Limb Chicken
Active Member
I have a spot that I save for later in the season and can just about count on getting a longbeard close. Have killed several in this spot and have had as many close calls. The beauty of this spot is that I have to wait until about 10 30 or 11 to walk in there. But, there is a great way to get in undetected and the birds are generally very responsive. So yesterday morning there was little pressure and I wanted to try a spot that I hadn't hunted all year and had produced in the past including the death of the cotton wood king a couple years ago.
Thinking it was going to be cloudy I set up facing east and next to the finger of timber that the birds roost in and placing the decoys close enough to the blind that they can't see them from the roost. Walking in plenty early I walked passed three birds roosted where I wanted to set up so I had to walk another 50 yards to make sure my set would be out of sight to them. Gobbling started and wasn't real close but close enough I was in the game. I still found it odd that there wasn't a gobbler sounding off in this finger. I sat there taking in the morning and drinking my coffee with the camera set up and ready. Thirty five yards behind me one lights up. About blew the top off of the blind. I didn't get real excited even though he couldn't see the decoys I knew he probably saw or heard me jacking around in the blind and why he was silent up until now. Once, he started however, it was none stop, one after the other, like he was making up for lost time to make his morning gobble quota.
I kept an eye on him out the back of the blind and he started to waver on the branch getting ready to fly down and I clucked a couple of times and he surprisingly flew right at the blind. He pitched down and landed thirty yards out and really wasn't impressed by uncle rico and ugly betty so he walked away and proceeded to gobble his fool head off. As a couple of hens and a couple of jakes joined him. I figured that was going to be it for a while so I enjoyed the show while it was in town and waited until they disappeared over the ridge. Gobbling subsided and the sun was now beating right in the blind and reflecting off of the camera lens. What now?
I did something I had only done one other time. I packed up all my 35 pounds of stuff I need and put the camera away and put my back pack on and proceeded to pick the blind up and carry it up to the decoys and take them down inside the blind, packed them up and off to the other side of the clover patch I went. I was laughing so damn hard by the time I got to the other side I barley made it. I unpacked the decoys put them up in the blind, picked it up over them, moved another 5 yards, unpacked all my 35 pounds of stuff I need and sat in disbelief as to what I just did. I got everything situated to my liking and felt better about the spot and was content to sit there until about 10 or so when I would move to my honey hole. I caught movement and there was a bird strutting about 300 yards away in a bean field and that made me feel better since I didn't spook everything on the farm.
I decided I would sit for an hour before I called unless something was spotted before that time. About a half hour into the wait I noticed the bird that was roosted behind me was now making his way back up the hill and chasing a jake everywhere. I wasn't real confident he would respond after already seeing my decoys once. I let out a series of raspy yelps and he cut me off. I was feeling a little better but my fate rested in the hands of a jake that was trying not to get the snot kicked out of him. The jake turned and headed my direction also to investigate the yelping and the tom went into strut and was slowly working in my direction. I was running short on tape in the camera so I figured if he got close enough I would turn it on and let it run out and hopefully I would capture everything on film. He proceeded to make his way over to me and got to where he could see my decoys. I figured this would be the deal breaker. To my surprise he folded and started running full speed towards me. I was trying to get the camera record button pushed and not make any noise at the same time, I finally got the camera turned on and recording and he had already come to 5 yards and must have seen me jacking around and was walking away. I drew back and my arrow fell off of the rest, I put it back on with my finger and settled the pin on his back and let "black death eat". He went about 5 yards and it was over at 7:30. I love breakfast pizza and beer... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
24.5 lbs.
11.5 inches
1 inch
1 inch
Thinking it was going to be cloudy I set up facing east and next to the finger of timber that the birds roost in and placing the decoys close enough to the blind that they can't see them from the roost. Walking in plenty early I walked passed three birds roosted where I wanted to set up so I had to walk another 50 yards to make sure my set would be out of sight to them. Gobbling started and wasn't real close but close enough I was in the game. I still found it odd that there wasn't a gobbler sounding off in this finger. I sat there taking in the morning and drinking my coffee with the camera set up and ready. Thirty five yards behind me one lights up. About blew the top off of the blind. I didn't get real excited even though he couldn't see the decoys I knew he probably saw or heard me jacking around in the blind and why he was silent up until now. Once, he started however, it was none stop, one after the other, like he was making up for lost time to make his morning gobble quota.
I kept an eye on him out the back of the blind and he started to waver on the branch getting ready to fly down and I clucked a couple of times and he surprisingly flew right at the blind. He pitched down and landed thirty yards out and really wasn't impressed by uncle rico and ugly betty so he walked away and proceeded to gobble his fool head off. As a couple of hens and a couple of jakes joined him. I figured that was going to be it for a while so I enjoyed the show while it was in town and waited until they disappeared over the ridge. Gobbling subsided and the sun was now beating right in the blind and reflecting off of the camera lens. What now?
I did something I had only done one other time. I packed up all my 35 pounds of stuff I need and put the camera away and put my back pack on and proceeded to pick the blind up and carry it up to the decoys and take them down inside the blind, packed them up and off to the other side of the clover patch I went. I was laughing so damn hard by the time I got to the other side I barley made it. I unpacked the decoys put them up in the blind, picked it up over them, moved another 5 yards, unpacked all my 35 pounds of stuff I need and sat in disbelief as to what I just did. I got everything situated to my liking and felt better about the spot and was content to sit there until about 10 or so when I would move to my honey hole. I caught movement and there was a bird strutting about 300 yards away in a bean field and that made me feel better since I didn't spook everything on the farm.
I decided I would sit for an hour before I called unless something was spotted before that time. About a half hour into the wait I noticed the bird that was roosted behind me was now making his way back up the hill and chasing a jake everywhere. I wasn't real confident he would respond after already seeing my decoys once. I let out a series of raspy yelps and he cut me off. I was feeling a little better but my fate rested in the hands of a jake that was trying not to get the snot kicked out of him. The jake turned and headed my direction also to investigate the yelping and the tom went into strut and was slowly working in my direction. I was running short on tape in the camera so I figured if he got close enough I would turn it on and let it run out and hopefully I would capture everything on film. He proceeded to make his way over to me and got to where he could see my decoys. I figured this would be the deal breaker. To my surprise he folded and started running full speed towards me. I was trying to get the camera record button pushed and not make any noise at the same time, I finally got the camera turned on and recording and he had already come to 5 yards and must have seen me jacking around and was walking away. I drew back and my arrow fell off of the rest, I put it back on with my finger and settled the pin on his back and let "black death eat". He went about 5 yards and it was over at 7:30. I love breakfast pizza and beer... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
24.5 lbs.
11.5 inches
1 inch
1 inch
