Well the season started out pretty good. We got down there Thursday afternoon to nice weather and lots of birds around. On the way down we stopped in to check a field we planned on hunting Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, if we were successful opening morning at our first spot. Well there was a big longbeard and three hens in the field, so the second part of the hunt was set.
Friday morning we woke up at daylight to birds gobbling in camp. That morning we found birds in what is pretty much his go to spot to get his. 3 of his 5 birds have been in this general area. So with some hours to burn I took a few mile hike in a canyon we had seen elk a few weeks earlier and picked up two sheds from last year.
We roosted the tom, jake and six hens, so the plan was set for the opener.
Opening morning brought rain with it. We were set up around five ready for the birds. When they flew down in the morning it turned into 12 hens, 2 jakes and the tom. They spent two hours in and out of the field and at one point one of the jakes was on his way, but out of nowhere the flock ran out of the field. A few minutes later the Tom showed back up off the point of the field and then turned around and left. At that point we figured to make a move on them. I slipped out into the field grabbed a decoy and we slipped up to the point where the Tom came out. I made a few calls stuck out the decoy a few seconds later the Jake came running in, bird down!
After getting packed up we headed up in the mountains higher to look for more birds. We came around a corner and Andy spotted some jakes up the hill. Hoping there was a tom around we went up the road to get above them got our gear and headed after them. We got a bird to answer below us and he was coming fast so we set up quick. He showed up just over the hill for a second, didn't see a hen and left so we backed out went around and got on his level. I called him in again but only to 45 yards. Out of range for the 20. Just after he left 5 jakes came and he let them walk. We backed out gave him 45 minutes and tried him again. We got on them again but only got a Jake into range, Hunter wasn't going to let him walk away again so one shot later he ran off.
We gathered our stuff and headed to the field we saw the bird on Thursday. He finally came into the field just before going to roost. We set up on him in the morning with a lot of anticipation for him to fly down. When he did he spent over an hour with his hens on the opposite side of the field. Finally an hour and forty minutes in the field his hens left and he came trotting into 20 yards. He fired two shots missing cleanly on both. One out of two tags filled isn't bad. We had great trip and start to the season, which has just begun. I will post more pics when I get them.
