Heavy Tom

[huntitall]

Sunday was my seventh day in a row hunting turkeys this spring, I have been getting up at 4am all week, hunting till between 7-9am and then heading to work! I passed on two jakes opening morning, after them coming to me directly off the roost and just didn't want the fun to end so early! A couple days after that I was starting to regret passing on them because it had been a tough hunt the remainder of the week. But each morning brought the same excitement and close encounters and kept be getting up early the next day!

Sunday brought me to farm #1 where I knew there was a gobbler roosting in the ravine, sure enough he was there and we were chatting back and forth well he was on the roost, but just like my luck, he flew down on the wrong side of the creek in the ravine and would not cross it, and there was no way to get close to him without him seeing me, so I said screw it and left and went to the next farm.

Farm #2 was dead quiet, walked down the truck path through the bush stopping every 50 yards to make a call and nobody would answer, decided to leave and go try Farm #3.

It was 8:30am now and it was starting to get warm and bugs were coming out, I entered the bush of farm #3 with a plan to walk silently through it till I got near the back end where a newly excavated drainage ditch ran through. I hit the call about half way to it and was immediately answered by a gobble. I sat down and waited a cpl minutes and then called again, and he answered immediately again, but wasn't any closer. So i decided to move about 40yds towards him, crawling through the bush. Hit the call again, sure enough he answered and was still in the same spot. This is when I knew he was on the other side of the water. I slowly and quietly made my way to the edge of ditch, and belly crawled up the newly formed bank, and there he was, out in the field, which was running along the ditch, he strutting his stuff for a couple Canada geese out there as well. I hit the call again and he gobbled immediately, but wouldn't move closer to me and was still about 100 yards away.

I could tell he was big, and mature, so I sucked it up and crossed the water, getting a double soaker, crawled up the bank and belly crawled through some thorn bushes to the first decent tree I could find and slowly sat up. I then hit the call again, and he answered loudly, knowing that I was now on the other side of the creek, and in his strut zone. He started coming right to me, he stopped twice at 60 and 40 yards to gobble and strut. I stayed off the call and let him come in, at 20yds it was time, I squeezed the trigger and it was lights out!

Big bird at 24.25lbs, 10-1/8" beard and 1-1/8" spurs. A beautiful Tom shot at 9:30AM.

Slept in this morning for the first time in a week, and picking up the second tag tonight to do it all over again !

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[CD94]

Nice bird and good story. Persistence pays off!

[raaaid]

very nice!!

[kokes]

great story, nice job getting across the ditch and sealing the deal!

[huntitall]

great story, nice job getting across the ditch and sealing the deal!

Thanks! I figured wet shoes and pants wouldn't matter if I was walking out of the bush with this guy slung over my shoulder!

[tom gobble]

nice bird congrats

[outback]

That brute was well worth the effort, good work to get into his range and tip him over.

outback

[JMatthews]

Nice to get a big Tom after all that work.

[GERRYL]

That's awesome huge bird !!

[mr meat]

Nice!! Congrats!