My Dad's First Spring Gobbler

[hookinembig]

My dad has been working to get his first gobbler on the ground for a couple of years now. He has hunted for a long time but never hunted for gobblers until I started hunting them hard a couple of years ago. He has definitely put in his time and it finally paid off. I went with him the Friday before last and we set up on a little clover plot we have and put out the decoys. As it started to get light we heard a gobbler a ways off across the road on a neighboring property it was going crazy but I knew it was not on the property so we stayed put. Around 6:15 a.m. we hear another bird gobbling a ways in the bottom. I am debating whether or not to get out of the blind and go that way but decided to hold on just a bit longer. I make a couple of calls and nothing. I wait a bit and call a couple of times and a bird sounds off behind us pretty close around 6:40 a.m.. So we decide to stay and see what happens. I hear something walking but I can't see it turns out its a hen landing on the road and walking into the plot. She quickly walks through the plot and leaves. Next thing two hens show up in the plot and begin to feed. I make a couple of fly down cackle calls and some yelps to hopefully get the gobbler that is behind us to see the live hens in the plot. The hens feed around for a while and make there way out of the plot. We are just sitting there then all the sudden I hear some loud bass which sounds like its coming up the road (actually the gobbler drumming, this is the first time I've heard a gobbler drum in person.) I can hear him drumming but I can't see him and he sounds like he is a foot away from the blind. This goes on for a minute or two and then he starts moving away. I make some very soft purrs to the pot call and he turns and comes in the bottom of the plot. He heads straight for the jake decoy and my dad drops him with a load of 20 gauge TSS. I never saw the bird until it was flopping on the ground. Over all great experience with a nice bird to boot.

The gobbler had a 10 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs.

The first picture below is the gobbler my dad shot strutting just before roosting behind the blind, the next is about a step before he was shot and the last is my dad and his first spring gobbler. The time on the camera is an hour off.

Thanks for reading
Hookinembig

[hobbes]

Congrats to your dad.

[2Shooter]

WTG Sir!!! Congrats to you both!!!!

[Grumpy]

Nice shot dad,great picture for years to come

[soiltester]

Pretty darn nice for a 1st time gobbler .. congrats to dad

[ccleroy]

Man that's awesome!

[MAK]

good tag team - way to go guys

[redarrow]

[Wrangler95]

Very nice gobbler,congrats!!

[Reloader]

Congrats! Might take him a while to best that one.

[pullit]

Good deal, congrats