Had a fun hunt yesterday even though I missed the shot. Started the morning sitting on my lawn mower in the shed drinking coffee, waiting to see if one would gobble. Hadn't heard one since Thursday last week, so I didn't feel like walking out for nothing. Plus I had logs to pull out of the woods and had to get them sawmilled that day for a friend. At the appropriate time I heard one and it sounded like it was on my property, so I walked the trail back a ways. After about 5 minutes he gobbled again, and I know exactly where he's roosted, right on my ridge top food plot. By this time it is way too light out to try to get a close set up, and I am not in good position being at the bottom of the ridge. As I'm sitting there pondering what to do I hear a hen start clicking across the creek on the neighbors, and I am right between her and the gobbling tom. I think to myself I'll just stay right here. I get set up and a couple more hens join in, so I start talking to them and he is just hammering away. I hear him fly down, but he stays put on top and continues to gobble. I work my way up the hill, and finally get in good position down the hill from him but right beside an old logging road that I use to get to the food plot. Next thing I know there's a hen clucking at 60 yards and she's between me and him, so her and I start cutting and clucking our heads off and the tom is losing his mind gobbling at us. After about 10 minutes of that she goes silent and I assume she and her girlfriends are up with him. I stayed put and called and he would answer but still up top. Finally he went silent, so I just sat there thinking what to do. Next thing I know he gobbles in the gully directly on the other side of the logging road maybe 50 yards away. I call but no response, but now I can hear him drumming so I keep positioning his direction as he is going down the hill. After a short bit of silence he gobbled on the logging road below me at maybe 30 yards but I can't see him because it's too thick and the a little hill between us. He gobbled again and I now see a hen and then another working their way around me and what will be down the hill where I started the morning. He is gobbling good again by now and I can see him occasionally through the thick brush but no shot. I keep twisting my body around the tree following him in the scope, but just no creat shot. The hens have dropped off the side of the ridge and I can no longer see them, and then he finally gets in the clear but is at the drop off so he disappears. I cut at him and he sticks his head up but as I shoot he goes back into strut and I miss.
This is the first bird that I have worked on my property that was actually roosted on my place as they usually only roost on the neighbors properties. A real fun hunt for sure!
