Son scores first tom.
04-29-2006, 01:33 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: St. Cloud MN
Posts: 354
Son scores first tom.
Well it's been raining here steady since very early Friday morning. Yesterday we heard a couple gobbles on the roost and one hen after that.
This morning we put on the raingear again and headed back out tot he same farm near our home. We setup in a spot where the toms like to strut. Shortly after getting setup we barely make out a gobble to the north of us. The typical, "Was that really a gobble?" discussion started but the gobbler fired off again and we quickly packed up and moved a couple hundred yards closer and got set up. There were 3 different gobblers gobbling a couple hundred yards away in the rain.
I grabbed my quaker Boy Grand Old Master box call and let out a few soft yelps. The gobblers didn't answer right away. I picked up the volume a little bit and two gobblers fired back. I called a few more times on the box call and my diaphram. I then did a flydown beating my cap against my leg. One gobbler fired a gobble to that. We then shut up and waited. They knew where those new hens were at. The most vocal bird flew down with hens and dropped over the other side of the ridge away from us. The other 2 birds had shut up. Travis was getting a little nervous that it was done. Kind of a "Here we go again" feeling. You see this was Travis's fourth year hunting turkeys in MN. He'd had several close calls that just didn't work out for him. But his luck was going to change today. I whispered to him that the other two birds could show up at anytime. After a couple minutes I called on my boxcall again and just about had our caps blown off with thunderous gobble. The gobble really echoed and we really couldn't pinpoint whether it came from in front of us or behind us. After two more gobbles the tom's head poked up over a small rise in the corner of the field we were on. He preceded to strut on that high spot for the next 15 minutes at 40 yards without closing any distance. He probably gobbled 80 times during the display. Travis didn't have a shot even though he was on the edge of his guns range due to the angle and some brush in front of us. The gobbler started getting a little nervous and turned away and moved away a few yards. I turned my head and cupped my hand and yelped with my H.S. Strut diaphram to throw the call down the field road we were on that joined the field. The tom immediately stopped and went back to strutting. He was very slowly inching closer again. After 5 more minutes of strutting and gobbling he broke strut and walked right in. My son took him at 15 yards with his Winchester 1300 with a load of Win. HV #6 shot. The gobbler never moved which was a good thing as my son's gun broke and he couldn't cycle another shell into the chamber. I looked at my watch and it was 6:30 am. His feet barely touched the ground as he walked up to his first tom.
Here's the stats: 22.5 lbs, 10.25" beard and .625" spurs.
Travis and his MN tom.
This morning we put on the raingear again and headed back out tot he same farm near our home. We setup in a spot where the toms like to strut. Shortly after getting setup we barely make out a gobble to the north of us. The typical, "Was that really a gobble?" discussion started but the gobbler fired off again and we quickly packed up and moved a couple hundred yards closer and got set up. There were 3 different gobblers gobbling a couple hundred yards away in the rain.
I grabbed my quaker Boy Grand Old Master box call and let out a few soft yelps. The gobblers didn't answer right away. I picked up the volume a little bit and two gobblers fired back. I called a few more times on the box call and my diaphram. I then did a flydown beating my cap against my leg. One gobbler fired a gobble to that. We then shut up and waited. They knew where those new hens were at. The most vocal bird flew down with hens and dropped over the other side of the ridge away from us. The other 2 birds had shut up. Travis was getting a little nervous that it was done. Kind of a "Here we go again" feeling. You see this was Travis's fourth year hunting turkeys in MN. He'd had several close calls that just didn't work out for him. But his luck was going to change today. I whispered to him that the other two birds could show up at anytime. After a couple minutes I called on my boxcall again and just about had our caps blown off with thunderous gobble. The gobble really echoed and we really couldn't pinpoint whether it came from in front of us or behind us. After two more gobbles the tom's head poked up over a small rise in the corner of the field we were on. He preceded to strut on that high spot for the next 15 minutes at 40 yards without closing any distance. He probably gobbled 80 times during the display. Travis didn't have a shot even though he was on the edge of his guns range due to the angle and some brush in front of us. The gobbler started getting a little nervous and turned away and moved away a few yards. I turned my head and cupped my hand and yelped with my H.S. Strut diaphram to throw the call down the field road we were on that joined the field. The tom immediately stopped and went back to strutting. He was very slowly inching closer again. After 5 more minutes of strutting and gobbling he broke strut and walked right in. My son took him at 15 yards with his Winchester 1300 with a load of Win. HV #6 shot. The gobbler never moved which was a good thing as my son's gun broke and he couldn't cycle another shell into the chamber. I looked at my watch and it was 6:30 am. His feet barely touched the ground as he walked up to his first tom.
Here's the stats: 22.5 lbs, 10.25" beard and .625" spurs.
Travis and his MN tom.
