Hello guys, sorry for not being too active on the forums. I have been having some health issues and have had to take some time for myself to heal. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to hunt but I did manage to get out some. I was greatly impressed with Ralph Permar's success with his old muzzle loader, we pm'd back and forth about loads and such, and I set a goal for myself to hunt with my old W W Greener exclusively last spring. I found myself enjoying the hunt more than ever and my son and I shared some beautiful mornings in the turkey woods. One morning in particular, my son was hunting down in a bottom near the river with a youth hunter, and I had remained up on top, (I wasn't sure if I could get back up the hill if I went with them). From my listening post I could hear him working the birds and knew they were closing but didn't hear a shot and after a while I was convinced they had passed. I picked up my call and got an immediate response and the gobblers came up the hill. When they came out, I didn't see any beards, assumed they were Jakes, so I lowered the gun. They passed behind me and one of the birds gobbled with authority. Did I mess up I wondered? When Aaron came up he asked what happened? He grinned and said, "Yup, I saw them head up and said to myself, their going up to meet the Greener"
We hunted the same area about a week later and saw the same birds again, and a couple more Jakes. I took pictures this time and was surprised later when I saw one of these "Jakes" had spurs over an inch long with only a stub of a beard, I did notice his tail fan was full and even when he strutted but by then he was too far behind me to get a shot. Aaron I think was getting frustrated with me for not taking a shot.
A few days later, I called from a ridge with my trumpet and a gobbler answered. I wasn't sure if we could get into a creek bottom at the end of the ridge he was on but we went for it. Aaron set up behind me near a fallen pine and I took a spot by a deer trail I knew the birds use along with the deer from past hunts. I called with my hen box and got an immediate response and I knew we were in business. Soon I saw a couple of Jakes appear on top and I let them pass. The the gobbler stepped into view. I called again with the hen box and he gobbled and began to ease our way, strutting in the morning sun. I readied my gun and Aaron picked up on the calling as I couldn't move. The gobbler stopped and strutted to my left and I was worried he would go to Aaron and I wouldn't be able to shoot. The fallen pine though blocked him and slowly he came my way. At 25 steps he stopped and I let the hammer fall and through the smoke I could see the gobbler was down. Aaron jumped up and ran to the gobbler and made sure he wasn't going anywhere, but the gun had done the job with authority. I'm not sure who was happier but I was pretty pleased I had accomplished my goal, and got to enjoy one of the most memorable hunts ever with my son being there to share the experience with me, kind of like when I got to see him take his first gobbler, many years ago now. This one's for you Ralph, thank you for the inspiration!
