No. 2 in MS is in the bag!

[Rhino]

Since my last kill post the hunting has been tough.  Most of the time when some birds gobbled is was a bit on the roost and quit when they touch down.  Had several hunts when just 1 bird gobbled once in the distance and that was it.  Last weekend I was playing guide for another rookie.  We got on 2 gobbling birds around noon.  Got them to ~80 yards...2 gobblers with 5 hens.  It was fixing to happen when...2 trespassers come in by boat from the flood waters and pushed them off.  Got on those birds again the next morning...both birds hung up with hens in the timber that moved away from us.  Called in 2 jakes with a hen trying to coax the gobblers back.  

Back for round 3 on my own this morning.  I set up close to where the birds hung up during the last hunt...prepared for a run and gun style hunt...no decoys.  The 1st bird gobbles W of me...the 2nd N of me but I'm out of position for where they're roosted this time.  They are roosted on opposite ridges near the edge of the flood waters.  I hit an old grown over logging road that has high banks on both sides and hot foot it N to where it dumps into a small field between the 2 ridges.  That puts me ~100 yards short of being right between them.  Can't risk getting closer.  Beyond the small field further to the N is flood waters.  I hear several hens in the trees off the W side of the field.   I opt to take the risk and made a fly down cut.  The N gobbler cuts me off.  Hens to the W (still on the roost) get vocal, mainly with light clucks and a few light tree yelps mixed in.  I mimic them now.  The 1st hen pitches out and lands ~75 yards away N of me.  Then a 2nd pitches out headed right at me.  She banks to her right and lands 15 yards away.  I get a brief look at the W gobbler as he walks across the opposite end of the field close the water toward the N gobbler.  Then...3 more hens sail in landing about 50 yards away.  They are still vocal but one is so close I can't move or call.  Fortunately, I was already aiming in the direction where I expected to see the gobblers approach from...the N.  Then...there they are...1 in full strut, the other...never strutted...had a shorter beard too.  Closest hen to them is the one ~75 yards from me now on the edge of the field on my side.  As they approach her she eases into the timber on my side.  They change direction toward the 3 hens.  Those hens start moving W at an angle away from me to the timber.  Then hen no. 6 pitches in and lands 30 yards right in front of me.  The gobblers shift toward her coming right at me, the big one going in and out of strut.  She decides to head W toward the other hens.  At this point I have a problem.  They are inside 40 yards but I can't shoot without killing both gobblers.  As they angle toward her walking away, finally the strutter gets out in front of the other gobbler.  When he was ~3 yards in front he raised his head a bit and my Nitro load knocked his beak in the dirt.  Stepped it off at 48 steps.  The other gobbler is so confused.  He starts to leave but notices his buddy flopping around so he comes back again.  He's watches his big buddy flop around until he quits flopping then eases off.  My 2nd MS gobbler for this spring has an 11" beard and sports some nice hooked spurs that measure 1 1/4" and 1 3/16".  BTW...sometimes it just happens where you luck up and choose to sit at the right spot on the right day.  In a nutshell...that's what happened this morning.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Rhino

[3seasons]

That’s awesome congrats Al

[Ravin R10 man]

Gotta like that Al!...sometimes it's good to be lucky?

[DowninWhiteys]

Congrats ☺️

[elkoholic]

Congratulations!  That's a good morning.

[Strut10]

I'd rather be lucky than good ANY day !!!

Never hurts to be BOTH, though...………………..       CONGRATS, Al, on a FINE bird !!!!!

[wtnhunt]

Congratulations Al.  Another nice bird.