Borch's D Season Hunt Recap

[Borch]

My dad and daughter teamed up to chase some central Minnesota gobblers during the “D” season. My dad has chased gobblers in the Black Hill of South Dakota but this was his first hunt here in his home state. My daughter Jennifer has hunted with me here for several years but hadn’t turkey hunted for a couple of years due to her school and work schedule. She was very excited about getting in the woods again in the spring especially getting to go with her grandpa.

Scouting showed us that there were a lot of birds on the properties we were hunting. A quick scouting trip on Wednesday night found two groups of a dozen or more birds with a few smaller groups working their way to roosting areas in the rain. I called dad to give him the update and put together a game plan. The Jennifer and dad made it to the blind and didn’t take long to hear that there were several gobblers in the area with gobbling from several different locations. The toms gobbled well on the roost but shortly after hitting the ground the only turkeys talking were hens, But it didn’t take long to see that there were plenty of toms around as they filtered into the field. With several different toms strutting in the field for the hens that were there it seemed like the morning hunt was going to be a slam dunk. There was one big boss tom that pushed all his competition out of the field and worked his way slowly towards Jennifer and dad’s decoy set. Once the big tom hit 70 yards or so he slowed further and it took him over an hour to close the distance by a little more than 20 yards. He teased the hunters for another hour just out of range before he worked his way into the woods and suddenly the field was empty and the woods were quiet. After no action for another hour dad and Jennifer hit a neighboring property to see if the were any birds going there and within 30 minutes had a tom and two hens working towards their decoys. They worked within 45 yards and then stepped into the woods not to be seen again. Once again close but not close enough for the two 20 gauges they were carrying.

After a short break for lunch they decided to leave the decoys in the truck as the toms seemed to hang up when they saw them. They had a few hens stop by to check out their calls and then about 4:15 pm a tom and hen showed up in the field. After a few calls the hen started coming over to check out all the hen talk with the tom in tow. They set down the calls and waited. The two slowly worked their way closer. Finally the tom was standing there at 25 yards looking around for the hen and Jennifer send a load of #7 hevishot on it’s way. It was 4:35 pm and she had filled her tag with a 20 lb, 2 year old with 15/16” spurs and a 9 inch beard. Here she is with her tom shot on my birthday so it was a good day.

Day number two was much the same for my dad, other than there were fewer birds but the big boss tom continued to strut. After 7am things got very quiet. A few hens here and there, but no further tom sightings until the evening hunt. I joined dad and we decided to move one of the blinds based on the turkey movement the past couple mornings. We got it set up and made a few calls and a hen popped over the hill in front of us. She was alone and fed off. About an hour later I heard cutting in the woods behind us and I imitated her to try to lure her in. Fifteen minutes later the turkeys started to come out of the woods. There were two toms, a couple jakes and several hens. They slowly fed in front of us and the smaller tom worked into range. It was decision time as the bigger tom was trailing behind. We decided to wait and see if the big guy would come closer. About 20 minutes later the big guy had moved inside the magical 40 yard mark. Problem was that the hens move in close and dad didn’t have a clear shot. The hens and the big guy slow worked off and the hens finally moved away presenting a clear shot. The tom raised his head and dad shot. The tom jumped and looked around. Dad shot again and the tom ran 20 yards and looked around again. The flock regrouped and we watched them slowly work their way back towards the woods. It was a clean miss. We waited a while and then made sure it was a clean miss. I stepped off the shot and it was too long. Had the hens not escorted him those extra 10 yards the outcome would have been much different. By the time we got back to the truck the skies had opened up and the rain was here. It was going to be a wet night.

Day number three started dark, wet and windy. We didn’t here a peep from birds on the roost. We didn’t see any birds until 7:45 am when a lone turkey worked across a high spot in the field. He worked to 80 yards and then stopped and stood looking our direction for 20 minutes. He then worked away behind us and out of site. I told dad he may follow the wood edge down later. About 10 minutes later I called and thought I had heard a gobble. A few minutes later I definitely heard a gobble behind us. I called and he cut me off but sounded farther away. He gobbled a few more times and then got quiet. About 5 minutes later he gobbled much closer. I peeked behind the blind and saw him coming fast. I told dad the he was coming and to get ready. I couldn’t tell if he was a jake or a tom when I first saw him but as he worked in closer he had a good beard. He worked in close fast and at one point was as close as 12 yards. When dad pulled the trigger he was standing about 15 yards away and dad send a load of Winchester Elite #6 shot on it way. The wet tom went down hard and our hunt was over at 8:35 am on day 3. He was a nice 20 lb 8 oz two year old tom with a 9 inch beard and 13/16 and ¾ inch spurs. Here dad is with in first Minnesota tom.

Our group had a really good spring. “A” season was very tough but the “D” season sure made up for it. Overall we went 4 for 5 as a group with our smallest tom being 20 pounds. For those with seasons that haven’t started yet, you’re in for some good hunting. It’s just starting to get cranked up.

Good Luck.

[mws4dux]

Congrats on the toms...Sounds like you guys had a great spring.

[DonBo]

Congrats to you and your family Borch. You all had had a pretty exciting few days there.

[Scott M]

Nice read Borch. Great to see the plans work out.

[IlliniWalli]

congrats to all of you!!

[Gordie]

great read borch and congrats

[bassphish2005]

great job,my Mn season D was not as good,weather was awful with all the snow/rain/wind

[mrklean]

congrats

[Borch]

Yeah, I told my dad later on Sunday it was good he shot his bird int he rain on Saturday because the weather continued to get worse and worse after that.

The weather can definitely be the wild card. But they are still out there doing their thing regardless.