Killminister
Well-Known Member
Man, I worked hard for this one. Watched a Tom strutting on the top side of a several acre pasture for about an hour while I tried to position myself to sneak on him. He started moving the opposite direction while I was climbing up to him in the tree line. I reversed course, went completely back around the pasture to try to get ahead of him. I started to make a move on him when i heard a different gobble, in front of me about 100 yards. I saw this one heading into the field to join the original tom. I decided to call a few times to him, as I felt he wasn't completely committed to the field yet. He acted interested, but continue moving into the field. I decided to move in behind him, behind a knoll where he couldn't see me. I got in position and was watching both the longbeards, and all of the sudden 2 more joined them next to the barn. I was getting quite anxious. After 4 hours of hunting this morning, getting busted earlier in the day, taking a bad shot and missing, and stalking these birds for close to an 1 1/2 hours, I had decided that I was going to move on these birds. I was going to position myself to use the barn as a blind. Pop out from behind it and pick one off. About that time the bird I had called to begin to move. He began to move to my previous position where I had called from about 15 minutes prior. Not sure if my silence had peaked his interest or it was purely coincidence, but either way, he moved into range. 32 steps. It was over. He was a 2 year old, 1" spurs & 9.5" beard. A couple of the other birds seemed to be more dominant, but I didn't care. I was just happy to seal the deal. 3 more days to fill this last tag. My daughter Macie wanted in the pic with her puppy dog Max. By the way, for those of you with kids who want pet, I suggest a dog like Max. Doesn't bark, eat, poop, whine, or die. The quintessential pet.
