BuzzH
Well-known member
I'll admit right off, I'm not much of a turkey hunter, and while I threaten every year to actually go, I usually don't make it.
Had an invite from a friend that wanted to try some public land he'd found as it looked like there could be turkeys there. So, after having our original plans change, we finally made it out this weekend.
Right away on Saturday morning, we found a group of 10 birds with 8 of them being bearded chaps. We decided to close the distance and set up to call them in. On the way there, we popped over a little ridge and there was a jake and a hen about 50 yards away. I quickly decided one bird in the hand was better than nothing and rolled him.
Bird 1:
We decided to head back to the truck to regroup and have lunch. As we were finishing up lunch, we heard a turkey gobble. I soon spotted a strutter and a hen on a pine ridge about 1/2 mile a way. I took off and after wading a "creek", I worked my way up to where the 2 birds were. I slowly peeked over the lip of the ridge and immediately see a red/white/blue head sticking up over the sage at 15 yards. I promptly swatted him with a load of 6 shot. What I didn't know, is right before I got to the ridge, 5 jakes ran down and were harassing the Tom. I still thought there was only 2 birds there, so didn't hesitate. I ended up with one of the jakes, and the remaining turkeys, were actually closer to me. After I shot they sort of just ambled off with the strutter being the last one in line. If I would have had that third tag, which I didn't get, I would have also been able to fill it with the Tom.
I was really, really happy to just get into some birds and considering how late it is in the year, in an area we have never hunted, it went well. May have to make this thing a yearly deal...just a lot of fun.
Bird 2:
My buddies son, helping with the pack out:
Had an invite from a friend that wanted to try some public land he'd found as it looked like there could be turkeys there. So, after having our original plans change, we finally made it out this weekend.
Right away on Saturday morning, we found a group of 10 birds with 8 of them being bearded chaps. We decided to close the distance and set up to call them in. On the way there, we popped over a little ridge and there was a jake and a hen about 50 yards away. I quickly decided one bird in the hand was better than nothing and rolled him.
Bird 1:
We decided to head back to the truck to regroup and have lunch. As we were finishing up lunch, we heard a turkey gobble. I soon spotted a strutter and a hen on a pine ridge about 1/2 mile a way. I took off and after wading a "creek", I worked my way up to where the 2 birds were. I slowly peeked over the lip of the ridge and immediately see a red/white/blue head sticking up over the sage at 15 yards. I promptly swatted him with a load of 6 shot. What I didn't know, is right before I got to the ridge, 5 jakes ran down and were harassing the Tom. I still thought there was only 2 birds there, so didn't hesitate. I ended up with one of the jakes, and the remaining turkeys, were actually closer to me. After I shot they sort of just ambled off with the strutter being the last one in line. If I would have had that third tag, which I didn't get, I would have also been able to fill it with the Tom.
I was really, really happy to just get into some birds and considering how late it is in the year, in an area we have never hunted, it went well. May have to make this thing a yearly deal...just a lot of fun.
Bird 2:
My buddies son, helping with the pack out:
