I made it out opening day but nothing.. went a couple days later, again nothing, but did see 3 hens.. then on Friday April 28th my kids had a PA from school and the wife worked, so I told my boy once mom gets home we'll quickly get out to the bush and try our luck as the weather was great.. so, picked mama up and dropped her off and the boy hopped in the truck and away we went.. figured with the wind coming out of the south we could sneak into the little bush ( remember I mentioned earlier we saw a big tom strutting in the field the night before opener?) and set up just inside the bush over looking the back field.. we saw a bunch of birds strutting on our trip out and had our hopes up.. we did see a large male pheasant, the first time ever for us, so we took it as a good omen.. pulled up to the little bush and saw nothing in the field, so i told Porter " let's pull up and check the north side of the bush, it's down wind so they might be over there".. well, sure as the day is long, there is 3 in full strut in the field.. so i back the truck up slowly, they didn't see us and we get dressed and slip along the edge of the field and bush on the south side.. told my boy that the wind will blow any sound we make to them, so as i set up the blind if the sound of the rustling leaves gives them the impression of a hen scratching they might come in fast.. took a few minutes to set up the blind and put my new Avian X breeder hen out.. sat down in the blind, got all set up and called on my box call.. i didn't hear a thing but my boy said he heard a gobble.. called again and he said he heard another gobble, again i didn't hear it.. i put my mouth call in and called and i heard a faint gobble.. based on where they are coming from, the wind is blowing to them so we can't hear the gobbles as well... i called quiet again and BAM, they are really close.. boy's eyes are as wide as saucers, " i see them".. i asked where and he says " right there, to our left".. he is shaking bad.. look to our left and there are 2 bright white heads and they are full out running to us.. a nice tom and a jake.. jake goes toward the deke, but he spots us and gets spooked.. tom goes to our left and the boy didn't have a shot, he couldn't get turned around.. the tom see's something he doesn't like and starts to leave.. told him " can i shoot? do you want me to shoot? they are leaving".. he said ok and handed me the gun.. clucked twice to get him to turn our way and he did, put his head up and i put the bead of the Beard Buster site on his and squeezed the trigger.. he went down hard and didn't move.. he was at about 10 yards before he spooked and turned to leave.. i dropped him at 15 yards... 2nd biggest bird to date.. 26 lbs exactly, 11 1/8 " beard, left spur was 1 1/8" and the right spur was 1 1/4".. over all, we figured we hunted for roughly 10 minutes.. it literally took us longer to set up the blind then it did to call him in and kill him.. i apologized to my boy about 100 times on the way home.. really wanted him to drop him but they came in the absolute opposite direction we expected them to..
we got back at it the next morning and i went to a spot i never scouted and really haven't hunted much over the years.. mom, dad and my boy went to another hot spot up the road.. so legal light came and i was shocked i didn't hear anything, not a single gobble.. owl called, nothing.. hen called, nothing.. after a half hour into legal light some crows went overhead and man, had gobbling everywhere.. had 7 or 8, maybe more.. hard to tell with the wind.. anyways, i had 4 that seemed close and really really hot on the calls.. they would come close, then fade off.. eventually, they just went ...before you know it i look to my left and there is a bird in the field.. he gobbled and went into full strut, big old tom.. i had him working in and got to about 55 yards then he acted funny.. looked ahead of me into the field and there is a big doe, running full out right at me.. got to about 75 yards and froze, acted sheepish then sauntered off into the bush.. that got the tom weary though, he was heading into the bush too , so i re-positioned and squeezed the trigger.. miss.. gun jams, get it to chamber and take another shot.. he goes down.. i get out to run over to him, and he is gone!! he ran into the bush and all i heard was him clucking and running full tilt out of there.. texted dad and they all came over to help look , just in case.. 2 very small drops of blood and that was it.. searched all over ( it's a very small bush) and nothing.. felt sick.. heading back to the blind to pack up and i had my mouth call still, so i called.. couldn't believe it when we heard gobbles, and close! so me and dad were up front, we sat and got ready.. within a few minutes we got them to come into us , to about 15 yards.. dad dropped the first, then the other stood there clucking so i dropped him.. all tagged out for me... wasn't huge but i don't care.. especially after that miss... dad's was 17 lbs on the dot, about 5 " beard.... mine was 18 lbs, 5 1/2" beard and nubs for spurs.. here is a pic of me with mine and my boy with dad's..
Excalibur Matrix 330 Bulldog Suppressed, 18" Diablo bolts, 100 grain Rage Crossbow X blade
