Took out a close friend Mike out yesterday. Hunted one the best spots I have.....The birds have been moving their roost trees. So I started off with some owl hoots.....Bingo.....Their on their traditional roosts.....When dawn starts to break, the gobblers start going off.....Best gobbles of the year by far.....As flydown starts, the birds are not flying down to their usual strutting grounds. Instead their flying down high on the ridge.....Within a few minutes, flydown was over.....I start calling and I can't even get a single gobble.....WTF!.....Dead silence for an hour until the trash man down the road comes by and we get a gobble a 1/2 mile away.....I tell Mike, well get ready for the long haul.....At about 8:30 am., I finally get a gobble.....Not much of a consistent return response, but some.....15 minutes go by and I see turkeys coming.....I can see the 1st couple and they're jakes. Then here come 3 more and I tell Mike, there's got to be at least one longbeard (haven't really seen many jakes here)....Nope, all 5 are youngsters. I had already told him, no jakes.....As jakes do, they came right in and attacked the jake decoy.....After the usual humor, they get board and leave.....Lucky them.....After they've left, I start calling again. They continue to gobble as they go out of sight.....In amongst their gobbles, I hear a different one and tell Mike.....I continue to get this strong gobbles and now they're really close below us. Mike then says, "there he is".....The huge gobbler goes behind a huge Engleman at about 40 yds and I'm assuming Mike would put up his gun (something I always tell all unexperienced turkey hunters).....When he reappears, instead of going into the jake decoy, he starts heading right for us (we are 24 yds this side of the dekes).....The big guy does a couple of full strut pirouettes and continues at us......Now he's only 25 yds away and I look at Mike and his gun is still across his lap.....Now I know we're in big trouble......Can't move......He is now only 10 yds and he finally makes Mike.....He goes out of strut and now turns to head away.....At this, I tell him to slide out of his chair, stand up, and shoot him going away.....Well, he does, but misses a tough uphill, small window, going away shot.....Lucky him...... ......Little video of the boys and back at 'em tomorrow......
.https://youtu.be/47D7QUS6Nnk
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.https://youtu.be/47D7QUS6Nnk
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