sportsman94
Senior Member
Had a phenomenal hunt this morning.
It started really slow with only some very distant gobbles far off the property I had permission on. It was the only one talking so I through a Hail Mary and went as far as I could legally go. The bird had shut up by this point so I just sat and listened. About 15 minutes passes and I hear a faint sound that was the correct cadence to be a gobble. It was still early, but I figured I better let him know I was there before he continued to go the other way.
I cut real loud and got a response, but it was still too distant to know for sure that it was a gobble. I continued listening to the noise for a few minutes and heard it continue to parallel the land I was on. I decided to walk along the property line and try to keep up with them as best as I could. I ran out of real estate and ended up at the corner of the property at a likely looking spot to kill one… except for the fence they were going to have to cross to get to me. I set up in a transition between the open pines the birds were in and a swampy bottom behind me. There was a little roll in the terrain that would hopefully prevent them from being able to see me if they just walked to the edge of the fence. I had an open lane from my 9 to my 3 position and behind me was thick for about 15 yards and then opened up into the swamp.
I sat for probably 30-45 minutes listening to these birds gobble anywhere from 250-150 yards out. I could make out three different birds, but they did not want to leave their spot in the pines. I imagine they strutted through there often and expected me to come to them. It was getting close to the time I had to leave to get to work and I was racking my brain debating what I should do. The birds were hung up about 150 yards and not making any moves. The gobbling continued full bore and had reached about 100 on the morning at this point. I decided I would try to paint a picture to make them jealous.
I cut on my slate aggressively, followed it immediately with some jake yelps, and then slapped my hat against my leg to simulate wing beats. 20 seconds later the birds had cut the distance in half. I could tell they were at the fence and looking for a way through.
The intensity of the gobbling had ramped up and they were double gobbling. They sounded frantic. I caught a glimpse of one at about 80 yards and saw they were going to go into the thick spot. I tried throwing a call over my left shoulder hoping it would bring them up the hill. It didn’t work and they continued moving behind me gobbling.
Luckily the brush obstructed their view and I was able to pull my gun towards me, flip over onto my side/belly, and get turned around through one tiny hole I had through the brush. I saw the bird working it’s way to the gap and got my gun up. As he went through a lane I yelped to make him stop. It worked just as planned except his head was behind a tree. I could see he started to get nervous and I knew I would have to shoot as soon as he came out the other side. He popped out and I squeezed the trigger. The celebration started as I saw him start flopping!
Who knew that peanuts and sunflowers were already putting on this time of year
It started really slow with only some very distant gobbles far off the property I had permission on. It was the only one talking so I through a Hail Mary and went as far as I could legally go. The bird had shut up by this point so I just sat and listened. About 15 minutes passes and I hear a faint sound that was the correct cadence to be a gobble. It was still early, but I figured I better let him know I was there before he continued to go the other way.
I cut real loud and got a response, but it was still too distant to know for sure that it was a gobble. I continued listening to the noise for a few minutes and heard it continue to parallel the land I was on. I decided to walk along the property line and try to keep up with them as best as I could. I ran out of real estate and ended up at the corner of the property at a likely looking spot to kill one… except for the fence they were going to have to cross to get to me. I set up in a transition between the open pines the birds were in and a swampy bottom behind me. There was a little roll in the terrain that would hopefully prevent them from being able to see me if they just walked to the edge of the fence. I had an open lane from my 9 to my 3 position and behind me was thick for about 15 yards and then opened up into the swamp.
I sat for probably 30-45 minutes listening to these birds gobble anywhere from 250-150 yards out. I could make out three different birds, but they did not want to leave their spot in the pines. I imagine they strutted through there often and expected me to come to them. It was getting close to the time I had to leave to get to work and I was racking my brain debating what I should do. The birds were hung up about 150 yards and not making any moves. The gobbling continued full bore and had reached about 100 on the morning at this point. I decided I would try to paint a picture to make them jealous.
I cut on my slate aggressively, followed it immediately with some jake yelps, and then slapped my hat against my leg to simulate wing beats. 20 seconds later the birds had cut the distance in half. I could tell they were at the fence and looking for a way through.
The intensity of the gobbling had ramped up and they were double gobbling. They sounded frantic. I caught a glimpse of one at about 80 yards and saw they were going to go into the thick spot. I tried throwing a call over my left shoulder hoping it would bring them up the hill. It didn’t work and they continued moving behind me gobbling.
Luckily the brush obstructed their view and I was able to pull my gun towards me, flip over onto my side/belly, and get turned around through one tiny hole I had through the brush. I saw the bird working it’s way to the gap and got my gun up. As he went through a lane I yelped to make him stop. It worked just as planned except his head was behind a tree. I could see he started to get nervous and I knew I would have to shoot as soon as he came out the other side. He popped out and I squeezed the trigger. The celebration started as I saw him start flopping!
Who knew that peanuts and sunflowers were already putting on this time of year
Congratulations
