Got out Friday and got a buddy a bird but almost doubled. It was raining off and on Friday morning and we heard absolutely nothing. Worked back and forth in our designated area for hours. Went back to the truck to dry out and find a bathroom. As we drove over to a building I saw some birds on the edge of a field. Since we hadn't seen birds in our area we figured they just might be heading our way. We quickly set up in the perceived flight path and I called. I get a gobble in response. I hit him again in a few minutes and several respond. We saw at least 4 males in the group and it would appear several were excited. They kept getting closer and soon we could see them approaching the Decoys. Looked like 2 nice long beards. They get to about 15 yards and freeze. I am waiting for my friend to shoot but he can't see them because of a tree. In turn, he is waiting for me to shoot. For whatever reason they don't like what they see at the decoys and start to walk away. I am waiting for my friend to shoot and I for him. Soon they are behind a large log heading to my right. All I can see is their heads bobbing up every once in a while. I am waiting for them to clear the log which should afford me a shot. The clear the roots, I can see their long beards swaying. I let out a series of calls to get them to raise their heads, nothing, call again and they just kept feeding. Then they go behind some small brush and they are too far away. I then hear a loud boom and my friend shot another bird up near the decoys. I see turkeys going everywhere. We had around 15 birds come in, but only one didn't leave. It wound up being a jake but a good bird all the same, weighed 17 lb and had a 5.5" beard.

Still have no idea why the long beards backed away from our decoy spread. Only thing I could figure was those long beards weren't the dominant birds in the area. Maybe the jakes were. The jake he shot came in with another jake and all the hens. He also strutted quite a bit so maybe the jakes were kind in this flock.

Anyway we got a bird on the ground and he ate well.

I managed to get out Saturday too and never heard a thing, very odd considering that area has had a lot of birds in the past. Oh well.

Hope you all have a great week!
Vic

Bird in the hand, Congrats!

Good recap.. congrats..

Vic, congratulations to your friend. Good story. And I know that bird tasted great.


Earl