Wish I had info to help you have a successful hunt, I have hunted easterns since 1978, in half a dozen states. Have killed many, many gobblers in the spring. Fall is a different story, have had some success, but in the fall they are mainly targets of opportunity. They only call when busted up...
Have never heard longbeards make the lost call, bust up a flock of gobblers and they gobble. Old hens and young of the year are easy to call when busted up. Old gobblers not so much.
american tactical, about 600 bucks but you get interchangeable chokes, barrel selector, selective ejectors/extractors. And its pleasing to the eye and balanced well. Accepts Beretta/Benelli Mobile chokes
I have several higher end loopy 's, a Nightforce NXS. Arkens are just as good IMO and 1/3 the price.
edited to add what I have that I use
loopy vari-x II
3x9x40, 4x12x40, 6x36, 6x18x40
loopy vari-x III
2.5x8x36, 3.5x10x50, 6.5x20x44?
loopy mark VI
6.5x20x50, 8.5x25x50
Nightforce 5.5x22x50 NXS...
Tried to upload a video that I took one morning gobbler hunting. Saw a tick crawling up the sleeve of my treated hoodie. By the time I got to videoing him he was completely disoriented and went in small circles for over a minute, then flipped over on his back and died. Video is too large to...