First one is of my nephew's bird.
Second one is opening day in PA with my cousin and the birds we took early in the morning.
PA mature bird had a 9 3/4" beard and 1" spurs. Was heavy in the weight depart too but we didn't weigh him.
We were working 3 other birds when he came in off to the side of us silent. We first heard him spit and drum a few times and then gobble after I softly clucked at him. Came right in for a 25 yrd shot for my cousin.
Turns out the 3 other birds ended up being all jakes and they came in about 10 mins after the shot. Went right to the dead gobbler and flogged him some more, pecked his head and just thought they had whipped up on him. Little did they know. I was not going to shoot but after a 30 min show of gobbling and pecking and flogging the other bird, I knew my cousin would be highly upset if I didn't. Mind you he got to see most of this from within 25 yards, as they kept circling his bird laying there. Oh for a video camera. They turned and walked off about 50 or 60 yards three times and came back before I could finally get a shot at them. Turns out our setup had my cousin between me and the birds. They finally went to skirt around him and that gave me the clear shot.
Follow Us