Thread: After Work Stalk

I decided I'd try and find a bird after work Thursday and really didn't expect to find one. On the way to a food plot I had seen them in before, I decided to stop and check a large field on the way. I sneaked up to the field and looked it over with my binoculars for a few minutes, not seeing anything. Then I suddenly spotted a lone gobbler in the back corner of the field, on the same woodline I was on. I slipped back out and RAN to my truck to collect my vest and gun. I made a big loop around him in the cover of the thick woods/brush. As I approached the field at where I guessed he was, I began belly crawling. The thorns tore me up! I got 20yds or so from the field edge and spotted him out there feeding. He was dead even with me, so I guessed the right spot. There was a couple of thick bushes in between us with gaps on either side. Every time he'd go behind one I'd crawl a little more. I closed the distance as best I could and ran out of good cover. I stood halfway up behind a bush and he seemed to spot me so I froze standing half crouched in a 3-4 minutes stare down. My knees and back were on fire in that awkward position! He finally dismissed me as nothing and went back to feeding, so I slowly took a knee. I eased up a few more feet and he craned his neck up and I let the #5s fly.....down he went....then back up he stood....just before I could shoot again he flew off! NOOOOO!!! I watched in horror exactly where he flew off into the woodline and I started that direction, not wanting to lose a wounded bird. I got about 200-300yds from where I shot him and couldn't hear any flopping around so I got discouraged. I decided to start looking in the trees around me and I suddenly spot him 30yds in front of me in a tree. At the exact moment I look at him, he pitches down to the left.....he looked REALLY badly hurt flying down....I threw up my Mossberg and popped him before he could hit the ground. He slammed into the ground and was dead right there. I was relieved, because I'm sure I would've never found him if he hit the ground running. Sorry for the long story, but it was a very "intense" hunt for me.....I was shaking for 30 minutes afterwards! He's my biggest yet at a little over 20lbs, 10.5 inch beard, 1 inch spurs.

Congrats

Wow! Nice bird Ben...great story too.

Great Job, brother. Thats a nice lookin bird.

That's a good one Ben!

Congrats. Great story and glad you did find him. Nice size bird!!