Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2012 11:37:29 GMT -5
It was a beautiful opening morning in Franklin County! I set up on a logging road on top of a ridge. There wasn't any gobbling until after it was pretty light out and then they started hammering really good. I heard at least 6 or7 different gobblers but none were on the property I was hunting. I was guessing they were all at least 300-400 yards off. Gobbling stayed pretty steady for about 20 minutes then they shut up for a while. I knew then they had hit the ground. I started calling some and got some responses but nothing close. Eventually, I started calling a little more aggressive and tried to sound like a couple hens squabbling. This got a two gobblers very fired up. They started coming closer. This went on for about 10 minutes and I was pretty sure they were getting closer. Finally, I called one last time and both gobblers hammered on the ridge directly across from me. They had closed the distance a bunch sounded no more than 100 yards off, although I could not see them yet. I decided to shut up my calling and wait. Within a couple minutes, I heard something walking in behind me! I slowly turned my head and saw a Tom walking in silently about 30 yards behind me. As soon as he got behind a tree, I wheeled around and repostioned. When he stepped out again, I leveled him at 30 yards. The two gobblers I thought I was hunting continued to gobble away as my surprise silent bird flopped around in the leaves. Just goes to show, sometimes the bird you get isn't necessarily the bird you think you are hunting! 
This was my shortest season to date as I was tagged out by 7:45.
His stats were 22 pounds, 11 inch beard (really it was mostly 10 inches, but he had one long hair that pushed him to 11) and 24 mm spurs.
This was my shortest season to date as I was tagged out by 7:45. His stats were 22 pounds, 11 inch beard (really it was mostly 10 inches, but he had one long hair that pushed him to 11) and 24 mm spurs.
