I had missed out on the opening weekend of the spring season due to work, so Monday morning I headed up to family land in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. My Uncle had advised me not to travel with my own shotgun, because he had a new one he wanted me to try. He presented me with a Mossberg 935 3.5" 12 gauge, which was topped with an EOTech holographic sight. He had sighted it in and was anxious to see how it performed in the field. My Uncle is a lifelong hunter and gun aficionado, whose word I trusted.
I got to the ground blind around 2 o'clock and found no shade on this hotter than usual spring afternoon. The blind was set up on the edge of a treeline, that formed the border between a field and the slope of a steep valley. I had kept an eye on the weather forecast, so I brought my warm weather camo (which is made with material that looks like the mesh that football jerseys are made of). Even with the hot weather gear, the unrelenting sun was going to make it hard to stay still in the blind, so I opted to fore-go the cover of the blind for the shade of a cedar tree, just to the side of the ground blind. Though the tree lacked cover, I gained comfort, so I knew that I could sit still for a longer period. After doing a few calls and getting no response, I sat back and enjoyed to beauty of the day. A short while later, I heard approaching foot steps in the dry leaves moving up from the valley behind me. As the steps got closer, I could tell that it was two birds, but they weren't making the noises which are usually associated with hens. The adrenaline dump hit and my breathing became conscious to me. The hardest thing that I had to do was to stay still and it became an intense battle to control what are normally thoughtless functions. I could tell that the bird behind me to the right had gone behind the tree that formed the base of the blind. The bird behind me to the left was close... really close. Suddenly the foot steps to my left went from the crunch of dry leaves to the softness of grass. Remaining still, I peered out of the corner of my eye and had a Tom 5 yards to my left. He entered the field and had no idea that I was right next to him. He was focused on the lone Bobbin' Head Feeding Hen decoy that I had put in the middle of plowed section of the field. The bird to my right entered the field and began scratching the ground. I sized them both up and opted to go for the bigger bird to my left. He walked the edge of the plowed section and circled behind the decoy. He was so focused on the decoy that he had no idea when I lifted my gun. I squeezed the trigger with him at 19 yards and saw the Federal Mag Shok #6's knock he down like a 9 pound sledge hammer. The bird to my right jumped about 10' in the air, looked around, and headed out of sight. I rushed to the downed bird and stood on his neck until he quit doing the death flop and gave up the ghost.
He weighed 23 pounds 6 ounces on the digital scale. His spurs measure 1 1/4 inches and his beard had a longest strand measurement of 12.5". He truly is a trophy bird and is my biggest to date. I am going to do a tail, beard, and spurs mount that I will photograph in a couple of weeks, when it properly dries.
Here are some pictures:
I got to the ground blind around 2 o'clock and found no shade on this hotter than usual spring afternoon. The blind was set up on the edge of a treeline, that formed the border between a field and the slope of a steep valley. I had kept an eye on the weather forecast, so I brought my warm weather camo (which is made with material that looks like the mesh that football jerseys are made of). Even with the hot weather gear, the unrelenting sun was going to make it hard to stay still in the blind, so I opted to fore-go the cover of the blind for the shade of a cedar tree, just to the side of the ground blind. Though the tree lacked cover, I gained comfort, so I knew that I could sit still for a longer period. After doing a few calls and getting no response, I sat back and enjoyed to beauty of the day. A short while later, I heard approaching foot steps in the dry leaves moving up from the valley behind me. As the steps got closer, I could tell that it was two birds, but they weren't making the noises which are usually associated with hens. The adrenaline dump hit and my breathing became conscious to me. The hardest thing that I had to do was to stay still and it became an intense battle to control what are normally thoughtless functions. I could tell that the bird behind me to the right had gone behind the tree that formed the base of the blind. The bird behind me to the left was close... really close. Suddenly the foot steps to my left went from the crunch of dry leaves to the softness of grass. Remaining still, I peered out of the corner of my eye and had a Tom 5 yards to my left. He entered the field and had no idea that I was right next to him. He was focused on the lone Bobbin' Head Feeding Hen decoy that I had put in the middle of plowed section of the field. The bird to my right entered the field and began scratching the ground. I sized them both up and opted to go for the bigger bird to my left. He walked the edge of the plowed section and circled behind the decoy. He was so focused on the decoy that he had no idea when I lifted my gun. I squeezed the trigger with him at 19 yards and saw the Federal Mag Shok #6's knock he down like a 9 pound sledge hammer. The bird to my right jumped about 10' in the air, looked around, and headed out of sight. I rushed to the downed bird and stood on his neck until he quit doing the death flop and gave up the ghost.
He weighed 23 pounds 6 ounces on the digital scale. His spurs measure 1 1/4 inches and his beard had a longest strand measurement of 12.5". He truly is a trophy bird and is my biggest to date. I am going to do a tail, beard, and spurs mount that I will photograph in a couple of weeks, when it properly dries.
Here are some pictures:
