04-16-2011, 05:09 PM
God blessed me this morning with a great turkey hunt! My son and I have both been sick all week and my son backed out this morning at the last minute. My wife asked if I was taking my rain gear and I said "No, if it rains hard enough that I need it, I'll just come home. I don't need pneumonia".
I didn't expect much as I was going into a new area that is public access and is normally hammered with people. I found a gobbler on the roost and moved into within about 150 yards. The lay of the land and the vegetation was perfect for the direction I was coming in. By the time I located the bird I was past him, so I had to come in from his back side, which was good. I'm pretty sure they get called to from the other side a lot, but not too often from the back. I was worried others would hear the gobbling and move in on me, but it never happened.
So I set up about 150 yards away in a bit of a dle and I had a plan for him to come in from around some brush. As normal, the turkeys didn't do what I wanted, so when they flew down, they headed through the brush and came in behind me. I could see them coming through the brush, but I couldn't move. When the birds came in close, I had both of them at 10 yards, right behind me. The tom saw my jakester deek and started putting in an inquisitive way, but they didn't run off. I waited..........
I heard him drumming, so I knew he was strutting, but I could also tell that he had moved off a bit (but I couldn't see them because I didn't dare turn around), so I decided I needed to make a move. I rolled to my right and turned around. The hen was still there, in sight, and inside 20 yards. I was BUSTED! But she didn't fly?!? The tom must have seen her looking at me and must have heard my clothing ruffle as I turned, because he popped up over the hill at about 30 yards. I gave him a full load of 6's and the rest is history.[][][] It started raining just as I got to the truck.[cool]..
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I didn't expect much as I was going into a new area that is public access and is normally hammered with people. I found a gobbler on the roost and moved into within about 150 yards. The lay of the land and the vegetation was perfect for the direction I was coming in. By the time I located the bird I was past him, so I had to come in from his back side, which was good. I'm pretty sure they get called to from the other side a lot, but not too often from the back. I was worried others would hear the gobbling and move in on me, but it never happened.
So I set up about 150 yards away in a bit of a dle and I had a plan for him to come in from around some brush. As normal, the turkeys didn't do what I wanted, so when they flew down, they headed through the brush and came in behind me. I could see them coming through the brush, but I couldn't move. When the birds came in close, I had both of them at 10 yards, right behind me. The tom saw my jakester deek and started putting in an inquisitive way, but they didn't run off. I waited..........
I heard him drumming, so I knew he was strutting, but I could also tell that he had moved off a bit (but I couldn't see them because I didn't dare turn around), so I decided I needed to make a move. I rolled to my right and turned around. The hen was still there, in sight, and inside 20 yards. I was BUSTED! But she didn't fly?!? The tom must have seen her looking at me and must have heard my clothing ruffle as I turned, because he popped up over the hill at about 30 yards. I gave him a full load of 6's and the rest is history.[][][] It started raining just as I got to the truck.[cool]..
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