I'm new to the forum...Great place...Here is my story to begin the year.
Decided not to go the first day....would wait until Monday to begin the season. I was a little late in arriving at my spot as it was starting to get light. Setup on one of my favortie fields and began the wait. It wasn't long and several birds were sounding off. One in particular was just off the field where I was positioned. A few calls later and he had flown down into the field, but was heading across instead of down towards me. A couple of clucks changed his direction and he soon was heading full trot towards the decoy in the field...Held up at about 45 yards and would not come any closer
a couple of minutes later and he had walked back out of the field. Decided to go after the other bird that was sounding off down by the cemetery....I walked down the road and as I was nearing the cemetery he sounded off....right in the middle. I ducked off the road and edged up a little closer where i could see the hardwood ridge leading up to the cemetery and the road....Yelped a little and he headed right down the ridge. At about 25-30 yards pulled down on him and bagged an oak and a pine. Gun patterned really well on those trees. Needless to say the old boy flew away....Not to be outdone, I came back to the same area the next morning and much to my surprise he was sounding off again...He was on the backside of the cemetery on the ridge that overlooked the creek. I was setup in almost the same place where I taken the shot the day before. He did not want to have anything to do with that place so I waited until he had moved off a bit and then relocated on the ridge overlooking the creek. After a while, I realized that he had moved over to the other side of the creek. He was gobbling back and forth in this one area so when he moved to the far end I again relocated closer to the creek. In doing so I bumped a bird that was still on my side. Thought the day was done; however, he continued to gobble. We begin to trade calls back and forth, but he did not seem to want to relocate to my side. I was about to move again but decided to stay put and exercise a little patience. I let out a series of excited calls and then went quiet. He responded immeadiately and then also went quiet. I waited and waited...the next time he gobbled he had cut the distance within half...a few minutes later I could hear him coming up the ridge on my side of the creek....he came over the little rise and boom down he went.....Great hunt....18lbs 3 oz, 10 inch beard and one inch spurs - Charlotte County...glad to be in the woods
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