Blackbeard vs High Ridge Gobbler

[blackbeard]

If you read the daily reports you probably saw where I got my first gobbler the first week of the season. I would call him one of the easy gobblers. After that I focused on one location that was the home of a gobbler that appeared to be of the difficult variety. This season was a real reminder for me that although many say its too easy to kill a gobbler with a shotgun, I think it really depends on the gobbler. I have found over the years that turkeys get to know the place they live very well and figure out how to use terrain to stay alive. Every year I usually run across a gobbler that is an easy one, but I also run across one or two that are the difficult ones, even with a shotgun. While I could just forget the difficult gobblers and move on to another location where I might find an easy one, the difficult ones are more fun to hunt because when you kill a difficult gobbler, you feel like you've really accomplished something, even with a shotgun.

Two years ago I spent the last three weeks of the season trying to kill a difficult gobbler. Almost every day I hunted this gobbler and on the last morning of the season he made a mistake and died because of it. It was really special, one of my proudest moments as a turkey hunter. To make it even sweeter he gobbled all the way in and was strutting when I shot him. I had beat him rather than ambush him.

The last two weeks of this turkey season had me in a similar situation, hunting a difficult gobbler with the terrain, cover, and location all in his favor. He roosted on a steep ridge that overlooked a river and a field. There was no way to get to him from the front, unless you were a rock climber. The river presented yet another challenge. With the spring rains the water was high and the river was not able to be crossed. That meant the path to the ridge where he roosted was a 40 minute hike instead of a 25 minute walk.

For the last couple weeks of the season I would arrive before daylight, setup decoys in the field, he would gobble like crazy, but he would fly down to the ridge. Even though he could definately see the decoys in the field from his high perch. After a week or so of this I knew I had to get to the other side of the river. So for the next few hunts I made the long walk to the other side of the river and setup on him at the bottom of the ridge but to the side of his roost. He would gobble, answer my flydown and calls, but fly down to the ridge.

So I eventually waited for him to fly down and get away from his roost and I snuck up on the ridge and made a blind beside a very big oak tree. My brother, the person who taught me to turkey hunt, had suggested I get up close and personal with this gobbler the very first time I got on his ridge. The gobbler had always roosted on the side of the steep ridge overlooking the river, so the plan was for me to get to about 40 yards of his roost location just over the ridge peak. Hopefully he would flydown and be within range as soon as he hit the ground. My brother would hang back behind me 40-50 yards and cover the gobbler's alternate escape route.

So the last Friday of the season the goal was to get to the big oak tree on his ridge. Again, this was no easy feat. It involved a 10 minute drive to the location, a 15 minute walk through a field, a 10 minute walk through some thick woods, a 10 minute hike up a steep, rocky pipeline, and finally a 10 minute, very slow walk to a big oak tree on his ridge. It would mean getting up real early to make it.

So my brother and I met at 5 AM at the parking spot. It was VERY humid that morning. By the time we made it to the top of the ridge we were soaked with sweat and the mosquitoes were ferocious. We made our way toward his roost and we suddenly busted one of his hens from her roost, even though it was still dark. She thankfully flew the opposite way so we felt comfortable that we still had a good chance at the gobbler. My brother stopped and sat down and I continued toward the gobbler's roost tree. I got to my tree/blind, sat down, and the mosquitoes started attacking me. This gobbler always gobbled at 5:55 AM but 5:55 AM came and no gobbles. At 6:10 AM I thought I heard a turkey moving around on a limb almost right above me but I convinced myself that it was something else. Then at 6:15 AM I was suddenly surprised when a turkey crapped and it fell within 15 yards of me as it splatted on the ground. "Houston, we have a problem." I knew immediately that the gobbler was roosted in a slightly different spot and he was 15 yds from me although he couldn't see me because of the canopy. During this time my brother was doing some soft tree yelps and a flydown to simulate a hen hitting the ground. All of a sudden at 6:25 AM the gobbler flew down, 40 yds from me, but quickly got behind a brush pile and was headed straight for my brother I thought. I wait...and wait....and wait..then BOOM. I waited a few minutes then got up and went over there and my brother was sitting and shaking his head. The gobbler had won. My brother was turned the wrong way on the tree and had to swing and shoot at the gobbler, who was only 35 yds away. But the 7 shot hit too many many little saplings before getting to the gobbler...so the gobbler survived and just walked off, obviously not hurt. We were devastated initially, then kinda laughed, and just admitted that the gobbler had won. So it was not the same result as two years ago, the difficult gobbler survived to live another season.

[mrbb]

sounds like good time was had, and thats what really makes hunting fun.

some of the birds have luck following them, and they just get smarter, till; they make a mistake one day!
that too if what makes hunting them a challange, wouldn't be any fun if you just went out and they came in so you could shoot them!

and I know all too well about the bugs this season, they will just about pick you up and fly away with you after they drain you of a pint or so!

I love my bug suit,( bug tamer plus, it kicks ass!) well worth its money and then some this year!

[twireman]

Exciting read Blackbeard....Just think how nice a bird he will be next season also!

[Big_Holla]

Great story Blackbeard!! Thanks for taking me along on your journey since I wasn't able to get out this year!!!

[hortontoter]

Great read. The best part is that he is still alive and you can play another chess match with him next spring. The old, smart birds make the hunt much more challenging. Hope to hear the rest of the story next spring.

[140class]

these are great camp fire stories BB hope to see you soon

[Huntaholic247]

awesome story!! Hopefully you will get another shot!