megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I originally planned to bring my son to TN this weekend, but with the storms forcast, I didn't think it would be worth making the 6.5 hour drive to the farms with the potential of being washed out for only a 2 day hunt, so I decided to stay local.
I headed out calling for a friend Saturday here in Mississippi. My 12 y/o son was supposed to go with us, but he bailed at 10pm the night before since a friend invited him to spend the night to play video games all night long
. Anyway, looking at the weather, we would have about an hour to an hour and a half before the line of Tstorms would hit, plenty of time to get a fired up gobbler before the front.
After walking in the dark for about 3/4 of mile, I finally found what sounded like a great bird on the roost on the far end of a 3-4ac food plot. I put a hen decoy out, and we tucked into a cane thicket for cover. He gobbled back at me 3 or 4 times on the roost, and free gobbled a few more times- one of the most vocal birds I've ever been on here in south MS. A couple hens tree yelped to our right, but not with the gobbler. Perfect setup, as he would have to come into the food plot to get to those hens
He hit the ground just inside the woodline and hung up and went silent. I kept calling softly occasionally while still checking the radar on my phone. When we had about 25 minutes left before the front was to hit, I threw the book at him.... fighting purrs, cackling, lost calls all mixed together. He gobbled to that, then started running toward us. When he cleared the rise, I saw him first, told my friend where he was and to get ready. He got his gun up, found the bird, then flipped the safety off. The turkey saw the decoy and stopped and went into full strut at 35 yards- then I saw the jake fan. "Don't shoot!, its a jake!" I told my friend. He flipped the safety back on and we watched the superjake strut into the hen decoy, spin her around 3 or 4 times until he finally pushed her off the stake, then proceeded to breed the decoy! After a couple minutes on top of the decoy, I checked the radar- 15 minutes left before the front. Thinking this might have not been the bird we heard earlier on the roost, I called again- he gobbled back- full, deep, and long. This is only the 3rd jake I've ever been fooled on.
Realizing he was alone and the front was about to hit, I stood up and walked to him still breeding the hen decoy. He didn't get off the decoy until I got to about 6 or 7 yards away!
We grabbed our stuff, almost jogging back to the truck, then got inside just as the bottom dropped out with downpouring rain and lightening. Headed back home in time for breakfast knowing that I won that game. Just regretted not having my son there, as it would have been a slam-dunk easy kill for him.
I headed out calling for a friend Saturday here in Mississippi. My 12 y/o son was supposed to go with us, but he bailed at 10pm the night before since a friend invited him to spend the night to play video games all night long
. Anyway, looking at the weather, we would have about an hour to an hour and a half before the line of Tstorms would hit, plenty of time to get a fired up gobbler before the front.After walking in the dark for about 3/4 of mile, I finally found what sounded like a great bird on the roost on the far end of a 3-4ac food plot. I put a hen decoy out, and we tucked into a cane thicket for cover. He gobbled back at me 3 or 4 times on the roost, and free gobbled a few more times- one of the most vocal birds I've ever been on here in south MS. A couple hens tree yelped to our right, but not with the gobbler. Perfect setup, as he would have to come into the food plot to get to those hens
He hit the ground just inside the woodline and hung up and went silent. I kept calling softly occasionally while still checking the radar on my phone. When we had about 25 minutes left before the front was to hit, I threw the book at him.... fighting purrs, cackling, lost calls all mixed together. He gobbled to that, then started running toward us. When he cleared the rise, I saw him first, told my friend where he was and to get ready. He got his gun up, found the bird, then flipped the safety off. The turkey saw the decoy and stopped and went into full strut at 35 yards- then I saw the jake fan
. "Don't shoot!, its a jake!" I told my friend. He flipped the safety back on and we watched the superjake strut into the hen decoy, spin her around 3 or 4 times until he finally pushed her off the stake, then proceeded to breed the decoy! After a couple minutes on top of the decoy, I checked the radar- 15 minutes left before the front. Thinking this might have not been the bird we heard earlier on the roost, I called again- he gobbled back- full, deep, and long. This is only the 3rd jake I've ever been fooled on.Realizing he was alone and the front was about to hit, I stood up and walked to him still breeding the hen decoy. He didn't get off the decoy until I got to about 6 or 7 yards away!
We grabbed our stuff, almost jogging back to the truck, then got inside just as the bottom dropped out with downpouring rain and lightening. Headed back home in time for breakfast knowing that I won that game. Just regretted not having my son there, as it would have been a slam-dunk easy kill for him.
!
