It was another roller coaster of a season once again! The weather in March and April seemed to have impacted the turkey’s behavior-at least in my area. Because of this, the Toms seemed hesitant and unresponsive to my calls, decoys, and even no decoys 
However, i was able to pattern one particular Tom at the beginning of the season, as he repeated the same route 3-4 times that i saw him. Unfortunately, he circled my blind when i tried to ambush his route 
Fast forward to the last few days, I could tell the breeding season was coming to an end as most of the birds started to migrate back to their primary roost as i went to observing 1 Tom and now 4; to about 7 or 8 hens.
Since the season was coming to a close, i decided to get aggressive and hunt the middle of the roost last night. So at around 3:30 pm, i headed out to the spot to move a few blinds-one being to the roost. The roost looks like a giant stair step, with a pasture being at the top and a pasture at the bottom of the hill. Around 6:00 pm, i heard a gobble probably 200 yards away, but i didn’t think anything of it since it was so early. As the tom got closer and closer from behind, i heard i hen yelp at the bottom of the roost followed by a gobble 
Different bird! I repositioned myself in anticipation that the hen and Tom would come straight up the middle of the roost. After waiting several minutes, several other Toms fired up making that 3 Toms in the group!! I could hear them spittin and drumin but i couldn’t see them…Finally after about 15-20 minutes, here they come up the roost!
I had to position myself to get ready to shoot uphill as they were moving toward the Tom that was moving to the top pasture and FAST! Once i saw the first Tom’s head, i drew back. However, i could only see the outline of my pins 
I knew the birds were about 35 yards and i tried to stop them, but to no avail. I took aim at the last bird and released. Unfortunately, my arrow hit the bottom of the window of the blind
The birds had no idea what happened and still hung around with all the other birds in the top field. This was at 7:20 pm, and there was plenty of light left so i decided to nock another arrow. Around 7:40 pm, i observed several hens begin to make their way into the roost from the top pasture
As they slowly made their way toward me, i got ready for the shot. I saw a bird that was too big to be a hen, and the head had a red shade to it 
At around 8:10 pm, a hen flew up into the pines and i knew that several would follow and soon! The Jake made his way to 27 yards in front of me, so that’s when i decided to draw!
I took aim for a broadside shot, and smoked him 
He flopped all the way down the hill and the other birds didn’t know what to do 
The began to fly up as well, so i decided to wait about an hour in case he went further than i thought.
At 9:05 pm, i got out of the blind to investigate where i shot him. The hens were putting above me like crazy!! But i looked down the hill, and there he laid
Second to the last day of the season, but i finally filled my tag!! And i also got a new fan for Pretty Boy 
May 31, 2012 at 3:20 pm
#211547
I gave up on filling my MN tag weeks ago. 
Congrats on the bird! 
