Well it took a while to get this Boss Tom in my sights
Hot weather , bugs, thick foliage in southern Ontario hindered many gobbler hunters this season
It seemed the classic spring Tom mating season happened in March, long before opening day April 25th-2012
I saw lots of Jakes, few hens and numerous loud gobblers in the distance or behind thick foliage during most of the spring hunt.
Decoys were a mixed bag of opportunities. Some days Jakes couldn’t resist them while the Toms still strutted at about fifty yards.
An invite by fellow hunting friend Tom who also happens to be a great guide back up the the Simcoe/Kawartha areas helped me bag a great 24 pound Tom with a 10 inch beard and one inch spurs this week.
We used a Pretty Boy Tom, hen and jake to entice 5 gobblers, 6 jakes and 3 hens across a cow pasture.
They couldn’t resist the movable tail pulled with a string. Subtle calling and real hens that wandered in to check the decoy out sealed the deal on this Tom.
I spotted a huge Tom emerge from the far edge of the wood lot through my Vortex Razors, a bobbing red and white head was all I could see.
A few calls on my GobbleStalker Pot call and a few more call from a diaphragm call had his attention.
He travelled about 800 yards on the run to check out the Pretty Boy movable tail with some live hens we called in minutes before.
Last season I missed a huge Tom at 11 yards and wrote about it in
Ontario Out Of Doors- A Pattern On Turkey
I don’t want to go through that again!
Not This year!
Preparation in patterning the right loads at 10,20,30 40 and 50 yards through an extra full and full choke on my Browning Citori left no doubts in shot placement. Al I had to do was keep my head down and squeeze the trigger.
Check back for the awesome video footage taken by Tom.
