Different area on the public land today . Had a long engagement with a tribe of jakes . You know jakes ,,,,got to stop and fight no matter what's going on .
They were roosted on private land . This parcel of land has a long narrow stip of mowed grass on top of a low ridge between two high ridges which are public land . I didn't figure this out till I dressed the bird , but turkeys more times than not , when roosting in this area , tend to roost on this low ridge . And then they pitch out to the narrow grass strip . The jakes crawl had a lot of grass in it and this strip of land is the only place he could get it .
Anyhow , They finally got in good sight and within range of the double . They knew where to look for the bird that I portrayed as I told lots of lies with the brass call and the Havoc. They just stood around looking . Some on the ground , several on logs ,,,necks stretched high . After several minutes of just looking at each other I decided to tag a bird . At the shot birds went striaght up and some ran . A couple stayed put . Then one decided to check out his fallen friend . He didn't attempt to whip the down bird but rather stood over it clucking . I got to my feet and the remainder flew away and the ones in nearby trees flew again as well .
My right foot seemed useless since I squatted on it for nearly an hour . Finally , when I was able to walk ,,,,clumsily,,,I fetched the bird and went into direct sunlight to warm up ,,,,eat something and take a pic. As I stood still there in the sun I began hearing something coming through the woods . Not toward me but it was going to pass within 30 yards . I suspected a turkey ,,,,wrong,,,another 'yote. Goofball left his gun against a tree about 12-15 feet away . The dog went behind some thick brush and I dropped to the ground but never got a chance to move to the gun due to the dog catching my scent and quickly changing zip codes .
It was a fine hunt in my book . Good long and drawn out affair . I had planned on waiting for a longbeard but I'm fully content with the way things went this morning .