Fouth day was not the charm

 I started my week on Monday getting up early, driving to the public ground, entering the draw and wondering how long my luck would last. Since I didn't get drawn for a hunt this year I've been putting in for a no show since the open, and so far have been really lucky to be drawn both days last week. Monday did not disappoint, I did end up getting drawn for the third day of my hunt. So as soon as I got my sign in card I sped off to get to "my" spot, which was where I left off last week. I got to within less than 100 yards of where I thought the Tom was. I put out my decoy, set up my chair and blind, and instantly heard a gobble, followed by hens.... which were only roosted 50 yards from where I was. I called softly and sparingly until the Tom flew down, then the hens flew down. I picked up the calling a little more, and tried to get the gang to come over to see me..... They did not. They moved off to the North through the woods. After a couple hours and calling to make sure they were gone, I got up and changed locations to get ready for his return... which is what he did Thurs. I set in that spot the rest of the day and called every half hour or so... and finally had movement in front of me. 2 Jakes came out of the swamp, up over a log, and headed over to check out my decoy. There was one Jake that almost died right there, his beard was about an inch longer than his brother. But then again I knew I had alot of season left and knew I could've filled my tag again, so I let them walk. The tom did not come back.

 Tuesday I got up early and headed out to sign up for the draw... I just kept wondering how long my luck would last. When I got to the sign in I didn't see many other cars, so I felt pretty good. That was until I got in, signed up and realized I had the same number as Monday and I noticed how early it was. Well, by the time it was said and done there were 18 guys for 7 spots... and I wasn't one of them. 

So, plan B was to stop at another public spot with no draw, owl hoot and see if I could hear a gobble. 

I did not...

Plan C spot is anther public spot that I've shot a bird on a couple years ago. So, I got there set up in the same spot and heard... crickets, ok actually it was frogs, but no turkey's.

Since it was kinda late 9am I decided to drive around and see if I could put my eyes on a bird, again I could not.

So as a last ditch effort I stopped at a parking spot with some thick ground in back, grabbed my gear and headed back to a spot I had marked on OnX as "check here". So off I went to "check here", fortunately it had rained and all the leaves were quiet as I walked through the woods on my way to the highest point. When I got there I pulled out my slate, clucked 4 times and yelped twice, and was met with an immediate response.

I looked around and found a spot to put my chair, sat down, shut up and waited for him to stick his head over the hill so I could shoot him in the face. After 35 minutes I realized he wasn't coming so I got up, still being quiet, and clucked a couple more times.... He answered again except further away. So I knew I didn't spook him and he was doing the same thing I was... he was trolling. 

So I pinned his last gobble on OnX and set out to loop in close to where I thought he was. He started gobbling on his own so I could keep tabs on him. That helped alot as I looked for a spot close to where I thought he had gobbled from the first time. When I found a spot, I set up again, this time setting out my decoy. When I was ready I clucked and yelped again, he gobbled, I clucked and yelped, he gobbled, I clucked and purred and he gobbled twords me and headed in. 

I shut up and waited. It was only 5 or 10 minutes before I saw his white head through the underbrush, and within a couple seconds I could see him clearly head and shoulders down like a bull, charging in to find the hen that he was talking to. Unfortunately for him he only found the load of #9's that exploded out of my 410 and met him only 20 yards from where I was sitting.

 When he went down I breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of exhilaration. That was one of my favorite hunts, he did it right, I played it right and got to walk out with a nice bird. I took time and got pics, gathered my gear and my bird and walked out. Awesome day.

 

So, the first part of this VIDEO is the Monday hunt with the Jakes and then.... well you'll figure it out. 

 

 

I did try to get video of the tom coming in however I didn't elevate the camera to be able to see over my netting so all you saw was the netting.  

 

I'll do better.