I've been hunting in Idaho for the past 3 springs and have been very fortunate to fill my tags every season. This season was by far the hardest one yet because all of the toms in my area were henned up through the first 2/3 of the season. Opening day was dead silent
. On the second day of the season, I was working a nice tom mid-morning and he finally decided to come my way after lots of coaxing on my end. Because of how I was set up, I lost sight of him and knew that he was going to pop up really close. A few minutes later, a red head popped up at 4 yards and I blasted him only to walk up to a jake.
. No idea where the tom went, but oh well that's how it goes sometimes. Throughout the rest of the season, I called countless toms within 50-60 yards, but hens would always pull them away at the last second. Finally, around May 10th, I noticed that the hens were starting to leave some of the toms during the mid morning hours. I decided to hit up a public piece of property where I had seen some birds earlier in the season. It is a heavily timbered property, which is the type of property I prefer in the later part of the season. I got there around 9am and decided to walk deep into the timber for about 45 minutes before doing any calling. As I was walking, I heard a gobble about 500 yards out. I got up to a nice plateau and set up. Immediately, the tom began to respond to my hen calls from about 300 yards out. I stopped calling for a couple of minutes and then let out a few more soft yelps. Bam. 100 yards gobble. Game on. Let out a few more soft yelps and he was now just out of sight (maybe 50 yards). Put down the call and got ready. About 30 seconds pass and I can here him drumming just out of sight. Finally he emerges from the brush at about 15 yards and I put him down. Nice tom. 1" spurs and 9" beard. Gotta love the late season when the toms are alone! I hunted 15 days this season and probably worked about 20 diferent gobblers (some for friends). Definitely a fun season and can't wait for next spring!
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