During a recent jack rabbit hunt I did some scouting to discover where the turkey were likely to roost, where the nearest water was located, and where they were feeding. On opening day of the 2014 Texas spring turkey season, I was set up in a little pile of brush at the edge of the wheat field where I expected the birds to go after getting their morning drink.
I'd done my homework just right and got an A + for my efforts. Right on cue, at first light, that olde gobbler started sounding off in his roost tree. I gave him a couple of soft yelps on an old Lynches box call in reply and he gobbled right back at me. Five or ten minutes latter I cut loose on a raspy double reed diaphragm call, he gobbled right back and sounded like he was about halfway to me. I just shut up and sat still for a short while.
It wasn't very long before I saw the first hen approaching and directly behind her was another bird with a bright red head and neck.
The birds entered the wheat about 50 yards from me. They saw my decoys (one hen and a Jake) and started in my direction. That olde gobbler started his strutting dance as soon as he entered the open field. He was concentrating on getting his dance steps just right and looking his best while doing it. He didn't appear the least bit concerned about a thing.
I watched his song and dance for a while until his hen appeared to loose interest in my decoys. So I called her back with a few soft purrs and whines. She walked past the decoys and stopped in front of me. I could have smacked her on the head with my barrel while she stood there and yelped, looking for that other turkey she had heard.
While this was going on, the gobbler noticed his hen was leaving him and decided he better catch up with her. He walked right up to the decoys as they were between him and his live hen. I think that was the moment he realized one of the decoys was a Jake. His concentration shifted to intimidating that Jake decoy. While he was doing that, the hen gave up looking for me and continued on her merry way. Thank goodness!
Now that I wasn't penned down with a live hen in my lap I could raise my gun and get ready to fire. The gobbler was about to do some damage to that poor Jake decoy when I dropped the hammer. The gun fired and when the smoke cleared there was my first gobbler with a flintlock doing his final flopping of the wings death dance.
This gobbler had two beards. The main beard is 9 1/8 inches. The second beard is about an inch and a half above the main beard and it is 4 inches long. I've seen several double bearded gobblers and one with three beards, but this is the first multi-beard bird I have killed.
My load was 80 grains of FF Goex, over powder card, cushion wad torn into 4 layers, 1 1/4 ounce # 6 shot and an overshot card with a small hole punched in the center with the vent pick. The distance to the gobbler was 25 yards.
I have killed a lot of turkey in the past. I've taken them with modern shotguns, bow and arrow, and even shot a few with my 50 cal CVA mountain rifle. This one was special, being the first with a flintlock smooth bore. I hope it won't be the last.