The Power of a Gobble

[ICDEDTURKES]

We all know gobblers gobble to gobble up hens and sometimes we witness it in action, but on one morning I really got to see how powerful it is..

On our favorite place to hunt, there is a small south facing slope in a ag field that borders some thick spruce at the south facing slope.. If the property has birds and that particular field is in some form of short plant most mornings and evenings a gobbler can be seen on that south facing slope strutting. The birds that tend to use this side of the property and tend to roost across the road leaving you with about 250 yards of agriculture with no trees and no setup for a roost hunt other than laying down in the field or setting at a utility pole.

Sal and I drive around a good bit in the evenings glassing and seeing where birds are. That particular night like usual there was a gobbler with a couple of hens on the south facing slope of the hill strutting. Seeings roost time was coming we decided to shut off the truck and watch them cross the road.. Sure enough the hens made there way to the road with gobbler in tow pretty close to the vehicle.. When the gobbler hit the gravel, looking through my Nikons, I was shocked.. He had a good a spurs as I have ever seen and would be willing to wager they were as good as any I have ever shot..

Arrogance

This paragraph I can only title arrogance that or stupidity.. I knew exactly how to kill this gobbler and Sal did too as "You need to sit on the edge of those spruce, not say a peep and whack him when he struts on that south facing slope in the morning." This is where the stupidity and or arrogance comes in, sometimes with a sure thing in hand I will do something to prove I can do it. I told her "No I am going sneak around another 200 yards beyond the south facing slope and sit against a few large cherry trees" There is a 75 yard wide gap between a fence and the spruce that the turkeys will use sometimes to get back to a larger set of hardwoods.. Sal thought it was the stupidest thing she had ever heard as the south slope was a slam dunk.. I looked at her and told her "I will kill that bird at the cherry trees".

As dawn broke the next morning the gobbling started across the road. After flydown the gobbling continued as came closer and closer approaching that south facing slope. Knowing he had hens I was pretty reserved in my calling letting him know I was there which in return he gobbled each and every time I called..

What happened next formed the title of this post. I had a pretty decent view of alot of field and wood edge but could not see the gobbler on the other side of the small slope. As the gobblers gobbling intensified, hens started coming from all directions. Every 5-10 minutes a hen would emerge from one of the woodlines I could see and make her way to the gobbling turkey. If memory serves me correct I watched 5-6 hens go straight to the south facing slope. It truly amazed me how powerful the gobble was and reminded me why with some birds on some days it truly is a struggle.

Now knowing I was surely outnumbered and debating the error of my ways I decided to hang tight and for one be patient and wait on my opportunity to prove to myself and Sally I could kill the bird at the cherry trees.. Time passed and the gobbler gobbled coming and going as he moved East and West on the slope with his hens.. After what seemed like forever, I started to see some of the hens, I saw go to him, part ways with him and move back to the woodlines. Soon after his gobbling intensified. Knowing this was my shot and he was becoming desperate as hens left I began to call..

Every call was met with an instant gobble but the gobbler was steadfast on the slope. Sometimes it sounded as if he were coming and than going as he paced the south facing slope. At this point I could have slipped up the backside of the slope and killed him pretty easily but I had something to prove.. So I continued to go back and forth with this gobbler and finally he broke. His head emerged first, than his strutting body. He was coming perfectly down the gap as I had imagined all morning.. Than all of a sudden, he stopped at 80 or so yards out and went the way he came strutting and gobbling.. "What just happened" So I hit him again and he slowly made his way to the same spot and repeated what he did before. Where I sat provided excellent cover and the setting around me provided enough visual assurance that the calling could come from enough places that he could not see. Than it dawned on me, to the east was a large hill with pines that cast a shadow across the gap from the pines to the fencerow and each time he hung up, it was exactly where the shadow started... I know this sounds ridiculous but I have seen it other times as well, not so much as a hang up, but a gobbler strutting in an ag field, a larger tree cast a longer large shadow further in the field an the gobbler struts around it.. I have no answer for it but it was a beautiful sunny day and this King of Spring new he looked his best with the sun illuminating his feathers.

Now losing complete and utter confidence in my spot due to a damn shadow, I let the gobbler walk over the hill and back on the south slope.. Now it was hot, I was out of water and figured Sal would not know where I shot him anyway, I quickly paced to the back side of the south slope and set against a lone tree. I gave a yelp and was cut off. I pulled up my gun facing where he went over the slope about 30 yards away. I beared down on the red dot and was totally focused through the dot when his head appeared..

