Had a great hunt this morning. In Missouri, you must wait until the second week of the season to hunt for your second bird. Went out yesterday morning with my bow and only saw one gobbler. I had my decoy set up and was calling him in when some cows wandered over and scared him off.
Took my Mossberg this morning, and the birds were gobbling better. I was working one and some unseen hens busted me. An hour later I heard another one gobbling, but he wouldn't come to my calls. I walked up to a ridgetop field where I had been seeing a tom and I heard him gobbling. I eased up the hill through the woods and spotted him in the field with a jake. He was strutting around at about 80 yards. I got in position next to a tree and voice yelped. It took about 10 minutes and a few quiet yelps, but I finally got a shot at 32 steps. Another beautiful 2 year old tom. Probably 18-19 lbs with a 10 inch beard and 7/8" spurs.
I use a slate call for long distance calling, but have learned to imitate hen yelps with my voice. Most of my birds over the last 5 or 6 years have been fooled by voice calling. I sound like a sick vulture if I try to use a diaphragm call, with some gagging thrown in for good measure.
Looking forward to some fried wild turkey breast. Good luck to the other turkey hunters!
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