I FINALLY found a bird that wanted to work.
Opening day, we were working 2 gobblers, one on either side of us, when a pack of jakes came in and ran them off. Squawking and running. Since then, the same group of jakes have dominated this property. This piece always has lots of birds, but it seemed as though this year these jakes were camped out and quite literally ruling the roost. They were always there, on every hunt. Last week, I finally decided to quit hunting it for awhile and try elsewhere.
I went back in there this morning and found a bird roosted about 200 yards uphill from the pasture, and I could tell from his gobble that it was not the jakes again. He was roosted at the head of a draw, with a sloping finger on either side. I chose the left one and got set up. He was gobbling good on the roost, but he went quiet for a couple of minutes. I began to call and he sounded off 100 yards further away. He had come off the roost early and was heading away, FAST!. I quickly began some moderate calling in an effort to turn him, but as I started in, I heard a hen just uphill from me calling too. Despite the odds being stacked against me at this point, I was able to get him fired up, and he closed the distance quickly. He began coming down the finger on the other side of the small draw, and I gave him a few more calls to get him to edge closer for a 40-yard shot. He was moving quickly, but he was also gobbling for all he was worth. I had to pick a hole and get him to gobble so he would stop long enough to squeeze off a shot - and it took me two tries at that. I was lucky to get it done, and even luckier to capture it on video, since I was shooting 90 degrees to my right.
[video=youtube;4eSLwsYZ-mU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSLwsYZ-mU[/video]
Opening day, we were working 2 gobblers, one on either side of us, when a pack of jakes came in and ran them off. Squawking and running. Since then, the same group of jakes have dominated this property. This piece always has lots of birds, but it seemed as though this year these jakes were camped out and quite literally ruling the roost. They were always there, on every hunt. Last week, I finally decided to quit hunting it for awhile and try elsewhere.
I went back in there this morning and found a bird roosted about 200 yards uphill from the pasture, and I could tell from his gobble that it was not the jakes again. He was roosted at the head of a draw, with a sloping finger on either side. I chose the left one and got set up. He was gobbling good on the roost, but he went quiet for a couple of minutes. I began to call and he sounded off 100 yards further away. He had come off the roost early and was heading away, FAST!. I quickly began some moderate calling in an effort to turn him, but as I started in, I heard a hen just uphill from me calling too. Despite the odds being stacked against me at this point, I was able to get him fired up, and he closed the distance quickly. He began coming down the finger on the other side of the small draw, and I gave him a few more calls to get him to edge closer for a 40-yard shot. He was moving quickly, but he was also gobbling for all he was worth. I had to pick a hole and get him to gobble so he would stop long enough to squeeze off a shot - and it took me two tries at that. I was lucky to get it done, and even luckier to capture it on video, since I was shooting 90 degrees to my right.
[video=youtube;4eSLwsYZ-mU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSLwsYZ-mU[/video]
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