04/03/13. The third day would start at the river. I pulled up to the gate and rambled through my key ring trying to find the key. The river is a small track my son's godfather owns. As a group, we have hunted the land for over 20 years. And in that time, I have learned how the turkeys move through the area. So this morning, I have a spot in mind. Normally, the birds walk the road along the top of the ridge. And when you look to both sides of the road, you see Turkey scratching. So I place the ground blind just off the side and the decoy in the dirt road. Into the blind I go. I check the cell phone, 7:35 am. The wind was up and not a gobble to be heard. But Im warm and comfortable so I am prepared to sit it out. So for the next four hours, I called sparingly, listened, read my bible, and checked my email via cell phone. Ground blinds have made all of this possible. So even with cool temps and fluctuatind winds, the morning was enjoyable. A great way to spend spring break. Around 11:45, I start to question whether I should pack up at 12:00. The wind had calmed but I had not heard a bird all morning. I decided to give it till 1:00 and then I would pack up. So I continued to call, listen, and read. Around 12:10, I'm checking my email and all of a sudden I hear a scratching sound behind my blind. I peek out the net window three times before I locate the source of the noise. A long beard had quietly worked his way in from behind. He had spotted the decoy in the road but was not sure about my blind. I picked up the recurve and peeked out the window. The bird continued to move closer to my position and I was hoping that he would commit to the decoy and step out into the road. This would bring him in front of the blind for the shot. But the bird had different plans. Not far from the blind, he began to drift to his right which would put the bird behind my blind. Earlier, I had cleaned all of the leaves from the floor of the grounds blind. This allowed me to stand up without detection and open of the back port windows. It became obvious that the bird was going to pass less than ten feet behind my blind. A 2 ft shooting lain was created by the side of my blind and a small tree. The angle was steep but it was all I had. As the bird walked past the tree, I came to full draw. The bird took one step then turned his back. I picked a spot on his back and let the string slip from my fingers. It was like watching a movie in slow motion, then having someone hit the play button. The big Interceptor tipped arrow struck the mark and the bird rolled over and took off!For a second, line peeled off the string tracker. But then the line detached from the arrow when the bird ran through some scrub brush. Now my excitement is turning to nervous energy. The bird took flight and because the arrow had a white wrap and big yellow feathers, I could follow him through the trees as he took flight. The shot looked good and I got great penetration. The bird flew over the trees head down the hollow. When he disappeared, I left the ground blind headed down the hollow in the same direction. Just some fourty yards down the hollow, I found him piled up. I couldn't containy excitement. I stood in the hollow giving thanks to the Lord for the mornings success. After packing the bird all my equipment back to the truck, I took the bird over to the Southern Outfitter in Boiling Springs for weighing. His stats are an 8 inch beard, 1 inch spurs, and he weighed 21.6 lbs.
Topic: Carolina Gobler, With Story on Page 4 (Read 694 times)
