My KY cousin drive down to hunt first two days. I had some birds well scouted as to pattern and location. First two days were frustrating as it seems packs of jakes were running with the hens and the jakes ran off more than a few gobblers that were coming to our set ups. Hunting cow pastures can be a challenge when birds have to cross open ground and there are Jake packs attacking the longbeards.

We had one set up where we actually got in a cedar thicket that I knew some LB were using midday. In that place visibility was maybe 20 yards in front and 7-8 yards to the side. I realized it was a disaster waiting to happen about the time we sat down , because of poor sight lines , and tight quarters. I put out a hen decoy and got seated with a stake blind. Cousin made one soft call and I said “we ought to move as I can’t see hardly anything in this set”. . No more than got that sentence out of my mouth than my cousin says Two Long beards on your right shoulder SHOOT ONE. They were 7-8 yards !! No way. As they spooked instantly and ducked behind cedar. Those two LB birds came to the call in about two minutes maximum. It was one of those cases where my instincts failed me on the set up. I should have known better than to ever have sat down there. That was story of first day. Jakes and poor set ups. Oh , and we did run off a trespasser who was turkey hunting in the middle of that two hundred acre farm

Sunday we went back to first field we hunted on Saturday am. Birds gobbled good but it was hard to tell the Jake from the LB gobbles as there were more jakes than LB in the area. Birds pitched down and we thought we were in the right place and they would come straight to where we were since the birds had used this ridge top all day Saturday. As soon as the birds had stirred a few minutes at 125 yards we saw them all break strut and pop their heads straight up. And here came the coyotes. A whole pack of them. All the birds flew back up in the trees. Coyotes stayed pretty much under them and birds were still in trees when we left couple hours later.

Went to another place. Peeked around some there and saw a Lb with a dozen hens and couple jakes. Set up near them and after three hours later in that set we had only called In One hen. Cousin went home.

I went back to same general area this morning by myself. I knew I had to get in there super early as I was going to be sitting more or less under the roosted birds. This is a place I had scouted well in last month , and it is also where Freddy and I doubled on a flydown a few years ago. I sat in same place under same cedar tree. Hens and jakes were in trees maybe 70 yards away on a little bluff above the small field corner where I thought the birds might fly down as they did for Freddy and years ago. Sure enough the hens and Jakes started talking but I never heard a gobble that I thought it was a mature bird.

. After those close roosted birds flew down on top of the ridge and away from me and not down into the bottom I was about ready to pick up when I heard a gobble way up the draw that leads to the same field but more or less behind me. I managed to turn my body and seat in the stake blind to face in that direction. I hit a series with the Cody and that bird cut it off immediately with a double gobble. I waited about a minute and made another Cody series ,
and the bird gobbled again and I could tell he was coming. I got the gun up and was looking up the draw that had large on each side and a grass forty yard strip of pasture with uneven humps of pasture between me and the bird. Some cows started bawling in the field. The gobbler went crazy with non stop gobbling when the cows below me bawled. And coming on fast.

I knew he was now really getting close. I had the gun up where I thought he might show. And when he popped up at 24 yards , he was right where l expected him , and I took him out immediately. A really nice bird
That I suspect was the dominant bird in the area. Some pictures below

On the board! Congratulations, sounds like an eventful 3 days if nothing else.

Never a doubt.. congrats man..

Congratulations on a fine bird. Great stories.

Earl

Glad to hear you connected, I really missed your spring training report (and I am sure you missed it more than me). I hope you wife is doing better.

Congrats, sounds like more fun than killing one right off the bat!

Congrats GN. Good to see one on the ground. sounds like 2023 is going to be good there.
Hope the Mrs I'd feeling better.
V

Congrats, look at the bright side those jakes will be 2 yr olds next year!

Congrats on a nice bird. Really helps knowing the land and having a history there

Very nice. I tend to really look at setups also. I never assume I can make him really do something he doesn't really want to do. I can however make suggestions and a really good setup really helps him take that suggestion. Well, Sometimes he takes it.