JRA
Well-Known Member
...he is going to make a mistake.
I went back to the same spot as yesterday morning where I heard them gobbling and they flew down the opposite direction.
This morning I set up in the valley they flew into yesterday. Had a decoy set up and had great cover. They start gobbling but they are on the other side of the property...of course. After hearing him holler for a while I couldn't stand it anymore. I left my set up and went after him. There is a wide open clearing between where I was and where I thought he was roosted. The clearing has a substantial crest. As I was going around this clearing I see a hen's head over the crest. I get low and wait. Let them move to the end of the clearing and there HE is with two hens. I give pursuit using the contour of the land to try and get ahead of them and cut them off. As you know there isn't much green in the woods at this point so I could see him strutting on a hill with a little ravine between us. I back tracked again and got on the same hill as him. Snuck in behind him and made some calls. He turned and got about 75 yards out. I thought this was the moment...I thought he was committed. He strutted one more time and went the other way in pursuit of the hens I suppose.
Sorry for the long post...at some point I am going to beat that sucker. Hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon. I am planning on taking my 5-year old to sit in a blind with me tomorrow afternoon. He will have a tablet and a few toys to help stave off boredom. Maybe he will get to watch me defeat this bird! It is starting to get personal!
I went back to the same spot as yesterday morning where I heard them gobbling and they flew down the opposite direction.
This morning I set up in the valley they flew into yesterday. Had a decoy set up and had great cover. They start gobbling but they are on the other side of the property...of course. After hearing him holler for a while I couldn't stand it anymore. I left my set up and went after him. There is a wide open clearing between where I was and where I thought he was roosted. The clearing has a substantial crest. As I was going around this clearing I see a hen's head over the crest. I get low and wait. Let them move to the end of the clearing and there HE is with two hens. I give pursuit using the contour of the land to try and get ahead of them and cut them off. As you know there isn't much green in the woods at this point so I could see him strutting on a hill with a little ravine between us. I back tracked again and got on the same hill as him. Snuck in behind him and made some calls. He turned and got about 75 yards out. I thought this was the moment...I thought he was committed. He strutted one more time and went the other way in pursuit of the hens I suppose.
Sorry for the long post...at some point I am going to beat that sucker. Hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon. I am planning on taking my 5-year old to sit in a blind with me tomorrow afternoon. He will have a tablet and a few toys to help stave off boredom. Maybe he will get to watch me defeat this bird! It is starting to get personal!
