By DOYLE DIETZ

Republican & Herald, Pottsville

BEAR GRASS, N.C. (TNS) — As difficult as it is to bag a spring gobbler, veteran turkey hunters enjoy upping the ante and adding to the challenge.

For many of those hunters, it means leaving their 12-gauge turkey gun at home and breaking out a .410-bore shotgun specifically designed for turkey hunting. When combined with the recently developed Heavyweight Tungsten Super Shot turkey loads, it is as lethal a combination as can be found in the field.

Last year, self-described turkey fanatic Harold Daub of Halifax used that combination to take two spring gobblers in the Pennsylvania turkey woods. Before this year’s season at home, he was looking to test the results hunting the open terrain of North Carolina.

Daub booked a threeday hunt with Mike Briley of Kill Creek Outfitters, an annual exhibitor at the Early Bird Sports Expo in January at the Bloomsburg Fairground. Primarily known for his successful deer hunts, Briley books a limited number of spring gobbler hunts — assuring plenty of unpressured birds.

Armed with his Mossberg International SA-410 Turkey Semi-Auto Shotgun, Daub was confident he had the right firearm for a challenging and successful hunt. With its smooth-cycling, gas-operated firing system, the SA-410 delivers ultra-reliable field performance and minimal recoil, and its extended choke delivers uniform patterns and exceptional accuracy.

“I’ve talked with other hunters using the SA-410 who claim to have made shots approaching 60 yards, but I’m most comfortable keeping my shots in the 40-yard range,” Daub said. “Of course, those ranges are only possible because I use Federal HEAVYWEIGHT TSS with No. 9 shot.

“This load delivers the highest pellet counts possible, and the tungsten-alloy material is 22% higher than standard tungsten and 56 percent more than lead — resulting in the most energy and highest velocities at extreme range.

“Its patented rear-braking FLITECONTROL FLEX wad performs flawlessly through ported and standard turkey chokes for the most consistent, deadly patterns possible. Its payload has advanced buffering material for extremely high pellet counts on the target.”

Daub has tricked out his SA-410 with a Nikon red-dot sight mounted on the Picatinny rail that comes standard atop the 26-inch barrel, allowing him to get on target in one easy motion. Even with the addition of the optics, the combined total weight is less than 7 pounds.

Briley uses trail cameras to pattern the activity of the birds throughout the day, as afternoon hunting is legal in North Carolina. After two days of hunting from a blind failed to provide an ethical shot at a gobbler, Daub opted to hunt the edges of peanut fields on the third and final day. His decision was rewarded when a gobbler indicated it wanted to play by sounding off at first light on the opposite side of the field.

“I watched him fly down from his roost some 300 yards away, and then watched four hens pitch into the field,” Daub said. “You don’t call a gobbler away from four hens, but I had all day to let him take care of his business.

“Calling just enough to let him know I was still interested, it was a long morning watching as the hens took turns running out of the woods to the gobbler in the field. Morning turned into afternoon and the action slowed, so I decided to get into a drainage ditch along the edge of the field. “When I looked down the mud in the ditch was covered with turkey tracks, meaning those hens would be coming my way. I decided it was best to get on some high ground where I could see into the ditch and out into the field.”

Daub was calling with his Last Step Turkey Calls slate call which is made with a special Pennsylvania hard rock slate. This allows calls to be projected at long distances no matter if aggressive or soft purrs and clucks.

Handmade in New Columbia for years as special orders, Last Step debuted its slate and box calls on the market in 2010. Using hard wood from Pennsylvania and exotic wood from South America, various sounds are created by the box calls and the designs of the sound chamber in the slate calls makes each call unique.

“I didn’t want to overcall, but when I’d let that big boy know where I was he’d answer,” Daub said. “Each time he gobbled he was getting closer.”

Finally, the parade of hens came past Daub using the ditch he had wisely abandoned. Now, it was making sure he didn’t get busted and waiting out the gobbler.

Just that quickly the gobbler’s spitting and puffing could be heard as it made its way along the opposite bank. There was no need to wait and when red dot met red head the load of TSS dropped the gobbler in its tracks.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to come back next year and get my longrange bird,” Daub said.