adkmountainken
40 Cal.
had the pleasure of hunting with good friend charlie and his father Chuck this moring on my favorite mountain for turkeys. i had my 62. cal flitlock smoothbore "SawBones" with me, Charlie had a regular boom stick and his father was doing the calling as he was here from out of state. as we got out of the trucks at 5am i looked up and low and behold the was a hen roosted right at the parking lot at the top of the mountain! never saw that before. we got all ready took a few steps in the woods and i could allready here gobbling at 5:15!!!!! we proceeded to climb the mountain and just before we get to where i like to set up there are tree gobbles EVERYWHERE!! had to set down right there, Charlie and dad went a little ways back down the mountain. we had to hear at least 20 different toms on different parts of the mountain, this was a GOOD day allready!!!! well after they left the roost many went silent but you could hear hens everywhere. after awhile the gobbling started again and sure enough i had 5 jakes at 7 yards in my lap! allthough i have never killed a bird with my flinter i wanted to hold off as there were birds everywhere and i was SURE a longbeard was near by, also didn't want to ruin it for Charlie. his father proceede to extremly PISS OFF the boss hen and thats when the fun really started! the 5 jakes were still in my lap and gobbled so loud i could feel it and dam near went deaf!!!!!!! what an awesome sight watching 5 jakes gobble in unison at 5-10 yards not knowing i was there death stick in hand! try as they might Charlie just could not get a clear shot while i had another jake come right in, a little bigger but still a jake. things died down a bit (10 gobbles a minute!) when i could hear the boss of the woods just above me, i could hear him spitting before i saw him. watched him gobble at 20 yards and thats when i saw his beard! as he shuffled and strutted his beard was dragging (I"M NOT KIDDING!) on the ground back and forth. he looked like a janitor sweeping at a school!!!!! well at 15 yards he pops his head over the knoll and as i put pressure on the trigger he broke strutt and slowly walked away on the other side of the knoll with no shot!!! i know i didn't spook him its just how longbeards get old ya know??? 6th sense, bad timing, not ment to be whatever ya want to call it, he beat me fair and square, really kicked my ass! i watched as he got 80 yards away strutting the whole time and let out a few sarcastic gobbles. ohhhh what a time to be a turkey hunter on the mountain, was one of the best times i ever had and with a good friend and new friend to boot. we regrouped shortly after and hashed out a new plan where i knew the turkeys would go to. a 1/4 mile away we set up again. no sonner were we seated then 2 gobblers were going at it again! Chuck called them right to me but at 20 yardsi just did not feel confident si i waited in hopes they would get closer or go to Charlie. they started doing exactly that when the ole sluty hen started promising a good time to them and pulled the 2 away!!!! soooooo close again! allthough we did not kill a bird i can not recall a better hunt, my heart was pounding from begining to end! its all about that ONE CHANCE and i did have it but it just didn't feel right ya know?????? i feel like we won today as i did have "the chance" and probley should have taken it but there will be another day and another time with a little bit of luck. i will be back after the "janitor" in the morning and who knows!!! i would like to thank Charlie and his dad for sharing the morning with me on my favorite place in the world!!!! its mornings like this that inspire the poem i wrote a few years ago with this mountain on my mind, i am attaching the poem. i will try and get out a few more times this year and all my friends know they are welcome to join me! maybe you can help me school "the janitor!".
