Circa 2017
Went to the same farm where I took a friend of mine the other morning with the intentions off chasing a big ole raspy gobbling bird, I called Bubba.( Click link to see video) Doug Wigfield's hunt. Got there at 5 with my buddy Jason 10 minutes behind. With the tweedy birds already tweeting I took a Chance hoping with the foliage getting thick I could sneak to the same area I hunted the previous day. "Bubba" was hanging in the same area as Doug’s bird and if he wasn't there I knew there were couple more in the area.
Get settled in a spot with a set up two hens, one feeding and the other upright with a 1/2 strut Jake in tow.
We Sit down and wait. Look at my phone and it's 5:48 and almost on key a bird gobbles and it's Bubba!! He would keep gobbling for the next half an hour with another bird to our right a couple 100 yards away. Unfortunately, Bubba attracted a guy from the neighboring farm that loved to use his box call and locator calls..... This guys called nonstop to the point that it shut up Bubba and made me think that it was over.... The guy even Jake gobbled a handful of times and ended up with a crow call in his mouth trying to get this tight lipped bird to gobble again.
While this was happening we just sat and didn't say a peep. He shut up for a bit and I decided to do a fly down with a wing I have in my vest followed with some very light calling on a pot call and then a couple cuts and Bubba responds with a gobble. He's still in the tree and it's almost 730. In the meantime there was a front coming in and it started to get breezy and the temp was dropping. The next thing a hen fly’s into the far end of the field and then a jake lands about 20 yards from the decoys Walking away. About a minute later I hear a jake yelping to the left of Jason and then I pick up movement. There was a jake 10 yards from Jason with his with a multi floral bush in between both of them and Jason could not see him. I see Jason looking to his 8 o'clock in the woods when I catch movement in the field to my left. It's Bubba headed to the decoys with the ”I'm going to whoop some jake” look. Jason is still looking to his left when I whisper "look in front of you!!" Jason slowly turns and see the tom almost about to do a beat down. I say "shoot him!!" And that he did. Big ole tom down!!!
That to date is the latest I've ever had a bird stay on the roost. That goes to show you when they shut up doesn't mean that they are gone.
Bird turned out to be Bubba. He was a Big bird that was a warrior he had one broken spur with one big spur that was Over 1.5" and a 12.5" beard that was dragging.
A great ending to the last day of Jason's vacation.
Of course after the shot it started to rain.... and that means a wet old gobbler....
#ultimatecamo #EZoutdoors #springturkeyhunting #treebarkcamo
