Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Youth Success.....

It was a great hunt this weekend. We had several encounters with highs and lows, but an overall awesome hunt. Alittle long on the story....


We went out Friday eve to try to roost a bird where I'd been hearing one hammer a couple of mornings. We didn't hear anything, but I wanted to try that spot anyway since the sign was thick and I'd heard him hammering that morning. Saturday morn we set up before light with high expectations, but didn't hear a thing in the first spot so we moved out to another area on the lease where I'd found sign. As soon as we got out of the truck 1 was hammering near a big gas line so we made a large loop to close in. When we neared the line the tom had already pitched out and was hammering away. I hit him a couple of times and he fired off some more, then I started hearing that dreaded sound of hens and there was a bunch of em! I told Dusty it was going to be tough getting this tom as he was about to be wrapped up in ladies and sure enough he shut up when they entered the gas line. We stayed off of the line about 25 yards in hopes they'd walk by. I could hear the hens getting farther away, so we decided to make a move. I eased up to the edge of the line behind some brush and the coast was clear, they'd dropped off in a branch bottom off the edge of the line. I know that area well and told Dusty they probably flank the line in the branch bottom, so we went down the line a ways and dropped off in the bottom hoping they'd head our direction. We patiently waited and a bit later I could her them coming, they were running towards us and Dusty had his gun propped on my knee waiting for that red head to appear. They turned and climbed the steep bank we'd dropped down, just out of range, and far to brushy to tell what was what. We held tight for a bit and let things lay. I felt they'd went back to the gas line, so we made another loop to cut them off. I could hear the hens talking in the line and figured if we could get ahead of them we might could intercept the tom as they walked by. After a while we spotted some turks through the brush further down the line, so I thought they were traveling faster than we thought and we set-up too short. So we looped back to put some distance between the flock and be under a hill from them. The only loop now due to the terrain would be to cross the line and loop the other side. I eased up to the line behind some brush and the coast was clear, they were over the hill from us(we thought). We hunkered down and eased across the line and just as we neared the brush on the other side two hens popped out the other direction(opposite the birds we'd seen through the brush) and I told dusty to freeze. They pecked around and luckily weren't alarmed by the two camo critters laying in the grass(us). The two hens left the line so we hit the thick brush and started our loop. I told Dusty to hang tight as I wanted to ease up to the line under the hill and glass down the line to see how far the birds had gotten. I eased up behind some thick brush and glassed them about two hundred yards down the line. Jakes! I thought the flock had gotten by us, but it was a small group of jakes we'd spotted through the brush. Some how we'd gotten ahead of the large flock undetected and those two hens were part of the flock with the tom. I glassed back the other direction and sure enough they'd came back into the line and he was entertaining the ladies. I told Dusty it may take hours, but I was pretty sure they were still headed our way and we would lay low in the thick brush off of the line in hopes we could get a crack at the tom as the flock came by. I put Dusty against a tree in front of me and handed him a forked hardwood limb I'd found near by to help him prop his gun for the long wait. We got settled in for the wait and I purred and clucked a bit. We'd only been sitting there a few minutes and I'm looking down at my calls in my lap, then I look up and in amazement that longbeard was at 15yds!! He'd left the flock after I purred and came in along the same side of the line as us and Dusty just happen to have his gun propped right were the tom stopped. I wispered "That's Him! Take Him!" and hear click, BOOM! He layed the smack on his first Eastern long beard and the hooping and high fives began. That morning I'd told him that his gun was good to 40 with the h13 6s, but if one fell in our lap to just shoot the turkey(tight up close and I didn't want him to miss). He took off 1/2 the beard and destroyed the wing. We crawled around for 20min picking up every strand of beard we could find. Luckily he clipped it right at the top and I can glue the strands back on to make a nice fan/feet/beard mount for him.

Alot of guys will leave a henned tom, but I've had some success looping the flock when they were in a gas line or traveling a creek etc. May not be the traditional approach, but hey, I don't mind lady luck visiting once in a while

I was unprepared, all I had was a cell phone for pics. Here's a couple of Dusty's tom. He was 15lbs, 9-3/4" beard, 15/16 and 7/8 spurs:



An exciting day for sure, but it got even better around 7:30pm that evening. Dusty still had a tag to burn and we were going to hit em again this morn. We went to an area were I'd found some sign and hooted a bit before dark. One started hammering in the distance, so we made tracks honing in on his location. That rascal hammered at every hoot, then two owls jumped in to make it even better. I nailed down his position, we eased out for camp, and came up with a plan.

This morn we got set-up way before light and waited for things to come to life. I hit him with some tree yelps and he hammered. I just clucked and purred a bit every few minutes and he was loving it. When I felt it was about time for fly down, I hit him with some cutting and wing flaps. He ate it up and pitched out in the clearing ahead. I hammered on him one time and he fired right back. It was getting tense and I was praying he would come in. A few seconds later I hear wing beats, a hen glides right over our head, and lights in the clearing at 40 yds. Then more beats and here comes another right over us. I'm thinking it's all over now and sure enough they went the other direction. He never gobbled again. I told Dusty we'd just hang tight for a while then head to another spot. I thought what the heck and hit him hard several times, nothing. We waited about 5 mins and I caught movement. It was the two hens and they were headed straight for us!! Then, I hear spttt whoooom. Oh yeah baby, it might happen after all. The two hens pecked around for a while and started heading to our right toward a ridge. We could just get glimpses of his fan and hear him spittin' and drummin'. I hit him hard as the hens were leaving and he danced to the peak of the hill checking us out. He danced toward us a bit, but was behind some saplinings around 40yds. I let out some purrs and clucks and the hens came back on the scene. Oh yeah, the game is back on as those two sweeties were heading right to us and big daddy jumps right in behind them. I guess I made a mistake before the hens went over the hill because they crossed a small opening at 40 yards and I told Dusty to shoot when he hit that same opening as I'd patterned his gun and knew it was good for that shot. He had already clicked off the safety and was going to let him have it just before those hens came back out. He never came out in that opening and stayed behind some saplings. The hens went behind the saplings and popped out at 25 yards in the clear pecking around for several minutes. He stayed behind the brush strutting the whole time. I told Dusty "He's going to hit the opening with the hens, wait for him to follow" Just before he got clear BOOM, I knew it was too soon. He'd gotten too excited due it taking so long and jumped the gun. He hit brush and didn't connect, he said I could see his head. I watched the tom fly up in a large oak where he stood for a few minutes then flew out of site. Dusty was really dulled out and I was too. I should have told him not to shoot until I told him to shoot after I'd told him to shoot when he hit the opening a few minutes prior, but I didn't and the fever just got to him I guess. I told him to not let it get to him, it happens, you cant kill them every time out, and to just be real happy he'd connected on day 1. I also told him that it is not often to get a chance two days in a row and he'd gotten to experience what turkey hunters dream of. That ole' tom put on a heck of a show, a show Dusty will never forget.

Ya'll have a good one and take a kid hunting.

Reloader7rm

Here's a little better pic I got off my phone today:



Have a Good One,

Reloader7rm

GREAT story. Congrats to you guys. Way to do Dusty.

To me there is nothing like the woods coming to life on a spring morning in the turkey woods. It is quite addicting.

Congrats!

You guys down south are gettin' me all worked-up. Our season in Montana won't open for another three weeks! I'll be taking out my 13 year old for his second season and a couple of his friends for their first. Good job Reloader.