after a tough opening day yesterday without hearing a single gobble, bagged a nice tom today 2 minutes after he hit the ground.
after needing almost an hour to cover a couple hundred yards through tough terrain to get the best possible setup, i was sitting 75 yards away against a big oak deadfall when the boss sounded off. a couple others eventually joined in and then the hens began.
the tom began double and triple gobbling when the hens kicked up their calling from tree yelps into louder yelps and cutts. he finally couldnt take it any longer and pitched down under the tree.
he started strutting away from me, so i hit my first call – a soft yelp on a diaphragm. he spun around and triple gobbled and began easing toward me up the hill. at about 50 yards away, he went behind a big oak, which let me shoulder my gun. he stopped behind some brush, so i hit another soft yelp, he stepped out at 40 yards and met a 3-inch load of No. 5s at 6:05 a.m.
11 1/4 inch beard, 1 3/8 spurs and weighed 24 pounds.
not the best pics but that happens sometimes on solo hunts.
time to get him skinned and
