I got my 4th AL turkey on 4/24 but forgot to post the story, so here goes.

I got 3 in the first 10 days, and hunted 3 weeks to get the last one. A lot of the reason for that is that I spent 6 mornings chasing this one. I saw him 4 different times and had him around 50 yds twice, but he always got by me.

He started the season roosting near cutover and would fly down into it and wait on the hens to come. A couple of weeks into the season, he started roosting in a prescribed burn and he didn't want to leave it. He was always call shy and a loud yelp would shut him up, and he got worse as the season went on. And there were times when he was just lucky. My grandson would have gotten a shot at him one morning but his dad decided they should move just a few seconds before he appeared. I almost got him the morning before I did, but he took an unexpected path and gave me a mock gobble as he went by.

Finally, his luck ran out. I heard him gobble in the burn and was about to set up on him when I flushed a hen off the roost. She didn't putt, and flew in the opposite direction, so he likely thought she was just flying down. I knew I was in great position so I decided to just not call, and let him walk up to me looking for the hen. That almost worked, but he hung up as always, just out of sight and gobbled a bunch. I scratched leaves to try to make him think it was his hen, but he wanted her to come to him.

He finally moved away, so I decided I had to call, and there was only one call in my vest that he hadn't heard. I pulled out my Dixie Darling box and made 2 clucks and the a couple of the lightest yelps I could make. He gobbled back at me and returned to the spot where he had been strutting. I didn't call anymore, but kept scratching leaves and he finally decided he had to check it out.

He seemed to be an old turkey with a thick double beard and a 1&3/8" spur on one side. The other spur was deformed from some sort of injury. He was a good turkey to finish the season, and I'm very thankful that I got to experience another turkey season. Good luck to all still hunting!
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