Turkey #2 for 2012
April 24th was going to be a good day. I had hunted this particular property twice and both times I’d heard a big Tom cutting loose from this one patch of timber at the southeast corner of the property. My good friend Brad had just shot his bird the day before and decided to come along, something we’ve done for the past several years now with great success and enjoyment. My 4yr old (aka my huntin buddy), was also coming along which always makes for a proud daddy!
We hiked down through a valley then up a huge hill (not an easy task with a kid on your shoulders) and set up in the “perfect” spot, where I KNEW the bird would be. Ha, if you’ve been turkey hunting long, you know where this is going! You guessed it, the birds were a good 200yrds away. They didn’t talk the greatest early on so we gave this spot some time thinking that the old bird just might not be talking. I can only handle listening to birds rip it up 200yrds away for so long without making a move on them so that’s exactly what we did.
Long story short, we circled a couple of different times and were making our last attempt when Brad happen to spot the tom over on the next hill in the pasture. Fortunately, the bird hadn’t saw us and we were able to slowly duck down out of sight and make for one last hurrah. We circled back around (from where we’d just come) and got over the crest of the hill from where we’d last saw the bird. Brad and the big man stayed back while I crawled up a fenceline to get closer to the crest of the hill. Many times a bird will crest a hill so the hen can see him, but will come no farther so it’s always a good idea to be able to shoot the crest of the hill.
Brad did a great job calling back behind me 50yrds or so and it wasn’t anytime before the bird let out a thunderous gobble and he was close! It was mere seconds before I saw that white and red head crest the hill and the bird was coming. I let him get into full view and in to about 35 yards before I let the hammer fall. The new BPS did the job as the bird went straight down! Suddenly all the walking we’d done that morning seemed justified as I stood over the beautiful bird. This was yet another great hunt that I won’t soon forget both for the turkey shot, but more importantly for the great time spent with a friend and my very best lil hunting buddy!