Congratulations on # 2, fine bird indeed. Love those off the roost hunts. Next time draw it out a little bit. Loved the recap from your first bird too much.


Earl

Earl,

You caught me being lazy. Actually, I was just very busy today. This was a quick hunt before a doctor visit followed by hurrying off to work. I only had about two hours this AM to hunt because of these other obligations. I set out with the goal of primarily locating some early morning birds to hunt on a day when I would have more time. I pulled down a gravel forest road to a location I have often heard birds, and as soon as I got out a bird sounded off about 200 yards across a hollow. A second bird cut him off. I knew from hunting here in the past I needed to be above these birds on the same ridge. This meant me back tracking up the gravel road and climbing up a steep old skid road. I didn't want to chance cranking the truck up and driving back the way I came in, so I walked. As I walked up the road the gobbling of these birds behind the mountain seemed constant. I also a lone bird gobble 1 time on the opposite side of the road.

I slipped up the logging road and as I got closer to the top of the ridge I could tell the birds were very close, closer than I liked. I knew I needed to be at least to the top of the ridge above the birds. I did not want to bump the birds so I crawled out of the road and up toward the top of the ridge. I crawled up to a small poplar tree (smaller than I liked) and eased into position. I could see down the top of the ridge to my right and up the ridge to my left. Toward the turkeys I could only see about 15 steps as it dropped off steep. I did not like the setup, but the birds were within about 80-100 yards (or less) of me in the trees gobbling. There were at least three birds (I think it was 4) gobbling.

I shot a real quick video on my cell of the setup. This was just before fly down time and the gobbling activity had slowed some. The birds were roosted in the far pine trees you can see on the horizon of that video. I am hunting at elevations mostly from 1500-2800. We have very little foliage out. Watch the video and you can see the oak tree about 10 steps in front of me. That is the tree I needed to be against. There was a really steep hollow between me and the birds. The video is deceiving and doesn't show that. I knew they would fly down in that hollow and I would not be able to see them approach until they popped up their head at 15 steps. I did not like that setup, but had no other options. Due to how close the birds were, I decided to wait until they flew down to call.

After the birds flew down I gave two fairly excited cuts followed by a series of yelps on my slate call. One bird double gobbled and then another joined in. It was that type of gobble where you know beyond a doubt you were answered and the bird was coming. Within minutes I heard turkeys in the leaves. The sound of turkeys in the leaves terrorizes me now. I have lost a lot of hearing and especially struggle to tell direction when hearing birds in the leaves. I can hear birds gobble fairly well, but when I hear a bird in the leaves, it means he is about to step in my lap, and I cannot tell direction...very frustrating. I'm really worried about continued loss of hearing and how it may impact my hunting going forward. Anyway, I'm prepared, gun on the knees ready, pointing where I heard the last gobble. The muffled sound of walking in the leaves but not able to tell direction is driving me nuts. Finally, I see a gobbler head break into the open at 20-25 yards, but it is directly to my hard left at about 9:30 or 10:00 o'clock. In my younger days, with better hearing, I would've had the gun on his head when he stepped out, and BLAM. Today, I'm pointing 12 o'clock. This bird goes behind a tree. I'm planning to swing when he does, but just then another head pops into view at 10:30. The 9 o'clock bird starts that very excited clucking that almost sounds like putting and circles back down into the hollow out of sight, clucking constantly, as if to say, "hey boys I saw a big clump where that hen was calling, and it ain't no hen...something's wrong here boys!" The 10:30 bird disappears behind some brush but is still in range. I gambled and started cutting and aggressively yelping like crazy, hoping to get the 10:00 bird to take a closer look. A third bird, out of sight down the hollow at 12 o'clock, immediately started gobbling like mad, and then the other two start back gobbling. It was a crazy sequence of events. I was able to coax one of the birds into a shot. I could only see about the top 4-5 inches of his head above the leaves. He was about 20-25 yards. I knew I'd either kill him or it'd be a clean miss, shooting at the top of his head like that.

I shot and all I saw was birds flying. I surely thought I'd missed. I went down the hill a few steps and there he was pile up. It was a sight for sore eyes. once again, a lot of luck was on my side today! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!

Here's the link to a quick clip of the setup. If you turn your volume all the way up you may be able to hear a gobble or two.

https://youtu.be/IECQjvcTg7g

Nice recap, I could picture it all in my head. I once passed on that head only shot hoping to see more to shoot at and it still haunts me to this day as i never did get a shot. Video says it's private and won't let me view it. Congrats on another fine bird.

Loving your recaps.. congrats again man..

I also could not see the video.

Not sure what I did wrong on the video? It's not much. It just shows the setup with the birds gobbling a few times in the trees on the roost.

GOod job again Mr Picker-Plucker !!

Super Cooper recap. Loved it. Thanks.

Earl