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Expensive morning…

huntn2

Senior Member
6,090
157
Hudson, OH
This morning was very similar to each of the past 2 seasons for me. ''

I have one property that just seems to warm up the last 2 weeks of season. As such, I have been fortunate to take a bird off the same spot the 3rd weekend of season in each of the past 3 seasons including this morning.

The day began at 04:00 with my alarm. Coffee was brewing and by 04:20, I was dressed and out the door with 2 thermoses of coffee in hand. Thermos number 1 is for my 50 minute drive to the property. At 05:10, and full of caffeine, I pulled in and quickly put on my boots. As I was putting on my vest, another hunter pulled in. Seeing me, he promptly backed out and continued on to another spot. I knew where I wanted to be and was setup with a Jake and Hen decoy in a freshly disc field before light began to crack. I grabbed a seat which turned out to be one of my more uncomfortable choices based on an annoying root that you just couldn’t get comfortable on or around.

As light cracked, I patiently awaited the sound of a gobble piercing through the predawn spring woods. I patiently watched the few clouds in view drifting from south to north. Finally, a gobble! He was to my North just where I thought he would be. The gobbling was sparse as I heard 2 different birds sound off a total of about 10 times. I knew their locations and was confident they would be within sight before long. As I was growing impatient with the root that was literately a pain in my ass, a gobbled echoed from the creek crossing just inside the wood line to my left. In merely minutes, I caught movement along the woods edge. A hen popped out and proceeded to cut through the field entering from my 10 o’clock and working her way in front of me at about 60 yards. As I was screening the wood line behind her with hopes that a Tom would be in tow, I caught a 2nd hen coming out. She worked the wood line across the filed from me until she was at my 12 o’clock. She then turned and headed straight towards me. She too hung up feeding in the freshly turned over field at about 60 yards. As I was watching the 2 hens slowly moving further to my right, I caught more movement to my 11 o’clock.

There he was, in full strut approximately 10 yards into the field from the woods. He was only about 100 yards away. He slowly made his way from my 11 o’clock to my 12 o’clock. I eased my position to my right to be in better shooting position. By this time, the hens had moved off to my 2 o’clock. I was not in favor of him being squared off with me. I was directly behind my decoys for his line of sight. As a result, I refrained from any additional calling and just waited him out. He took me through that painfully slow approach that many of you probably know all too well. There was a slight mound 50 yards out in the field that he would cross. I made the decision that once he cleared the mound and presented a shot, I would take it based on how I know my gun patterns at 40 and 50 yards and based on the fact he was staring right at me through my decoys.

As he descended on my side of the mound, he peered to my right ever so slightly but quickly retracted his head. I held off. He took a few more steps and lifted his head facing to my left. His head was just above the head of my Jake decoy. I exhaled a bit and squeezed the trigger. My 870 Super Mag barked as it unleashed the 3 ½ Winchester Supreme #5’s. The bird tumbled backward and I trotted out to retrieve him.

A quick assessment yielded at least 2 beards and sub 1” spurs. I picked him up and walked back to where I was sitting. I collected my decoys and then stepped off the yardage. He was at 46 yards. I packed up my calls and soaked in the moment. I sat for a few minutes just enjoying the rest of the sunrise and the sounds of the early spring morning woods. A few pictures and text/phone calls followed. Further review at my truck revealed he had a 3rd beard. It was at this point that I realized, I just had another costly hunt! I simply can’t pass up getting a multi bearded bird mounted.

My kids were ecstatic! My 3 year old daughters said to my wife when she found out, “is daddy taking him to Jason at Buckhaven (my taxidermist)?” She has plans for the bird going on her bedroom wall.

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Last edited:

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
Nice work man, glad you were able to get it done.

I hope you send it right to the taxi and don't loose any strands on this one!