[SCtrkyhntr]

Dude you just admitted in writing that you were wrong and the woman is right. I am pretty sure there is a law against that, or at least some kind of code.

[TRKYHTR]

Where's the pic of them spurs? Come on Man.

[ICDEDTURKES]

Dude you just admitted in writing that you were wrong and the woman is right. I am pretty sure there is a law against that, or at least some kind of code.

I knew what I had to do before she spouted off Dusty, but arrogance man, arrogance.

[redarrow]

Good read Tom.

[ole5beards]

Good story. Awesome that your wife is a better hunter than you, you should have just listened to her from the beginning ! And yes I'd like to see those hooks as well, I know a guy who called some hens across a field in Michigan and killed a bird with 1 1/2 hooks!!

[ICDEDTURKES]

Good story. Awesome that your wife is a better hunter than you,

Honestly I could not be more proud of what she has become.. If you could sit down and listen to her you would understand..

[ole5beards]

I bet! My wife doesn't hunt, however I've taken her hunting several times and all differnt kinds of hunting as well. Deer,dove,duck, quail, and turkey. And she says that she likes turkey hunting more than any others. She still doesn't like it good enough to wake up early and hit the woods every chance but she does enjoy it. Now that my kids are getting big enough to go, they always ask her to go with us, but she declines. And I get it because when we hunt that gives her rare free alone time to catch up on what ever she needs to catch up on. Her first time turkey hunting I called up several fired up gobbling jakes, and they got pretty close. She didn't have a gun but she still got excited and nervous, and that was cool.

[Roy]

Good story. Awesome that your wife is a better hunter than you, you should have just listened to her from the beginning ! And yes I'd like to see those hooks as well, I know a guy who called some hens across a field in Michigan and killed a bird with 1 1/2 hooks!!

Tom, you're married?

[Greyghost]

Good story, thanks for sharing. I would rather hear stories like that then just see dead birds. So weather you got him or not, congratulations on a great hunt.

[HuntnMa]

great story

[Hoobilly]

good story!

now did you kill that gobbler or did you miss?

[ICDEDTURKES]

good story!

now did you kill that gobbler or did you miss?

You all say you know me to well..

Don't you think I would have posted pictures of the spurs when Joe wanted them.

[FireDoc]

I know a guy who called some hens across a field in Michigan and killed a bird with 1 1/2 hooks!!

[Waddle Whacker]

good story!

now did you kill that gobbler or did you miss?

You all say you know me to well..

Don't you think I would have posted pictures of the spurs when Joe wanted them.

When I first read your story, there were no comments below it. I came a hair from typing one simple word....Miss! I didn't know if it was a touchy subject due to your wife's involvement and superior hunting skills, so I left it alone. Guess I "missed" a darn fine opportunity for a jab. Good story.

[appalachianassassin]

great story

[ICDEDTURKES]

good story!

now did you kill that gobbler or did you miss?

You all say you know me to well..

Don't you think I would have posted pictures of the spurs when Joe wanted them.

When I first read your story, there were no comments below it. I came a hair from typing one simple word....Miss! I didn't know if it was a touchy subject due to your wife's involvement and superior hunting skills, so I left it alone. Guess I "missed" a darn fine opportunity for a jab. Good story.

I miss more than my fair share, most do not bother me to bad, knowing the hardware this guy had and how the whole thing played out, this one kinda bothers me..

[Waddle Whacker]

I miss more than my fair share, most do not bother me to bad, knowing the hardware this guy had and how the whole thing played out, this one kinda bothers me..

Maybe next time you'll listen to your wife.

[kygobbler]

Great story and it sucks that you had to admit that your wife was right. Also, since the whole story is out now we learned you that you did nothing correct that day. Maybe your wife should have been with you so we could have seen the spurs on that bird.

[SCtrkyhntr]

good story!

now did you kill that gobbler or did you miss?

You all say you know me to well..

Don't you think I would have posted pictures of the spurs when Joe wanted them.

The question is...since you missed did you tell Sal you missed from the spot you said you needed to be in or did you tell her you caved and went to the spot she said you needed to be in? LOL