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Went back to my friends house in Pennsylvania to hunt his farm. I took some advice from you all and set some rules for us. I told my friend that as the designated hunter that he should allow me to call. That keeps the turkey unaware of his presence and they thus focus on me. He agreed and we went hunting, my son included, this past Friday and Saturday. Friday was a bust, rained hard in the morning and we never heard a thing. Saturday was much better. We went to a different area to listen and we hear birds gobbling in two different directions on the edge of his farm. So at least we know there are some birds in the area. We set up and I cold call every 10 to 15 minutes. We don't hear a thing from the right but occasionally hear a response from our left. Seems to be getting a little closer, but slowly. Around 0700 a crow flies over cawing loudly. A turkey gobbles to our right pretty dang close. I tell my son to get ready and he does. I wait a moment and do 2 clucks on my box call, gobble. I set the box call down because the birds are getting even closer. Soon I see some turkey coming along a stone wall in front of me to the right. They are walking on a path that will lead right in front of my son. He is tracking and moving very slowly not to alarm the birds, and I thought he didn't listen to me. Anyway, there are 4 longbeards walking in and are around 20 yards from us. The lead tom sees the decoy and goes into a 3/4 strut. I was going to call to try and get him to raise his head further but it is sticking out enough. A moment later I hear a boom and the lead bird falls at the shot. My son stays put covering his prize with his gun. The other three birds scramble and I start to call real aggressive. The 3 toms regroup and start to attack the lead birds flopping corpse. My friend who is facing the other way turns hard to the right and takes a shot. One of the three flies off to parts unknown. I call hard again and the 2 birds regroup and attack the downed bird again. My friend takes another shot and down goes our second bird. It's flopping on top of my son's bird. The last tom decides this place isn't safe anymore and leaves.
It's 0720 and we have 2 nice long beards on the ground on the last day of PA's turkey season. Great way to end a season. Both birds weigh around 20 lb and have 7/8" spurs. My son's bird has a 9" beard and friend's turkey has a 10" beard. Was a great hunt and soon will be great eats.
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