Opening Day

Everyone hitting the woods tomorrow.....Good luck and be safe.

A lot of hens were on their nests before the snowfall and the gobblers were looking around here. It will be interesting to see how many stayed put and how many left their nests and are trying again. Calling for a hard frost here in the AM.

^Now wouldn't that be cool if her returns the favor?

Stay Warm.. Be Safe.. and GOOD luck everyone !!!!

Was a good day even tho they didnt gobble well.Started off walking and calling and only heard 2 faint gobbles.A buddy and I desided to sit and just call every once in a while.Finally at 9:45 to 6 inch beards walked in and we were going to let them go but we had a chanc to kill a double.My buddy counted to 3 and 2 bearded birds layed motionless on the ground.Was pretty amazeing hunt even tho these birds were not huge.

A ton of gobbling yesterday where i was. Had 2 long beards at 60 yds but wasnt real conmfortable with that shot. Tomorrow morning im going to go after them again!

Good roost gobbling for me but silence at flydown. Did call in 5 jakes at 10:00. They came in silently and got a pass. No gobbles after flydown for me. Hunted till 11:30.

A beautiful morning to be hunting but not one gobble all morning,I have a den of fox in the area I don't if that has anything to do wih it. went home empty handed. It was great to be in the woods again.
Try again Wednesday morning.

Yesterday was slow for gobbling where I was. I never heard a gobble until 8:00 and I was a little over three miles into the game lands.
 
Finally I got one to respond to my call but he was a quarter mile away. I moved to within about 300 yards and set up to work him out along the edge of an old clear-cut. It took about 15 minutes to convince him he should come my way but he finally started to close the distance. It was slow but about a half hour later he gobbled just over a slight edge and had to be within fifty yards. I gave him two more very soft clucks and knew when I did that he was going to appear pretty soon.
 
There he is forty yards away and coming closer. He is a good one. At thirty-five yards he went behind a tree and little hump in the terrain so I got my gun up, lined up on him and clicked the safety off. He is in strut now and coming closer. At thirty yards he stops to look around and I have what seems to be the ideal shot. His head is up and he is scanning to spot the hen he knows should be right here in sight. I settle the scope crosshairs on his head and touch the trigger knowing with the report of the shot it is a dead bird.
 
Dead bird my eye! I have played it all in my mind a thousand times and still don’t understand why it wasn’t a dead bird but with the shot he spun and took off running then within a few yards was in the air and flying away. I have missed a few birds over the years when I tried to shoot them after they busted me and started to run or fly off but this is the first time I ever missed one that was just standing in the kill zone when I fired. I was so surprised I didn’t even attempt a second shot.
 
Oh well, I guess with this being my first season in thirty five years that I have all day and every day all season to hunt that was probably the perfect way for the first day to end. I had all of the excitement of pulling him into the kill zone then didn’t have to lug him out and clean him. Now all I have to do is decide if I am going to go after him again this season or give him a pass for the rest of this year. It kind of seems he has a charmed life now and maybe I shouldn’t challenge him again. But, who knows I might just see if I can fool him again get another morning.
 
I was out this morning doing a pheasant crowing survey and heard gobblers at about every listening post.
 
I am looking forward to tomorrow morning.
 
Good luck to anyone else going out!
 R.S. Bodenhorn

I just put 2 to bed here in SW Pa. Should be a good morning for me!

Heard one gobble around 6pm tonight. I walked up the street to have him go off again. He was about 300 yards up the hollow. I gave him a key key run and he answered right up. I waited a few, gave him another and he double gobbled. I walked back home and he gobbled every 10 minutes until 8:05. At that time he gobbled almost non stop for 5 minutes. He was only 50 yards into the woods at the bottom of the hollow. Two of us will be on the left side of the hollow about 150 yards above him in the morning.

Good luck to you guys.......Let's see some pictures tomorrow night.....

Well all I got to say is that earth quake last year must of hit here more than we thought.....That hill is 3/4 miles longer and almost straight up this year.........LOL

Yes RG I agree try to get at the same height as the bird in the roost.

He gobbled as we were setting up. I was directly above him and my buddy was to my right 30 yards. We positioned ourselves between him and the field. We were about 50 feet in from the field. He was slightly below eye level with us. He gobbled solo for a while with a double gobbler every 3rd or 4th set. Around 6:15 a hen purred. Then another purred. I gave a few purrs and a few key runs. He gobbled on every set and doubled up several times. I watched a hen fly down and then a second flew down. He continued to gobble every 45 seconds. the hens worked there way towards my right at 50 yards out.



I set up for a shot as I figured he would follow. I set a point that if he came into me I would waste him, but also the spot where I would let him go so my buddy could whack his first.

OKAY WHAT DO ARE YOU THINKING RIGHT NOW AS WHAT WILL HAPPEN?????

WRONG.

OKAY off to my left, NOT IN FRONT,@ 50 yards there is a tom working in, in full strut. (Now that talkative gobbler is still up in his.tree!!!)My strutter was angling down to the hens. The girls were a clucking and purring and putting away. Talkie Tom flew down to join the party. What I thought was only one bird now is up to 10.

Something went a fowl.(nice pun huh?) The furthest hen from me came running up the hill angling towards Mr. Strut. ALL the girls started zig zagging and alerting and putting. They got to 30 feet from my feet and one spotted me(how I don't know). They held for a second and started their take off run.
3 got up then 2 got up and were flying away from us.
Mr. Strut was confused and just stood there. He moved left into some blow downs and turned to look at me.

DUMBASS.

First shot on the way.

Over he goes.........WOO HOOO....

UP he comes..... OH SHEET.....

Second shot off. I RARELY shoot at a bird on the fly, especially one flying away from me.

TOWER: Mr.Strut coming in for a crash landing.

WOO HOO...

"Send your soul to heaven cause your****is mine"

At this time I say out loud "Safety on" and away I go.(later my buddy said," I never knew you could run so fast").

Now he's 50 yards out and I am closing FAST.
YES a 50 year old man can do the 40 in 4.4 with gun in hand.

HE tries to get up AGAIN.....
I wait for his head to stick out as he keeps rolling down hill now at 75 yards from 1st shot.

Third shot away...............RIP
(I stood on his neck for 5 minutes to make sure.)

Actually I couldn't breathe and couldn't move.....

Ended up there was 12 birds. Where Mr. Talkie went we don't know.

6:45 and I am filling out the tag.

Shot one bee bee snapped his beak in 2.
Shot two snapped his shoulder at the wing.
Shot three bee bee hit the neck.

8 1/2 beard
3/4 inch spurrs
18 lbs.

WAGS

P.S. He had some sort of issue with his throat area of the chest. It was full of puss and infection. No turkey pot pie this year. That's okay I now will be just working birds for someone else to shoot.

Congrats, That's why you set up BELOW THEM Let them flop "to you".