Post by danf on Apr 30, 2006 20:50:30 GMT -5
Well, after hunting turkeys off and on for 10+ years (the last 4 or so have been more off than on....), I finally got my first bird! 
The weekend started Friday evening; Dad met me at the shop and we drove around the corner to the woods we would be hunting. I showed him around for a while, then left him to do some scouting on his own, while I bought groceries for my daughter's birthday party on Saturday. On my way out of the woods, a tom gobbled several times in the field that I needed to walk through to get back to my truck! I had thoughts of trying to set up for him, but Dad was too far away to help call, and wasn't really wanting to shoot anything that night. I slowly and quietly walked out, never seeing the tom, sure that he didn't see me. Dad stayed in the woods until about 8:00, and never heard the first gobble after that tom shut up.
The next morning, he met me at the woods at around 0530 (EST), and while we were putting on our camo behind the truck, lo and behold, a hen (we assume that's what it was) took off from the roost less than 80 yards behind the truck. We had NO idea the turks were there until she took off. I grabbed my binocs and started looking. Even though it was dark, we could see there were at least three more turks in the tree. Figuring we were busted at that point, we went on with our original plan and set up where I had seen a tom and two hens fly down two weeks prior.
As it got lighter and lighter, there were NO gobbles in the area we were in. That had me frustrated, knowing that they had been there two weeks ago, and I had also seen their tracks in the snow that we had gotten back in March in that very area. By 8:00, no birds, no gobbles. We did have one buck come down the path until he scented us and turned tail.
With the birthday party, we couldn't stay out very long, so we left the woods by 8:30. After the party had wound down, Dad, my sister, and I fished in our pond for a while and caught a decent mess of bass and crappie. Mmmm, fresh fish for dinner Saturday night!
For Sunday morning we devised a plan to go after the tom that was roosted in the tree behind where we had parked on Saturday.
We were later getting to the woods this morning, mostly because of the weather. It flat *poured* for a while before we got up. Figuring on rain and the possibility of reduced cover in the section of woods we would be hunting, we took along the Ameristep Outhouse blind. As it turns out, it was a good thing we did!
As we drove in, we could see at least one turkey roosted in the sycamore tree. Parking further in, we quickly grabbed our gear and headed in. We thought and hoped that the tom would pitch down on the north side of the little patch of woods he was in and land in a corn field. With the wind coming out of the east and southeast, it was as close to a sure thing as you can have when turkey hunting!
At 0630, as I was putting the last stake in the ground for the blind and Dad was finishing up the decoys, he flew down in to the field, less than 150 yards away. Since we were right at the edge of the field, we didn't have much cover and had to quickly get into position. I went into the blind while Dad set up behind the decoys.
The tom started slowly working his way up the hill towards us. Dad called lightly, hoping the wind would help to carry the calls to the tom. He eventually got to within 90-100 yards, but then went into the cover along the creek. Dad tried his "disappearing hen" act; calling as he worked his way further into the woods. The tom wouldn't come back out.
I had a fairly clear view across the creek into the grassy area. I figured the tom would try to come around, possibly circling behind us. I watched for him to go through the grass, but never did see him until about 30-40 minutes after he disappeared. All of a sudden I saw him coming toward us on the other side of the creek. About that time, I heard Dad coming towards the blind. When I unzipped the door to tell him to stop, Dad was less than 10 yards behind the blind. When I told him where the tom was he stopped at the tree he was by and set up to call.
Figuring he would come out of the cover close to the decoys, I stuck the gun out the side window of the blind. Within a few minutes, I realized he was standing further down the edge than I thought he would be and I needed the gun out the front window. Hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't see the movement, I moved the gun and got ready. I didn't know what the distance was, but knew it would be close to the end of my gun's range. Drawing a bead, I waited for him to turn broadside and stick his head out. Eventually he turned head-on, then slowly turned to go back into the cover. BOOM! He was flopping!
We think he was put off slightly by the jake decoy, which had blown over shortly after Dad had put it out. I drove Dad nuts waiting so long to shoot, but I didn't want to ruin much breast meat!
Took me long enough, but I finally got one!!!!
