ryanwhit
Senior Member
This report may be a week late, but that means it'll be here for the real turkey hunters to see.
Last Saturday morning the alarm went off and I only went because it would be my last chance of the season. I hadn't heard a gobble in this area in some time, and really only expected a walk on the mountain. I got to my parking spot and started walking. About a mile in or so it was light enough to gobble, so I stopped and hooted. I was surprised and excited to hear a gobble, even if he was a pretty good ways off - and up. I kicked it into high gear and started uphill. I covered a few hundred yards and stopped to hoot again. He hammered again, and then another bird a few hundred yards from him followed. It seemed that I had only cut the distance in half, so I kept going. Up, over, and around a couple of more ridges, then one more hoot let me know where I needed to be. I opted to go after the close bird, even though the further one had a bigger gobble. It was getting close to flydown time and I didn't want to push my luck.
I eased up the ridge towards towards the bird and found a good tree to sit on. There were scattered blueberry bushes about 15 yards out in a semi-circle that created good screen of cover. By the time I sat down I wasn't sure if the bird had flown out or not, but I reached for the Tom Teaser slate and made some soft tree yelps. I got no answer, but I got my little 20 ga up on my knee and popped the lid off the doctor. I waited for 5 minutes or so, and after not hearing him gobble or fly down, I reached for the slate and did another series of yelps, this time a little bit louder. He hammered directly in front of me and much closer than I expected at 60 or 70 yards. I looked to the gobble, and above the brush I saw his fan open up. I went ahead and pulled the hammer back. A few seconds later he poked his head up to look down the ridge, and then it disappeared again as he went into strut. He'd take a few steps and repeat the exercise. A few minutes of this and he'd probably only closed the distance 15 yards or so, and I hadn't made a peep. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he started coming with a quickness. He'd stop and strut every 5 yards or so, but only for a few seconds before he'd keep coming. Unfortunately, those blueberry bushes that were hiding me were also preventing me from watching the show, but I was able to keep tabs on him by his footsteps in the leaves and the spitting when he strutted. I just continued to follow the sound with the barrel. He stopped to strut one last time before breaking out into the open, and he strutted a little longer here, spitting 3 times and turning at least 180 degrees, judging by the sound. He then broke out of the cover at 24 yards, and I quickly put the red dot on his face and reduced to bag. The 20 did great and knocked him flat on his tail! This with just nitros, I haven't had a chance to load and pattern TSS yet.
He was a nice bird, with a beautiful fan,a beard of a little over 10 inches, but only short spurs, probably 5/8". It was an enjoyable hunt and the 1.5 mile walk back to the truck was nice as I thought about the bird pecking my leg and the 4 others that had pecked it this season. I'm proud to have him and happy to end this odd season with a GA limit, the last of which came off a piece of pretty hard hunted public ground.
My little boy wanted to pose with daddy with his gun...
Last Saturday morning the alarm went off and I only went because it would be my last chance of the season. I hadn't heard a gobble in this area in some time, and really only expected a walk on the mountain. I got to my parking spot and started walking. About a mile in or so it was light enough to gobble, so I stopped and hooted. I was surprised and excited to hear a gobble, even if he was a pretty good ways off - and up. I kicked it into high gear and started uphill. I covered a few hundred yards and stopped to hoot again. He hammered again, and then another bird a few hundred yards from him followed. It seemed that I had only cut the distance in half, so I kept going. Up, over, and around a couple of more ridges, then one more hoot let me know where I needed to be. I opted to go after the close bird, even though the further one had a bigger gobble. It was getting close to flydown time and I didn't want to push my luck.
I eased up the ridge towards towards the bird and found a good tree to sit on. There were scattered blueberry bushes about 15 yards out in a semi-circle that created good screen of cover. By the time I sat down I wasn't sure if the bird had flown out or not, but I reached for the Tom Teaser slate and made some soft tree yelps. I got no answer, but I got my little 20 ga up on my knee and popped the lid off the doctor. I waited for 5 minutes or so, and after not hearing him gobble or fly down, I reached for the slate and did another series of yelps, this time a little bit louder. He hammered directly in front of me and much closer than I expected at 60 or 70 yards. I looked to the gobble, and above the brush I saw his fan open up. I went ahead and pulled the hammer back. A few seconds later he poked his head up to look down the ridge, and then it disappeared again as he went into strut. He'd take a few steps and repeat the exercise. A few minutes of this and he'd probably only closed the distance 15 yards or so, and I hadn't made a peep. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he started coming with a quickness. He'd stop and strut every 5 yards or so, but only for a few seconds before he'd keep coming. Unfortunately, those blueberry bushes that were hiding me were also preventing me from watching the show, but I was able to keep tabs on him by his footsteps in the leaves and the spitting when he strutted. I just continued to follow the sound with the barrel. He stopped to strut one last time before breaking out into the open, and he strutted a little longer here, spitting 3 times and turning at least 180 degrees, judging by the sound. He then broke out of the cover at 24 yards, and I quickly put the red dot on his face and reduced to bag. The 20 did great and knocked him flat on his tail! This with just nitros, I haven't had a chance to load and pattern TSS yet.
He was a nice bird, with a beautiful fan,a beard of a little over 10 inches, but only short spurs, probably 5/8". It was an enjoyable hunt and the 1.5 mile walk back to the truck was nice as I thought about the bird pecking my leg and the 4 others that had pecked it this season. I'm proud to have him and happy to end this odd season with a GA limit, the last of which came off a piece of pretty hard hunted public ground.
My little boy wanted to pose with daddy with his gun...
