parked the truck and headed in on a snowmobile trail. 150 yards from the truck i struck a bird way off to my right. i cut into the woods, went about 100 yards in and struck him again. much closer this time. walked a little further and sat down. had him going pretty good, still a good 100 yards away, but he wouldn't come any closer and eventually he worked his way away from me. packed it up and headed back to the trial. walked another couple hundred yards down the trail and called again. struck another bird so i headed into the woods again, this time on the other side of the trail. called again, another bird. behind me this time and much closer. found a good pine tree, sat down and started calling. this bird was very vocal getting closer and closer. those booming gobbles getting louder and louder. then after about 10 min, i see that white head coming up over a rise at 20 yards.. here he comes. he's at 20 behind some thick stuff just looking around. a few soft clucks and he puffs up and struts in closer. a few more clucks and another bird gobbles right behind him over that same rise but out of view. a real deep gobble too, sounded like a big old bird. by now, this guy is at 12 yards in full strut spitting and drumming. the other bird still out of view. well this guy started getting hinky.. looking around for the hen he's searching for. after a few minutes, he stuck his head up nice and high, a nice clear 10 yard shot, so i let him have it. i never did see the 2nd bird but he sounded like a dandy. nevertheless, i'm really happy with this guy. weighed in at 20 lbs, 8.5" beard, 3/4" spurs. not my biggest bird, but definitely a nice one. what a great morning though. all in all, an hour and 20 minutes packed with action. doesn't get much better!
now i can terrorize some salmon!
