He beat me like a drum.

[UPSMAN]

For 6 weeks this bird beat me like a drum. This was the smartest bird I've ever hunted. He wouldn't come to any combination of decoy set-ups.He would stand at 100 yds and strut & gobble but never approach my decoys. His only constant was that he always approached my hunting location from the same direction every time. His path brought him across a wide open pasture that had no cover at all other than a scattered row of 8 giant live oaks. This being the last day of our season, I decided I would try something I had never tried before. I left the decoys in the truck and decided to abandon the covered blind. Using 6 very scrawny palmetto fans as my only cover, I sat flat on the ground up against the base of one of the giant oaks. At 6:40 the less dominant bird in the group sounded off. That was the only way I could locate my target. For some unknown reason, the dominant bird had a permanent case of laryngitis. He could barely be heard at 50 yds but it didn't seem to affect his hen gathering status. After hearing the first gobble I yelped and cut as loud as I could. Within minutes, I could tell that they were on the ground. At 250 yds, I could see birds coming my way. One last yelp and it was time to become part of the tree. The hen was way out front and leading the pack. She was making a B-line straight for my tree. At 25 yds she put the brakes on and decided that something was wrong. She turned and sprinted back to the other birds that were a hundred yds back standing under another tree. For 30 minutes they fed and strutted and were getting farther away. For some reason the hen turned and came back my way. This time she took a wide path around my tree. As she passed my tree I could now see the gobblers. They were on her original path and headed my way. It seemed like forever. They would walk 5 yds then stop to strut and then stand and stare a hole through my tree. They repeated this routine until they reached 43 yds and then they decided to veer around my tree. When the dominant bird stopped to strut, I very slowly raised my gun. When he came out of strut and raised his head to stare a hole in my tree, I was ready. The drum beating stopped in a bang. I still can't believe I killed this bird with this technique. He was the most difficult bird I have ever hunted. He was also the most beat up bird I've ever killed. He broke off a spur and his fan was broken and mangled up. He looked like he had gone 15 rounds with Ali. It's all over until next Spring.

[VixChix]

GREAT JOB!!!!! Way to hang tight and keep at it!

That bird looks like a fighter for sure!

CONGRATS!

[Boo]

Great story Dennis! Congratulations!

[paulaboutform]

I love a happy ending. Congratulations.

[strum]

Dennis that's a real trophy!! he may be beat up and rough looking but the hunt and success is what make us do what we do ..congrats man.

[flightattendant100]

Way to go, Dennis! Nice bird. Congrats! I know you hunted that one hard. Nice when a plan comes together!

[Mo wannabe]

Good job Dennis

[typical10]

good job!

[Oppie]

Way to go man! Sometime ya just gotta pull a change-up on em!

[Sandman]

Excellent congrats~!

[mr meat]

Congrats on out smarting him! boy he sure is beat up!

[Michiganhunter]

Great job and story.. It is like just about everything the harder you work the greater the satisfaction when you accomplish your goal.

[onebigskittle]

He may have beat you like a drum but, He wont be singing anymore
Awesome story...great job

[xcaliber]

Nice story, great job. Congrats!

[mike w]

Great read! Must've been an awesome thing to experience! Very gratifying when you say screw it and abort the main plan, try something outside the box and it works. That's awesome!