one close to the house again". I figured my intuition has been off all season so maybe I should trust hers this time. Sure enough I slipped in this morning before daylight and setup the lone hen decoy. Maybe 20 minutes later I hear him gobble on the roost maybe 150 yards away. Do just some very soft tree yelps. I didn't hear him fly down but could tell from his gobble that he was on the ground. Hit him with another soft yelp and he answered so at this point I'm shutting up, he knows where I'm at. Maybe 15 minutes later I thought I could hear the beloved spit and drum but wasn't sure. Few seconds after that I catch movement coming in and can tell it's a tom. About that time he goes into full strut about 40 yards out but I got a ton of brush between me and him. He gobbles 2 times right there and maybe takes 5 more steps. I think he started to tell that the decoy was fake cause he raises his head and starts to walk off. Figured I'm gonna have to work the gun through the brush if I'm gonna have a chance. Get the gun wedged around where I have at least a couple small windows. Can see his head and put the red dot on and let him have it and he folds right up. Had him on the ground by 5:45. This season just seemed like a string of bad luck so to finally bag the bird I've been chasing was really cool and I couldn't have asked for a better hunt this morning! Praise God for making such amazing animals! I absolutely love chasing these guys in the spring!
