The fog was heavy this morning, so I thought it would be a good day to see some turkeys out in the field. I could hear them gobbling from their roost trees, at 6:10, until they hit the ground around 6:35. I was wide eyed until around 7ish and then I started "cat napping". 
My eyes popped open at 8:15 and as I looked around in the fog, I seen 3 toms strutting about 100 yards to the north, already out in the field. This is a picked bean field from last year, along a couple of small creeks.
I watched them as the approached my decoys from the north. I setup a half strut jake attempting to mount a hen and 2 other hens, about 20 feet away. When the toms get close to the decoys, I notice it's 2 jakes and a longbeard. The jakes walked right into the decoys and pecked the ground as the past by, but the longbeard kept his distance....a solid 25 yards further.
I waited him out, knowing the distance on this shotgun's patterns were approximately 25 yards. 
After a good 40 minutes of him strutting around (he never gobbled once), he finally approached the decoys from the south, but I knew the distance was a bit more than I wanted. Even so, he was clear, so I put the bead on his noggin and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a sack of taters! ....and the jakes instantly started pecking and spurring him. I quickly reloaded, just in case he got up, but he wasn't going anywhere. I jumped up and started toward the downed tom and the jakes decided it was time to hit the road.
I'm very happy with the performance of this old family heirloom of a shotgun. This weapon was most likely made before I was born. A Stevens 12 gauge with a 2 3/4 chamber, a 30" barrel with a measured .695" constriction. One Federal 1 1/4 oz. of #6s, at 1330 fps, got the job done....at 33 yards.
8:55 a.m.
A 10" beard and 1 1/4" spurs.
My eyes popped open at 8:15 and as I looked around in the fog, I seen 3 toms strutting about 100 yards to the north, already out in the field. This is a picked bean field from last year, along a couple of small creeks.I watched them as the approached my decoys from the north. I setup a half strut jake attempting to mount a hen and 2 other hens, about 20 feet away. When the toms get close to the decoys, I notice it's 2 jakes and a longbeard. The jakes walked right into the decoys and pecked the ground as the past by, but the longbeard kept his distance....a solid 25 yards further.
I waited him out, knowing the distance on this shotgun's patterns were approximately 25 yards. After a good 40 minutes of him strutting around (he never gobbled once), he finally approached the decoys from the south, but I knew the distance was a bit more than I wanted. Even so, he was clear, so I put the bead on his noggin and squeezed the trigger. He dropped like a sack of taters! ....and the jakes instantly started pecking and spurring him. I quickly reloaded, just in case he got up, but he wasn't going anywhere. I jumped up and started toward the downed tom and the jakes decided it was time to hit the road. I'm very happy with the performance of this old family heirloom of a shotgun. This weapon was most likely made before I was born. A Stevens 12 gauge with a 2 3/4 chamber, a 30" barrel with a measured .695" constriction. One Federal 1 1/4 oz. of #6s, at 1330 fps, got the job done....at 33 yards.
8:55 a.m.A 10" beard and 1 1/4" spurs.
He uses beetles and peroxide to finish cleaning afterwards. 