eventful morning....

[growalot]

Well first.... 100ft from blind ...BUSTED....snort..snort...snort on one side and a fly away on the other...Great.....I decide to sit tight and be quiet...watched a very blonde fox hunting mice out in front of me ...heard all the birds waking yet not a single turkey sound...checked watch at 7am.....next thing I know I'm falling and awake with a start....wonderful... now the watch says 8am...wonder how many birds walked by...and happy no bear ??? ....Already in character I decided to let loose with a mad hen call and was cut off mid series...Oh boy she was angry and the game was on ...I could hear her running through the woods to me, mad as all get out ...then a loud snap and all went quiet....I tried calling a bit more then stayed still.....Then dark movement way out in front of me ...A Tom was quietly walking through the woods towards me stopping to survey things for long periods....I got the gun ready and did a few soft yelps and that brought him in at angle in front...He looked small so I held off ...he popped out from behind a lrg maple and jumped a log...I could see he was a Jake ...no spurs but a thick double beard....estimate 5-6in and 3-4 in....he had his feathers all smoothed down and you could see he was just a yungin....next year though he should have fill out nicely ...he got to 15yrds and walked around back of me...perhaps to go smooth the ruffled feathers of that hen

[mkrafty133]

Sounds like a fun morning!!

[Lawdwaz]

Sounds like a fun morning!

Are you sure that was a jake?  I've never looked for spurs,  maybe I should let them get closer? 

Could you see 5-6" of beard sticking out?  If so that could have been an adult, maybe a inch or two not showing in the chest under the feathers??  That certainly could have been a two year old bird??

Did you get a glimpse of his tail, fanned out?

[growalot]

It was a great morning...Yes Lawdwaz...when he jumped on top of the log I was glassing him at the time.......I always look for spurs ..especially when they are looking small to me......I like turkey meat and don't want to pass on a good bird due to beard rot.....with his feathers smoothed down and past experience the estimates I think were pretty accurate...what surprised me was the double beard...never seen one on a Jake before

I do tend to let game get a bit close before I shoot ...must be the archery thing...this year not as close as normal but I have a miss to show for it :-[

Last years Tom was 3ft off the end of my gun barrel when I pulled the trigger...he'd been strutting and drumming for a long time just feet away but on the blind side of blind...I said first clear sight of blue and...took his head right off as you can see in pic