It's been a little warmer than usual up here this year, and I believe the turkeys are ahead of schedule with their breeding. Last week, I went out on two different occasions and never heard one gobble. That's what I expect mid May, not the end of April.
I went out today, and finally heard some gobbling. After walking around 5 miles, and calling a nice Tom to around 55 yards (I didn't take the shot, but paced it off afterwards), I started to head back to my car. There is a large field, surrounded by forest on all sides, that was on the way. There is usually a bird strutting in the field around mid-morning, and I was hoping to that today was no different. When I got to the edge of the field, sure enough, there was a strutter, and a looker. I duck-walked a little closer (to about 200 yards) with out spooking the birds, sat down and called. The birds were over a couple of rolling hills and the wind was blowing pretty good at my back, towards the birds, so, if they gobbled, I never heard it. After a while, I got up on my knees to see if the birds were there, and I didn't see them anymore. I gathered my stuff, and followed, and when I started up over one of the small hills, the strutter was still there, facing away from me. I sat down and called, but nothing happened. I took another quick look, the bird was still there. I called some more, nothing happened. I looked again, and the strutter was coming my way. At around 20-25 yards, I waxed him.
9" beard, 7/8" and 15/16" spurs- 18.5 lbs
Scrappy guy, take a look at this toe-
When I cleaned him, he had a #4 shot under the skin against the breast bone, way down, almost between his legs. I have this sinking feeling, someone tried to roost shot him.
