Go with your gut
This year I’ve wanted to focus on new northern states and decided to hold back going to southern states this year. Started my season this past Monday and flirted with a bird around 7 that somehow acted like he was hunted already. He gobbled his tail of for 15 minutes about 30 yards away from me on another side of a little hill. He would move off and I’d sneak to where I heard him last, and he just would not commit. This happened 3 times, the last two times I only scratched leaves…
Nasty weather set in for the rest of the week and I decided to get my work done and play Friday and Saturday. Friday was a bust with wind blowing like crazy.
My goal was to hunt the bird that I worked on Monday and hopefully he’s still around. I arrived at the spot at 4:30 and got beat to the gate. lesson learned get you tail end up early on the weekends. Went to another spot and went for a 2 mile walk only to not hear a thing on a dead quiet morning. Wasn’t finding any sign and got little frustrated. Hit two more spots with no luck.
I was running low on fuel, and I told myself that I was going hunt near the closest gas station with the cheapest gas. Turned out to be $4.09 with state land less then 10 minutes away. Picked two spots and headed to the location.
I was almost at the beginning of the state land when out of the corner of my eye I catch two turkeys about 80 yards of the road. I Didn’t stop and headed to where I wanted to park only to have a truck parked there… it was state land on both sides of the road, the birds were on the left side which was a small piece of public while the truck was on the right, which was about 5 times the size. Took a gamble and turned around and parked about 100 yards away from the truck on the side where I saw the turkeys.
Looking at my onX I’m right on the borderline with the turkeys about 200 yards off of the state land border line. I go about 100 yards in the wood and line myself up with where I saw the turkeys last. I gave a couple cuts with my mouth call and get cut off with gobble. I run into the state land about 60 yards and cut again and the gobble is closer. I cross a dried-out creek bottom and get set up. Catch my breath and get settled and call one more time and have what sounds like to birds cut me off, I cut them off and they gobble again under 100 yards at my two o’clock. I need them to be at my 12 to be on public so I made some light yelps to my 9 and they cut me off again at about the same distance as before. Cut back at them and shut up.
Sat there and shut up pointing my gun at 12. About 1 minute later I see a headed bobbing between my 11 and 12 at about 60 yards. Then I see another behind that one. First bird was a jake and the back bird was a tom. The jake was moving around looking for me while the tom with a white head ended up spitting and drumming all puffed up about 50 yards from me right on the other side of the dried-up creek bed. Looking beautiful all puffed up. He ended up being there for a couple minutes and I was thinking to myself that he wasn’t going to cross the dried creek. Luckily, the curious jake changed that. They both moved slowly to my left and while they were behind a tree I called, and both cut me off with a gobble. The jake is at my 11 and figures out a spot to cross while the tom is strutting at about 45 yards right on the edge of the dried creek.
The jake pops up at my 1 at about 20 yards and here comes the tom fallowing suit. Jake is standing at the edge of the creek looking for me and the next things the tom pops up right behind him. At this time my gun is pointing at the jack and the tom is at about 1230 has his neck straight up looking for me. Put the red dot on his head and pull the trigger. The tom gets walloped and flips backwards into the creek bottom. The Jake stands there with no clue on what happened. Then I hear the tom flopping in the dried-up creek bed and know it was a successful shot.
Turned out to 21.5 bird with decent warn down spurs and beard
What a great way to start my turkey season!!!
