After a 45 minute slog through muddy trails and woods I arrived at my familiar tree just before daylight. I intended to set up on an edge of a small field facing into the woods where I have known turkeys to roost. As I was setting up I heard some loud screeches and soon saw some coons chasing each other. They almost ran me over. I had to growl at them and wave my arms to shoo them away. When they screeched there were birds gobbling everywhere. I thought that I heard one gobble along the thin tree line that runs on the east side of the field so I set up facing that direction.
In no time I could hear two or three gobblers on the ground behind me in the woods. I had them interested for awhile and thought that they were coming through the woods to me, but soon it was obvious that they were headed west. It was not even 7 yet but I decided to get up and try to head them off.
When I walked through the field to the edge of the woods I heard them gobbling below me and they were now traveling north. They were gobbling every minute or so; and on a mission. As I made my way down the path towards a pond it sounded like they were right near the dam. As I was looking to find a place to set up they were off again gobbling their way well below the pond. By the time I crossed the dam and got to a little clearing they were somewhere heading west in the thick stuff down by the creek. It was obvious that I was not going to be able to catch up with them.
With the jig up I slowly made my way east through a big field with the intentions of setting up in a past ambush spot in another smaller field. As I approached the spot I heard gobbling over in the south east corner of the big field. I quickly made my way to back to the edge of the big field and stood there for a few minutes to listen. He gobbled again but he was across the fence on anther property.
I made a move to a swampy area to the east when I heard him gobbling. He soon headed north to the head of a wooded draw and gobbled off and on and stayed between the woods and the south east corner for awhile before moving more north.
I then decided that I would spend the rest of the morning up in the corner of the field. I cleared an opening in the brush and set up my hen and Jake decoys so that if he came south along the fence he could see them out in the field. By this time I think that it was around 9 or so. He gobbled off and on all morning. I just hunkered down and figured that eventually he might return.
Shortly before 11:00 I saw a head bobbing way across the field to my northwest. Soon I saw two heads slowly moving along the field edge. I yelped a few time with my box call and got their attention. They stopped and stared my way for a while then disappeared out of view due to the rolling field.
A few minutes later they became more visible as they slowly made their way up a little rise in the field. Through the scope I could make out that they had red necks, white heads and decent beards. I purred on my push call every now and then to keep them interested, they were slowly coming.
Finally they came to within 50 yards and stopped. I had brush in my way and needed them to move to my right. They looked a little nervous; I thought that they were going to head through the opening in the fence near the corner of the field to my left. After a minute or so they slowly eased their way towards the decoys and stopped again, they were still obscured by the brush in front of me. The one on the left went in and out of a strut real quick. I thought that they were getting ready to book; I was trying to find the best opening in the brush for a shot.
Suddenly the lead tom made a step towards the decoys and the strutter followed. Then they both gobbled and took a few more steps. When they got into my shooting lane I picked out the strutter in my scope and lowered the boom. He flopped over but quickly got up so I gave him another round of lead. He was done. It was 11:15.
Spurs are about 9/16 and 3/4, beard 9 1/4, making him a 2 year old. He weighed in at 23.2 lbs...