Fred and I had seen plenty of big gobbler action this morning. However, they had all just taken a break in the woods and we wondered if they would still hang around our area, or not. Even when we saw a few wild turkeys moving around back in the trees we didn’t know what they would do.
A pair of hens came out of the woods and walked in our direction … and walked by our blind in bow range. And better yet, a gobbler followed them. Fred passed on the gobbler. At this point in the hunt we were both totally fixed on the Kent Daddy strutting in the trees 70 yards to our right.
A lone hen followed the route the previous two hens and the gobbler had taken. It was in bow range when I got this picture.
On my last look around, Kent Daddy was back in the trees. So when movement caught my eye behind the hen I was surprised to see, 60 yards behind the hen, the Kent Daddy longbeard.
He cruised out from into the open, walking at a steady pace, for once.
The hen came closer and closer to our blind. If Kent Daddy held his course and went where the hen did he would soon be under 20 yards from us.
He was coming good, stepping right along, his beard swaying as he walked. I looked at Fred and he was totally ready, bow in hand, and waiting … for a few more steps.
Suddenly the Kent Daddy did a 180, dropped strut and stood still, surveying the area behind him.
Then he walked about 20 yards and stopped. He strutted up and drug his wing feathers on the ground.
Hmmmm, now he turned back around and went into traveling mode. A hen was coming out of the woods in front of us and Kent Daddy went in her direction.
Which, unfortunately, took him further away from us. He went into full strut again and fell in behind the new hen.
Woops, another 180 and he was checking out the area to the right of the blind. And he started walking the wrong way. This big gobbler was making us nuts.
As Kent Daddy walked along I zoomed in tight and got this pic of this very cool looking gobbler.
Fred nudged me. Wow. Fifteen yards out in front of the blind, the round fan gobbler with the short beard stood in full strut, showing off.
Kent Daddy stopped. Through a narrow slit in the side window I saw hens walking along, coming in our general direction. KD put his wing feathers on the ground and drummed away.
As he was showing off for the new hens he turned himself a three quarter turn — and saw the strutter standing in front of us. Immediately, Kent Daddy started walking back out way.
One minute Kent Daddy was coming our way, the next he was going away. Once. Twice. This was crazy.
NOTE: Fred Lutger and I are the guests of Big Johnson Outfitters near Snyder, Texas. Big Johnson Outfitters offers bowhunts and rifle hunts for wild turkey and wild hogs. And they have trophy buck hunts as well as management buck hunts. For Information Contact: Big Johnson Outfitters at 903-388-5218 or bigjohnsonourfitters@gmail.com. Their web site is at www.BigJohnsonOutfitters.com.
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