Turkey Talk

[Guyon]

Past couple of weeks, I've been doing a lot of this...

And this happened...

19 pounds, 1" spurs, 9 1/4" and 6" beards. I'd been patterning this bird for a while, and he liked to walk a pasture fence line and gobble his fool head off. So I set up at zero-dark-thirty last Thursday right by the fence and waited for the fly downs. About every fifteen or twenty minutes, I'd yelp softly a few times and let it be. Three hours later, I was still waiting, still yelping every now and then. Finally, at 8:30, I yelped and he gobbled so loudly my heart skipped. Right up the ridge. Here he comes, I thought. Got my gun up and waited. And waited. And waited. Twenty minutes later, he gobbled BEHIND me. Damned bird had uncharacteristically crossed a fence, crossed a ditch, and walked down to the strip of field to my rear. I yelped one more time to confirm, and he went off again. Sure enough. Right behind me. It took me about twenty minutes to creep 30 yards down to the edge of the woods, which was fortunately overgrown and well covered. I finally saw him through a small break in the foliage. He was stock still, head up. In retrospect, he probably heard me and thought I was the hen coming to him. We both stood still for about ten minutes before he finally put his head down, and started feeding and moving away from me. I eased closer to the woods break, slipped my gun through a hole in the cover, and when his head went back up, he went down. Curious, I brought a range finder a few days later. At least a 50-yard shot--the longest I've ever made on a bird. Also the only bird I've shot while standing up.

So who got birds this season?

 

[hlee]

Our turkey season is only 1 month long (spring only), and we are limited to a single gobbler per hunter, so we try to make the most of the time available. Most of the state has both a spring and a fall season, with a 4 turkey limit (spring is gobblers only). On the second day of the season we sat where we new they were heading and waited for daylight. It was unbelievable the number of birds that we had sounding off. They were gobbling in 5 different directions and I could barely get out a yelp without getting cutoff. After about an hour of listening to gobblers from every direction we had a group coming in on a wire. They were coming in straight for us, and at about 10 yards they made a hard left for our decoys. Gun already raised, I told her to pick one and shoot him. She left her glasses at the cabin and <apparently> can't see the bead on the end of the gun without them. Three shots and a flurry of feathers later we had three empty hulls, a few shed feathers, 4 very confused and lovesick gobblers high-tailing it out of the area, and one seriously upset wife... Despondent, she nearly threw the gun at me and tried to huff off to camp. Having none of it, I made her stay put. I knew they were out here and hadn't been shot at in a year, so odds were that we still had a chance. Not long after, a silent gobbler tried to sneak in behind us, and another one after that. Then, from a different direction, another is moving in. They came and went without presenting a shot opportunity. But, less than an hour after she had missed her turkey we had a (different) group of 3 coming in from the opposite direction the first 4 left. One of them poked his head up at about 30 yards and I put 1 1/8 ounce of heavy shot in his melon. We saw 15 different gobblers and a hen that morning.



The next weekend my wife was ready for redemption. We sat in the same spot, knowing that the turkeys use that area as a natural travel lane and there was bound to be one that would make a mistake. I'm not sure how many times I asked if she had her glasses, but it was probably getting annoying. But, she had them. What a difference a week makes. The week prior the woods were loud. Turkeys were gobbling, clucking, putting, and yelping from every direction. This week it was silent. Depressingly silent. The sun cam up without fanfare and with nary a peep from a tom. But still we sat, and called... and waited... and waited... and called. Then, boom, from just on the other side of a hedge a gobbler exploded. And not just one, but 4 birds were on their way in. Knowing that less is more, I shut up and let them work. I had given my wife a landmark as the edge of shotgun range and told her to get the gun up. Pick one, put the bead on his head and when he is in range, shoot. BOOM. One bird falls over backwards and the others clear out fast. Two completely different experiences, but the same result. Gobbler down.



I had my older son on a tom as well (the following weekend), but he was just out of range of the 20 ga and I didn't want to risk an injured bird or my son having less than a stellar experience. The gobblers were active and vocal, so it was a good first hunt even without a bird on the ground. But, he's hooked and is already excited for next year. The remainder of the season was too rainy to get out.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Beautiful birds fellas!!

We got to do a little turkey calling/chasing out here in the West, too.

Scenery shots













Snuck into a travel corridor and called for a bit. There were a few birds answering, but far off and not worked up. I set the decoy in their direction, though, in case they heated up, and then set in for the duration. Maybe 45 minutes in, a gobbler let off straight behind me, maybe a hundred yards out. I was in a pretty poor spot with him coming from that direction, but just had to let it play out, with no time make adjustments.

At 45 yards he hung up. I don't know what put him on edge, but finally made the decision to raise, turn and take him after I could tell the change in him. Luckily things worked out and he piled up. Guyon, congrats on the 50 yard shot, that's a piece out there man :thumbup:








He was a nice big tom, with a good beard for here. Here it is on the GSO 10.



I was able to get one called in for my daughter, too. She took a really nice gobbler, here's his beard on the Rat Mastiff.



Are your guy's birds Eastern variety? I think this one is a Merriams, and I don't think they get as big???? But I weighed this one and he was 18 lbs. Thanks for sharing your hunts!

 

[mewolf1]

Wish I could talk turkey. I haven't hunted in two years.

 

[RobertK]

Went again this morning. Still coming home with my head hanging low.