Around 7:20 A.M. I had just stood up to stretch and peek out the roof hole, and was in the midst of telling Marc about a hunt where I had done the same thing and been surprised by a gobbler, when I looked out the window and saw a red and white head bobbing by the opening in the fence!!! I whispered to Marc but the bird continued into the timber, not turning in the gap. Marc hit his call, and the bird gobbled, a few seconds later he called again and the bird answered, with a third gobble just on the field edge and shortly the head reappeared in the gap in the fence. The bird was being extremely cautious but when he caught glimpse of the decoy and verified there were no hostile gobblers in the area, he started our way, tripping on the downed fence before getting into the field and popping into strut at 50 yards. The bird put on a show strutting all the way to the decoy at 15 yards before Marc finally finished him with one shot!!! Hoots and hollers and high fives, and we had bird number one on the ground for 2012, in nearly impossible weather conditions.
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| Marc with bird: 21 lbs, 9 7/8" beard, 1" spurs |
April 17, 2012:
I was on my own on day 2 and the weather was much more enticing...50 degrees, no wind, and clear skies were forecasted and the stars greeted me on my drive to a farm that I had never hunted, much less ever heard a turkey on. I had recently reunited with an aunt and uncle that I lost track with over the years, and they were kind enough to allow me a chance to turkey hunt their property. I went in completely blind with one trip under my belt to check the property lines, I had been rained out on my prior scouting trips so I had no idea if I would hear anything at all.
The calm morning started quietly and finally a bird sounded off to the South. I just knew another bird would start gobbling closer but as night gave way to daylight I realized that would not be the case. The only bird I could hear was on extreme edge of the property or so I thought. I decided to head that direction as he was gobbling about every five minutes or so. My lack of experience on the farm caught up to me quickly, as I started cutting across an old cow pasture and ran into cattle corrals, and old fences all grown up in nearly 10 years of brush. Crossing 7 fences or cattle panels, I fought thick brush to the point I had to give up and turn around on 2 occasions. Finally taking a mile detour I arrived on the far end of the farm...only to hear the bird gobble and he had moved across the road onto property I cannot hunt. I hit the call a few times and he ignored me.
I decided to head back to the original starting point and do some "cutt'n and runn'n." My second stop was a spot where I had noted when walking the farm with my uncle, it was just one of those places that looked "turkey." I could see myself killing a bird there, a rolling pasture with timbered draws meeting a creek that adjoined the neighbors huge open bottom field. I cut on my crystal call and low and behold an answer! Multiple birds answered, they were far but they were definitely gobblers. I eased down the pasture another 200 yards and hit the call again at the head of an old field road. Two birds sounded off, then a hen, then I spotted them up on a big hillside on the neighbor's ground. Two big beautiful strutters and several other birds, mostly hens. I hit the call again while watching through binoculars and the lead hen, turned and started leading the entire procession right at me! They were over 300 yards away, so I had plenty of time to set the decoy and get comfortable. About 10 minutes later I hear a hen yelping and then the gobblers answer, they are much closer and still seem to be headed my way.
I decide to call to the hen, and for the next 20 minutes we exchanged vulgar turkey language with each other with the gobblers putting on a show. The hen closed the gap and finally I heard her cutting and yelping up a storm so close I was sure she would pop out of the woods at any moment. I had a creek, a fence, and 30 yards of thick timber between myself and the birds, and the hen decided since she had the gobblers it was in her best interest not to cross all the obstacles. Every once in a while I could get a glimpse through the brush of a big tail fan back lit by the sun, and the birds continued to put on an audio show from less than 60 yards for another 20 minutes before heading out.
I made a game time decision that based on the number of hens and the way they acted it would be best for me to head to another farm,. I made the long walk out and drove back to a farm near my home. It is a very small farm with less than 30 acres of timber, but it has been known to hold a few turkeys. Recent trail cam video and pics showed a couple nice longbeards on the property, so I parked the truck on the field road and headed in to do some calling. I headed to a flat near a ridge where gobblers had hung out late morning in the past. I set up and called a few times from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Given the calm day and the small farm, I was sure if anything was going to fire up it would have in that time frame so I headed for the truck. I was walking along the edge of a waist high rye grass field when I spotted something strange in the neighboring field out in front of me...a small black dot in a field that was nothing but brown dirt on the way in! I verified it was a turkey and I started a crouched walk to get closer. I closed the distance to about 400 yards and then began to walk on my knees. The rye was so tall, it concealed everything but my head. At 300 yards, I dropped my turkey seat and began to crawl on my hands and knees, taking no chances. As I moved towards the bird, he was working towards a cut that would take him up out of the bottom and away from me. It was like a race where I could not go fast. Crawling 20 yards, checking the bird, crawling again, etc. Finally I ran out of taller rye and had closed the gap to within 40 yards of the plowed field edge.
To set the stage, the bird is working parallel to the creek bottom. To get to me he will have to pass by a bridge that is for tractors and implements, etc...20 yards beyond the bridge on the other side of the creek...is my big shiny...truck! I had nothing to lose at this point so I never even thought twice about trying to call him past my truck. I pulled out the decoy, set it and belly crawled up to a maple tree where my wife had sat to kill a turkey two seasons ago. Ironically, the truck was sitting in that exact spot on that day and her bird paid no attention to it at all.
I was about to hit the call, when I realized I left the bag laying in the rye next to the decoy and it was shining like a beacon! Back on the ground , belly crawling back to the decoy, grab the bag, check the bird...for the first time I see a beard swinging and confirm he is at least a 2 year old! The only problem is he has closed to within a couple hundred yards at this point and is nearing the cut which will take him away from me. He is higher up in the field and I felt exposed. I crawled back to the tree using a large clump of grass to keep him shielded from me. I eased up to the tree, getting settled just as he appeared from behind the clump headed into the cut. I hit the call and he immediately turned towards me! My heart rate jumped and I made sure the gun was comfortable. As he dropped back down the hill he was directly in line with the previously mentioned clump of grass and disappeared for what seemed like 10 minutes. Although it was only a couple minutes at most, I was fretting on what to do, was he running at me, did he turn away is he standing there? Finally he appeared at about 100 yards and stopped to look. From his angle all he could see was a turkey head high rye grass out in front of him. He was extremely cautious as he approached and as he closed to 75 yards he started angling away towards the timber instead of towards my location. I gave him a light series of yelps on my mouth call, and he turned back my direction. I put the cheek on the gun as he went in a dip at 50 yards. I concentrated on keeping my breathing under control as I peered down the gun barrel looking for that red and white head. Finally the bird appeared IN THE RYE, eyeballing the decoy, he took a few steps towards me, when he walked he was out of sight due to the height of the rye, and he stopped to take one final look at the decoy. I settled the bead and pulled the trigger, and the bird disappeared into the rye. The standard celebratory hoot was put on hold as I stood and went to where the bird was at, I was almost on top of him before I finally saw him in the tall grass. I was elated, a tough two days of hunting, and I closed the deal on a late morning gobbler. 2 for 2 in 2012!
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| April 17, 2012: 19 lbs 13 oz, 13/16" spurs, 9 9/16" beard |
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