muddy
Well-Known Member
After a very VERY off and on season I managed to tag out this morning around 6:30. I've been hunting a specific bunghole of a bird that I've dubbed the "Ditch Ghost". This bird has 1/4 of his fan missing and is gimped in his right leg, so he's very easy to recognize. I've been on him several times just couldn't close the deal, last night was the closes yet but hens and lack of daylight brought the hunt to a close. This bird lives in a finger of timber surrounded by a bean field and a corn field. This area is pretty much unapproachable from any direction because the damn bird spends all his time in this one brushy ditch. Anyway, last night I got on him and another really nice tom and put them both to bed. This morning I snuck in from a different way and set up. I got really excited when the birds fired up around 4:50 this morning, I've NEVER heard them gobble that early before. Ditch Ghost must not have been in the mood this morning because he didn't utter so much as a cluck. His counterpart, however, was trying his best to blow the top of his head off by gobbling! He was roosted on a bluff quite a ways off from me but I had these birds down. They fly down, work their way up a draw, and come into the strut area from a way you'd never expect. I sat tight and waited. When the bird hit the ground I did my best to sound like a half dozen hens in his bedroom. It must've worked because he started coming. After 45 minutes nothing shows up and I have steam coming off my clothes because I'm so stinking mad. I figure another hunter flubbed it up on me... again. After 5 minutes I shake my head and figure I'd give off a double series of cackles, one on my new slate call and one using my voice. The response was both instantanious and CLOSE. Suddenly the blind seemed like it was shaking as the silent bird started spitting and drumming from just over the crest of the hill. I quickly grabbed my bow and got ready. Nestled back in my Double Bull Matrix I slowly checked my six when I the drumming changed pitch, slowly turning I see him, 15 yards from the blind. He's in full strut and looking absolutely stunning as the sun crests the horizon. He turns and a slight twinge of disappointment hit me as I notice the full fan and no limp. I damn near didn't shoot, but figured the Ditch Ghost will live to challenge me another day. I slowly drew, aimed, and released.
WHACK!!
As Arrowdynamic Solutions preaches about their newest product, the gobbler guillotine, "track in inches, not yards".
15 seconds later, at 6:30 a.m., I was standing over my 2005 bird.
Pictures and stats to come later today.
WHACK!!
As Arrowdynamic Solutions preaches about their newest product, the gobbler guillotine, "track in inches, not yards".
15 seconds later, at 6:30 a.m., I was standing over my 2005 bird.
Pictures and stats to come later today.
![icon_redface[1].gif](https://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon_redface[1].gif){kind=icon}
