Haven't had much time to spend in the woods so far this season, but decided to go this morning despite not having a clue if any birds were around. Got a late start, and didn't pull out my yard till 6:50 and left my truck at 7:05 with a 600+ yard walk still ahead of me. I hurried to the back of the property and paused for a moment to listen. Just as I stopped, I heard one fire off a few hundred yards down in the swamp. I knew I didn't have much time before they hit the ground, so I didn't waste any time cutting the distance. I got to what I felt like was about 100 - 150 yards from him when they fired off again. It was 3 birds. Sounded like two mature birds, and a jake strung out down the swamp. I found me a good tree to sit down against, and got ready. I gave a few minutes, then hit them with a couple soft clucks and purrs. They all fired off again, and I realized that they couldn't be much more than a hundred yards from me. I sat quietly for a few minutes then hit them with a couple soft yelps with a response right back at me. I set the call down, scratched in the leaves a couple times and got ready. A couple minutes later, I could see a red and white head coming around a downed tree about 40 yards from me on my right. I could see some other birds slightly to the left, but couldn't tell what the were. The bird on my right eased on in to about 20 yards in front of me and started getting nervous. I wasn't sure if he was the dominant bird, but I've always been told that 1 in the hand is better than 2 in the bush. He putted a couple times, and started easing away from me. Not having a clue what the other birds were, I let the old mossberg bark at 7:30. I couldn't have been sitting against the tree for much more than 15 minutes. 20.58 lbs, 1 inch spurs, and a scraggly 8.5 inch beard. I thanked the Lord for a beautiful morning, and the opportunity to harvest one of his most majestic creatures.
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