Posted by tomg/IL on 5/1/2008, 9:32 am
206.125.154.232
At 5:58 a.m. this morning, my 11 gauge TVM smoothbore flintlock with 90 grain of Goex FFg pushing 120 gr. #5 shot dropped a 21#, 10.5" bearded, 7/8" spurred gobbler at 20 yard. But it wasn't all that simple...and now the rest of the story. I went to a spot where I'd been successful last year and waited for the birds to gobble. Like last spring, a couple of toms gobbled some 200 yards away off in the swamp while I listened at the edge of last year's soy bean field, now about 6" high in sprouting grass, wild garlic, etc. It was 5:30 a.m. I hurriedly set up Bucket Boy and a hen decoy about 20 yards out in the field off of a point so that it could be seen from any direction. I moved 5 yards back in the brush and snuggled up against a hackberry tree. Reaching in to my turkey vest, I pulled our a Cherokee Slim box call, wing bone yelper, and a Primos shaker gobble tube. A three-year old Pittman Lightning diaphragn mouth call was loosening up against my jaw. At first, I'd just answer their gobbles with one of my own. Then, when it sounded like they'd flown down, I gave some hen yelps and cackles, often cutting in on my own calling with my gobble tube, trying to sound like a party was going on with all of those hens but just one gobbler and they were missing out on the fun. The gobblers held their ground for 15-20 minutes, just answering my calls, so I stepped it up just a bit, doing some double and triple gobbling in answering my own hen calls and again cutting in on my hen calling with more gobbles. Then all got silent. They quit gobbling and I knew it was time for me to also shut up. They were either coming in or had decided that they would go somewhere else. I'd know in a few minutes. In about 5 minutes, a jake came running down the edge of the woods and jumped on the hen decoy, knocking her down. He proceeded to utter purring sounds as he literally stomped the foam hen in the ground. I thought about dropping him since a turkey in the hand is worth several in the swamp, but decided just to sit back and watch the show. In less than a minute, two more gobblers came running down the side of the woods, at first displaying but then quickly joined the jake in attacking the hen and bullying Bucket Boy. It reminded me of my younger days on the school ground or the bully in the Christmas Story or The Little Rascals. I looked the beards over and decided to take the bigger one. KLATCH...went my lock when I pulled the trigger, but the pan didn't ignite! All the gobblers looked my way and then went back to assulting the decoys. I cocked the hammer but forgot to set the frizzen, so the second KLATCH got them a little more concerned, but again they went back to the decoys. The third attempt resulted in a KABOOM!, leaving one bird flopping and the other two vamoosing off as fast as their legs could carry them.
I guess you're never too old to get excited, as my experience on this hunt proved. That was my third and final tag for the spring season where I enjoyed 10 sunrises, got three gobblers, shared some of the harvest with the land owners, and made some lasting memories. Turkey hunting...it's a good thing. Tom
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