I didn’t think it could get any better this year. I have shot turkeys previous years with help from many experienced friends. This year I got a Tom for my first tag on a solo hunt. This afternoon I went out again with a good friend. We had a Tom in the field and three hens before we got to my blind. We had to sneak in very stealthily. We reached between two small pine trees and set out a strutter decoy. The Tom in the field showed some interest but only enough to put on a show from the other side of the field. We got one of the hens to move to the middle of the field and the Tom came to collect her. The Tom took her straight back across the field into the tree line. We could see him strut through some pine trees. After 15 minutes the three hens came back out to the middle of the field and began to feed. My friend hunting with me snuck out of the blind and noticed our decoy had turned and the decoys fan was not facing the Tom at all. The fan edge was was facing the Tom. My friend then grabbed a small stick and reached through a pine tree and turned the decoy. As soon as the Tom saw the decoy turn he was on his way in a hurry. The Thom was kicking up dust from the field with every step. He would stop every 5 to 10 steps gobble Strutt and then run towards us. He weighed in at 24 pounds, had a beard just over 9 inches and the Spurs were 1 1/8” long.
What a great bird to end the season.
Tagged out, Number 2
