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| Empire Home >> Rob Taylor (TheEmperor), 2008 Spring Gobbler, Ontario County, New York |
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May 04, 2008, 19 LB, 8 3/4" Beard, 3/4" Spurs
I heard this bird gobbling on the roost. It boomed a total of 6 times. I cut around the woods and got to a field that
he wasn't far from.
I went up the edge as far as I could go and put out a decoy out. I'm not real big on calling anymore so I just sat there
for a few minutes to see what he was going to do. I knew he was close to the field and I knew the chances were good
that he would end up there.
15 minutes or so went by and I had not heard him. I figured he had some company with him but I also know the bordering
property gets hunted pretty good. I took out my slate call and purred on it a couple of times. A bird up the road
gobbled and another one across the road gobbled. I waited a few more minutes and yelped a couple of times. About 30 seconds
later he gobbled. He was out in the field 100 yards up over a knoll.
A few minutes later, I see 4 deer walking across the field flickering their tails. They would walk a few yards, stop,
and keep looking behind them (repeat process about 5 times with a lot of tail flickering). Turns out, he was
walking right behind them. He worked his way down the middle of the field until he saw the decoys - thank god for a nice breeze.
Once he saw the decoys, he came walking down the bank in the field but he wasn't stupid either. He stayed off to my right on
a 45 degree angle and kept his head down most of the time. He started to fan once but did not make it all the way there.
He was pretty nervous.
He got down in to my range. Once he got a better look at the decoys he turned to his left and started walking away.... but not running either.
I don't know if he had a bad experience with decoys in the days before or he just did not like mine. Nonetheless,
he had come too close and I knew it was now or never. I swung my gun and he never saw me. I waited until he stopped walking, and
popped him. Not tremendous attributes for a two year old bird but a bird nontheless.
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