Post by huntergks on May 15, 2015 14:07:45 GMT -6
I forgot to post 2 more stories regarding what happened Sun morning, 05/03.
1. Sometime around 5:35, a coyote started barking directly across from me down over the meadow just inside the woods. It barked & barked, & barked some more before throwing in some yips, more barking, & finally a coyote’s song. On * on it went until my last, frayed nerve snapped & I yelled as loud as I could: “HEY!!!!” I knew it wouldn’t impact any turkeys that might have been around because of all the barking & was hoping hearing a human voice so close might shut it up. No such luck but it did start to move away to the west. I was about to take matters into my own hands but, luckily for me, it finally shut up after about 35 minutes of constant barking, yipping, yapping, & howling.
2. I had set Fred & Ethel about 25 yards in front & to the left of me. At about mid-morning, I noticed that, while Fred was still standing tall & looking good, Ethel was starting to look a little listless. As the morning wore on, she got more down-in-the-dumps looking & started to sit on her tail. By quitting time, she had completely given up & was listing to her side, almost completely lying down. I thought that maybe she had taken a couple of pellets or that the valve step wasn’t all the way in. I checked the valve & it was good so I squeezed her to see where the “small” leaks might be. The air whooshed out of her & I found a perfectly round hole a little bigger than a pencil lead. I knew it couldn’t be a shot hole based on the size & placement so I looked at Fred. He had a plug in the same spot. There is a piece of PVC pipe that goes from the bottom of the deke to the top for the stake & it looks like the hole is where a plug went to hold the pipe in place. That is why Ethel fell over. I cut a tree branch a little smaller than the PVC pipe & about 12” long. I used it as a stake that kept Ethel in the breeding position & put Fred right behind her. I don’t know how affective it is but the set brought in 2 gobblers 1 of which went home to Ohio with me. I’ll contact AvianX after the season to see what they’ll do.
Now for the good stuff.
Mon 05/04 – Ron & I went to the green field above the cemetery with Ron setting on the NE side & me due south. At 5:25, at least 4 birds started gobbling behind me & 1 to the far SW of the field behind me. Geese flew over, honking, & really got the birds fired up. I did some tree calling & a fly down just to let them know that a PYT was in the area. I was still tuckered from the long day Sat & was fitting a losing battle with my eyelids, which I inevitably lost. At 6:25, almost the exact same time as last year, the exact same scenario occurred except for the ending. I was suddenly jolted back into consciousness when I heard the loud: ‘BAP!! BAP!! BAP!!” of a gobbler flogging Fred! Rather than my calm, cool, & collected self being present, a total idiot arrived!
“DANG!THERE’SAGOBBLER!I’DBETTERSHOOTHIMQUICKBEFOREHEGETSAWAY!”BANG”HEGOTAWAY!!”
Which, for a normal person, translates as:
“Dang! There’s a gobbler! I’d better shoot him quick before he gets away!” BANG “He got away!”
I saw a cloud of mist fly up from the grass behind him so I figure 1 of 2 things happened: 1. He dropped his head as I shot. 2. I shot over the top of him. I tend to think, in my extreme hurry, I shot over him. I can’t remember the last time I missed a spring bird. After berating myself & abusing my hat, Ron came up & we discussed what happened. He had to go to work & I settled in to see what would develop.
At about 9:23, I saw a bird feeding along the field edge in the shadows. I glassed it & it was a hen. I glassed the field & saw another bird at the north end of the field at least 120-130 yards away. I spotted a beard just as he started running towards Fred & Ethel at 9:24. He got to the dekes, fanned for a couple of seconds & at 9:25, I sent a load of Federal HW#7 magic Pixie Dust into his head. As soon as I was sure he was dead, I called Ron & said: “I don’t miss 2 birds on the same day!” I hadn’t gotten out of the blind yet & had no idea how big he was. When I walked up to him, all I could see was his beard & thought: “NUTZ! I shot a jake but wait a minute….Jakes don’t have full fans.” I checked his spurs & I guessed them at 1” with a 7” beard, & 16 pounds. The actually stats were 1” & 1 ¼”, 7 ¼”, & 17 lbs 4 ozs. Not bad guess work. You can see that, under the corkscrew on his beard, that it had frozen so I’d guess he lost 1-2” of beard length. A nice 2 year old.
As it turns out, these were the only 2 gobblers I saw & did not hear another gobble over the next 2 days so I am very thankful for the 2nd chance.
Fred & Ethel with the gobbler behind them. He was to the right of Fred when I shot him & he flopped a couple of times & ended up behind them.
Looking back at the blind from where the gobbler died.
The Mother Lode travel Call that helped bring this gobbler to the gun.
My good friend & host Ron on the right. Thanks again, Ron
