TN Larry
Well-Known Member
It's been a rough start for me. After battling back issues and unsure of my season, I was able to get my 9 year old son a nice bird last weekend. I've been taking my 20 gauge due to not sure how my back might take the recoil of a weird angle shot with the 12, and the 20 shoots just fine . I rolled my son's gobblers buddy last weekend which would have been a double, but he got up and got away. I was still super happy to get him a bird. Yesterday morning, I was the shooter, and we got on a bird that gobbled like crazy on the roost. He flew down with hens, but I still got him to come look. Long story short, I misjudged the yardage and shot too far. I was sick.
We headed out this morning, and my son was to shoot first if it worked out since I blew it last weekend and yesterday. We heard a bird gobble on the roost, but I made the call to not go after him due to how steep it was, and one misstep could send my back the other direction. We got on another bird, but he had other plans. We came back to this bird about an hour after fly down, and he was still hammering. I found a way for us to safely climb the hill. We got setup, and he cut me off about 80 yds. He came around the hill in full strut but went above us. He went over a rise, and we gave chase. It was super steep that I probably shouldn't have tried to climb with my back, but I did. We eased to the rise, called, and no answer. Crap, all this climbing for nothing......There was another rise a little ahead as we eased that way. I called and got a response just over. We jumped to a tree and set down. I called again and got another immediate response and went silent. We were kind of stuck as the setup had us about 20 - 30 yds from the rise. We then heard him coming and both had our guns up. My heart was absolutely pounding as I wasn't sure where he'd pop up at. I knew that ever whose side he came to would have to shoot as he would be too close to move on. I then saw two big red heads pop up to my extreme left about 30 yds. Since my son was to my right, I swung and shot the lead bird. The second flew off, and my son thought I had missed again. The hill was so steep below him that he flopped out of sight. We had to slide from tree to tree after him. I kept seeing feathers so I knew that we were still on the right path. I finally looked down the hill and saw him. Thank goodness that we had to go over the hill anyways, but that wasn't our planned route.
I was a little disappointed as I rolled him over and had shot the wrong bird. He's what I would call a super jake. The bird that flew off was the longbeard. My son said, daddy it don't matter, he'll still taste the same.
. After thinking that I may not even get to go this year, I'm still tickled for both of us to have killed. My son is up to bat next.
14.75 lbs, 4.75" beard, and nubs as spurs. He nearly had a full fan.
The pic shows a little how steep it was.
We headed out this morning, and my son was to shoot first if it worked out since I blew it last weekend and yesterday. We heard a bird gobble on the roost, but I made the call to not go after him due to how steep it was, and one misstep could send my back the other direction. We got on another bird, but he had other plans. We came back to this bird about an hour after fly down, and he was still hammering. I found a way for us to safely climb the hill. We got setup, and he cut me off about 80 yds. He came around the hill in full strut but went above us. He went over a rise, and we gave chase. It was super steep that I probably shouldn't have tried to climb with my back, but I did. We eased to the rise, called, and no answer. Crap, all this climbing for nothing......There was another rise a little ahead as we eased that way. I called and got a response just over. We jumped to a tree and set down. I called again and got another immediate response and went silent. We were kind of stuck as the setup had us about 20 - 30 yds from the rise. We then heard him coming and both had our guns up. My heart was absolutely pounding as I wasn't sure where he'd pop up at. I knew that ever whose side he came to would have to shoot as he would be too close to move on. I then saw two big red heads pop up to my extreme left about 30 yds. Since my son was to my right, I swung and shot the lead bird. The second flew off, and my son thought I had missed again. The hill was so steep below him that he flopped out of sight. We had to slide from tree to tree after him. I kept seeing feathers so I knew that we were still on the right path. I finally looked down the hill and saw him. Thank goodness that we had to go over the hill anyways, but that wasn't our planned route.
I was a little disappointed as I rolled him over and had shot the wrong bird. He's what I would call a super jake. The bird that flew off was the longbeard. My son said, daddy it don't matter, he'll still taste the same.
. After thinking that I may not even get to go this year, I'm still tickled for both of us to have killed. My son is up to bat next.14.75 lbs, 4.75" beard, and nubs as spurs. He nearly had a full fan.
The pic shows a little how steep it was.
