Post by mookyj on May 8, 2005 21:03:45 GMT -5
Slammed a PA Gobbler in the Rain!
Back from my one day a year I get to hunt PA each spring!
Went roosting last night, air was still, could hear for a country mile and then some, called in owls, and that was all we heard. Saw turkeys all over, but no gobbling going to roost.
Opening day PA- rain, rain, and more rain. Nothing talked on the roost except a few crows and one owl.
6:15 we head to another field and bust six hens out to the end of the fled and back into the woods. Go to the other end, and what we thought was a gobbler, flew out and back into the woods from the field edge. Bird was still up on the roost. That spot was a good calling/listening spot. so we stayed there for ten-fifteen minutes calling down the bank and into a large overlook.
We get a "was that a over in the next county" gobble, and of course we move to close the distance. Barely made it 200 yards in that direction, when a jake opens up in front of us. Then another jake opens up from below where we busted the hens. That put the second jake out to our left and out along the bank a few hundred yards out. We set up on a road way, and Brant Signs (who I was hunting with) Sits back 40 yards behind me and on the bottom edge of a brushy field. A long beard opens up from where the second jake had gobbled, and never heard another sound from either jake after that. We think the longbeard may have thumped the second jake.
A few minutes later, here comes MR. lightbulb head running down the side bank and closing fast. Man, he sure had a great sounding gobble! He was hammering even the quiet little peeps & pops you can do with a mouth call. A little strutting, a little gobbling, and here he comes within shotgun range but behind brush. The gobbler was on a road way across from me, and it was a few seconds when he finally walked over to a clear and open area. My holosight's red circle was already trained on the opening, and it was all over.
Gobbler had a 8-1/2" beard 1-1/8" spurs, and weighed in at 22lbs 11 oz. Total score 62.1875 He had a good sized fan, I knew he was a porker, but didn't know for sure till we weighed him.
We figured that he was looking for those 6 hens, or was up to the field looking, and then came back down when he heard us. Busting those hens out of the field saved the day we think, and I'll gladly take luck any day
Back from my one day a year I get to hunt PA each spring!
Went roosting last night, air was still, could hear for a country mile and then some, called in owls, and that was all we heard. Saw turkeys all over, but no gobbling going to roost.
Opening day PA- rain, rain, and more rain. Nothing talked on the roost except a few crows and one owl.
6:15 we head to another field and bust six hens out to the end of the fled and back into the woods. Go to the other end, and what we thought was a gobbler, flew out and back into the woods from the field edge. Bird was still up on the roost. That spot was a good calling/listening spot. so we stayed there for ten-fifteen minutes calling down the bank and into a large overlook.
We get a "was that a over in the next county" gobble, and of course we move to close the distance. Barely made it 200 yards in that direction, when a jake opens up in front of us. Then another jake opens up from below where we busted the hens. That put the second jake out to our left and out along the bank a few hundred yards out. We set up on a road way, and Brant Signs (who I was hunting with) Sits back 40 yards behind me and on the bottom edge of a brushy field. A long beard opens up from where the second jake had gobbled, and never heard another sound from either jake after that. We think the longbeard may have thumped the second jake.
A few minutes later, here comes MR. lightbulb head running down the side bank and closing fast. Man, he sure had a great sounding gobble! He was hammering even the quiet little peeps & pops you can do with a mouth call. A little strutting, a little gobbling, and here he comes within shotgun range but behind brush. The gobbler was on a road way across from me, and it was a few seconds when he finally walked over to a clear and open area. My holosight's red circle was already trained on the opening, and it was all over.
Gobbler had a 8-1/2" beard 1-1/8" spurs, and weighed in at 22lbs 11 oz. Total score 62.1875 He had a good sized fan, I knew he was a porker, but didn't know for sure till we weighed him.
We figured that he was looking for those 6 hens, or was up to the field looking, and then came back down when he heard us. Busting those hens out of the field saved the day we think, and I'll gladly take luck any day