Wieghed 24 pounds, both spurs were 22 mm and a 9 1/4" beard.
The weekend started Friday evening; Dad met me at the shop and we drove around the corner to the woods we would be hunting. I showed him around for a while, then left him to do some scouting on his own, while I bought groceries for my daughter's birthday party on Saturday. On my way out of the woods, a tom gobbled several times in the field that I needed to walk through to get back to my truck! I had thoughts of trying to set up for him, but Dad was too far away to help call, and wasn't really wanting to shoot anything that night. I slowly and quietly walked out, never seeing the tom, sure that he didn't see me. Dad stayed in the woods until about 8:00, and never heard the first gobble after that tom shut up.
The next morning, he met me at the woods at around 0530 (EST), and while we were putting on our camo behind the truck, lo and behold, a hen (we assume that's what it was) took off from the roost less than 80 yards behind the truck. We had NO idea the turks were there until she took off. I grabbed my binocs and started looking. Even though it was dark, we could see there were at least three more turks in the tree. Figuring we were busted at that point, we went on with our original plan and set up where I had seen a tom and two hens fly down two weeks prior.
As it got lighter and lighter, there were NO gobbles in the area we were in. That had me frustrated, knowing that they had been there two weeks ago, and I had also seen their tracks in the snow that we had gotten back in March in that very area. By 8:00, no birds, no gobbles. We did have one buck come down the path until he scented us and turned tail.
With the birthday party, we couldn't stay out very long, so we left the woods by 8:30. After the party had wound down, Dad, my sister, and I fished in our pond for a while and caught a decent mess of bass and crappie. Mmmm, fresh fish for dinner Saturday night!
For Sunday morning we devised a plan to go after the tom that was roosted in the tree behind where we had parked on Saturday.
We were later getting to the woods this morning, mostly because of the weather. It flat *poured* for a while before we got up. Figuring on rain and the possibility of reduced cover in the section of woods we would be hunting, we took along the Ameristep Outhouse blind. As it turns out, it was a good thing we did!
As we drove in, we could see at least one turkey roosted in the sycamore tree. Parking further in, we quickly grabbed our gear and headed in. We thought and hoped that the tom would pitch down on the north side of the little patch of woods he was in and land in a corn field. With the wind coming out of the east and southeast, it was as close to a sure thing as you can have when turkey hunting!
At 0630, as I was putting the last stake in the ground for the blind and Dad was finishing up the decoys, he flew down in to the field, less than 150 yards away. Since we were right at the edge of the field, we didn't have much cover and had to quickly get into position. I went into the blind while Dad set up behind the decoys.
The tom started slowly working his way up the hill towards us. Dad called lightly, hoping the wind would help to carry the calls to the tom. He eventually got to within 90-100 yards, but then went into the cover along the creek. Dad tried his "disappearing hen" act; calling as he worked his way further into the woods. The tom wouldn't come back out.
I had a fairly clear view across the creek into the grassy area. I figured the tom would try to come around, possibly circling behind us. I watched for him to go through the grass, but never did see him until about 30-40 minutes after he disappeared. All of a sudden I saw him coming toward us on the other side of the creek. About that time, I heard Dad coming towards the blind. When I unzipped the door to tell him to stop, Dad was less than 10 yards behind the blind. When I told him where the tom was he stopped at the tree he was by and set up to call.
Figuring he would come out of the cover close to the decoys, I stuck the gun out the side window of the blind. Within a few minutes, I realized he was standing further down the edge than I thought he would be and I needed the gun out the front window. Hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't see the movement, I moved the gun and got ready. I didn't know what the distance was, but knew it would be close to the end of my gun's range. Drawing a bead, I waited for him to turn broadside and stick his head out. Eventually he turned head-on, then slowly turned to go back into the cover. BOOM! He was flopping!
We think he was put off slightly by the jake decoy, which had blown over shortly after Dad had put it out. I drove Dad nuts waiting so long to shoot, but I didn't want to ruin much breast meat!
Took me long enough, but I finally got one!!!!
Wieghed 24 pounds, both spurs were 22 mm and a 9 1/4" beard.
