https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/19393604/2024-tomThe opener here was Monday. I took Monday and Tuesday off to hunt and try to beat this weekends rush of hunters. I haven’t shot a bird with a bow in a couple years so I decided to do that instead of shotgun. Roosted a couple birds in a historic roost Sunday night and put up a blind in the dark so it was ready for the morning. Those birds must of gobbled 200 times on the roost but flew down earlier than I expected and went the other way. I think a hen walked in from another roost and stole them from me. I usually don’t call until I hear another hen or think it’s real close to fly down. Oh well I’ve got two days.
Unfortunately the weather was [bleep] and I spent the day trying to locate a bird with no luck. Monday afternoon I moved the blind to the other side of the roost and waited for their return. No love as only a lone hen came home to roost. This property neighbors a piece of school ground and it was possible the birds from the morning had been shot. Bummer.
Tuesday I went blind to another property that usually holds birds only to find silence. Once again the weather wass poor with lots of wind making it hard to hear. Decided to change directions and run over to Idaho and check the state of a couple bear bait sites. That killed most of the day and the afternoon found me back at the same spot as the morning. Again no love and nothing came to roost. Where were the birds I’ve been watching for weeks?
My days off were over and I had to work on Wednesday. Well 3:30 came and I was staring at the ceiling. Screw it I’ll go even if it’s only for an hour. No bow today I’ll take the twenty and chase down any gobble I hear. Well as it turns out the two birds from Monday were back home and I knew where they were going to fly down. The blind was still up but I had left the bow at home so I elected to set up in an opening about 100 yards behind the blind to avoid spooking them. A couple well timed yelps and the flock headed my way out of roost. Both birds came from my left but stopped when they saw my decoys and elected to strut. With in range but not standing next to the decoys I waited hoping for a show. Somehow a hen got hinky and started leaving. One Tom folded up and followed so it was time. The other Tom was a bit behind a tree and also leaving so I ended up shooting him in strut at 46 yards when he cleared the tree The little 20 flat torched him and I had my first bird of 24.
Pretty good bird. 20+ pounds 9 inch beard and spurs a bit over an inch. Still have a month and a half of season and two more tags. Bird numbers seem good this year and outlook is good.
