Unfortunately, I couldn't get my buddy to come with me again this morning when #5 and his pal came creeping up. My buddy hunted hard with me beginning late Friday afternoon on our family land and continuing into Saturday afternoon. We had a silent gobbler sneak up on us Friday, straight in front of me (back/side of tree), but at a bad angle for my friend. He was able to get the gun up and swing around, just as the old boy slipped away. We went back to that spot the next morning, but there were no talkers. We even tried another piece of land down in the swamp, South of where we were hunting, but it was also silent there.
So, I drove back up from Mobile to our family land this morning alone. It was overcast, a little misty, and windy, and I didn't hear a thing at daylight. I had a plan to try something this season, and since this was likely my last hunt of the season, I thought I would give it a try. I wanted to get a gobbler with the methods I used before I found this site and was introduced to the wonderful world of pot calls; box calls only, this time. I didn't go completely backwards, in that I still went with my new custom calls. I used
Tim Clayton's quilted red maple and ancient growth redwood, along with an
A. J. Cassette push-pin call. I had no response for a while, and at about 7:00 I reached for one of my favorite pot calls (Daryl's copper padauk). I looked at it, and very hesitantly put it back in the bag - box calls only!
I decided to call one more time before crossing the powerline to try the other side, and I got one loud/close gobble that woke me up! A short time later I saw a turkey head sneaking in, but when it straightened up I thought I saw a jake-beard. It must have been a popped-up feather, or else I must be pretty worn-out (it's late in the season), because a few steps later I saw the long beard along with that of his friend. Luckily, they didn't get spooked and came in closer than I've had one this season. It was so close that they both flew straight up in the air when I raised my gun just a tad to line up the sights. When the lead bird landed, I smoked him.
Special thanks to Tim (and Don, for selling the call to me) and A. J. for making some killer calls. Tim's box made him gobble when he didn't want to.
- Gaines
