I scored yesterday on a bird that's just under 20 pounds. Here's the story:
Yesterday I couldn't hunt the early hours. I had another obligation. But I was in the woods at 9:00 headed for the spot where I saw a gobbler fight on Saturday. I arrived there at 9:30, after covering the last 150 yards at a snail's pace.
After any disturbance I might have made calmed down, I gave a few purrs and soft yelps at 9:40. Again at 10:00, just a few soft calls. Another 15 minutes went by silently, but...
... my 10:15 series of calls were answered promptly. The birds were just above me.
I shifted on my big red oak backstop to that I would be able to cover my extreme right. Within a minute or two, I could see a black form approaching, then another. In all, 3 jakes and a longbeard were approaching certain death for one of them.
I had called in the big one on Friday. He had been gobbling in this very spot in late morning, and I pulled him about 150 yards to the east but couldn't get a clear shot before he wandered off. On Saturday, I saw him again, and he went straight to this spot to strut his wings off until two jakes came in and beat each other up.
Today would be different. I was already in the place where they wanted to be, and conned them into thinking there was a pretty hen waiting. Strut, gobble, walk 10 feet. Strut, gobble, walk 10 feet. Once they were in range, all I had to do was wait for a shot that would take only one. They gave it to me at 10:24, just nine minutes from when I heard the first gobbler.
Stats: 19.8 pounds; 9-inch beard, spurs about ¾". His last primary wing feathers on both wings are almost completely white. Not unheard of, but not common either.
This was the 13th gobbler I've called into shotgun range this year, the fifth longbeard (not counting the one that was disturbed by a bobcat). Counting the two jakes that were behind him I called in 15 so far. And I haven't seen a single hunter.