According to the NWTF info found here, the gobbler I killed on Friday, May 17 was probably 4 years old.
I was hunting with a NWTF group in Washington County when I took Gobbler #2 for the year. I had three days, and got him at 9:30 on day 3. We hunted in the mornings and had an "energy" tour in the afternoons. We went to a Marcellus drilling rig, a coal mine subsidence site, and a pipeline right-of-way to learn about how the energy companies work with the PGC and the NWTF to make sure energy production has a positive outcome for wildlife.
Up until Day 3 of the hunt the group got only one bird, killed by a guy from Consol Energy. On the third and last day I hunted with a local guide named Mike. We got into the spot at 5:30 and the gobbler sounded off at the end of the field. He flew down and minded his hens (2 of them) while another gobbler watched. He only occasionally responded to our calls, but shock gobbled every time Mike blew on the crow call. They came toward us around 8:00, but stopped at about 55-60 yards and turned back the way they came.
While they were gone, Mike put a jake fan right in front of me at the edge of the field. Later they came back to the 60 yard mark, and saw the jake fan. The gobblers wouldn't take their eyes off it, but the hens just kept feeding. After the hens walked back the way they came, the gobblers hung around, drifting to about 25 yards. Mike said not to shoot the one that wasn't strutting; he could see the spurs weren't very impressive. So I focused on the strutter. He went to my right, and when a bunch of grass screened my movement, I s-l-o-w-l-y brought my gun to the right and got on his head. When I filled his head with #5 shot he went right down and the other gobbler ran off.
He was a thing of beauty coming in at full strut in the sunlight. If it hadn't been for that jake fan, I doubt he would have come close enough. He would have followed those hens back across the field.
Here he is:
![[Linked Image]](http://www.everydayhunter.com/Hunting/2013-2Gobbler-iphone.JPG)
![[Linked Image]](http://www.everydayhunter.com/Hunting/2013-2-Hooks.jpg)
It took 4 hours, but it was worth it. He had a 10" beard and thick, sharp spurs a strong 1�" long. They didn't curve much probably because they were so thick. No one had a scale, but everyone thought he was well over 20 pounds. You can see in the photo that one toe had been broken and it curled outward.
Mike texted me after I got home that night and said by early evening the other gobbler was back in the field with the hens.
My first gobbler for this year came from Warren County on May 3 -- 19 pounds, 1" spurs, 9" beard. Need to call one in for my nephew now.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.everydayhunter.com/Hunting/2013Gobbler-1.jpg)
Steve.
I was hunting with a NWTF group in Washington County when I took Gobbler #2 for the year. I had three days, and got him at 9:30 on day 3. We hunted in the mornings and had an "energy" tour in the afternoons. We went to a Marcellus drilling rig, a coal mine subsidence site, and a pipeline right-of-way to learn about how the energy companies work with the PGC and the NWTF to make sure energy production has a positive outcome for wildlife.
Up until Day 3 of the hunt the group got only one bird, killed by a guy from Consol Energy. On the third and last day I hunted with a local guide named Mike. We got into the spot at 5:30 and the gobbler sounded off at the end of the field. He flew down and minded his hens (2 of them) while another gobbler watched. He only occasionally responded to our calls, but shock gobbled every time Mike blew on the crow call. They came toward us around 8:00, but stopped at about 55-60 yards and turned back the way they came.
While they were gone, Mike put a jake fan right in front of me at the edge of the field. Later they came back to the 60 yard mark, and saw the jake fan. The gobblers wouldn't take their eyes off it, but the hens just kept feeding. After the hens walked back the way they came, the gobblers hung around, drifting to about 25 yards. Mike said not to shoot the one that wasn't strutting; he could see the spurs weren't very impressive. So I focused on the strutter. He went to my right, and when a bunch of grass screened my movement, I s-l-o-w-l-y brought my gun to the right and got on his head. When I filled his head with #5 shot he went right down and the other gobbler ran off.
He was a thing of beauty coming in at full strut in the sunlight. If it hadn't been for that jake fan, I doubt he would have come close enough. He would have followed those hens back across the field.
Here he is:
It took 4 hours, but it was worth it. He had a 10" beard and thick, sharp spurs a strong 1�" long. They didn't curve much probably because they were so thick. No one had a scale, but everyone thought he was well over 20 pounds. You can see in the photo that one toe had been broken and it curled outward.
Mike texted me after I got home that night and said by early evening the other gobbler was back in the field with the hens.
My first gobbler for this year came from Warren County on May 3 -- 19 pounds, 1" spurs, 9" beard. Need to call one in for my nephew now.
Steve.