Finally back to civilization. We hunted our butts off with only my bird to show for it.
We left early from the house Tuesday morning and pulled into a public spot I hunted last year about 15 minutes before gobble time. My buddy was having issues buying a license online the day prior so dropped off my sister and I and headed to Walmart to get a tag. Cloudy, humid, and a light North wind. Heard a roost gobble almost immediately from the side of a ridge on private but close to the public edge. We moved in to maybe 200 yards and I let out a couple soft bubble clucks and a tree yelp. He hammered. I gave him a couple more clucks and a little louder tree yelp, bam, hammered again. I waited a couple minutes before I gave him a fly down cackle and some good wing beats with my wing that stays in the vest. He jumped all over it. Sat down and did nothing but scratch leaves/bubble cluck. Didn't hear him fly down but he gobbled, and it was quieter. My sister said it sounded like he moved away, I informed her that he was definitely on the ground. I shut up and let him come on his own. He gobble at 125 yards, then at 100ish, then came into the old, abandoned road on hammered at 70ish yards. The drumming was insane, he skirted to our right and I swung on him as he went behind a huge cottonwood. When his head popped out, I fired. I don't know if I yanked it or it was just a misjudge of range as he was closer to 50 and I thought he was 40. Flat missed him, didn't even cut a feather.
We drove around and jumped into a few spots with no luck the rest of the day. We did spot a pair of gobblers strutting at the base of a ridge on some walk in around 2 that I dropped a pin on. Got into some jakes later in the evening, which turned out to be a reoccurring theme. Tons of jakes around. It started spitting rain near dark and the birds didn't gobble on the roost.
Wednesday morning, we moved in on where I expected the two gobblers, I had seen the day prior, roost. An owl on the ridge located them for us just before daylight. My buddy and I slipped in to 150 yards from the roost on the edge of the bean stubble field at the base of the ridge. Not 3 minutes after we settled in they pitched out into the field. Two gobblers, a jake, a hen, and a bearder hen that I swear had a rope bigger than the two gobblers. The bearder hen got bred immediately and left almost as quickly. The other hen spent the next 45 minutes dogging the gobbler, nudging under him, and being bred at least a half dozen times. All the while the other gobbler would push the jake away any time he came within 40 yards of them. Once the hen moved off, we started working the gobblers. They responded but didn't budge until I broke out the wing bone call. They jumped all over it and I responded with a jake caulk. Then they marched 250 yards to the gun. I rolled the first one, but the second did not stick around long enough for my buddy to kill. good 2 year old bird. 19.5 lbs, 10" beard, 1 spurs.
Spent the rest of the week chasing birds, calling in jake after jake and my buddy had a homeowner literally cut off a gobbler he was working and kill it 80 yards from him on the private/public line. My buddy had more restraint than I would have cause I'd have lost it. Not so much the stealing of the bird but how unsafe it was. The homeowner admitted he thought that it was a hunter yelping at the bird.
I almost forgot; the crappie bite was on fire at the campground we were staying at. We had brought a couple rods and crappie gear but didn't expect to pull over 40 crappie throughout the week that averaged 13", including one tagged female. It was a heck of a weeek.
We're making plans for next year and deciding what state to hunt. We want to go west and hunt Merriams, but not sure which state to pick.
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pitched out, took off and shut up for most of the rest of the morning. At least I know where they might be roosted tomorrow lol.. back at it again tomorrow with a more calculated setup
