Post by Bartman on May 11, 2013 14:09:11 GMT -5
I was bummed when I checked the weather yesterday at noon and all I saw forecast for this AM was showers and thunderstorms. I told the wife it was likely I was going to stay in town (we have a wedding in Bethesda at 6 today anyway). Fortunately, I checked again around 8 last night and I saw where there was going to be a break in the weather from 6-9ish so I thought I might as well head down to the shore. Got out of the truck this morning and was greeted by a light rain that was letting off. Did some owl hooting, but managed no gobbles in return (I did manage to start a barred owl fight though). Anyway, about 45 minutes after legal I spot a few hens feeding about 500 yards down the treeline from me. After about 5 minutes they had a strutter in tow and two other birds. I watched the flock for about 30 minutes and tried my best to turn them my way. They gradually fed off towards the backside of the farm. I wanted to try and get in front of them, but with nothing but open field between them and I it was going to be difficult. I snuck out of the finger of trees I was in and checked the front field for about 5 minutes. When I returned I was going to grab the 2 dekes and try and circle in front of those birds. Fortunately, they had other plans as 3 of them were already heading towards my decoys full steam. I think all 3 of them were jakes, but with it likely being my last chance to hunt and impending thunderstorms anything was going down today. Waited til the bird got to 30 yards and I fired and dropped him (or so I thought). He did a back flip and just flopped there for a few seconds. As I got to my feet, he pulls a Lazurus and gets back to his feet and starts walking/running away. I fired the remaining 2 rounds hitting him with one. Next thing it was a mad scramble, the bird was running (was clearly messed up) and I was shedding stuff out of my turkey vest in search of shells. I managed to get another 2 rounds off, before he made it into the tree line (with me in hot pursuit). As I get to the swamp, I peer out behind a large poplar and see him standing there at 6 yards bleeding from his neck. Realizing I was out of ammo, I gave him the old Chris Davis with the butt of my 870 and flopped him right into the swamp. I still can't believe I was able to finish him that way. I was sure he was about to take jump in the swamp and be gone forever. Anyway, he sure put a smile on my face and added a few laughs at what I did. He weighed 17lbs with a 7inch swinger.
Here is a shot of my hunting gear for today (I swear his head looked like a two-seamer right over the plate). I also threw in the porch rail shot for full effect (note to self, don't do this again when my parents are home).
Here is a shot of my hunting gear for today (I swear his head looked like a two-seamer right over the plate). I also threw in the porch rail shot for full effect (note to self, don't do this again when my parents are home).
