We had this guy gobbling pretty good on the tree this morning. We got within about 100 yards or so from him on the tree and when he finally flew down I tried a little soft calling to him but barely got an answer. The last time he gobbled I could tell he was headed toward an open fence line on the edge of a chufas field. We looped around and came up to the edge of the field. There wasn't a good place to set up at all on the side we were on, so I decided to risk it and try crossing to the other side. I decided to try my new avian Jake decoy out so we set it up on the way across. I let a few soft yelps and purrs out and suddenly he gobbled at 75 yards, we had gotten really lucky crossing the open. He strutted right up to the Jake and pushed him around for a full minute or two and finally broke strut just enough for a shot. Was a great morning and was a heck of a show he put on with the jake.
10 3/4 inch beard
1 1/8 spurs
20.3 pounds