Fringe turkey

[123fish]

This a a nice tom that I called in for my buddy amongst the corn and bean fields of far southwest Minnesota. These birds moved in to our area from the Rock River area of Luverne over the past two years. We called this gobbler out of the sandpit that you can see the trees in the picture into the sandpit across the road where we had permission to hunt. There were two gobblers that had been roosting almost every night in the over grown sandpit that probably hasn't been worked in thirty years. It's only a hundred yards wide by a hundred fifty yards long. My guess is that neither tom had seen a hen all spring long and were eager for some loving which made even my calling sound good. He strutted right down the gravel road and came through the ditch up on to the property where we had our decoy. My buddy made a good 17 yard shot and had his first Minnesota eastern. 23 lbs., 1 inch spurs, and double bearded with 8.5" and a 3.75" beards. I call them fringe turkeys because this about as fringe as an area as you are going to get as far as turkey habitat goes. An abandoned sandpit here and old farmstead there and that's it. If there's not a bird right where you are hunting you are not going to see one no matter how patient you are because there is no more to come. On the other hand if you have one scouted there is a real good chance you are going to get a shot if you don't screw it up. Pretty much an all or nothing propisition.

[haverhunting]

Very nice bird. It pays to be persistent!

[Shu]

Great bird, congrats! The colors really shine in that first pic.