Gobblers down in Loudoun.
The Spring season began slow in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Loudoun County. A lack of cover coupled with harsh conditions made the hunting very challenging to say the least. For the most part the gobbling was at a minimum the first week and I did not find a cooperative bird until the second Saturday when I shot this gobbler, in the company of a jake, at 9:30 a.m. He came in fast to a diaphragm call and a load of #5's from my Winchester 1300 stopped him at 20 yards. He was 21 lbs. 4 oz. with a 9 7/8 in beard and 1 1/8 in spurs.
This past Saturday my buddy Paul and I were set up in a creek bottom with an Avian jake and hen planted 35 yards in front of us. Last year we had the fortune of doubling up on a long beard and a jake and we were in hopes that we might duplicate our luck this year. Not hearing any gobbling I interrupted the chorus of the wood thrush and cardinals with 3 putts and 3 low yelps on a Legacy glass call. 5 minutes later a hen pitched out of a tree to within 10 yards of my setup, followed by a gobbler at 45 yards. The hen froze in her tracks and the gobbler immediately went into full strut. Shortly after another hen pitched down in the middle of the dekes and began feeding. The first hen decided to run to the gobbler, who had never uttered a sound, and when she did I decided to take the shot for fear that she would lead him off into the places unknown. He was a 4 or 5 year old with a 10 1/4 in beard, tipping the scales at 17 lbs 8 oz and 1 3/16 in spurs. I checked my watch and it was 6:15. Paul was situated 50 yards to my left and I quickly recovered my bird and sat down at the same tree with the dekes still out in front and between us. At 6:30 I once again began a calling sequence on the glass pot only to be interrupted by a pair of gobblers about 150 yards to Paul's left. The birds were coming in hard and when they saw the decoys they made even more of a bee-line in their direction. Paul stopped the first bird short of the decoys and we had to run his companion off in order to recover the downed bird. He was a large jake with a 5 1/2 in beard and he also weighed 17 lbs. 8 oz. Checking my watch again the time was 7:00. This was Paul's second turkey and we were fortunate to pull off the double once again.
