YEKRUT
Well-Known Member
It's been a good season so far. Started off opening morning going in blind after not being to camp since Sept when we sprayed and killed all of the plots before fall planting. I heard a couple birds and went to one and set up and made short work of him. He was maybe 300 yards across a huge holler, but wanted to play so he closed the distance quick and gobbled good. Trigger pull was at 7:10 I believe. I was saying my thanks for letting me do it one more time when another bird fires up and is coming on a string. I grabbed the bird and hit the bushes and recorded several minutes of him gobbling. He put on a show for the next 30 minutes wanting to know where the hen was at or where his buddy went either one. Bird #1 was a solid 3 year old.
Thursday I got on a bird early and stayed on him until 2:20 when I gave him the finger and left him for a snack and a bottle of water. I was within 100 yards of him on a couple occasions and had his hens all around me, but he would stand off and gobble. He just doesn't realize how the game works, but I'm going to put some time into him until he learns. I put a lot of miles in yesterday, but learned a little about that bird and did some recon work as well.
Friday morning I went back after him because I'm a glutton for punishment I guess. He was roosted in the same general area as day 2 and did the same thing he has been doing which is gobbling his brains out, but not committing to a call. He went out of hearing distance today within 2 hours of daylight and left his hens once again. I'm guessing he is a 2 year old. I've had a couple act the same way before. I left him and went and checked out a couple other areas of the club. I set up in a spot that has held birds in years past and put "Fancy" my Avian hen out. Maybe 15 minutes in I heard a very light hen yelp from behind me and was hoping she had sugar daddy with her. She came in and fed around for a couple minutes when I start hearing drumming, but it's ALOT of drumming. I'm trying to say to myself that it is a big rig on the highway because it is so cut up and it didnt sound normal. I hear another hen yelp so I begin thinking just maybe it is drumming I am hearing. Sure enough it gets louder and I know it is multiple gobblers drumming. Finally I get my eyes on a wad of hens and 2 strutters. They passed to my left so close that I could judge their spurs when they walked by. The bigger of the 2 walks straight to Fancy and smacks her in the head with his wing and spins her around a few times. I finally get a clear shot and got Fancy some revenge for the head smack. He was a pretty good bird with sharp spurs.
I'm not hearing a lot of gobbling at all. I'm hoping the warmer weather today breaks them open tomorrow.
# 3 This morning I finally put my hands on bird #100 and it's been a long time coming. I started in TN in 1996 when the limit was 2 in TN and didn't hunt out of state until about 2006 I believe so it took me a while to get to 100. The last several years in double digits with out of state hunting has really helped the numbers though.
I started out on this bird this morning with him only gobbling once on the roost. I set up where I thought he would go if he had hens and he didn't show up. I climbed a big hill about 8 and got to where I could hear for a long ways and cut real loud and he answered off in a big hole about 300 yards away. He didn't say anything for a couple hours but his hens got into a scuffle and he gobbled once at them and they were headed toward a plot. I head toward the plot and when I get close I call and a hen answers me back already in the plot. I go back and forth with hens and circling trying to find a way to sneak up in the plot and couldn't make it happen without spooking them. I stick with them until about 11:00 and then within 100 yards almost the entire time. I decided besides spooking them that I would just go find another one. I had thrown all my tricks at him and even gobbled at him with nothing in response. I got up and found all my gear stroked across a couple hundred yards and headed toward the truck. On the walk out I remembered the fan in my truck that I had put together and said "why not". I hustle to the truck. I figure if he was a big boy I was in business, if not he was going to tuck tail and run. I get back with the fan and go into stealth mode with the fan leading he way. I get to where he can see me and give him the spin and he cranes his neck and goes back into strut. I walk closer and make sure I can get the fan into the open where he can see it good. Well the hens see it and the one jake and all start trying to leave the field and come to me. He tries his best to heard them all back into the field but they are coming to me. I start trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to shoot him now that I can see it is going to happen. He comes to 40 yards and blows up and gives me some separation from the hens and jake and I give him some tss. He was a boss, 2 beards, 1 1/4 spurs and a little over 19#.
Thursday I got on a bird early and stayed on him until 2:20 when I gave him the finger and left him for a snack and a bottle of water. I was within 100 yards of him on a couple occasions and had his hens all around me, but he would stand off and gobble. He just doesn't realize how the game works, but I'm going to put some time into him until he learns. I put a lot of miles in yesterday, but learned a little about that bird and did some recon work as well.
Friday morning I went back after him because I'm a glutton for punishment I guess. He was roosted in the same general area as day 2 and did the same thing he has been doing which is gobbling his brains out, but not committing to a call. He went out of hearing distance today within 2 hours of daylight and left his hens once again. I'm guessing he is a 2 year old. I've had a couple act the same way before. I left him and went and checked out a couple other areas of the club. I set up in a spot that has held birds in years past and put "Fancy" my Avian hen out. Maybe 15 minutes in I heard a very light hen yelp from behind me and was hoping she had sugar daddy with her. She came in and fed around for a couple minutes when I start hearing drumming, but it's ALOT of drumming. I'm trying to say to myself that it is a big rig on the highway because it is so cut up and it didnt sound normal. I hear another hen yelp so I begin thinking just maybe it is drumming I am hearing. Sure enough it gets louder and I know it is multiple gobblers drumming. Finally I get my eyes on a wad of hens and 2 strutters. They passed to my left so close that I could judge their spurs when they walked by. The bigger of the 2 walks straight to Fancy and smacks her in the head with his wing and spins her around a few times. I finally get a clear shot and got Fancy some revenge for the head smack. He was a pretty good bird with sharp spurs.
I'm not hearing a lot of gobbling at all. I'm hoping the warmer weather today breaks them open tomorrow.
# 3 This morning I finally put my hands on bird #100 and it's been a long time coming. I started in TN in 1996 when the limit was 2 in TN and didn't hunt out of state until about 2006 I believe so it took me a while to get to 100. The last several years in double digits with out of state hunting has really helped the numbers though.
I started out on this bird this morning with him only gobbling once on the roost. I set up where I thought he would go if he had hens and he didn't show up. I climbed a big hill about 8 and got to where I could hear for a long ways and cut real loud and he answered off in a big hole about 300 yards away. He didn't say anything for a couple hours but his hens got into a scuffle and he gobbled once at them and they were headed toward a plot. I head toward the plot and when I get close I call and a hen answers me back already in the plot. I go back and forth with hens and circling trying to find a way to sneak up in the plot and couldn't make it happen without spooking them. I stick with them until about 11:00 and then within 100 yards almost the entire time. I decided besides spooking them that I would just go find another one. I had thrown all my tricks at him and even gobbled at him with nothing in response. I got up and found all my gear stroked across a couple hundred yards and headed toward the truck. On the walk out I remembered the fan in my truck that I had put together and said "why not". I hustle to the truck. I figure if he was a big boy I was in business, if not he was going to tuck tail and run. I get back with the fan and go into stealth mode with the fan leading he way. I get to where he can see me and give him the spin and he cranes his neck and goes back into strut. I walk closer and make sure I can get the fan into the open where he can see it good. Well the hens see it and the one jake and all start trying to leave the field and come to me. He tries his best to heard them all back into the field but they are coming to me. I start trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to shoot him now that I can see it is going to happen. He comes to 40 yards and blows up and gives me some separation from the hens and jake and I give him some tss. He was a boss, 2 beards, 1 1/4 spurs and a little over 19#.
