Sunday morning I got a bit of a late start and it was past day light by the time I entered the hayfield that I have hunted for the last 20 years or so. Set out a hen decoy and settled down backed up to an old fallen tree trunk. Ranged the decoy at 14 yards and got ready. I made just a couple of soft calls and from way down the field I could see a bird coming my way from over a quarter mile away. About the time he was around 100 yards away a hen runs out of the woods from the right, and sure enough he takes off after her. A couple of cutts and yelps made him at least stop and look my way but then that white headed creaton went back on the trail of the real hen.
Five minutes later after a couple more calls I could see 3 more dots coming from the same area that the first one came from. They turned out to be 2 jakes and a gobbler and were coming straight for me. When they went through a dip I got set and flipped off the safty. All 3 came right toward the decoy but the gobbler was at the back of the pack and would display 2 or 3 times. The jakes were actually touching the decoy by the time the gobbler got clear of a couple of saplings that were blocking him. As soon as he was clear and the cross hairs settled on his wing butts I pulled the trigger. The 125 grain Swaker blew through him and he flipped once and staggered about 30 feet and piled up.
From the time I sat down to the time Mr Gobbler fell down was less than 15 mnutes and never once did I hear a gobble or a cluck or anything else. I found my bolt, tagged my bird, and made the half mile walk back to the house. I just had time for a couple of pictures before it started raining. This was not my first turkey, but it was the first for the Excalibur and I really hope not the last.
