It's Not going to be me Whitetail. My last day was Monday. I had a big old swamp gobbler that i've hunted all season get the best of me. The property owner of the land I hunt is not a turkey hunter but after i got my first bird on his land I asked him if he would let me take him out to call for him and maybe get him his first turkey. So I brought him out set up him up in the same spot that I shot my bird based on the fact that there were 2 other gobblers and 2 jakes that came in when i shot him. So we get out there birds gobbling on the roost first thing in the morning answering the hooters and some tree yelps. When they hit the ground the shut up and so we headed down the road to another property to see if we can't get anything to talk and nothing So we head back to the main property and in the morning there was another bird gobblin on the opposite side of the creek from us. So i said that bird was there if he is henned up he should be done soon. So we sneak in i set my deeks and we set up 30 yds apart against two big oaks he is facing north and im facing south. I make a couple or purrs and cutts on my custom Cypress swamps calls bobcote slate as i yelp with my primos mouth call...This is usually my bread and butter sequence. Not five minutes later after no talking at all comes this huge swamp bird 40yds to my left with a paintbrush draggin on the ground. I finch whistle to gain the attention of my comrad and point in the direction of the bird. My buddy rolls onto his stomach to the side of the tree to gain sight of the bird mean while hes is 35 yrds away from me behind a blow down and can't see my deeks over the knoll to my south. he wanders around for a few minutes in shooting range for me but just out of range at about 55yds for my buddy. We hunt till 12 it ends without hearing a single gobble except from the roost. So after a bunch of working weekends and 12 hr days...being the "Beer Guy" isn't as fun as it seems but i had an office day for the month of may which i took on the 18th. Its my last day to go out becuase I'm leaving tommorow night to drive to charlotte to catch the coca cola 600 with some of my college friends. I hit the woods by 4:45am and walked through a copperhead infested misquito breeding barb wire having creek bed in the pitch black with no light to set up on the other side of the ridge where the bird that i had put my buddy on was. I set up my deeks right were he had come in from the field the two saturdays before and sat down threw in my lipper of kodiak and started to wait. Shortly after light bird gobbles, i hoot on my owl.....no response.....couple minutes later bird goobles again....i make a couple of tree yelps and....no response. I know its the smart swamp gobbler i've been after. I sit and wait and every 1/2 hr i make a small series of purrs and yelps with the occasional cut. At 8:30 he finally thunders off and is not far away. I make one sequence of calls and wait and he gobbles about five minutes later. I then make another sequence and he gobbles about 2 minutes after the call. I then make another series of cuts and yelps and he cuts me off before i'm even done with the call and at this point hes no more then 50 yds away but i still can't see him. So i make the decision to put down the call and just let him come because last time he came in silent. Well.......he never made another sound and i never got a look at him, so two things either happened he got cut off by a hen that also came to investigate my calling or that SOB is just that smart and I should have just started hammering on my slate. Well you win some and you lose some all in all it was a great season with one good tag filled I also had a chance to hunt in my home state of MA with some of my good ol' boys but terrential rain and a wedding made it difficult even though i had the biggest bird i've ever seen come into me at 12:05pm when i was packing up my blind but oh well. And on that note i got my mount back from the taxi and if you and dave need a pic of the other spur i can take it. Good luck to any one that has some season left I'm off to Charlotte to root on the #48 and drink a ton of Sam Adams
