Gotcha! Finally, down he goes.
I have been trying to get this particular tom for awhile now. He was predictable but very cautious possibly because my daughter shot his buddy. I had noted he seemed to come out into the field in the same spot every morning, so i tried setting up on him yesterday. Sure enough, I saw him fly down, walk through the bush and out into the field where he did as usual. Strut for a half hour, gobble like a fool, but remain out of range. He eventually returned to the bush and circled in behind me, never closing the distance.
Today, I figured I would ambush him. I set up perilously close to his roost tree and tried to be as quiet as possible. I sat with my gun right on the spot he would walk through and put a hen decoy wayyyy out in the field for him to look at. He started gobbling on the roost like clockwork. He flew down and continued gobbling on the ground. I heard hens yelping, so I gave out a few soft clucks trying not to over-do it. For a minute, I thought they were going to go the opposite direction, but then, a dark figure appeared at the "doorway". It was a hen and she froze solid staring out at the decoy. A second hen appeared behind her and after what seemed like forever, seemed to become impatient with the waiting and pushed past her. Then, old red white and blue noggin stepped out spitting and drumming. I waited for the hens to clear, and bowled him over at 25 yards.
https://i.imgur.com/j9OhPXH.jpg
He looked a bit ratty after tumbling down a dewy grass embankment. Big bird though...21lbs 2oz. Second tag punched and the smoker will be coming out.
Beat the bugs this year. Good luck to those still out there.
