JRA
Well-Known Member
Saturday morning was cold, overcast, and windy. I hunt a private property, and arrived about 20 minutes before sunrise. He gobbled on the roost a few times, but wasn't exactly "fired up", and he was on an adjacent property. I sat up in the side of our property closest to the other, but not near the property line. He remained on the other property and gobbled sparingly after fly down, then he went quiet for a couple of hours. In the meantime, I saw two hens walking across on an opposite ridge in the direction of where I had last heard the Tom.
Knowing the trend of these two hens, I moved my set up to an ambush spot where I have seen the hens travel twice on our property. The hope was they might drag that Tom with them. The problem was I knew those hens crossed that spot late in the morning, so it was going to be a long, cold wait.
After waiting in the new spot 1.5 hours, old boy starts gobbling his head off on the adjacent property. I had a choice, sit tight (it was going to be another 1+ hours of wait before the typical hen crossing time), or make a move and hope I could call him to me.
I moved back to my original spot earlier in the morning (200-300 yards from the property line), and gave an aggressive call. He responded, but didn't budge. To this point I have yet to see him. I waited about 15 minutes and called again less aggressively. He has been gobbling the whole time but not moving. Eventually, after about 25 minutes he couldn't stand it and the gobbles got closer.
I knew it was over when I saw him crest and dip down a ridge directly opposite me, on our property. He dipped out of site into a valley. I soft called once just to remind him of why he was coming. In good fortune, right before he crested the ridge I was on, he hollered one more time. I was able to pinpoint exactly where he would appear. I was set up in a tight spot. When I saw him, he would be in range.
There is nothing like seeing one appear out of a valley into your ridge. I let him move into a nice, clear shooting lane and took my shot. 28 yards. That cold morning turned beautiful in an instant and suddenly I was cold no more.
Knowing the trend of these two hens, I moved my set up to an ambush spot where I have seen the hens travel twice on our property. The hope was they might drag that Tom with them. The problem was I knew those hens crossed that spot late in the morning, so it was going to be a long, cold wait.
After waiting in the new spot 1.5 hours, old boy starts gobbling his head off on the adjacent property. I had a choice, sit tight (it was going to be another 1+ hours of wait before the typical hen crossing time), or make a move and hope I could call him to me.
I moved back to my original spot earlier in the morning (200-300 yards from the property line), and gave an aggressive call. He responded, but didn't budge. To this point I have yet to see him. I waited about 15 minutes and called again less aggressively. He has been gobbling the whole time but not moving. Eventually, after about 25 minutes he couldn't stand it and the gobbles got closer.
I knew it was over when I saw him crest and dip down a ridge directly opposite me, on our property. He dipped out of site into a valley. I soft called once just to remind him of why he was coming. In good fortune, right before he crested the ridge I was on, he hollered one more time. I was able to pinpoint exactly where he would appear. I was set up in a tight spot. When I saw him, he would be in range.
There is nothing like seeing one appear out of a valley into your ridge. I let him move into a nice, clear shooting lane and took my shot. 28 yards. That cold morning turned beautiful in an instant and suddenly I was cold no more.
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