Chief44
Well-Known Member
My 2022 season is done. Killed bird #2 on April 22. I had roosted 2 gobblers the evening before but they were across a creek and on the other side of a large open bottom. I had been avoiding this section of the farm due to the depth of the creek but decided this would be the day to try these birds. That morning I got there about an hour before daylight, put on my waders, threw my boots over my shoulder and crossed the creek. I got across the bottom well before it started to break light and set up as close to the two birds as I could. They flew down into the corner of the bottom just out of sight with a couple of hens. They ended up following the hens across the property line into some fresh cut timber and shut up. About this time another bird cranked up at the opposite end of the bottom about 600 yards away. I was tempted to go after him but Ive heard and watched to many gobblers return to where they flew down by mid morning so I decided to just sit tight and wait. At 9:00, I heard one of the birds gobble at a hawk. I gave a few soft yelps and they both gobbled. I waited a few min and called again. They responded and were much closer this time. A few min later I could hear them drumming in the corner of the bottom. They finally cleared around a small pocket of trees and I killed the lead bird at about 25 yards. This bird had a 9 1/2" beard, 1" spurs and weighed a little over 19 lbs.
I then began to focus on a bird on my place that had a noticeably thick beard. I got on him on a couple of different days but he just wouldn't cooperate. He would stay out in a big field for hours strutting and would hang up just out of range. The one morning that I got on him in the woods, he was gobbling good but we got interrupted by a coyote. I fed him a load from the little 20ga and chalked it up as a good day. On Tuesday afternoon this week, I once again found him strutting in this field. I managed to crawl out about 75 yards into the field and hid behind a thorn bush. After some soft calls, he headed my way but so did the cows. He stopped at 35 yards looking for the hen but unfortunately there were cows standing on 3 sides of him and I could not shoot and had to watch him walk away. Wednesday morning I got on him again in the same field. I circled to the other side from where I had previously worked him and after 2 hours I finally had him in range and my season was over. He weighed 20lbs, had 10 1/4" beard and 1 1/4" spurs. Both birds were killed with an 870 compact 20ga and #9 TSS. It's been a good season. Can't wait till next year.
I then began to focus on a bird on my place that had a noticeably thick beard. I got on him on a couple of different days but he just wouldn't cooperate. He would stay out in a big field for hours strutting and would hang up just out of range. The one morning that I got on him in the woods, he was gobbling good but we got interrupted by a coyote. I fed him a load from the little 20ga and chalked it up as a good day. On Tuesday afternoon this week, I once again found him strutting in this field. I managed to crawl out about 75 yards into the field and hid behind a thorn bush. After some soft calls, he headed my way but so did the cows. He stopped at 35 yards looking for the hen but unfortunately there were cows standing on 3 sides of him and I could not shoot and had to watch him walk away. Wednesday morning I got on him again in the same field. I circled to the other side from where I had previously worked him and after 2 hours I finally had him in range and my season was over. He weighed 20lbs, had 10 1/4" beard and 1 1/4" spurs. Both birds were killed with an 870 compact 20ga and #9 TSS. It's been a good season. Can't wait till next year.
