I took my nephew out for the youth hunt on Saturday, 4/20. It was a very quiet morning to say the least. Our first setup accounted for absolutely no birds being heard or sighted. Around 9:30 we made a move to where he shot his longbeard last year on the youth hunt. Around 10:00am I struck accord with a single hen which lasted for 5 minutes and then she shut up and was gone. We made another short move and I made a few calls on Josh's longbox and a gobbler sounded off.
We found a couple of trees to set up against and made a few more calls but it was quiet once again. I took out my SS aluminum and got another gobble but this time much closer. A few minutes later we catch movement off to our left and a real longbeard steps out into the open about 60 yards away. He is followed by two jakes and 10 hens. I called to them but the longbeard followed the hens and the jakes came to investigate my calling. When they reached a distance of 25 yards they separated and my nephew took the shot.
His bird has a 4.5" beard with 1/2" spurs and weighed 17.2lbs. First gobble heard at 10:15, dead bird at 10:25.
