I woke my favorite hunting buddy up real early this morning. Amazing how fast a kids feet hit the floor when it's a hunting day and not a school day
We roll out of the truck and head toward where I think a gobbler may be. The first crow of the day sounds off and a long deep gobble ain't far away in another direction. That boys face lit up like it was Christmas morning. We got set up 75 yards away from his perch. He gobbled a few more times and I called to him real soft and the old bird's eyes glazed over with lust. This is a slam dunk!
He knew where his new girl was at and he was pumped. I finally spotted him setting on the limb and told my son that wherever the bird pitched and landed to point the gun and be ready. This is a piece of cake hunt right here....
That joker sailed out, hit the leaves, showed us his fat butt, laughed at us, and walked away! Well, the dip is on the other stick now...
We sat for a bit and talked about how much fun it is even when you don't fire a shot. I told him the the bird would probably be back later but that we need to move on for now. We crossed the valley and climb the other side. We got to the top and I heard another gobble a few hundred yards away. We stayed up high and cut the distance in half. I blew the crow call and he was 100 yards away down below us and closing in. We sat down real quick and were whispering our next thoughts when he sounded off again.. He's going the other way now away from us!!
We hurried another 100 yards to kind of get ahead of him from the opposite side of the ridge. It's still only 8a but it's already been a long morning.
I found a big white oak tree 30 yards from the crest of the finger ridge and the bird shouldn't be far away. I made a couple of soft yelps and "Old Loud Mouth" was in the game. He gobbled a few times and was in our lap. He was drumming every breath when he popped up over the edge.
I whispered "There he is and dude said I'm on him Dad".
"Old Loud Mouth" stepped right into three hundred #6 shot and the flop was on... All the way down the hill.
After the flop was over, Son says "Dang Dad that beard is WAY bigger than ANY of yours!! LMAO
I wish I was 13 years old again