Finally Closed the Deal

Supermag · 04-21-2008, 10:06 AM

My brother and I had been hunting the same bird for the last four weekends. He's been doing plenty of gobbling, and we had good setups on him several times. We just never could get to him before the hens. Last weekend we stayed on him for over three hours. I thought I had him coming in several times, but he just never would close the last 50-100 yards. This was the case on a few occasions. We were both starting to get frustrated and thought the season may end with us empty handed. Well this past weekend (the next to the last weekend of MS season) everything finally came together. We setup in a food plot that he's been roosting near before daylight. About 45 minutes after daylight, he still hadn't said anything. We were starting to worry that he had moved out or been killed during the week. I decided to do a few soft yelps to see if I could get a response. He cut me off still in the tree less than 100 yards from us. A few more yelps, and he flew down and gobbled when his feet hit the ground. A few more more calling sessions and gobbles, and he was getting close. I decided to just shut up, as he was definitely coming in. No sight of him after a few minutes, so I clucked a couple of times. He let out a gobble that shook the ground he was so close. We could hear him drumming then. A few seconds later, my brother whispered the words I was waiting for. "There he is." I could see the big white head coming into the food plot. While the turkey was focused on the decoy, my brother eased his gun around to draw a bead on him. I was telling my brother to let him come on in, but he stopped at 40 yards and started acting a little nervous. I guess he was worried that that hen was being so still. He started that nervous walk, and my brother laid the smack down on him at 43 yards. We had spent hours at the time working this bird on previous occasions without being able to close the deal. It took a grand total of 23 minutes from the first time I called till he was flopping this time. It's amazing how it can be so hard one day and so easy the next. That's what makes turkey hunting so much fun though I guess. For a bird that seemed smart enough to be a real old timer all season, I was surprised when we got to him that he only had a 9 inch beard and 3/4" spurs too. We were just as excited though, after all the time we had put in on this bird.