I tipped in before first light this morning and found me A big oak to lean against,turned on my thermacell,and waited for daylight.....Just when the sky started to lighten up,I heard A gobble,but it was behind me.So I crawled about ten feet to another big oak that had been in front of me,and now it was my backrest.The leaves were wet,so I didnt make any noise at all.
As it got lighter and After A few more gobbles,I could tell there were three different birds...So I gave three very soft tree yelps on my mouth call,and they cut me off.It was then that I heard A very close putt...too close and above me.I had setup under the hens...So I became A statue...After about ten to fifteen minutes,the first hen pitched down,then another and another,until A total of five hens left the rafters above me,and sailed out of my sight.
I thought it was over,but the gobblers kept gobbling...Evidently the hens didnt go to them,Because in A few minutes,I caught sight of A full fan in strutt.Then another,and three white heads.So I gave A short series of yelps and they cut me off...I watched them turn and start walking in my direction. I was sitting off an old logging road and in A small depression and I lost sight of there body as they got closer.When they got to twentyfive yards,I couldnt even see there heads hardly...so I give A putt...And up comes A white head like A periscope!...I pull the trigger...at first I thought I had missed...When I stood up I could see him laying there,while the other two ran off in opposite directions!....Man! What A morning!
As I approached the down gobbler,I noticed something strange...He wasnt flopping and hardly flopped at all!...Ive never killed one that didnt flop.
I will remember this morning A long time!
15 1/2 pounds
11 1/2 inch beard
1 1/8 spurs
