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The Gob-Father Strikes Again! Got my longbeard... FINALLY!
May 30, 2014 0:36:16 GMT -5
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Post by THE GOB-FATHER on May 30, 2014 0:36:16 GMT -5
Well, it's been a VERY long and tough season for me and needless to say... if it could happen... IT DID! Oh, but the virtue of patience and perseverance is strong within me... kinda like "the force". Even Obi Wan Kenobi would have struggled with his Jedi tactics on these birds up here! lol
To recap the season up until today...
1) My first encounter I had a MONSTER Tom work beautifully to my calling only to hang up in the field out in front of my set just a tad outside of gun range.
2) My second encounter I had a dud shotshell completely ruin a chip shot 30 yard blast at a very nice mature gobbler only about 10 minutes after fly-down.
3) My third best opportunity everything was perfect! I had put the gobbler to bed and roosted him the night before. Got in SUPER early and very tight to his perch. Sunrise comes and he hammers off beautifully on roost. I watch him pitch down... works to my call (2 series and then I shut him down). His head pops up over a knoll in the ridge he was approaching from. Only about 35 yards or less from me. Then, he's completely up and over it on a level plane with me. I wait for a good clear shot... BANG! Complete MISS! Whiffed! I go to the range... my pattern is off and to the left at about 8-10" or so. I recall the night before having had "bumped" my gun and contribute the miss and the scope being off to that. Talk about a kick in the teeth!
4) Same set as previously mentioned a couple-few days later. Same scenario. After waiting patiently for the woods to settle after "the miss" and giving the Tom to get comfortable enough to move in on him again a few days later... the same scenario plays out. Except this time... two hens intercept my seductive tree calls and get leery... they hear him gobbling... make way to his roost and positioning... and take him off in the entirely opposite direction. At this point... I was very much in favor of a hen massacre outing!
5) Same area... different field. SIX Toms move in. I roosted them the night before. My set... perfect! Well, apparently not! Daybreak... gobbles right where I put them to bed! No hen tree yelps, no interference. No way I'll walk away empty handed right? NO! Wrong-o! Again... hens walk out in the cornfield to my set. Two hens call behind me... distinctly making their way to one of the gobblers. 4 Jakes intrude my deek spread. Longbeards go silent. BANG! This time... not me who shot... another hunter (for lack of better term) had trespassed on my property and poached one of my birds! I never located the jerk and the hunt was over well before it started.
Now... here we are today (minus at least 7-8 more uneventful hunts prior to today's outing)
Since I've already outlined an already disappointing and frustrating season, it should go without saying that I wasn't overly enthused about getting up yet once again at 3:00 a.m. on only a few hours sleep to go chase after 'em only to add to my already overflowing cup of madness... that being said, I didn't even bother to suit up til about 10:00 this morning.
I've noted, through my recon efforts, that I've been seeing more and more lone hens and the same with the longbeards around the 9:30ish timeframe. So I've deducted that they're VERY late in their breeding cycle this season and are just now starting to break from the toms to lay on nest earlier and earlier every day... IF ONLY this were to take place on time this season and within the first or second week of the season! Ughh... but it is what it is.
So, I make it to my first destination... didn't like the "feel" so I only called lightly a few times looking for a response but had other intentions. It wasn't long before I arrived at "the spot" that I've grown to love over the years. This area, believe it or not over the long course of this season, is an area that I've purposely put off for the very tail end of the season and when I got my deeks out and sat back against the tree... something magical took over within me!...
I took my time (even tho the clock was running out before noon lol) and got everything into position in the field that I was hunting. I glassed the field (is a very massive field) checking occasionally for any stragglers that may be on the move. After securing my set and getting into position I started a melody of soft yelps and mid level cuts. It was only about after my second or third run of calling and I thought I could hear a very faint and distant gobble. In fact, I was 99.9% sure that's exactly what I heard... so I got a bit more aggressive and paid close attention to hone in on the area to which I thought I had heard the gobble from and then BOOM! A very distinct and clear gobble! GAME ON!
Now, at this point of the season, the foliage is VERY dense and any gobble that arises could sound as if it is a mile away... I was already keeping that in mind when each gobble rang out as I called to this bird. Then all of a sudden, I could tell that the gobbles were DEFINITELY moving closer and that this bird was giving me all signs of being alone. It all made sense in that I've been seeing more "lone activity" at this time of day and to get a response and many responses at that and on his own certainly verified what was about to transpire.
Everything was going great... the bird was closing in and in fact there was one gobble that got my heart pumping as I KNEW the birds location now and it was just inside the adjacent woodlot to my right. I knew that bird was hugging the perimeter and possibly scoping the field to get a visual on where the calls were coming from. It was at this point I figured the game to start closing in but then, what happens next is where I started to feel as if this hunt was going to play out like all the others before whereas an outside circumstance that I could not control would leave me defeated...
I was so focused on the direction of the bird that I hadn't noticed that a big coyote had moved into the field and was stalking my decoys out in front of me. As soon as I scanned the field while waiting for the gobbler to exit the woods I immediately noticed the dog in the field approaching my set. I frantically scrambled and got up on my feet and waved my arms about and lightly made gestures and noises to spook the yote. He stood there carelessly and stared at me. This was not good! The gobbler was on the brink of breaking the field edge and if he popped out and seen the coyote it would be game over. Now, I can't make too much noise and/or movement so that I don't spook the bird, but I need to make enough movement/commotion to get the dog out of the field! DILEMMA!
After several motions and sounds, the yote spooked enough to start SLOWLY retreating from the field. It seemed to take FOREVER for him to leave and meanwhile I'm hoping and praying that it didn't ruin my hunt. I haven't heard the bird gobble since noticing the coyote and now I'm wondering if it's over. I had already planned on hammering away at the bird immediately upon the moment the coyote was nowhere remotely visible. The coyote moved into the woodlot that the bird was in and I had to make moves fast, or so I thought, so that I could now try to not only relocate the working bird, but also now bring him out into the field so that the coyote doesn't head in his direction and get back to where we started.
Just as soon as I was ready to call, it was within milliseconds that the yote disappeared and the gobbler appeared on the fields edge! GAME ON once again!
I immediately noticed the fire engine red neck and cotton top white head moving wearily toward me. Where he stood, the grass was taller and it was hard to tell if he was sporting a long beard or if he was just a Jake. I could distinctly tell that he had a full, well rounded gobble but I've been fooled before. Within about 20 yards of closing the distance I could visually make out the swinging of his bird! EXCELLENT!
The next few minutes played out like a long, stressful session of watching paint dry! He took his sweet time SLOWLY approaching my set. He never went into full strut, but went into a puff-posturing position and with the positioning of my Tom decoy (with it's back toward the approaching Tom) I could tell that this longbeard was being sneaky and being weary all at the same time. Again... paint dry!
He made his way to approximately 45 yards whereas at that point I could have smoked him, but I had my new GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition camera recording the event so I wanted to be sure to get some solid footage and also to get him as close as possible. He then narrowed the field to a mere 33 yards!
His posturing and sudden popping of his head and neck straight up told me it was not or never! Red dot scope dialed in and dialed on... safety off... raise to neck... his head stretches out... and here comes the BOOM!!!!
I dusted him... dropped him dead in his tracks right there!
My season instantly got it's redemption and vindication within a millisecond of the hammer dropping on my true and tried Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag! Oh how nice it is to feel you again!
Needless to say, this was a long time coming and was a hunt that happened in less than 15 minutes! Although from the length of this narrative you would have thought otherwise! Either way, the hunt... the way it played out up to it, and sharing it with you... is the blessing and worth sharing to this extent.
This bird was dedicated to my late Great Uncle Tom. He was the man that introduced me to this great creature and was the one that got me "hooked" on hunting them! Many, many years later.. here I am today, carrying on the tradition and still thinking about how I couldn't wait to call him after harvesting one and then bringing it over for him to see (always looking for his nod of "approval")... now, it kinda sucks not being able to do that anymore... but I know he's smiling down upon me in Heaven, and was there with me during the moment of truth! That kinda makes me smile. This one's for you "U.T."
To recap the season up until today...
1) My first encounter I had a MONSTER Tom work beautifully to my calling only to hang up in the field out in front of my set just a tad outside of gun range.
2) My second encounter I had a dud shotshell completely ruin a chip shot 30 yard blast at a very nice mature gobbler only about 10 minutes after fly-down.
3) My third best opportunity everything was perfect! I had put the gobbler to bed and roosted him the night before. Got in SUPER early and very tight to his perch. Sunrise comes and he hammers off beautifully on roost. I watch him pitch down... works to my call (2 series and then I shut him down). His head pops up over a knoll in the ridge he was approaching from. Only about 35 yards or less from me. Then, he's completely up and over it on a level plane with me. I wait for a good clear shot... BANG! Complete MISS! Whiffed! I go to the range... my pattern is off and to the left at about 8-10" or so. I recall the night before having had "bumped" my gun and contribute the miss and the scope being off to that. Talk about a kick in the teeth!
4) Same set as previously mentioned a couple-few days later. Same scenario. After waiting patiently for the woods to settle after "the miss" and giving the Tom to get comfortable enough to move in on him again a few days later... the same scenario plays out. Except this time... two hens intercept my seductive tree calls and get leery... they hear him gobbling... make way to his roost and positioning... and take him off in the entirely opposite direction. At this point... I was very much in favor of a hen massacre outing!
5) Same area... different field. SIX Toms move in. I roosted them the night before. My set... perfect! Well, apparently not! Daybreak... gobbles right where I put them to bed! No hen tree yelps, no interference. No way I'll walk away empty handed right? NO! Wrong-o! Again... hens walk out in the cornfield to my set. Two hens call behind me... distinctly making their way to one of the gobblers. 4 Jakes intrude my deek spread. Longbeards go silent. BANG! This time... not me who shot... another hunter (for lack of better term) had trespassed on my property and poached one of my birds! I never located the jerk and the hunt was over well before it started.
Now... here we are today (minus at least 7-8 more uneventful hunts prior to today's outing)
Since I've already outlined an already disappointing and frustrating season, it should go without saying that I wasn't overly enthused about getting up yet once again at 3:00 a.m. on only a few hours sleep to go chase after 'em only to add to my already overflowing cup of madness... that being said, I didn't even bother to suit up til about 10:00 this morning.
I've noted, through my recon efforts, that I've been seeing more and more lone hens and the same with the longbeards around the 9:30ish timeframe. So I've deducted that they're VERY late in their breeding cycle this season and are just now starting to break from the toms to lay on nest earlier and earlier every day... IF ONLY this were to take place on time this season and within the first or second week of the season! Ughh... but it is what it is.
So, I make it to my first destination... didn't like the "feel" so I only called lightly a few times looking for a response but had other intentions. It wasn't long before I arrived at "the spot" that I've grown to love over the years. This area, believe it or not over the long course of this season, is an area that I've purposely put off for the very tail end of the season and when I got my deeks out and sat back against the tree... something magical took over within me!...
I took my time (even tho the clock was running out before noon lol) and got everything into position in the field that I was hunting. I glassed the field (is a very massive field) checking occasionally for any stragglers that may be on the move. After securing my set and getting into position I started a melody of soft yelps and mid level cuts. It was only about after my second or third run of calling and I thought I could hear a very faint and distant gobble. In fact, I was 99.9% sure that's exactly what I heard... so I got a bit more aggressive and paid close attention to hone in on the area to which I thought I had heard the gobble from and then BOOM! A very distinct and clear gobble! GAME ON!
Now, at this point of the season, the foliage is VERY dense and any gobble that arises could sound as if it is a mile away... I was already keeping that in mind when each gobble rang out as I called to this bird. Then all of a sudden, I could tell that the gobbles were DEFINITELY moving closer and that this bird was giving me all signs of being alone. It all made sense in that I've been seeing more "lone activity" at this time of day and to get a response and many responses at that and on his own certainly verified what was about to transpire.
Everything was going great... the bird was closing in and in fact there was one gobble that got my heart pumping as I KNEW the birds location now and it was just inside the adjacent woodlot to my right. I knew that bird was hugging the perimeter and possibly scoping the field to get a visual on where the calls were coming from. It was at this point I figured the game to start closing in but then, what happens next is where I started to feel as if this hunt was going to play out like all the others before whereas an outside circumstance that I could not control would leave me defeated...
I was so focused on the direction of the bird that I hadn't noticed that a big coyote had moved into the field and was stalking my decoys out in front of me. As soon as I scanned the field while waiting for the gobbler to exit the woods I immediately noticed the dog in the field approaching my set. I frantically scrambled and got up on my feet and waved my arms about and lightly made gestures and noises to spook the yote. He stood there carelessly and stared at me. This was not good! The gobbler was on the brink of breaking the field edge and if he popped out and seen the coyote it would be game over. Now, I can't make too much noise and/or movement so that I don't spook the bird, but I need to make enough movement/commotion to get the dog out of the field! DILEMMA!
After several motions and sounds, the yote spooked enough to start SLOWLY retreating from the field. It seemed to take FOREVER for him to leave and meanwhile I'm hoping and praying that it didn't ruin my hunt. I haven't heard the bird gobble since noticing the coyote and now I'm wondering if it's over. I had already planned on hammering away at the bird immediately upon the moment the coyote was nowhere remotely visible. The coyote moved into the woodlot that the bird was in and I had to make moves fast, or so I thought, so that I could now try to not only relocate the working bird, but also now bring him out into the field so that the coyote doesn't head in his direction and get back to where we started.
Just as soon as I was ready to call, it was within milliseconds that the yote disappeared and the gobbler appeared on the fields edge! GAME ON once again!
I immediately noticed the fire engine red neck and cotton top white head moving wearily toward me. Where he stood, the grass was taller and it was hard to tell if he was sporting a long beard or if he was just a Jake. I could distinctly tell that he had a full, well rounded gobble but I've been fooled before. Within about 20 yards of closing the distance I could visually make out the swinging of his bird! EXCELLENT!
The next few minutes played out like a long, stressful session of watching paint dry! He took his sweet time SLOWLY approaching my set. He never went into full strut, but went into a puff-posturing position and with the positioning of my Tom decoy (with it's back toward the approaching Tom) I could tell that this longbeard was being sneaky and being weary all at the same time. Again... paint dry!
He made his way to approximately 45 yards whereas at that point I could have smoked him, but I had my new GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition camera recording the event so I wanted to be sure to get some solid footage and also to get him as close as possible. He then narrowed the field to a mere 33 yards!
His posturing and sudden popping of his head and neck straight up told me it was not or never! Red dot scope dialed in and dialed on... safety off... raise to neck... his head stretches out... and here comes the BOOM!!!!
I dusted him... dropped him dead in his tracks right there!
My season instantly got it's redemption and vindication within a millisecond of the hammer dropping on my true and tried Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag! Oh how nice it is to feel you again!
Needless to say, this was a long time coming and was a hunt that happened in less than 15 minutes! Although from the length of this narrative you would have thought otherwise! Either way, the hunt... the way it played out up to it, and sharing it with you... is the blessing and worth sharing to this extent.
This bird was dedicated to my late Great Uncle Tom. He was the man that introduced me to this great creature and was the one that got me "hooked" on hunting them! Many, many years later.. here I am today, carrying on the tradition and still thinking about how I couldn't wait to call him after harvesting one and then bringing it over for him to see (always looking for his nod of "approval")... now, it kinda sucks not being able to do that anymore... but I know he's smiling down upon me in Heaven, and was there with me during the moment of truth! That kinda makes me smile. This one's for you "U.T."
