Yes sir boys – congrats to good ol’ Steve Mann for sure …
… well, Openin’ Mornin’ was finally here …
I had put Jory over to the west side, & Steve & I headed on over to the east side of the property …
… well, we eased on it to the 1st spot – nothin’; so we headed on in a little further to the 2nd spot – nothin’ again …
… & as we headed deeper into the property, we couldn’t help but notice the lack of any type of normal turkey woods sounds – no owls, no crows, no nothin’; talk about quiet, as in
"dead quiet" …
It was so darn still out there that we talked about how even tryin’ to soft talk em’, still seemed too loud for this type of mornin’ – so on to the 3rd spot &
“all too quiet” was all we got as a response to our callin’ – again …
We were headed on to the back of the property, when I told Steve that we were comin’ up on a sure enough good spot where the pines, hardwoods, creek, & the back power line all converged ...
... it started with a nice pair of little plots bordered by a pair of road strips …
I mentioned that we autta’ try a little callin’ before we got too close in on it - so at about 75 yards from the strips, Steve did a little
“beggin’ & pleadin’” that was answered with a fine gobble fired off immediately at Steve’s great hen callin’ ...
... the
"turkey thunder" came from on down the road from the right side of the area …
Needless to say, this response brought quick grins to both of us, & we decided that the gobbler could be on us in short order; so a quick set up on the side of the road was gonna’ be the best deal for this one …
... so with Steve settled in on point, I set up about 10; or so; yards down the road behind him – Steve hit him with a little more sweet talk, & I followed up with some soft yelpin’, cluckin’, & purrin’ on a fine slate pot ...
I had looked away for a couple of seconds & when I looked back, I couldn’t help but notice that Steve had shouldered his Benelli ...
...
"oh yeah, it’s on"; & I’m sure I was grinnin’ from ear to ear with what was apparently about to happen right in front of me …
Lookin’ past Steve’s right shoulder & down the road a ways, I could make out a familiar lookin’ black shiny shape headin’ our way at a pretty darn good clip ...
... now I gotta’ tell ya’ that when that bird got past Steve’s barrel I was kinda’ wonderin’ what was goin’ on; but as the bird ran up on my position I could see his short 6” beard & figured that Steve had just passed on this one for obvious reasons …
I noticed that Steve was still locked in, & not flinchin’ a muscle; so I continued on with my soft callin’, & when I looked again past his shoulder, I saw 2 more of ‘em shiny black shapes bearin’ down on us side-by-side ...
... both were commin' at us at a much quicker pace than even the first one was comin’ at …
Well, at about 10 or 12 steps, the two gobblers musta’ noticed somethin’ & they slowed & stutter stepped a bit; & that was all it took & Steve let his Benelli & Nitros in on the hunt - the gobbler on the right dropped like a rock !!!
... the gobbler on the left did an immediate about face to check on what was up with his runnin’ mate ...
... of course when he got back to where his
“former” buddy was piled up, he sure enough knew somethin’ wasn’t right, & he kinda’ zig-zagged around a bit before he took to flight & headed on down the road; & passed me on the wing …
Well of course there was the usual grinnin’, laughin’, hand shakin’, & back slappin’ that goes on after a successful gobbler encounter ...
... & it was sure mentioned more than once ‘bout the
"1 gobble" that had turned into
"3 gobblers" barrelin’ down the road at us; as we walked on up to collect Steve’s prize …
… he looked to be a fine 2 year old early season gobbler, that weighed in at 18.25 lbs., had a 9.25” beard, & surprisingly sharp spurs at just under an inch …
What a great start to the 2011 spring season for both Steve & I – it sure don’t get any better that that my friends …
While we were walkin’ back to the buggy; in fine fashion with a nice openin’ mornin’ gobbler slung over Steve’s shoulder, from a great mornin' hunt; Steve aptly named the spot of the mornin’s show
“Gobbler Alley” ...
... & that’ll sure be how that area will be known from now on; as it’s also where I took the second gobbler of my spring season last year - under very similar
“gobbler runnin’ down the road” circumstances …
