Grizzly Johnson
Well-Known Member
Got blessed with a 2nd bird of the season this morning....
Got in position to hopefully hear a bird at daybreak. Well, to my delight there were atleast 6-7 gobbling within my hearing range. Two pretty close, one of which was a little farther, but was the first to gobble. The other was a little farther but was very vocal.
Started out on the first, but was hesitant because he was in a more open area and the leaves/sticks were crunchy. The second bird could be gotten to by way of an old road bed pretty stealthy. So I moved in the second ones direction.... The I got to second guessing myself as I figured he was just a mouthy two-year old. So I moved back towards the first one.... I sat up to call as he was only about 100 yards away... he didn't gobble as often, but he had a deeper, more drawn out gobble. The mouthy one got to sounding closer so I put my attention on him in hopes he would just pop out on the old road and give me a good shot.
Then he sounded farther away, so I focused on the first bird again. He was on the ground now and still about 100+ yards. I sat and called for a bit to see what he would do.... He gobbled every-so-often... finally he sounded like he dropped off the ridge so I eased toward him. I called and it sounded like he was back on top with me about 50 yards away and so I took a seat.... Quietness was killing me as I knew the bird was right in front of me just out of sight. He gobbled again farther off the ridge and headed out the holler.
I backed out and made a circle to try and get in front of him.... this brought me back to the mouthy tom... he had already made about a 500-600 loop trying to gather hens.... So I sat up between the two and called to see what happened. Well the first one must have found the hen that went his way after I backed out and bumped her in his direction. The mouthy one got quiet again as he already did twice before......
Finally the first one shock gobbled on his own to a goose flying over.... he was within 50 yards but the thick green-up and a small creek kept him out of sight. The second bird cranked up again so I tried to get in his loop in hopes of getting him into range. He was making his back track on the right side of the old road bed.... I eased up the road in a crouched position to try and catch a glimpse, calling softly as I went... Suddenly a gobble rang out on the left side of the road and close! I squatted down and waited.
Soon I thought I heard walking in the leaves and looked up the road.... Sure enough a tom came out into the thinner brush in the edge of the roadbed... I eased my gun up and he walked out into the center... his buddy cam into view as well. Two toms in front of me now!! At about 40 yards I gave him a mauling.... it was 10:00am!!! I had lived the previous story from daylight until the shot was fired.... birds were gobbling in various locations until I shot my Easter Tom.... GREAT day to be in the woods.
Rem 870sm, 26" polished barrel, Rhino .675, 3.5/2-7/16/Hevi-13 #6 shot (Mauler handload)
17Lbs-12ozs, 9.25" beard, 1" spurs:
Got in position to hopefully hear a bird at daybreak. Well, to my delight there were atleast 6-7 gobbling within my hearing range. Two pretty close, one of which was a little farther, but was the first to gobble. The other was a little farther but was very vocal.
Started out on the first, but was hesitant because he was in a more open area and the leaves/sticks were crunchy. The second bird could be gotten to by way of an old road bed pretty stealthy. So I moved in the second ones direction.... The I got to second guessing myself as I figured he was just a mouthy two-year old. So I moved back towards the first one.... I sat up to call as he was only about 100 yards away... he didn't gobble as often, but he had a deeper, more drawn out gobble. The mouthy one got to sounding closer so I put my attention on him in hopes he would just pop out on the old road and give me a good shot.
Then he sounded farther away, so I focused on the first bird again. He was on the ground now and still about 100+ yards. I sat and called for a bit to see what he would do.... He gobbled every-so-often... finally he sounded like he dropped off the ridge so I eased toward him. I called and it sounded like he was back on top with me about 50 yards away and so I took a seat.... Quietness was killing me as I knew the bird was right in front of me just out of sight. He gobbled again farther off the ridge and headed out the holler.
I backed out and made a circle to try and get in front of him.... this brought me back to the mouthy tom... he had already made about a 500-600 loop trying to gather hens.... So I sat up between the two and called to see what happened. Well the first one must have found the hen that went his way after I backed out and bumped her in his direction. The mouthy one got quiet again as he already did twice before......
Finally the first one shock gobbled on his own to a goose flying over.... he was within 50 yards but the thick green-up and a small creek kept him out of sight. The second bird cranked up again so I tried to get in his loop in hopes of getting him into range. He was making his back track on the right side of the old road bed.... I eased up the road in a crouched position to try and catch a glimpse, calling softly as I went... Suddenly a gobble rang out on the left side of the road and close! I squatted down and waited.
Soon I thought I heard walking in the leaves and looked up the road.... Sure enough a tom came out into the thinner brush in the edge of the roadbed... I eased my gun up and he walked out into the center... his buddy cam into view as well. Two toms in front of me now!! At about 40 yards I gave him a mauling.... it was 10:00am!!! I had lived the previous story from daylight until the shot was fired.... birds were gobbling in various locations until I shot my Easter Tom.... GREAT day to be in the woods.
Rem 870sm, 26" polished barrel, Rhino .675, 3.5/2-7/16/Hevi-13 #6 shot (Mauler handload)
17Lbs-12ozs, 9.25" beard, 1" spurs:
