Stories from the hunt - Spring Turkey Hunting '06

[Hotspotter]

Just got back from NW Nebraska, and the area was challenging to say the least.

We were greeted with some good patches of snow in the hills, remnants of a storm that dumped 12" of the white stuff just 2-3 days prior to our arrival. Temps were warm, and the snow dissappeared after two days of hunting though. Unfortunately, it was our supposition that after being covered by a foot of snow, many of the hen-nests failed, and breeding started right back up again. Conditions, and the gobblers' behavior seemed to indicate just that.

All birds we came across were seriously henned up, and intent on covering whatever ground necessary to keep competing hens from stealing their gobblers. We had many close calls, and even a near kill or two, but in the end, I took the lone bird of our party of three, on the last hour of the last day of the hunt.

He was a 14.5lb jake that I would not pass up again if I had the chance. That was the 4th and final day of the hunt, and he took some real work to get. In the end, he fell due to the actions of the lead hen that was running a flock of about 15 birds around the hillsides. It took 4 different moves/repositions, and too much belly-crawling to get above them at a distance of 50 yards before making my call. Anything outside of that comfort zone was promptly cut off with hard yelps, and even more promptly responded to by high-tailing it the other direction.

I was lucky to take this Merriams, my first, but happy to have the chance to hunt this gorgeous country for 4 days even more.

[Borch]

Way to go Joel on a hard earned merriam!

So much for them being an easy subspecies to hunt.

When they are henned up they are tougher to call in than any eastern I've encountered.

[run-n-gun]

Nice bird Joel!

Borch, you have mail!

[Ray Esboldt]

Good job Joel. Sounds like you earned that boy.

[Sergeant Slabber]

FINALLY...a SUCCESSFUL turkey hunt! This was my 6th opportunity to bag a gobbler and this time I didn't screw it up. This past Friday at 8:00 I bagged a 25lb'er. The whole cenario was beautiful. I called him to within about 20 yards, watching him do his half-a** strut along the way. My heart was in my temples, but I kept my cool and remembered what I have learned from all my other botched attempts. What a rush! It was a very special moment for me that I will never forget. I even find myself waking up in the middle of the night playing the whole thing over and over in my mind. I believe I am truly addicted now!

[Borch]

Congrats Sergeant!

What an awsome bird!

[catmaster1557]

Went out this morning for the first time this year. My hunt couldn't have gone any faster. There was a Tom roosting about 70 yards from me. He flew down and came right at me. Bagged him at 6:02. This is my third hunt and my third bird Also my first Tom so i was pretty excited. Nothing really to brag about. 21 lbs 4 inch beard, 3/4 inch spurs. Already can't wait for next year.

[brittman]

Season E.

1st day in the big woods saw seven turkeys, including four jakes - no gobbling. Perfect spring day.

2nd day was spent on a farm that can hold birds. Saw a few hens milling about - hear no gobbling - but it was WINDY.

Day three could not have run better. Hunted with a friend, although we split up in big woods and hunted alone. We each took a bird.

His (6:05AM): 17 pounds, 9 inch beard

Mine (7:30AM): 23 pounds, 10 inch beard, and 1 3/4 inch hooks. By far the biggest gobbler I have shot.

Story will follow after I have a good nap.

[Borch]

Way to go Brittman!!!

Those are some serious hooks!!

[Hotspotter]

Brittman:

Congrats dude! 1 3/4....be careful with those things....that is downright nasty.

I scored today too, though the story is somewhat bittersweet.

Good job on a great bird.

Joel

[Hotspotter]

"E"-season, brother Steve and I.

1st day - We're within 70 yards from a loudmouth bird, first to gobble in the morning (by 1/2 hour, no lie), and last bird to gobble last night when we roosted him. He stayed in his tree for quite a while and waited for all the talking hens in the area to get nearby. They didn't seem to like me as competition, and dragged him away from us.

Later in the morning, we tried to cut off a group of 5 traveling toms, but got pinned down on the final/crucial part of our sneak. We had 40 yards to get to a fence and setup, but just couldn't do it for fear of bumping the hen and losing the gobblers. They wouldn't come in to our field. Told my brother that I only do the "cross-under-the-fence" call for paying customers.

Later that morning, had a silent tom on a different property come in and gobble at the spot we were just setup. I have not the patience to wait 40 minutes at each setup.

Day 2 - Loudmouth is at it again, this time I'm going high on the hill towards the strut zone that the hens led him to the day before. Hens go low....cross road. A jake lands 15 yards from me. I pass on him. Frustrated, I go to another property, and pass on 3 more jakes, including a "super-jake" that appeared to have about a 6" beard with an almost-complete fan. High winds shut down most of the gobbling activity rest of the day.

Day 3 - I roosted a different bird last night, and I know the limb he's on. I know where his hen is, and I know where he's going to land (from previous experience, this is an annual roosting location). I get between the two early to avoid spooking. He lands 60 yards out.....hen is already down and working due north of her tree. Gobbler takes direct line towards her, which keeps him at about 60 yards out the whole time. He gobbles at everything I throw at him, while maintaining a stiff-legged walk towards her. Odd. Awfully odd to be that close with such little effect. Bad-bird. Almost as bad as loud-mouth.

I quit on those two and head off to where some more gobbling is happening down in the valley. These birds have hens too, and they're fighting. The fighting purrs are great to hear, and the gobblers can't get enough. There sounded to be 4-5 of them. I got within 100 yards but couldn't see them. They headed off towards property I can't hunt, otherwise I think I would've been able to pull one or two away if I could've maintained contact.

Nothing going, 7AM, sit in a strut zone and call. 7:30 I see a hen, followed by two gobblers, followed by 2 jakes in the distance. They're coming right for me at a decent clip. At 100 yards they go into a dip in the field out of sight, and are invisible for 15 min. What happened? I see movement to my left.....way left, way out of range is the hen.....then I see a red head coming out of the dip about 45 yds away. Probably one of the gobblers? The jakes were so far away. He inched his neck higher and higher, and I decided to shoot.

The flapping finale found a good jake kicking his jake buddy while down. The gobblers followed the hen, and came into view as I stood. Should've known, but that was jake #6 that I'd had a chance at, and I think someone was trying to tell me something (my wife, that is).

Glad to take a bird, he'll taste great, but I'm dissappointed that my season is done on day 3. I don't like to take jakes either, as I figure that's next year's gobbler that I like to chase. Next year I'll be much more careful. Could've ended up empty-handed, and that would've been OK by me, but now I can try to call in a better bird for my brother.

Ray is going to get me now

[brittman]

Not that anyone on this site will likely see the hooks, but

I measured the bird's beard and spurs (myself) this morning and to be honest, the hooks are "just" 1.5 inches.

I saw the scale - but the guy at the bait shop / registration center must have measured wrong. These guys were pretty excited to see two nice Toms drop into their store.

Still - they are both sharp, polished, and long hooks.

[brittman]

Now the story. We walked into the woods about an hour before sunrise. Big woods, public land. As we approached the river, I headed north and my hunting partner head south. I follow the ridgeline and reach a point on the ridge blocked by a feeder creek and waited to hear gobbling. Two days before – heard nothing here. Heard a gobble off to my left – it was pretty far away and likely on private land.

Then a gobble – straight ahead, but beyond the feeder creek. I had to cross the creek. Headed down the ridge. It took about five minutes to find a point to cross. Knee high rubber boots and gore-tex rain pants made the decision easy. Wade across quickly. Climbed up the ridge. Gobble. I moved along the ridge until I was about 80 yards from the roosted gobbler. Hit a soft tree yelp – gobbler answered. Called about every 10 minutes – gobbler would answer, but he would not cut-off my calls.

A few minutes before sunrise I hear the bird fly down. Then a gobble. He flew down the ridge into the valley – 90 degrees away from me. He gobbles again and it is clear he is moving along a small trail along the river. I cut back and then down the ridge, through a grass swamp, then through an alder swamp. I sit my butt down in the first set of woods and call lightly. No direct answer, but I hear the gobbler – he is moving down the trail past my location.

Through another small alder swamp and I am on the trail. I hear a shot and will learn that my partner dropped a nice 2 year old bird further down the ridgeline.

I know this trail as it moves in and out of clearings, etc… Toms use this trail to strut on. Need to be careful as I move down the trail – if the gobbler sees me – gig is up. Probably walk down the trail about 100 yards – not hearing any gobbling from this bird. Just as I hit the edge of a clearing – GOBBLE, GOBBLE. I drop into the brush and bush. I spot his white head. Tom is strutting on the trail about 75 yards away – just on the other side of the clearing.

Time to plant myself down. Try a few different calls – glass, slate, but the call the gobbler responds to is an old Lynch Foolproof. I call every 5 to 10 minutes. He answers, but stays put. It gets quite along the trail, then I hear gobbler – he is moving along the base of the ridge – just about where my trail strutting gobbler could get too. This gobbler is active and circling around the clearing – right to me. I cannot see him, but he is gobbling. Then I hear a hen yelp (aggressively) and pull this gobbler away. The bird(s) head away back up the ridge. I call, but they are leaving.

OK – now I am thinking – it’s over. About to stand up and walk down the trail – when gobble, gobble, gobble. The bird is still on the trail. I call once and then decide - well I know I often call too much – so I place my calls down and push my self back behind the bush. No trees to hide along – just a big bush –with no leaves.

I wait. A gobble or two, but he is not moving.

Well out of the corner of my eye I spot a hen – she walks past me along the trail. I am just 10 paces away. A hen PUT and I know I am in trouble. Well the hen walks by and heads into the trees. OK this gobbler had at least one hen. Now I am thinking that gobbler has to be coming my way.

I am sitting tight, in a small ball behind the bush. Heart is racing. Then I hear it. Spitt’n and Drumm’n. Gobbler is about 15 yards away, but on the other side of the bush. His big red, white, and blue head is shining in the brief sunshine. He is strutting, spitt’n and drumm’n. Then while facing me at about 10 yards away he double GOBBLES. It is LOUD.

Now he is coming around the curve in the trail just past my bush. He goes into a strut and faces away for a split second. I raise my gun and find a clear path for my barrel and shot string. He breaks out of his strut and lifts his head up. Boom. Gobbler never moved an inch. Down at 15 paces.

Walk up – he is dead. Turn him over to realize this is a big 3 year old gobbler.

[Ray Esboldt]

Joel,

If you just can't handle eating that bird because of the guilt, I'll swing over and pick it up. Man, that bird is gonna taste good.

You know, you said it was umpteenth jake you encountered in your area. You probably didn't hurt the population. But, I know, convictions are convictions. You'd like to stick with them when you can.

We've determined that we will not take a Jake this year from our MN land. The birds have been struggling a bit there in the last couple years. However, the Wisconsin land is filthy with birds. If my taste buds get the best of me, I'm swinging at one. Hey, I passed on a jake last year so he could step out of the way so I could kill his papa.

[Hotspotter]

Ray:

Well stated....he'll taste great It was more that I thought yet another gobbler was going to get the slip on me, and I didn't want to have that happen again! Like you, I know the value of passing on a jake to get the big guy, and I think it's worth it when it works out.

Can't wait to hear how your hunt goes!!!

Brittman:

Great story. VERY quality bird at 1.5". Your honesty is very unlike a turkey hunter 1.75" is a tough-one to get to, see it only once or twice a season around here for whatever reason. Although this year in the yard, late march, I had two old boys running together with all the hens that had spurs just shy of 2". Not that I got out to measure, but I had the spotting scope on them several times.

One thing regarding your hunt that I thought was noteworthy, was his gobbling to you when you were closing the distance.....at about 75yds out. This has happened to me many times over the years, and has killed several gobblers.

That type of gobble, I believe, is an instance where he hears you closing the distance and thinks you're a hen. Or perhaps he's not sure what you are, and is "checking" you by gobbling. Either way, a good move here is to freeze.....then slowly make your way to the ground. Do what Brittman did, give it a second and respond with some soft yelping. I like to do just a few clucks here too. Just this year I called in a gaggle of jakes that I thought had "busted" me. I made a few soft calls and they were at 20 yards within a minute.

Awfully nice of them to give you a gobble warning before you actually spook them

Great hunt and great bird, on public land no less. A true trophy.

Joel

[Borch]

Congrats on a great hunt there Joel. You may not have ended up with the bird you wanted but he'll be tasty.

Good Luck to your brother.

[Cooter]

Got to the hunting area about 8:30 Wed near L. Pepin, WI. Called one in around 11 - he came in silent and saw me about the time I saw him. A quick yelp on the mouth call while raisin the 12 ga paused him long enough to squeeze a few bb's through the sumack - I killed more sumack than turkey but got him. Old ridge runner, 19lb with inch and 3/8 spurs. Lightest bird in a while but I think best spurs.

[Borch]

Good job Cooter!

That Sumac needs to be trimmed back a bit anyways.

[Hotspotter]

Nice work Cooter! Those older birds come in silent pretty often, so they're tougher to kill. Anything around 1 1/4" spurs is big IMO for the upper midwest.

Was out looking for morels with the wife. She had a sneezing fit and made a bird in the corner of the field shock gobble at about 75 yards. Time - 4:30PM.

After getting off 3 shots earlier the next morning, brother headed to said corner of field at 1:30PM. By 3:30, bird was dead. 20lbs, 9" beard, 1/2" spurs.

Joel

[Swamp Scooter]

Finally I have something to write and not just read!!! First time trying for the turkey and would never have done it if not for the invite of a friend who I met off of the site.

5/7 Opening day. Got to the spot I wanted in time to get set up and hidden. Put out 2 decoys. Not sure if I needed to or not but I thought give them a try. Heard 3 seperate gobblers around me but nothing I considered too close. Heard a few hens and then all was quiet until about 7:20. Opened up my tired eyes and had a hen walking right in at 25 yards. She mulled around and fed through and gave the decoy a good look. Looked harder at the passive jake than the hen which she scratched right next to and then fed off. I called a bit in the early morning when the hens were collecting the boys but not much seemed to be coming up to my little field. Packed up about 8 and then met my partner. He was luckier and saw a legal bird.(Have to let him tell his parts) We moved around to different spots and still saw no birds in the open or calling out. Looked for some new areas and then headed back birdless and tired in the early afternoon.

5/8 Both of us set up in my area this morning as I had gobblers around the day before. They were very active and shock calling to the real owls around the valley. Had a hen fly down behind me and cluck hard and then cut and purr down the hill. Never saw her but she collected a boyfriend down the hill. Lots of active gobbles this morning and at least 5 different ones. About 6:30 I had a gobbler down below so I called softly a couple of times. Though he got interested and answered but could not tell. Waited him out a few minutes and then tried again. This time he was a ton closer and sounded hot and coming up the hill at me. Heart started pounding as I repositioned to get a better shot direction. After a couple of gobbles back to me and moving in he got quiet. So I shut down and waited. They never show up where you think they will. At about 20 feet a head popped up and stared right at me! I think I flinched but did get a look at the rosy jake face and neck. Just could not swing or move. He got nervous and scooted and ducked away and was gone. I waited it out again but heard him down the hill again by a creek and moving away toward the hens in the bottoms. Still heard gobbles but in a different field across the creek.

We both packed up and made the move to the other location nearer the birds. We moved into the river/creek bottoms and yelped softly. We could hear a hen or two around. We sat and waited a couple of minutes and then called a little bit. A hen answered back forcefully and seemed agitated. We moved up on her a little bit and then answered back. Then it got quiet and no more real activity seemed to be happening. We purred a bit and then moved up the side trail of the hill toward the large field my partner hunted the morning before. As we approached the end of the trail and got near the top of the field where we could peer through the weeds to look at the field, we heard a big thump. We both looked at each other not knowing what it was. I though it was close to the type of sound that a deer makes when it jumkps in the woods so figured there was a doe up there. We both got ready anyway. I moved a couple of feet more and then raised up slowly and heard the thump again. As I raised up I saw a fan through the weeds. I raised the gun and then the fan dropped and the full colored head in the red/lots of white/ and blue was visible. I shot... saw feathers so shot again, Then for good measure shot a whole in the empty space where the bird was too, ooops got a little excited. Then we ran up and found the Tom pretty much dead but doing a little flop. Beak and snood shot off and he was mine! The actual distance from barrel to bird was measured in feet not yards. Very surprised I did not miss. Got a very heartfelt congrats from my buddy who told me it was a very nice first bird. 9" beard, .75" spurs(each), 21#. So I think that is 54 for a score. Hunt was over by 8:40am. Could not have asked for a more memorable event. Nothing like I thought would happen. So the thump we heard was the bird puffing out and strutting with a hen that flew as I unloaded my gun on the tom and dead air space.

I learned a lot in the two days I was out. Also in the previous 3 months in reading up and learning how to call a bit. Got some very helpful tips from my partner on gear and many other things and it all paid off. Shot choices from this site, call type to get from my partner and also the choice of a vest that was worth every penny and then some. Hard to believe they are able to be found for as good as they are. It was the Gobblers Lounge from Little Big Horn Outdoors. This thing is fantastic for being able to sit anywhere and not get a sore back.

There is more to tell but my partner needs to tell his part.

I was able to pluck the bird clean without using any hot water, wax or much pulling at all. One thing I did find out is that the Tom had been shot before! There was a pellet in one of the fronts of his legs. The bird had a funky odor and now I know why. I pulled out a #6 pellet. It did not get to the bone or even the middle of the meat on the leg. Any of you ever shoot a bird like that? Really makes me happy I chose the shot and load I did. 3 1/2 mag, 2 oz shot, #4. I did have in a turkey Xfull choke but for the 15 foot shot I do not think it made much of a difference when I patterned it out to 50 yards!

[Hotspotter]

Great story, and a hearty congrats on your first bird! You're hooked. Just goes to show that if you do your homework and are prepared, opportunity is much more bound to come knocking; or at least when it does, you'll be ready to accept it.

As for your question, I've shot a few birds with pellets in them before, most notably, one about 4-5 years ago. It came strutting in behind the lead hen, and kept 2 subordinate gobblers at bay the whole time.

When I cleaned him, his back end was green and smelly. Someone butt-shot the thing, and his rear seemed ready to fall off....it appeared gangrenous. The bird was a gaunt 20lbs, but had an 11 1/4" beard with some impressive spurs to boot. Just before being shot, the thing still had the energy and will to exert his dominance over the other two gobblers he was running with!

Joel

[Borch]

Congrats on your first tom!!!!!

A nice one at that.

As far as shooting one thast had been shot before goes, I've shoot two over the past several years. One here in MN and one in SD.

Don't under estimate #6 shot. It'll kill them out to 40 yards if it patterns that far. I'm guessing someone got excited and shot further than that.

I'm guessing you'll be applying again for next spring.

[Zarkohl]

So here is the rest the story. . . . After getting swamp scooter's first bird, we set off to find me a bird. We started on the other side of the 40 acres field where we had just shot. Set out two decoys and started calling. We sat there for about 15 min. or so. Nothing. We were walking around the field and had were staring to head back to the truck. We looked up and a gobbler takes off from where we had shot swamp's bird about 1/2 hour earlier. We decided to leave the field, register Swamps bird, have lunch and hunt the afternoon. We had already seen two gobblers, a Jake and some hens.

Driving down the road we saw another hen standing in a field next to the road. We decide to swing by a friend of mine, who I used to work for. He owns a 30 acre hobby farm, but does not hunt. He is 60 or so, semi-retired. He has a few horses and has a small office attached to his garage. His place is surround by farm fields and he sees birds all the time. We stopped by to chat. As we are standing in his garage office, Swamp sees two birds out in the neighbors' field. We run out to the truck and grab the binoculars. They are both Toms, but are at least three hundred yards and moving away. The wind is blowing at about 15 miles an hour and we are down wind. We stand on the porch and swamp calls. They both turn and look, one goes into a strut. They both start gobbling, we cannot hear them, but can see the outstretched necks. They continue on into the neighbors woods.

We start talking strategy, as I know the neighbor and have hunted there before. We are just standing there talking when we look up and about 125-yards away appears another bird. It is a big Tom. We can see the beard it look huge. We both freeze as we are standing there talking. The bird simply just starts feeding along and it looks like its heading to our left, toward a strip of woods behind my friend's house. We turn and walk behind the garage. We are now standing in his drive way at the back of my pick up with the tailgate down. I am loading my gun and getting a head net on. We stay behind the truck looking thought the back window out through the windshield into the field. The big Tom is still feeding along about 125 yards in front of us. We load up and hustle the other way keeping the truck between us and the bird. We get to a small hedge, that leads up to the woods behind my friend house. The woods are about 200 yards long and 75 yard wide with large plowed fields on three side. It is located on a small rise. My friend has cut a walking path though the middle. We literally run down the path trying to get in front of the feeding Tom. We are above the bird and down wind. We can periodically see him through the brush as he is feeding along. We get to the end of the woods where the trail meets the field. We discuss putting out a decoy, but decide the bird is getting close. I just sit down on the side of the trail expecting the bird to come around the corner, Swamp is 30 yards behind me. We are both up hill in the woods. After about 30-seconds the bird suddenly appears to my right at about 20-yards. He is standing at the edge of the woods, just short of the trail opening. It looks like he is cutting through the woods towards the ridge. I take a shot and it over. It's now 11:00 a.m. Monday May 8, We hunted this bird for all of 5 min. The bird has a 10.5 inch beard & 1-1/4 inch spurs, weighs 20-lbs. Oh, Did I mention the other 8 inch beard it had? That's right, double bearded !!!! We were at the taxidermist within the hour. Swamp got some pictures of us both holding our birds. Regrettably, they are not digital, but hopefully, Swamp can still post them. A nice problem to have. Swamp's first bird and my 5th. We were two nucklehead turkey hunters, who were at the right places at the right times.

[Ray Esboldt]

Well, my Wisconsin hunt is over. It lasted exactly one hour. I guess that's good, but I wouldn't have minded a couple days worth of hunting. But, it's pretty hard to pass a good bird no matter what day it is.

Here's the story. The morning started in a heavy fog. I had located some birds the evening before - two hens and a tom. No gobbling on roost, zero. I was a bit disappointed. That's one of my favorite times of the day when the birds start lighting up. At any rate, the birds hit the ground about 5:45 AM. That's a bit later than I expected, but I suppose the fog held them back a bit. The tom gobbled twice. However, his hens really started cackling. I simply answered back or cut their calls off. One hen showed up, and then the next. I started creeping my gun up, but had to be very careful as a two deer were standing about 20 feet in front of me. Deer have blown my cover before, I didn't care for that to happen again. I got the gun up. The tom came around the corner in full strut. I clicked the safety off, gave him a real load cluck, he stuck his head out, and I touched off a round. And, that was it. I was done at 6:00 AM.

The tale of the tape:

23 3/4 pounds

9.5" beard

1" 3/8ths spurs

I'll try to post a picture later. But, I don't know. I finished dead last in the turkey photo contest last year. My pride is still dented.

[Borch]

Way to go Ray!!!!

I can't wait to see the photos. I'm sure you'll finish a place or two higher this spring.