gobblinfool
Well-Known Member
Put birds to bed Friday night....over a creek, next to a field that I don't have permission to hunt, luckily one tom roosted away from the group, I figured he was subdominant. I got in early on Saturday, went to the right of the main group by 50yds and set up on the trail that I had seen him walk in on. Unlike the night before where these birds didn't gobble, Saturday morning they were full of themselves. There was approximately 5 different groups gobbling Saturday morning. I didn't call much, just hoped my bird would stay on my side of the creek. The main group behind me flew to the field as expected. My bird stayed on our side, heard him gobble on the ground 2 times....but he didn't come down the same trail? When he went behind a tree I moved. I figured he was 40 yds away, so I was dialed in to that distance....but I struggled seeing him, I had to look away from the scope to make sure I was staring at him. He putted and I pulled the trigger.....then watched him fly away??? I missed, kicked myself....primarily because I could have been home in bed by 7am!
Saturday night I put birds to bed....amazingly pretty much in the same spot....with the exception of a couple birds that were roosted high by one of our main fields, which gave me hope.......they gobbled well after dark and I didn't see any hens, so I hoped that they didn't have hens. I asked my son if he would video for me the next morning.
We got up Sunday and got into the woods, we were on a ledge, probably 75ys from where the bird was roosted. This bird gobbled for 30 minutes non stop.....and he had hens.....they all went to the bottom, but stayed on our side, we watched them. Eventually they went to the other property. I told my son that we would go to the ground blind and try our luck. Youth season I called in two toms to within 15yds of the back of the blind, but my daughter didn't shoot. Some of the birds on this side don't gobble.
We sat there for an hour, nothing gobbled, so at 8am he decided he wanted to go home. I walked him to the edge of the field, pointed to where the truck was and told him I would call when I was ready to be picked up.
I mouth called back to the blind....getting better at not being so loud with it.
I used my glass slate with a wood striker....it really reaches out, but with little pressure you can softly call. About 9am I thought I heard a bird gobble to my right, so I called and was answered by 2 gobblers. I hit it again and was again greeted by 2 gobblers, so I put my call down and waited. It took a few minutes and the white heads broke into the field. They took their time until they saw my decoy.....then they both strutted and gobbled. Bird closest to me ate the Winchester Longbeard XRs, #5s.
I could have shot the other bird....I started cutting, hoping that he would come back and spur his buddy.....but he just stood and gobbled at 40yds!
My bird weighed 20lbs, had a 12" beard and 1" spurs.....he didn't have many feathers on his chest.....seemed odd for this early in the season.
One question that I have for those using the LBs is.....does the blast loosen your scope mounts? When I was walking back to the truck on Saturday I noticed that the scope was loose.....maybe why I missed....but still my fault none the less. I took the red dot off and put my 4X scope on top. I noticed right away that I could see the target better, it took a few shots to get sighted in......but I wouldn't want to be hit by this stuff....I don't even have a high dollar choke on the end of my Mossberg 500.
Saturday night I put birds to bed....amazingly pretty much in the same spot....with the exception of a couple birds that were roosted high by one of our main fields, which gave me hope.......they gobbled well after dark and I didn't see any hens, so I hoped that they didn't have hens. I asked my son if he would video for me the next morning.
We got up Sunday and got into the woods, we were on a ledge, probably 75ys from where the bird was roosted. This bird gobbled for 30 minutes non stop.....and he had hens.....they all went to the bottom, but stayed on our side, we watched them. Eventually they went to the other property. I told my son that we would go to the ground blind and try our luck. Youth season I called in two toms to within 15yds of the back of the blind, but my daughter didn't shoot. Some of the birds on this side don't gobble.
We sat there for an hour, nothing gobbled, so at 8am he decided he wanted to go home. I walked him to the edge of the field, pointed to where the truck was and told him I would call when I was ready to be picked up.
I mouth called back to the blind....getting better at not being so loud with it.
I used my glass slate with a wood striker....it really reaches out, but with little pressure you can softly call. About 9am I thought I heard a bird gobble to my right, so I called and was answered by 2 gobblers. I hit it again and was again greeted by 2 gobblers, so I put my call down and waited. It took a few minutes and the white heads broke into the field. They took their time until they saw my decoy.....then they both strutted and gobbled. Bird closest to me ate the Winchester Longbeard XRs, #5s.
I could have shot the other bird....I started cutting, hoping that he would come back and spur his buddy.....but he just stood and gobbled at 40yds!
My bird weighed 20lbs, had a 12" beard and 1" spurs.....he didn't have many feathers on his chest.....seemed odd for this early in the season.
One question that I have for those using the LBs is.....does the blast loosen your scope mounts? When I was walking back to the truck on Saturday I noticed that the scope was loose.....maybe why I missed....but still my fault none the less. I took the red dot off and put my 4X scope on top. I noticed right away that I could see the target better, it took a few shots to get sighted in......but I wouldn't want to be hit by this stuff....I don't even have a high dollar choke on the end of my Mossberg 500.
