Shot this guy around 1 PM on saturday. We were nearly done with our climb back up to the pickup when we turned back to glass one last time. I spotted a herd of elk and we watched them for a bit when my girlfriend says "You're gonna hate me but guess what I see back down there..." Yup... she spotted a couple birds emerging onto private ground about a mile away and about 600 vertical feet below us where we had climbed up and out of. Down we headed and as we were dropping spotted another 5 birds funneling out of the timber onto a grassy knob. Worked our way back down there and got as close as we could but came to the public-private boundary. There were 4 toms/jakes strutting and several more hens and jakes headed down towards them on an old road. Watched and waited to see what they would do. After they all grouped up, they started heading back up where they had came from and further into the private. As the last couple of birds started to move into timber, I make a last ditch effort and cut off a hen as she is letting out some yelps. The toms fired off gobbles and all the birds disappeared into the timber. A few minutes later I spot two toms emergeing from the timber about 100 yards closer to us. We're laying on the edge of the timber, glassing under low hanging tree branches just to see them. As they reach the draw bottom they disappear from view but they won't be out of sight long. I quickly grab a hen decoy and set it up where I am lying on the ground, and we duck back into cover and climb up 25 yards where we find a place to sit on the tree line. Every time I call they gobble, but they start moving to our left and out of sight. Then something very unexpected happens, as a pickup comes rolling down the road from behind us. This road is not supposed to be traveled by vehicle, so I just about lose it as they drive by and keep on heading past our decoy and down to where we last saw the toms. My girlfriend is trying to calm me down and get me to relax and call again. To my surprise, the toms gobble as soon as I hit the diaphragm. They are now to our left and sound like they are in the timber. I move Ashley over so she can get a shot if they work their way up to us. I finally get a glimpse of a blood red head through the brush and tell her to get ready. Unfortunately, they had hit the fenceline but wouldn't cross it. Instead, they work their way back out to the road and turn in our direction. They now see the decoy and are coming in on a string. Once they cross over onto the public, I let them close the distance a little further. Ashley lets me know she still doesn't have a shot from her new vantage point, so I let the lead tom have it and he crumples up. I was really bummed that she didn't get to take her first MT gobbler, but my tag is filled and there is plenty of season left to get her on a bird. Here he is....
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great looking bird
