Crossbow gobbler #2
Hit the woods early on Saturday on the same farm I hunted on the opener, looking for gobbler number 2. The weather was very nice but the morning was dreadfully silent. I heard a few birds very far off but nothing close enough to set up on.
With nothing to get excited about, I crawled into my blind on a oak flat and called sporadically for about a hour with no takers and no other gobbles heard. I packed up and headed up to the top of the ridge with my video equipment, tripod, and bow slung on my shoulder for some exploration. The blind stayed behind as I was solo hunting and was short a few arms for carrying.
Once up top, I called down into another valley for some time and was about ready to move on when.....Gobbbllleeeee.........
Having a good idea where this bird was, I scrambled for a decent video setup and got ready as he gobbled a few more times while I was settling in. With a few soft yelps and clucks, and a return gobble, I knew he was coming I set the call aside to give him the silent treatment.
Soon, the shapes of two coal black longbeards appeared through the timber on a course that would be ideal. I didn't have a chance to range any landmarks nor did I have the protection of the blind to hide my movements. At what I judged to be about 40 yards the lead Tom slammed to a halt . Decision time. I was confident in the TenPoint at that range so I settled the crosshair on the base of the beard and the Lumenok streaked through the green understory.
The shot looked at tad low and the gobbler jumped skyward and flew to a tree just out of sight. I held tight and listened, and it wasn't long before I heard what sounded like a turkey crashing to the ground. I found him in short order buried in honeysuckle brush.
As suspected, my shot was low but got the job done. I ranged it at 42 yards. This Tom turned out to be a 3y/o with 1 1/8 inch spurs and a 9 1/2 inch beard.
My second Pennsylvania gobbler for 2013 and my last tag filled. Taken outside of the blind on film. Something I am pretty happy about.
