Update on my Boy the Rat Slayers Wisc. hunt
Wendsday: Get off of work, race to the high school to pick up the Slayer. Race over to Lees to go after birds he has been watching. Arrive at hunting spot about 4:15. Every day around 5 to 6PM Lee has been seeing the birds. go back to set up. Bust a hen on the way... Go a little farther, bust a Tom get into spot start calling. No gobbles. Wait 30 minutes, call, no gobbles, repeat. repeat, etc. 1/2 before dark finally see a couple birds moving around, but unresponsive. Hear talking in the woods behind us. Two older ladies come out and walk to a truck parked just out of site blocking the field entrance we thought the Toms would come thru to get to us. We had been sitting there all eve for nothing. Truck had to have been there all eve. Head home...
Thursday: Pick up Rat Slayer after school. Meet up with Lee. Drive around propertys looking for a bird to chase... No Toms seen. See a hen in a small isolated field, walk back and blind call... One answers from the back field. Point out a brushy point 40 yards towards the gobble, tell Rat Slayer and camera man Lee to run over there and quickly set up while I hunker down right there and try to bring him out. Figured if he came straight out he might hold up 60 or so yards out putting the bird right on top of them.
Call once the guys are in position... Gobbler answers from 1/2 the distance. Wait a bit call. Gobler answers and walks into view with his hen that I called in with him.
Gets to within 35 yards of Rat and Lee... No shots fired... Bird stays there for ever, still no shot taken. Bird starts leaving... Call him back. Finally he leaves for good. Ask what happened... Lee didn't tell Rat to shoot... I never told Lee he needed to, and he thought the boy would just shoot. We use this tactic to make sure we have the bird on film, and cause I have just always whispered when to shoot on the boys hunts... Oh well, it will make a good video clip when we finally get to the turkey video.
Friday: Pick up the Rat after school. Fly over to Dave Dockstaders farm to meet up with him for the evenings hunt. Drive around propertys searching for birds. See a group of about 20 birds way out across some huge fields where we can hunt. The fields are divided by drainage ditchs with some brush and small trees. we sneek, crawl, shimmie, and slither our way to a position we picked from the road. Get set up and can see all the turkeys are moving off the wrong way... Call, no answer. repeat. repeat. Suddenly off to the side about a mile away I see a turkey running towards us. He gets to the drainage creek and Im thinking he is going to hold up on the other side.. He flew right across and resumed walking towards us from almost a mile out. He walked all the way in without ever gobbling or strutting. When the Dude got to 30 yards I "told" the boy to shoot and watched a big ol tom turk roll. The boy also got pretty dang goog footage of the deer ridge gun camera arm.
Dead turkey walking...
Rat Slayer has a smile on his face! (seconds after the blast)
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