Gobbler got the best of him on a Saturday; hunter succeeded following Monday
Brant Grady learned a lesson about how badly even a small, rusty wire fence can ruin a turkey hunt on April 16, but he capitalized on the lesson, and bagged his trophy gobbler on the following Monday near Hurdle Mills in Orange County.
“My dad and I got on him that Saturday morning. He was very vocal and gobbling like crazy at every crow that cawed that morning. We snuck into the woods and began calling him, which got a gobble each time,” said Grady.
With the hunt going so smoothly, Grady was disappointed when things went south.
“I learned the hard way that the small, broken, rusty old barb wire fence running through the woods would ruin a good hunt,” he said.
But, Grady knew where the gobbler would be Monday morning, and with that knowledge, he went back on April 18.
“This time, I snuck as close as I could, probably 70 yards from his roost. Learning from my mistake Saturday morning, I sat on the other side of the old fence that ran through the woods. I knew I was close to him so I only did a few soft purrs and one soft yelp. He gobble at those and finally flew down about 20 minutes later,” he said.
Once the turkey touched ground, Grady knew this hunt would have a better outcome than the last one.
“I saw him about 60 yards away, and he immediately began strutting. After a brief show, he made his way to within 30 yards. As soon as his head cleared some small trees, I put my green high-vis sight on it,” he said.
Grady pulled the trigger on his Remington 11-87, and the gobbler dropped in his tracks. The bird had a 10-inch beard and spurs that measured just over an inch in length.
