Went out Sunday morning on public hunting land near home looking to fill the second tag for the Missouri fall season. I set up on a ridge above the river in a spot that I hunt quite a bit in the spring because it normally is home to roosting turkeys. It was a beautiful morning as I walked in to my setup area. I got to a spot were I knew I could see up and down the ridge for a distance, and got set down put my head net on got my call out and waited to see if there were any turkeys roosted near by. After sitting and enjoying the awakening morning I was thinking of past hunts that I have had on the Ridge and the Gobblers from spring hunts and a few hens from fall hunts and thinking how blessed I have been to have been able to get out and enjoy the outdoors because there are so many who don't have the chance to. As the sun started coming up I heard a very quiet tree yelp come from down the ridge to my left, and then another and yet another all coming from different trees. Well as you could guess the excitement started building as they continued their calling. I first thought that it might be a group of hens and poults that I had seen crossing the road on occasion in the area. Then I saw one fly down from his roost and noticed how dark the turkey appeared and came to the realization that it was actually a gobbler and in fact not a hen. When he hit the ground I couldn't at first see him because of the undergrowth that still held alot of it's leaves, but when I heard the course yelp I knew I had set up in the right spot. So I started trying to call to him and he was ignoring me then I saw 3 other birds come off their limbs to join him.
I watched as they all got together on the ground and started chasing each other and establishing dominance within the group. what a show I had in front of me for a good 30 minutes at least all the while trying to call them to me. I tried a mouth call and that made them show a little more interest then I fumbled around in my vest and dug out my slate call. I pulled the striker across the slate making the best gobbler yelp that I could without them seeing the moves that I was making, then after a couple of yelps I hit them with a couple of clucks. That was all it took they turned and started right down the ridge toward me,I waited for them to come into range and separate because I had already taken a hen earlier in the season so I knew I could only take one of the approaching four that were headed my way. As they came in they stayed close together and then one of them made the mistake of separating himself from the others and gave me the shot. 4 birds came in only 3 left thank the Lord for a beautiful morning and a memory that will stay with me always. Oh by the way in the 25 plus years of hunting turkeys in the fall this is my first and I hope not my last fall gobbler. He weighed in at 17lbs sported a 71/4 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs. Thanks for reading and Bless you all and as always good luck out there in the turkey woods.
